Killing Her Softly Read Online Free Page A

shock.
    She turned it off, making sure her contact with the switch was brief.
    "Could have been static,” Simon said. “The air's dry here. When it's about to storm, that happens sometimes."
    "But it hasn't stormed."
    "Still.” He shrugged, looking at her for a moment. He dropped his gaze to the floor, seeming to find something fascinating about the pale, veined squares of marble at his feet. He looked for all the world like a schoolboy summoned to the principal's office.
    "Uh, Mrs. Adams—may I call you Leslie? Seems more friendly, somehow."
    She wasn't sure she wanted to be friends with a man of his arrogance, at least not the way he'd been last night. But curiosity again won. “Okay."
    "Leslie, that's why I came. I was out of line last night. I want to apologize for what I said. After I thought about it, I knew that if you'd had anything to do with Jason's schemes, you would never have had the nerve to show up here. So I'm sorry."
    To her, it sounded as if the words were dragged from him. Nevertheless, she decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. After all, it wasn't as if she'd be seeing much of him after this.
    "All right,” she said. “It was an understandable mistake.” She rubbed her hands together briskly. “Now, tell me something. You live here in Platania, don't you?"
    Frowning slightly, he nodded. “Yes, except one day a week when I'm in Kerkira, taking care of business."
    What kind of business? The question popped into her head. But she didn't voice it aloud. “What can you tell me about Jason's death?"
    He looked startled. She saw his throat convulse as he swallowed. “Why didn't you ask Jimmy?"
    "Because I already talked to the police. I want to know what people are saying and what you think."
    She sat down on the bottom stair tread and patted the space beside her. “I haven't shopped yet, or I'd offer you a drink."
    "That's all right.” Picking up the cat, he sat down next to her. She sensed the tension in him, as if he thought it might be better to leave while he could. His tanned knuckles looked pale against the cat's dense coat.
    In the silence, the cat purred like a well-tuned sports car. Simon's scent wrapped itself around her, subtle, pleasant, a mixture of herbal soap and warm man, with an undertone of sun-dried cotton.
    "What happened to Jason?” she said quietly.
    He started, as if he'd been so far away in his thoughts that he'd forgotten her presence. “He drowned. They didn't find the body. But it's a very treacherous coast, with strong currents. It's not the first time something like this has happened."
    "What was he doing windsurfing in April?"
    "Reliving his youth, perhaps?” Simon's tone was just short of sarcastic. “Or maybe because the waves are better in winter and spring."
    "I never knew he windsurfed,” Leslie said. “But then, I've lately discovered I didn't know much about Jason at all."
    "He windsurfed for years, even before the sport became popular here. He liked the sea."
    "And it killed him,” Leslie said.
    "His parents drowned, as well, in a ferry sinking. And maybe his daughter. Some say there's a curse on the family."
    Leslie turned her head to stare at him. “A curse?"
    "Yeah. They say his family will all die on water."
    "Superstition, I suppose."
    Simon shrugged. “Maybe. But superstitions are funny. If you believe them, they sometimes come true."
    "So he had a daughter,” she said in a resigned tone. In the past twelve hours she'd discovered more about Jason's past than she had in ten years of marriage. Nothing could surprise her any more.
    "Yeah. She was twenty-five when she died."
    "What happened to her?"
    For a long moment he said nothing, his body so rigid the cat broke off his purring and meowed inquiringly. When he spoke, the words beat into her brain like blows from a hammer.
    "I killed her."
    * * * *
    That was dumb, Simon told himself. You didn't have to say it like that. But for some reason he'd been driven to ruffle the composure that had