Murder by the Seaside Read Online Free Page A

cried during the memorial service on 9/11. I saw him. Those soulful gray eyes melted my heart even in memory.
    I grabbed my phone to check my voice mail. Three from work. Any chance they’d changed their minds and needed me back? No. All three were from my co-workers. No one knew where we kept anything in the office. What did they do while I was working? For that matter, if I was the only one working before, how had I ended up as the one downsized?
    It was late. They’d clocked out and gone home by now. I tapped a quick set of texts onto the cell screen.
    Mr. Fergusen comes for lie detector tests on Thursdays.
    Remind him on Wednesday how many to expect.
    The coffee lady comes first thing Monday morning. She’ll need a receipt for the delivery.
    IT has a list of all my passwords. You’ll need to change them.
    I tossed my phone on the counter beside the chips. The apartment smelled dank and unlived in. I’d already pried open all the windows and emptied a bottle of Febreeze. Time was my only hope at remedying the stink. Until then, I’d suffer dirty air coated in a synthetic April Fresh cover up.
    With Claire gone, my mind wandered to the one other person I’d miss on the mainland: Sebastian Clark. Sebastian was a special agent I’d had a crush on since the day he rolled into my office, but guys like him didn’t date. They were too busy saving the world, unlike my ex, who was on the lam for murder.
    My mind kicked back to Adrian. Could he have gone away to play football and come home a killer? What all had I missed these last ten years? What was he doing back in Chincoteague? So much for seeing the world. Not that I could talk.
    I pulled my laptop onto my legs and brought up my new flyers. I had a goal to achieve. Every town needed a counselor. Who better to fill that need in Chincoteague than me? The residents knew me. I understood the island. We were a perfect match. Counseling with Patience . Finally my crazy name came in handy for something. Now I needed a few patients. I smiled. Then I thumbed the Print button. My tummy rumbled in warning. The chips didn’t cut it. A burger sounded amazing. While I was at the Tasty Cream, I’d ask Mrs. Tucker if I could leave a few flyers on the counter.
    Squawking seagulls and bleating tugboats faded into the background, swallowed whole by the enormous rattle and whoosh of my ancient printer. A moment later, instinct tickled my muscles. My ears perked to attention, straining to hear a sound I knew wasn’t coming from my printer. I tiptoed across the room and pressed my back to the wall. There was a murderer on the loose. I held my breath. The stairs outside my window creaked again. My purse sat on the coffee table, out of reach. Pepper spray couldn’t help me from way over there.
    “Patience?” A voice from long ago croaked outside my door.
    I righted myself. I needed to get a grip.
    “Mrs. Davis?” I shoved the screen door open and motioned Adrian’s mother inside.
    She made the sign of the cross on her chest and moved to the dusty tweed couch. “Thank God you’ve come home—and on the day my baby is charged with murder.” She whispered the final word and rolled her eyes to my ceiling. “I always knew you’d save him.”
    Lies. She hated me. I knew it at eighteen as much as I knew it at twenty-nine. She thought my parents were fruit loops and I would lead her baby to a nudist commune out west if she didn’t intervene. She’d intervened to the tune of a 2001 Mustang convertible.
    “There’s always a greater plan at work. You work for the FBI. You can clear his name. You still love him enough for that, don’t you?” Her expression challenged me to deny it.
    “Hi, Mrs. Davis. It’s good to be home. Thank you for asking.” I swept my hair into a ponytail to waste time while I cooled my jets. I’d regret using the rubber band on my wrist as soon as I tried to remove it. Adrian was magic. He caused me to pull my hair out without ever speaking to me.
    “I