Of Saints and Shadows (1994) Read Online Free Page A

unusual woman, he thought, independent and intelligent, with an ironic sense of humor, not to mention attractive. She was outgoing while at the same time Peter could see an extremely private streak in her, and secrets behind her eyes.
    He shook his head in amusement. It really had been too long.
    He knelt and began to search under the bed. He was starting to get the idea that this whole thing was a dead end, but he wanted to be thorough. Meaghan came back in.
    “Water’s on. How’s it going in here?”
    “Almost done. I’m trying to figure out if I’ve missed anything. Let’s take a break for a minute. Tell me about Janet—how you met, that sort of thing.”
    “Sure, hardest question first.” She smiled. “It’s sort of a strange relationship, because we were both pretty much loners—a little too individual for the ‘in crowd’ in high school, so we kept to ourselves. I speak for her from what she told me, ’cause we first met in college, Introduction to Political Science with Schmelter. We started talking one day early in freshman year, the way girls do when they’re looking for friends. I could see that like me, she was a pretty private person, and neither one of us had any close friends. So, by default really, we ended up with each other.
    “Then, unfortunately, her mom died.”
    “How?” Peter asked.
    “What’s that?”
    “How did she die?”
    Peter noticed a small crease of pain by Meaghan’s eyes.
    “Cancer. Sucks, huh? Anyway, she came to me then because she didn’t have a shoulder to cry on. Her dad needed support himself, and she didn’t want him to see her weakness. I lost my parents in a plane crash a week before the surprise sweet-sixteen party they were throwing for me. Janet and I had a lot to talk about.
    “After that we stuck together, facing the horrors of college as a team. We did everything and went everywhere together. Come sophomore year, we started rooming together, and as you can see, we still are. I don’t know how healthy it was for us to be so close—it certainly didn’t leave much room for others. There were rumors flying around that we were lovers.”
    She stopped and gave him a funny smile, shaking her head. They both heard the whistle from the kitchen, then. It had been going for some moments before either noticed it.
    “I’ll get the tea,” she said, and turned quickly to go. “If you’re almost done, we can have it in the living room?”
    “Fine. I’ll be right in.”
    She got up and went to rescue the screaming kettle, retucking and tightening her robe on the way. He stood up and looked around Janet Harris’s bedroom. He ran a mental check on any place she might have personal things that he hadn’t checked. There was one place left. He’d almost forgotten.
    He stood at the foot of the bed and lifted the mattress up off the box spring. Holding one end of the mattress up with his right arm, he used his left to retrieve the one thing that was hidden there. Janet’s diary.
    After returning the mattress to its normal position, he went into the living room, diary in hand. He could hear Meaghan moving around in the kitchen, and he thought about what she’d said.
    She came into the room with a tray and put it down on the coffee table in front of him. She did not notice the diary in his hands.
    “Were the rumors true?” he asked.
    “Pardon me?” she said, feigning ignorance, obviously hoping he’d retract the question.
    “Were the rumors true? Were you and Janet lovers?”
    Meaghan simply looked at him for a moment, expressionless. “What a terribly blunt, and completely unsubtle question.”
    “If you’d prefer not to discuss it, that’s okay with me. But you might want to read this before I do.”
    He put the diary down on the table. From the look on Meaghan’s face, he could see that she hadn’t known Janet was keeping a diary.
    “I haven’t looked through it at all, but there might be something in here that can help me. Maybe, maybe not. If