The Butler Didn't Do It (A Maddox Storm Mystery Book 2) Read Online Free Page B

Storm,” he murmured in his usual understated tone.
    I glared at him. We had a somewhat tenuous relationship. He mostly tolerated me and I mostly despaired of him. “Why can’t you ever just come out and say what you mean?”
    “Why do you always assume I mean more than what I say?” He set the tray down on the counter and tugged where his jacket had crawled up his rotund belly.
    I growled at him as I rolled my sleeves up and ran a fresh sink of steaming water. I didn’t see Burns again until I was swabbing down the surfaces.
    “The masses are thinning out,” he informed me, and true to his words, his tray only held two tumblers.
    “Everyone’s retiring for the night?” I glanced at the wall clock, stunned to find it was eleven-thirty. Time sure flew when you were having fun.
    “Mostly,” Burns said. “The Parkers are propping the bar up and—”
    “Burns!” I exclaimed. “Did you just make a joke?”
    He ignored me. “Ms Adams and Mr Sash are on the terrace.”
    “Jenna and Mason?” Warning signals went off in my head. “Doing what, exactly, on the terrace?”
    “I’m sure I have no idea,” Burns said, inhaling every second word.
    “Guess!”
    He gave me an exasperated look. “Not that was I was eavesdropping, but there may have been mention of a moonlit stroll by the lake.”
    Oh, Jenna. I stood there, deliberating my next move. But Jack Spinner was no longer the scrawny stick of a boy who couldn’t stand up for himself and Jenna was…well, Jenna. She had a heart of gold, but she tended to be kind of careless when it came to men.
    A piercing scream whipped my spine stiff. That had come… I turned slowly to the window I’d pushed open over the sink. “Outside!”
    Burns was a step ahead of me, already unlatching the kitchen door.
    I rushed after him into the warm spring night and slammed to a halt just before crashing into his back. No more screams. The lake glistened beneath the full moon, not a drop of wind to ripple the smooth surface. Across from us, Lakeview Spa Retreat was lit up like a fairy castle and they had a bonfire going on the shore, a crowd hanging around the outside bar.
    “I don’t suppose it could have been them?” I said doubtfully.
    “No, it was on this side.” Burns did not look happy. “We should split up and search.”
    “That’s always a bad idea.” I put a finger to my lips, shushing him, then I heard it, another hiccupped cry from further up the shore.
    I slipped off my five-inch heels and broke out into a run, almost certainly ruining the bottoms of my magical figure-shaping pants. And yes, that’s what I was thinking about as my feet pounded the muddy shore, past the shaded lighting of our terrace and on into the moonlit shadows way beyond the house.
    I saw the body dangling from a gnarled branch like a life-size rag doll over the edge of the lake, then I saw Jenna wrapped in Mason’s arms and that’s when my lungs crashed and burned. I doubled over, panting hard.
    Jenna and Mason.
    Moonlit stroll by the lake.
    Oh my God, that could have been Jenna.
    I peered up at the body again, sucking in breaths of air. It wasn’t Jenna, but it could have been. She’d been out here alone—no, not alone, with Mason, but what if he was the—
    “Ms Storm.” Burns’ large hand landed on my shoulder. “You’re not going to collapse, are you?”
    I shook him off and straightened, pointed. “Burns, what…? Who?” My voice pitched. “Do you see that?”
    “I’m afraid I do,” he sighed.
    Jenna became aware of us and streaked out from Mason’s clutches to race up to me.
    We hugged for a moment, then I pulled away to look at her. “Are you okay?”
    “Yes, I am now, but it was awful, Maddie,” she choked out. “We were just taking a walk and then I saw her, just hanging there…” She shuddered and wrapped her arms around her waist. “Who would do that to poor Lydia?”
    “Lydia?” Blood buzzed between my ears. “Lydia Fieldman?”
    “That’s