A Dangerous Harbor by R.P. Dahlke Read Free Book Online Page A

Mexico."
    "Mexico! Are you sure?"
    "Of course I'm sure. I got my passport all stamped and everything." She didn't add that it was still being held by the Mexican police, but that wasn't going to be a conversation she intended to have with her mother.
    "Katrina Hunter, don't be obtuse! I can't believe you broke up with David, when the wedding is less than a month away!" There was a moment of silence and then her mother's voice softened. "Maybe it was a knee-jerk reaction to all the stress you two have been under; his job, that horrible incident with your sister's stalker. I know you took it hard when the department put you on sabbatical but I'm sure it hit him hard, too. You should never run away from problems with a spouse, Katrina. It only exacerbates the problem."
    Katy snorted "Mom, David isn't my spouse and it doesn't look like he's ever going to be."
    "Alright, alright, but you're coming home soon, aren't you? The department hearing is in two weeks and I'm sure you can resolve your problems with David with a little TLC."
    Her mother's comment, that it should be her job to soothe David's hurt feelings, rankled to the bone. "It was his decision and I'm good with it and now I'm here where I should be," she said, leaving out the body she found in the water, Gabe, and that she was now obligated to help with a murder investigation in Mexico.
    "And where are you in Mexico?" her mother asked. "At least tell me you're on dry land again."
    "I made it to Ensenada day before yesterday," she said. "You'd love this marina. Very modern, lots of art and a high-end hotel and spa."
    "Ensenada. Isn't that close to the border? You know those towns are rife with all those nasty cartels. It seems every night the newscasters have some grim new story about beheadings."
    "Oh, Mom, don't worry. All those nasty cartel guys are out lounging by the pool."
    "Katrina Taylor Hunter! Don't you make jokes about something like that!"
    "Mom, I'm perfectly safe. This is a very well-run operation; they have guards and locked gates and everything." Katy was eyeing the bar, wishing she'd thought to fortify that boast with a big glass of wine or two before calling her mother.
    "Well, I must admit the place sounds nice, not that I wouldn't go within a mile of anything north of Punta Mita . We were in Puerto Vallarta all last week and stayed in that wonderful Westin out on the point."
    Here was the reason why her mother missed the gossip about her daughter's breakup with San Francisco's next district attorney. She had a new boyfriend.
    "Anyone I know?" In the five years since Katy's dad died, her mom had stepped out with any number of gentleman friends, all of whom were only too willing to accompany the wealthy Judge Roy Hunter's widow anywhere she chose, as long as she paid their way.
    But then her mother surprised her and said, "Believe it or not, your sister put her very busy life on hold so that we could have some mother-daughter pampering."
    Katy grinned into the phone. "Our Leila? How'd you drag her away from LA? Didn't she get her contract renewed for that soap opera… what's it called?"
    " All My Tomorrows . Now, if you will remember, I invited both of you since it might be the last time we had some girl time before the nuptials. Unlike you, your sister sees the merit keeping in touch with her mother."
    Her beautiful sister had been throwing herself at Hollywood for ten long bitter years. Even with the security of a full-time job on the soaps, she still auditioned for secondary characters in whatever indie or TV pilot appeared likely to give her faltering career a jolt. Katy cautioned her sister against random networking, vigorously arguing for some reasonable vetting of invitations, warning Leila that that's how beautiful women sometimes ended up dead. That stalker found it incredibly easy to find Leila's home address, and if Katy hadn't answered the door, well, she didn't want to think of it now.
    "Katrina, I asked you a question. Are you, or are you