A Kiss Gone Bad by Jeff Abbott Read Free Book Online Page B

himself.’
    ‘Where did you meet Mr Majors?’ Claudia asked.
    ‘At Little Mischief Beach,’ Heather answered. Claudia jotted a note on the pad in front of her. Little Mischief was an aptly
     named, scrabbly beach north of Port Leo, a few miles from the Golden Gulf Marina, known as a kids’ hangout, with a small park
     attached, dense with live oaks and red bays. A good necking spot, but there were better around the county.
    Heather brushed fingers through her hair. ‘The light’s good at Little Mischief. I like to sketch the birds, the waves, the
     old folks walking on the shore.’
    ‘Dopers love Little Mischief,’ Delford interjected. ‘Am I gonna find some weed in your knapsack, young lady?’
    ‘No,’ she said, rolling her eyes. ‘I don’t do drugs.’
    Claudia steered them back on track. ‘What was Pete doing down at Little Mischief?’
    ‘He’d come down there with a notebook computer, to write or just chill out and throw pebbles in the surf.’ She wiped a hand
     across her lips. ‘Quiet but nice. He gave me money for food.’
    Claudia made a note. ‘This money he gave you. Any strings attached?’
    A flash of resentment crossed Heather’s face. ‘Of course not. What do you take me for?’
    More to the point was what Pete Hubble had taken Heather for. Claudia remained silent for a full thirty seconds, and Heather
     began to fidget. ‘I’m not a whore, okay? He was just being nice.’ She paused. ‘Maybe he didn’t need the money, since he was
     gonna kill himself.’
    ‘So he gave you a loan. What happened next between you?’ Claudia asked.
    Heather Farrell finished her cocoa and began to tear the rim of the foam cup into strips. Specks of wet, powdery chocolate
     smeared onto her fingertips, but she didn’t notice. ‘Nothing happened. He seemed real sad. Lonely. Like he’d gotten bad news.’
    ‘When did he invite you to his boat?’ Claudia asked.
    ‘He said he wanted to talk,’ Heather said. ‘He wasn’t sure why he would go on living.’
    ‘He barely knew you and yet he suggested to you he was suicidal?’ Claudia said.
    ‘Sometimes it’s easier to talk with a stranger than a friend.’
    ‘I suppose. What was this crushing sadness?’
    ‘Pete said his brother … was the source of all the sadness in his life. I gathered his brother died young. And he made mention
     of some preacher that had screwed his brother over. Somebody Jones.’ She glanced at Delford. ‘He made it sound like maybe
     this preacher was responsible for his brother’s death.’
    Delford cut in. ‘Pete tell you what proof he had?’
    ‘No. But Pete bitched that he couldn’t make a case stick.’ She looked up from her lap, her eyes wide, like a child watching
     a parent for approval.
    ‘You’ve got to be more specific,’ Claudia said. ‘What exactly did he say about this preacher and his brother?’
    Heather scrunched her face. ‘Christ, I didn’t take a goddamned transcript, and he didn’t make a ton of sense. I’ve told you
     what I know.’
    Claudia let silence fill the room and began to tap her pen against the notepad. ‘He ever suggest you come to his boat and
     take off your clothes for a movie?’
    Heather gave a sharp bark of laughter. ‘No! I’m not some street whore. I haven’t had any problems with the police since I
     got here a month ago.’
    ‘How’d you get over to the marina?’
    ‘I hitched a ride into town from Little Mischief. I got to the marina a little after ten.’ She tore a long strip of Styrofoam
     away from her cup and shredded it into confetti. ‘So I go to his boat – he’d told me it’s the big one at the very end of the
     dock – and I went aboard. I called for him, but there was no answer. The door was open. I went downstairs.’ Her throat worked.
     ‘And there was no one in the kitchen and the living room, so I knocked on the bedroom door.’
    ‘It was closed?’ Claudia asked.
    ‘Yeah.’ Heather dabbed at her lips with her tongue. ‘I yelled