A Mother's Day Murder (Mt. Abrams Mysteries Book 1) by Dee Ernst Read Free Book Online Page B

formed eyebrows. There was an energy about him, as though he was ready to spring into action, but it wasn’t a nervous kind of energy. Every movement he made seemed deliberate and necessary. His teeth were very white, and his hair was that shiny, almost slick kind of gray that made women want to run their hands through it just to see if it felt as thick and soft as it looked. He didn’t have a mustache, but he should have.
    “Detective, thank you so much for seeing us,” Carol said. “This is my neighbor, Elizabeth Rocca, and she and I have a problem, and we need some professional advice.”
    He nodded encouragingly. I swallowed hard, but my mouth was so dry I almost choked.
    Carol glanced at me. “Ellie?”
    What, me? I was supposed to talk? About what? I had looked into Detective Kinali’s eyes and completely forgotten why I was here.
    “Ellie,” she said, a bit more strongly. I tore my eyes from his face and looked at her. Carol. Oh—that’s right. We were here because of Lacey Mitchell.
    I turned back to Detective Kinali. “We believe something has happened to another neighbor of ours,” I said. “We haven’t seen her for a couple of days, and there are, well, circumstances.”
    He raised an eyebrow. “What kind of circumstances?”
    I had a brief flash of this man dressed in robes, riding an Arabian stallion through the desert, sword held aloft, like a character from Lawrence of Arabia . “Her name is Lacey Mitchell, and she lived with her husband and sons in Mt. Abrams, and no one has seen her since last Friday when she picked up her boys at the bus stop. Her husband says she’s with her sick father in Buffalo, but he’s lying.”
    He frowned. “Is he?”
    “Yes. Her father died this past winter. Down in Virginia. Suddenly. Apparently, there was a lot of money involved. Millions. And there’s a wife, but she wasn’t mentioned in the obituary, which I find highly suggestive.”
    “Of what?”
    “Of some sort of separation or divorce, meaning that Lacey would have gotten all the money.”
    He sat back. “And you know this how?”
    I settled myself more squarely in my chair. “I looked it up. I found the marriage announcement, online of course, got Lacey's maiden name, and started looking for the parents. There was an obituary for the father and a small article about all the money. And the mother? Still has a phone in Fairfax, even though she didn’t answer, and there’s no trace of her online since 2002.”
    His mouth twitched. His lips were very full and soft looking. “Very enterprising of you, Mrs. Rocca.”
    “I’m not Mrs. Rocca,” I said. “I used to be Mrs. Symons, but not anymore. Now I’m Miss Rocca. Ms. Rocca. Ellie.”
    “Ellie, then. You must be a very accomplished researcher.”
    I nodded. “I’m an editor. Freelance. I often have to do fact checking for my clients.”
    He tilted his head. “Really? Lucky you, spending all your time reading. Although, I imagine you have to read a lot of things that are not to your taste.”
    I rolled my eyes. “You have no idea. I’m almost done with this mystery and let me tell you, these characters are deaf, dumb, and blind. I figured out whodunit by the second chapter.”
    He threw back his head and laughed. His voice was so deep that he sounded like his laughter came from the bottom of a well. “If I ever write a book, I’ll be sure you read it first. I wouldn’t want my characters to be thought of so badly.” Our eyes met.
    Can I tell you? They were the softest, gentlest, most beautiful eyes I had ever seen. And they were smiling at me. The lines around them crinkled, and there was a warmth and spark to them that made my blood pound.
    This was ridiculous. I didn’t even know this man. How could I think he would be just perfect for me?
    “I’m sure there’s more,” he said.
    I leaned forward. “Her ten-year-old told my ten-year-old that his grandpa was killed.” I sat back, feeling rather smug. Now that was a tasty piece