Dead Girl in a Green Dress by Loucinda McGary Read Free Book Online Page A

hands into the ‘time out’ gesture. "Whoa! I didn’t say that, although I wouldn’t completely rule it out. But right now I’m guessing that Jessica was involved with one of the permanent employees at the Grand. Someone whose career might suffer if word got out about him and a twenty year old seasonal."
    But Byrony shook her head in denial. "I can’t believe she would be so stupid." She covered her face with her hands and groaned.
    "C’mon, Sunshine," he tried to console her. "We all do dumb stuff when we’re young."
    She spoke through her fingers in an anguished tone. "But we didn’t die. Jessica did." Rising suddenly, she practically sprinted toward the rest room sign over an archway near the kitchen.
    Rather than follow her, Tate finished his pie, even though it no longer had much taste and stuck in his throat. He washed it down with the last of his coffee, but declined a refill from the waitress. Instead, he asked for the check. Five long minutes later, when there was still no sign of Byrony , Tate left money on the table with the bill and headed toward the rest rooms.
    After standing outside the ladies room for a couple more minutes, he finally rapped on the door. " Byrony ? If you don’t come out I’ll have to make a spectacle of myself and come in there."
    A rustling noise came from inside, then the door popped open. "What did you call me?" she demanded, ducking   under his arm.
    Tate pulled his head back and stared down at her in confusion. " Byrony . That’s your name, isn’t it?"
    "I know it is, but I didn’t think you did." Obviously she was putting up a front, for her eyes were red-rimmed and her nose pink.
    He admired her attempt and played along. "Very funny, Sunshine. Call us a cab back to the ferry terminal, we’ve got work to do."
    "Sure you don’t want a horse, Cowboy?" she asked, pulling out her phone.
    "Just wait ‘til we get back to the island."
    They lucked out and arrived at the terminal just as a ferry was loading. Though the rain had stopped, the breeze had picked up, making the trip back to Mackinac a little on the bouncy side. Seemingly unperturbed by the waves, Byrony stayed on the top deck while Tate sat in the center of the lower deck, scribbled notes from his interview with Cody Henry, and formulated his next steps.
    When the engines cut back and Tate saw the dock coming into view, he ventured up top to join her. She stood alone at the back rail, hunched against the chill. Her smallness and vulnerability caught him by surprise, then when she turned at his approach, his fingers twitched to brush the tangled hair away from her face.
    "The day’s still young and looks like the rain is over, so what’s next?"  
    Shoving his hands into his pockets, Tate answered, "Another call to the Mac City police. We’ll have a little chat about missing shoes, and I’ll see if they have my other info. If not, I’ll make myself a pain in their rears until they do. Matter of fact, I might just pay them a visit this afternoon to look at their collection of evidence. Want to come along?"
    Byrony chewed her bottom lip, and Tate’s wayward thoughts speculated on how that lip might taste. "I think I might pay Mr. Justin Saunders a visit, if you trust me to talk to him alone."
    Tate shook his head and to play it safe, he focused his gaze over her shoulder. The fact that she was asking him first was a major accomplishment, but he kept it casual. "Like I said, the dude ain’t talking to me, so anything you can wrangle out of him will be a plus."
    "That’s what I thought," she agreed as they moved to exit the now parked ferry. "Don’t worry, I’ll be charming." She turned and batted her eyelashes at him, then smothered a giggle. Tate tried to smile, but he really didn’t find the idea of Byrony flirting with Justin Saunders amusing at all.
    As they walked down the pier toward Main Street, he pulled out his phone and saw he had a message. Not the Mac City detectives as he’d expected, but none