Desperate Enemies 3 by Adam Carpenter Read Free Book Online Page A

us? Well, that is not the Edgar Newcastle that I fell in love with!”
    “Jack,” replied Edgar, his voice tired and weak, “people died . Don't you get that?”
    Without waiting for a response from his partner, he arose and swept his hand, gesturing to the room in which they were standing.
    “Yes,” he said passionately, “I love this house. . . it's the first home we ever owned together but, Jack, there will be other homes and I'm not willing to risk losing you over a stupid house.”
    He looked around their living room, so tastefully decorated with all they had amassed over the years. Nice furniture filled the cozy room, whose fireplace gave off a warm glow on an otherwise gray and damp day. Sparse yet tasteful artwork hung on the walls and photos rested on a long table behind the sofa and, to the right, a wide oaken staircase led to the upper floors and, beyond that, a large dining room and a fully stocked kitchen. Yes, they would be giving up a lot to leave this house, but what they managed to save would be far more valuable.
    Jack walked over to Edgar and put his arms around him.
    “But, Eddy,” he said, his voice even, “we can't let them win. Yes, I know that Aaron died but, honestly, it was his fault. He brought it on himself.”
    Jack felt Edgar bristle at this suggestion but he held up a hand to silence him.
    “I know that sounds awful, but let me finish,” he said. “If he hadn't brought that gun he would still be alive.”
    Edgar's face turned red at the mention of the gun. . . his gun, the one that had been taken the day their house was broken into and Edgar had been knocked unconscious by an unseen assailant. But how had Aaron come to possess it? These were questions that would perhaps never be answered, although nobody even remotely suspected that Aaron had had anything to do with the break in and attack, despite suggestions to the contrary by the police officer who had come to visit shortly after the shootings. And, of course, the gun's serial number had been easily traced back to Edgar, who had reported it missing after the break in and attack. But the question as to who took the gun and how Aaron had come into its possession was a mystery that haunted Edgar and he couldn't help but feel a little guilty over Aaron's death, simply because it had been his gun. Still, there had been other incidents of violence besides Aaron's death and the attack on Edgar.
    “It's not just the gun,” Edgar said, almost to himself. “Remember the boulder that almost killed us at the beach? And what about the attempted arson next door?”
    Jack was silent and, for once, seemed at a loss for words.
    “Jack, what happens if someone hurts you? Or, god forbid, decides to hurt Ollie?”
    The dachshund, who had been content to remain on the sofa, seemed to understand this and jumped down and retreated behind Jack.
    “Let's not forget,” he concluded, retaking his seat on the sofa, “we may have lost a neighbor and ally in our fight against Converse but Dane lost his brother. . . can you imagine how he must feel?”
    “No,” agreed Jack. “No, I can't.”
    Although he didn't want to say it, there was another element at play on Eldon Court that had been bothering him for awhile, and that was the rampant promiscuity among his neighbors. It was no wonder that they as a neighborhood were falling apart, being torn asunder by lies and deceit, not by any outside forces, but from within. This wasn't anything he wanted to say aloud, however, for fear that he would sound like an old curmudgeon. It was as if Jack read his mind.
    “Maybe this recent turn of events will make us all closer,” he offered.
    Edgar sighed and shrugged his shoulders.
    “Sometimes I wonder if the youngsters here on Eldon Court even want to make things work,” he said, “the way they use each other and lie to their partners.”
    Well, there, thought Edgar, I said it.
    Jack smiled and took Edgar's hands in his.
    “They're kids,” he said. “And