Die for Me by Karen Rose Read Free Book Online

was no smell of death and the basement was as orderly as it had always been. He climbed the stairs to find Frank waiting in the hall by the front door.
    “They took lots of clothes,” Frank said. “Their suitcases are gone.”
    “This doesn’t make a lick of sense.” Daniel walked into each room again, pausing in his father’s office. “He was a judge for twenty years, Frank. He made enemies.”
    “I considered that. I asked Wanda to pull records of his old cases.”
    Surprised and comforted, Daniel gave Frank a weary smile. “Thanks.”
    Frank shrugged. “Wanda will be thankful for the overtime. Come on, Daniel. Let’s go back to town, get something to eat and figure out what to do next.”
    “In a minute. Let me check his desk.” He pulled on the drawer, surprised when it slid right open. Staring up at him was a brochure for the Grand Canyon and his throat tightened. His mother had always wanted to see the Grand Canyon, but his father was always too busy and they never went. It looked like he’d finally made the time to go.
    Suddenly the reality of his mother’s cancer hit him square in the face, becoming more than a secret she’d withheld.
My mother’s going to die.
He cleared his throat harshly. “Look, Frank.” He moved the brochures to the blotter, fanning them out.
    “Grand Canyon, Lake Tahoe, Mount Rushmore.” Frank sighed. “I guess your daddy finally took her on that trip he’d been promising all these years.”
    “But why not just say that’s where they were going? Why all the lies?”
    Frank squeezed his shoulder. “I guess your mama doesn’t want anyone to know she’s sick. For Carol, it’s a pride thing. Let her have her dignity. Let’s go get supper.”
    His heart heavy, Daniel started to rise but a noise stopped him. “What was that?”
    “What?” Frank asked. “I didn’t hear anything.”
    Daniel listened and heard it again. A high whirring sound. “His computer is running.”
    “That’s impossible. It’s turned off.”
    The monitor was dark. But Daniel laid his hand on the computer and his breath caught. “It’s warm and it’s running. Somebody is using this computer, right now.” He hit the button on the monitor and together they watched an online banking screen appear. The cursor moved with ghostly precision, untouched by either of them.
    “Shit, it’s like watching a Ouija board,” Frank murmured.
    “It’s Dad’s online bill pay system. Someone just paid Dad’s mortgage.”
    “Your daddy?” Frank asked, confusion obvious in his voice.
    “I don’t know.” Daniel’s jaw hardened. “But you can be damn sure I’ll find out.”
    Philadelphia, Sunday, January 14, 2:15 P.M.
    Vito stared at the “funky ape sculpture” with increasing annoyance. He’d been waiting for more than half an hour but there was no sign of Katherine’s friend. He was frustrated and cold, having rolled down his window for fresh air. The smell of Jane Doe was in his hair and his sinuses and he couldn’t stand himself.
    He’d called Katherine a half dozen times with no success. He couldn’t have missed her. He’d been early and the only person he’d seen was a college girl sitting on a bench at the bus stop about fifteen feet behind his truck.
    The girl looked about twenty and had long, long blond hair that had to touch her butt when she stood up. A red bandana covered the top of her head and two thin braids hung from her temples, but the rest of her hair fell loose, covering her like a cape. Enormous gold hoops swung from her ears and her face was half-covered by the round frames of her purple sunglasses. And to top it all off, she wore an old army surplus camouflage jacket that looked about four sizes too big.
    College kids,
he thought, shaking his head. She looked up the street, then down before drawing her knees up under her coat, propping her thick-soled army boots on the bench. She must be freezing. God knew he was and he had the truck’s heater going.
    Finally his