Half Past Dead by Meryl Sawyer Read Free Book Online Page A

platinum-blond.”
    â€œMake mine shorter and darker.”
    â€œKnow what I think would be great on you?” Lola Rae didn’t wait for an answer. “A light brown with reddish-gold highlights. We’ll cut it chin-length and flip it a little.”
    â€œGo for it.”
    â€œWe’ll cut it first, then put on the color.” Lola Rae snipped quickly, letting hanks of Kat’s hair drop to the floor. “Can I ask you something?”
    Kat was pretty sure she knew what Lola Rae planned to ask. “Sure.”
    â€œWhat was it like in prison?”
    â€œHell on earth. Don’t ever commit a crime.”
    A timer went off. “Oops! Mrs. Avery’s perm is done. Let me comb her out and style her. Just sit here and read a magazine.”
    â€œDo you happen to have a copy of the paper?”
    â€œYou betcha. It’s behind the counter.”
    Kat walked over and found the paper. She was curious about how the Tribune looked these days. Special Agent Wilson had told her she would be working with the new managing editor, David Noyes. She took the paper and sat back down in the chair next to the older woman Lola Rae was working on.
    Mrs. Avery had been the local librarian and a Sunday-school teacher until she’d retired the last year Kat was in school. Their eyes met in the mirror, and Mrs. Avery scowled.
    â€œWhat are you doing here?” she demanded.
    â€œGetting my hair cut and colored.”
    She whirled in her chair and faced Lola Rae. “You’re not doing her hair, are you?”
    Lola Rae beamed. “Yes, I am.”
    â€œShe’s a criminal.”
    â€œKat has served her time. Know what I mean? Everybody deserves a second chance. Isn’t that what God teaches us?”
    â€œHa!” She faced the mirror, her back ramrod-straight.
    Kat concentrated on the newspaper. The headline screamed: BODY STILL UNIDENTIFIED. Wow. She could recall just one murder in all the years she’d lived here. A farmer had shot his partner over some dispute about chickens or pigs or something.
    She read the account of the murdered woman carefully. Apparently she’d been dead for some time. Sheriff Radner refused to discuss what leads—if any—he had in the case.
    Justin Radner. Tall and lanky with jet-black hair and piercing blue eyes, Justin had been the star of the football team. He’d been four years older than Kat so she had never been in class with him, but she’d dreamed about him at night sometimes. So had every girl in school except Tori, who thought Clay Kincaid hung the moon.
    At one point Kat had a friend who lived in the Shady Acres trailer park near Justin. Kat’s mother was phobic about her girls associating with white trash and insisted Kat have nothing to do with her friend, but Kat would sneak over to Shady Acres to play. She often watched Justin from afar.
    She’d wondered what it would be like to go out on a date with him. How did Verity Mason feel when she was at his side, when he held her in his arms? Just thinking about it had made Kat all breathless and fluttery.
    Her thoughts shifted to her mother and sister. Loretta Wells had always adored Tori. Kat’s half sister was the product of her mother’s marriage to the love of her life. When he’d been killed in an auto accident, Loretta had remarried Kat’s father. From as far back as she could remember her mother had made it clear that Tori was her favorite.
    No wonder. Tori was stunningly beautiful. She’d never gone through that gawky phase like most teenagers. Of course, Kat hadn’t experienced that phase either. She’d been a plump child who became a fat teenager. The only thing Kat could say for herself was that she had brains.
    What shocked her was how much it hurt not to have been told about her mother’s cancer. How could they still have that power? Through the hell of prison, she’d told herself she didn’t care, but despite