Hell by Hilary Norman Read Free Book Online Page A

age as the good Lord would grant them.
    Beautiful food and surroundings today, a two-tier wedding cake and a birthday cake for Saul, both baked and decorated by Grace and Cathy, the same way that everything had been arranged and prepared by them, with love.
    A wonderful party, and a wonderful day.
    No troubles.
    Not a single one.
    The happy couple going on their way finally, though Sam and Grace had suggested they wait till next day to leave, since their flight would not reach Boston until gone midnight, but David and Mildred had been determined to do it their way.
    â€˜Plenty of time to rest when we get there,’ Mildred had reassured them.
    â€˜Plenty of time to rest when we’re dead,’ David had added.

TEN
    April 23
    E arly next morning, Sam met with a lieutenant in patrol at the Bay Harbor Islands Police Department – a man he’d had cause to meet a few times – to explain his concerns for his family’s safety with regard to the suspected return to Miami-Dade of Jerome Cooper.
    Having been a sergeant at the time of the kidnapping, the lieutenant did not need asking twice.
    â€˜I’d really appreciate this being kept informal,’ Sam said.
    â€˜You don’t want your wife to know?’ the lieutenant asked.
    â€˜She’ll know,’ Sam said. ‘But this is really a just-in-case.’
    â€˜Better safe than sorry,’ the other man said.
    â€˜I owe you,’ Sam told him.
    Grace felt tired Friday morning, but good. Happy and relaxed, the way she always felt after a family party had gone beautifully. The kids had helped with most of the clearing up, and she had taken Joshua to preschool before settling down to the tasks that remained.
    Sam had called to tell her about the patrol cars that were going to be coming around every now and then till they could be sure Cooper was not on the scene.
    â€˜Are you sure it’s necessary?’ she had asked.
    â€˜I’m hoping it’s un necessary,’ he’d said. ‘But if you don’t mind, I’d sooner err on the side of caution.’
    â€˜I think I mind a good deal,’ Grace had said. ‘But I’m not sure I feel like arguing the point either.’
    She was still feeling good – getting the job done, thinking about the newly-weds’ first Boston morning, hoping their flowers had arrived – as she took out yet another bag of trash just after eleven, ahead of going to collect Joshua, when a gray four-door sedan came around the bend in their road and slowed to a crawl opposite their house.
    Tinted windows closed.
    Someone watching.
    This time, she was certain .
    Woody, at her heels, growled softly.
    â€˜It’s OK,’ she told him, and bent to pick him up.
    The car had not moved.
    Grace’s heartbeat grew rapid, her mouth dry. She looked up and down the road, wishing for a black-and-white to appear now.
    No such luck.
    In her arms, Woody growled again.
    The sedan was still there.
    Quickly, Grace turned and hurried back into the house, shut and locked the front door, walked swiftly into the kitchen to do the same, then to the lanai.
    And then she called Sam.
    â€˜Nothing to worry about, Detective,’ one of the patrol officers assured Sam as soon as he pulled up. ‘We’d have called you if there was.’
    They had been aware of the car in question, the officer said, had been observing the gray Ford Fusion right outside the Becket house, had been parked just around the bend in the road, had noted Grace’s reaction too.
    The Ford had begun to move away right after she’d gone inside, and the cops had made their own move in response, signaling the driver to pull over.
    Totally innocent.
    â€˜Just a guy out with his wife looking at properties,’ the officer told Sam. ‘Whole bunch of printed details with them in the car. They were embarrassed, said they’d just wanted to get the feel of the island, were interested in the kind of people