Neighing with Fire: A Mystery (Colleen McCabe Series) by Kathryn O'Sullivan Read Free Book Online

straight face now. “Pas de deux is a ballet term.”
    “Really?” She suppressed a giggle. “And how, might I ask, do you know this? Have you been watching Dancing with the Stars or something?”
    “I got dragged to my sister’s dance recitals for years. There’s a set order to the dance steps and it always ends the same.”
    “Okay then, smarty pants. Since you know our ‘dance’ always ends up with us working cases together, why don’t we skip the middle steps and you tell me what the Templetons said and if you know any more about our John Doe.”
    “So we’re like Nick and Nora Charles now?”
    “Or Castle and Beckett.”
    Bill grinned. He’s really enjoying himself, she thought. She folded her arms and feigned impatience.
    “There really isn’t much to tell,” he finally said. “The Templetons went outside to inspect the beach after the storm and when they got to the bottom of the walkway discovered the body.”
    “They hadn’t noticed anything unusual about the dune before the storm?”
    He shook his head. “Before the storm they said the entire area under the walkway had been covered by sand.”
    “You have any outstanding missing persons reports?”
    “No,” he said, and rubbed his arm.
    There was something more. She leaned forward and studied his face intently. “You don’t seem too eager to find out who our John Doe is.”
    “I’m sure we’ll hear soon.”
    “No,” Colleen said. “That’s not it.” Her eyes widened in sudden understanding. “You already know who he is.”
    “What makes you say that?”
    “All the years we’ve been working together. Who is he?”
    Bill squirmed under her gaze. “Michael Hector Fuentes.”
    She didn’t know if she was more stunned by the news that their John Doe had a name or by the fact that Bill had known and hadn’t told her.
    “Still no word on cause or time of death,” he said before she could ask.
    “That’s got to be a record for the ME,” she said. It hadn’t even been twenty-four hours since they had recovered the body. “How’d they ID him so fast? The body looked, well, bad.”
    “The guy had a pacemaker. As soon as the ME saw that, he entered the serial number into the registry and got his name.”
    “The name Michael Fuentes doesn’t sound familiar. You think he was visiting on vacation?”
    “Could be. He’s not in the missing persons database. I’ve had Rodney put the word out and make some calls. See if anyone knows him.”
    If Fuentes wasn’t a local then how did he end up in Carova buried under a walkway that someone knew couldn’t be disturbed? Was he at the wrong place at the wrong time? Had he been up to something illegal? And why hadn’t anyone come forward searching for him? The more they found out about the dead man, the more they’d learn about the possible identity of his killer.
    “What are you thinking?” Bill asked.
    “If Mr. Fuentes wasn’t a local, whoever killed him certainly was, or is.”
    “We don’t know that we’re dealing with a homicide … not officially anyway.”
    “Last summer and now this. I’m starting to wonder if Corolla has become a home for murderers.”
    “No more than any other community,” he said. “A forensics lab director once told me anyone is capable of anything…”
    “… under the right circumstances,” she said, finishing his sentence. She had heard that said as well.
    The waitress approached. “Can I interest you in coffee or dessert? The chef’s made a key lime pie to die for.”
    “Not for me, thank you,” Colleen said, certain she couldn’t squeeze another bit of food into her belly.
    “Just the check,” Bill said, and the waitress handed him the paper, already anticipating his answer. He slipped her a credit card and she disappeared to ring up the payment.
    They settled the bill, then went north on Route 12 to Colleen’s house. Bill made the turn off of Ocean Trail onto Lakeview Court and then into her driveway.
    “Care to come in for