Perfect Crime by Jack Parker Read Free Book Online Page A

surprised that she'd taken notice of the barely-there touch. Resisting the urge to snatch the card back, Tessa asked, "Theories?"
    "I'm not sure," he admitted. "Could be a completely random selection, but I suspect a hidden meaning, otherwise, why not use the phone or the classic cut-out newspaper clippings for a ransom note."
    "Why do people do a lot of things? This one's a night shot….the other one was day."
    "Well, if the scenery is the point, then it's the Ferris wheel that's in the center." Scott looked around and pocketed the card, seemingly ignorant to Tessa's attempt to reclaim it before it disappeared into the folds of his Dockers. "Let's get out of sight and have a look from above."
    She quickly tried to counter Scott's reasoning, "It's just a postcard. Probably picked with no thought to what was on the front. I don't think we need to…" but Tessa could tell her words were falling on deaf ears.
    The wait for the ride was short; too quick to catch sight of any suspicious characters. Before she knew it, they were being escorted into their car, helped into their seat belts and the small cage was closed. At the first jerk, as they made their way back and up, Tessa moved her left hand to the side rail of the cage, gripping it so tightly that her knuckles immediately lost color. She stared straight ahead at one chosen spot, right in the middle of the golden wire cage. Heart racing again, she wondered how much adrenaline one's system could handle in the span of an hour.
    With a great deal of focus, she concentrated on continuing to breathe, but the trained smile never left her face; like a mask, she slipped it on at will, obscuring what was real. A cool soft breeze blew off the water and through the cage, lifting the sounds of screams and laughter from the park below. But as the Ferris wheel came around, it jerked to a stop at the top, forcing the cage to swing back and forth; her control began to slip.
    Tessa squeezed her eyes shut. Taking a few deep breaths, she forced them open again. A nervous laugh slipped and she quickly glanced over at Scott, who was busy looking straight down. It almost made her sick to watch him twist in his seat, leaning over the side to look at the park below.
    What goes up, must come down.
    She tried to keep her mind on why they were there, versus what they were doing, but the wheel started again, this time faster and without stopping for more riders. Her right hand moved to grip the edge of the seat and her eyes no longer could hide her angst.
    Scott was speaking. She didn't answer right away, her gaze focused straight ahead.
    "Do you see something?" he repeated.
    Her halfhearted "No" must have caught his attention.
    "Let me guess. You don't like heights," he ventured.
    Tessa waited patiently for the lecture, which didn't come. Beside her, she could hear Scott moving. She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, mortified to see he'd shifted and was now sitting at an angle in his seat; his body and attention directed towards her.
    The ride started to climb again. Scott's neck bent back slightly, allowing his head to rest against the metal cage. "Okay," he said, "sometimes it helps to focus on something across the way." Chuckling softly, he concluded, "Or you could just look at me and tell me how cute I am."
    Exhaling quickly, Tessa didn't take the time to check her words nor her tone. "It's not funny," she snapped at his attempt to lighten the mood, but it came out resembling more a hurt child than a grown woman.
    Some help she turned out to be; white-knuckling the ride, barely able to breathe.
    Scott smirked, "Pride get in your way often?"
    She wouldn't lift her eyes. Her ego was hurt; she felt like a kitten in a tree that needed gentle coaxing to get down. Finally she relented; with the crimson still evident in her cheeks, she turned to face her would-be rescuer.
    The ride continued on but with little notice from Tessa; her smile faded as blue eyes met green. They locked not on the