Reluctant Witness by Sara M. Barton Read Free Book Online Page B

balcony railing,
shotguns in hand, and hailed us before going back to their
surveillances. Were those the “big rods” Jack told them to bring
for some night fishing?
    “Let’s not dawdle out here,” Jack advised,
steering me to the ground floor entrance. We walked into a foyer
lined with lockers for ski gear on one wall and a rustic wooden
bench on the other.
    “This looks like the real deal, a Catskill
ski haus,” I remarked.
    “It is,” he smiled briefly. “My parents own
it. It’s where we have all the family gatherings when they’re in
town.”
    A flight of stairs brought us up to the main
living quarters. Depositing the gear on a dining table by the
kitchen, I inspected my temporary quarters. The inside of the
chalet was clean and comfortable, casually decorated in a family
lodge style, with practical furnishings and finishes. I could
imagine children playing on the floor and dogs welcome by the stone
fireplace. I wandered around the great room as Jack poured Brutus a
bowl of water and placed it on the floor in the kitchen area. The
thirsty dog lapped it up with enthusiasm. When he was done, he sat
patiently as Jack poured some kibble from a large red plastic scoop
into the dish on the floor.
    “Okay,” said the K-9 trooper. “Barring any
unforeseen circumstances, Marigold, you’ll have the bedroom to the
right. Hope you don’t mind sleeping in your clothes tonight. It’s
just easier if you do.”
    “Sure.” The last thing I wanted was to be
rudely awakened from a sound sleep and have to run naked from the
house.
    “Brutus will be sleeping with you tonight. I
should probably warn you that he has a tendency to snore.”
    “That’s fine,” I smiled. “I probably do,
too.”
    “Marigold, can I just ask you one more
question? I’m not trying to pry into a case involving the marshals,
but I just keep coming back to one thing. You said Tovar’s partner
went on maternity leave at the same time the boss retired.”
    “Emergency leave,” I corrected him, as he led
me over to the plaid sectional and we sat down. It was true, I
explained. Eve wasn’t due for another six weeks, but she suddenly
went into labor after the office holiday party.
    “And the boss had planned his retirement for
some time?”
    “Actually, he was planning on stepping down
at the end of March, but his wife was in a car accident, and she
needed him.”
    “That’s a lot of unusual coincidences, don’t
you think?” Jack’s direct gaze held fast, not letting go. He was
serious. “Was Shaun’s wife at fault in the car accident?”
    “No. It was a hit-and-run,”
I informed him. Watching his reaction, I found myself unexpectedly
disconcerted when I realized he wasn’t happy with the answer. To
him, it meant trouble. A cold, icy chill gripped my soul, and with
it came a dreadful thought. What if someone
made all these terrible things happen on purpose?
    “Did Eve have any problems at the office
gathering?”
    “She...um....” I paused, trying to remember.
Something had happened. What was it? And then it all came back to
me, filling me with inescapable dread. “...felt a sudden stinging
sensation in the back of her leg, lost her footing, and fell down
the stairs in the parking garage. Tovar said she was feeling okay
when she first got back. She just had some bruises, but then she
started having abdominal pain and went into labor.”
    “When’s your case coming up for trial?” he
wanted to know.
    “Late spring. The district attorney tried to
make a deal with another witness, but he balked after he was
threatened, so everything else got pushed back and they reopened
their investigation, trying to develop new leads.”
    “Any other witnesses have trouble?”
    “Just Joe DiMarco. He was my downstairs
neighbor when I lived in Rhode Island.” Poor Joe was found
unconscious in the walk-in freezer of his Newport restaurant. If
his son, Vinnie, hadn’t shown up when he did with the frozen gelato
dessert, my favorite