Seaside Secrets by Cindy Bell Read Free Book Online Page A

contained. Puzzled, she looked back at the photographs. She expected to see a young Jason playing with his mother, or even some boudoir photographs of Beverly, something that someone would treasure enough to pay for a safety deposit box to keep them safe.
    Suzie picked up the first photograph and stared down at it closely. What she saw were two strangers standing on the beach at night. The man held a bottle of wine in one hand, and was dressed in a nice suit.  Beside him the woman was dressed in a butter yellow, flowing dress. She was bare foot, with her white sandals clutched in one hand. She was looking up at him, smiling. It felt like a special night between lovers. The man looked to be in his late forties or fifties, and the woman seemed a bit younger.
    In the next photo they were strolling along the beach, their arms entangled with one another. In the next photo they were standing about a foot from one another. The man's expression was grim, filled with arrogance and power. The woman appeared to be frightened with widened eyes. Suzie noticed she had dropped her sandals on the sand by her bare feet.
    In the final photograph in the collection the woman had turned away from the man. She appeared to be in mid-motion when the photograph was snapped, as if she was trying to run from the man. He had his right hand on her right shoulder in an attempt to stop her, and still gripped the wine bottle tightly in his left. Suzie felt extremely uncomfortable.
    The photographs were professional enough to have been used for some kind of advertising campaign. Perhaps there was a reason behind what seemed to be a romantic evening that turned sour. But the fear in the woman's eyes as she look ed at the man towering over her left Suzie feeling sick to her stomach with dread. She gathered the photographs together and tucked them along with the flash drive back into the envelope, which she then stowed in her purse. She put the box back into its slot and then pressed the buzzer for the woman who promptly came and let her out of the room. She walked out of the bank and thought of calling Jason to tell him about what she had found, but she wondered what the point would be. Harry had been adamant about Jason not having them, perhaps because of their disturbing nature.
    Suzie couldn't imagine what would possess her uncle to keep the photographs. Had he been the one to take them? She recalled the artistic photograph they had found in the living room, and the expensive camera they had found in the hall closet. It made sense that he would have been the one to take them, as the stretch of beach did seem to be similar to the beach that Dune House overlooked. However, what was the point of the photos? To record a marital spat? Surely that was all it was. The man seemed overbearing and aggressive, and the woman genuinely frightened, but that didn't mean that one moment captured on film had led to anything dire.
     

Chapter Five
     
    When Suzie returned to Dune House and found Mary and the plumber talking on the porch she briefly forgot about the photographs.
    “ What do you think?” she asked the plumber, who had the name Lester stitched on his gray shirt. She didn't know if that was his first name or last name, and hoped she wouldn't have to use him frequently enough to find out.
    “ Nothing to worry about,” he said with a shrug. “Just a bit of a clog, I snaked it out. If it happens again though we'll have to take a closer look at the pipes.”
    “ Thank you for coming out at such short notice,” Suzie said politely as she pulled out her check book and scribbled out a check for the amount Mary pointed out on the bill of service.
    “ No trouble,” he shrugged again. “Anything for this old place,” he added as he looked over his shoulder affectionately at the large structure. “It's good to see someone finally trying to work to improve it,” he added with a smile.
    Suzie smiled in return as she handed him the chec k. It was nice to know