Tax Assassin by Claudia Hall Christian Read Free Book Online Page B

office. Her stiff walk was as
tight as the bun on her head and support stockings. Rachel tugged
on his hair. She laughed when he looked back at her.
    The woman stopped in place.
    Happy to have his full attention, Rachel
showed him the new trick she’d learned from her elder brothers and
sisters. She clapped. Before she could stop herself, the woman
drifted over to them.
    “ She looks just like Andy,”
the woman whispered.
    Knowing better than to say anything, Seth
nodded. The woman sniffed.
    “ Did Andy get a chance . .
.?”
    “ They met once, when she
and Sandy met,” Seth said. “Just a few hours before she
died.”
    “ I know I don’t have a
right, but . . .” The woman looked up at Seth and
held her arms out. “May I?”
    He smiled and set Rachel in her hands.
Rachel clapped.
    “ She just learned to clap,”
Seth said. “She’s pretty happy about it.”
    “ That’s very good,” the
woman said.
    “ This is Rachel Ann,” Seth
said.
    “ Nice to meet you, Rachel
Ann.”
    Rachel put her hand on the woman’s cheek as
if she wanted her to say her name.
    “ I’m Jocelyn,” the woman
said.
    Rachel looked at Seth as if he was to
facilitate the introduction. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw
the head librarian peek out of his office.
    “ Jocelyn is the Colorado
historical librarian,” Seth said to Rachel. “She knows everything
about anything that happened in the state. She was a good friend of
your grandmother, Andy Mendy, and . . .”
    He leaned forward as if he was telling
Rachel a secret.
    “ She doesn’t like me
much.”
    Rachel looked surprised and looked at
Jocelyn. The librarian gave a tear-filled laugh.
    “ Did you bring her to
soften me up?” Jocelyn asked.
    “ Sandy thinks her first
tooth is coming in,” Seth said. “She asked if I would keep an eye
on her. Rachel and I are old friends. She came two months early. We
had a hard fight to keep her with us.”
    Jocelyn’s eyes scanned Seth’s face. She
nodded as if she understood.
    “ Why are you here?” Jocelyn
asked.
    “ I wanted to look at the
tax records from 1913,” Seth said.
    “ Death of the tax agent?”
Jocelyn asked.
    “ How’d you guess?” Seth
asked.
    “ The CBI looked into it a
few years ago,” Jocelyn said. “Why are you interested?”
    “ I’m following up on a case
for an old friend,” Seth said. “Might be a link to the tax agent’s
death.”
    Jocelyn’s mistrustful eyes watched him as if
he was a deadly snake.
    “ You know, Sandy has all of
Andy’s belongings,” Seth said. “It’s taken a while, with the baby
and everything, but I think she has a few things for you. We
weren’t sure . . .?”
    “ Like what?”
    “ Old photos, mostly,” Seth
said. “A few concert photos; there’s a cute one of you and Andy
performing outside . . .”
    “ Probably The Pops,”
Jocelyn smiled. “We played coast to coast in ’69 and ’70. You were
redoing high school.”
    Seth smiled. Rachel made a loud “Bah!” and
Jocelyn looked back at her.
    “ She likes to talk,” Seth
said. “Sandy has her husband’s kids and her teenage brother and
sister. Rachel’s used to lots of chatting.”
    Jocelyn smiled at Rachel and then squinted
at Seth.
    “ The death of the tax agent
is one of my favorite stories,” Jocelyn said. “Did you know
that?”
    “ Not until Les told
me.”
    “ What do you want to
know?”
    “ Anything you know,” Seth
said. “Never know what might lead us to the killer.”
    “ You think the person who
killed this guy is still killing people?” Jocelyn asked.
    “ Yes, Jocelyn, I think the
same person is killing people across the country,” Seth
smiled.
    “ Zombies?”
    “ Vampire
probably.”
    “ I thought zombies were the
thing now.”
    Seth smiled.
    “ How many
people?”
    “ I know of sixty,” Seth
said. “I’m guessing maybe four hundred over the last hundred years
or so.”
    “ Four hundred people.”
Jocelyn’s voice went low with disbelief.
    Seth smiled. She