The Lake House Secret, A Romantic Suspense Novel (A Jenessa Jones Mystery) by Debra Burroughs Read Free Book Online Page B

retorted and drove off.
    What is her problem?
    As Jenessa watched her sister speed away, it suddenly occurred to her that she didn’t know what her father drove, except that by the insignia on the key fob it was a Mercedes. Sara had mentioned he had bought a new car a few months after their mom’s death, but Jenessa hadn’t been home since the funeral.
    Standing in the middle of the parking lot, surveying the various vehicles, she noticed there were several different models of Mercedes parked there. She began pointing the key fob at the different cars, pushing the unlock button, hoping for a chirp or flashing lights to tell her which one was his.
    On the third try she found success.
    “Oh my!” A thrill zinged through her body and lit her up with delight when the dark blue SLK 250 Roadster beeped and its lights flashed. Driving this was definitely a step up from her rattle-trap.

Chapter 7
    Jenessa rushed to the sleek sports car and her gaze glided slowly over it, admiring the beauty for a prolonged moment. Giddy with anticipation, she opened the car door and let the pent-up heat rush out before sliding behind the wheel.
    She stuck the key into the ignition and fired it up. After flipping on the air conditioner full blast, she caressed the luxuriously soft, ivory leather seats as she listened to the finely tuned engine purr.
    She shifted into reverse and carefully backed out of the space. Pulling the car out of the lot and onto the street, Jenessa relished every second she spent behind the wheel. As she headed toward home, she had the wild idea of taking the two-seat Roadster for a spin a few miles out of town, up toward Jonas Lake. She wanted to open it up and see what this baby could do.
    Before she had the chance to play Mario Andretti, her cell phone began jingling in her purse. She pulled the sports car over and dug it out, but she did not recognize the number. “Hello.”
    “Jenessa, this is Charles McAllister.”
    “Hello, Mr. McAllister. What can I do for you?”
    “First, call me Charles, since we’re going to be working together.”
    “Okay, Charles. What can I do for you?”
    “I know you weren’t planning to start work until next Monday, but a pretty big news story just broke and I need someone with experience to dig into it. I was wondering if you’d want to start work early and take it on.”
    A big news story? In sleepy Hidden Valley? “Yeah, sure, I don’t mind. There’s not much to do until the funeral. Aunt Renee is handling most of the details. What’s the story?”
    “A body was found up by Jonas Lake.”
    “A body?”
    “Well, remains actually. My contact in the police department gave me the heads-up and I’d like to send you up there to investigate.”
    “Did your contact say how the remains were discovered?”
    “Seems a new cabin is going up, just at the foundation stage. The owners and their dogs were walking around the place, checking on the work, and the dogs started digging. It appears, from what the police have found so far, when the contractor broke ground for the foundation, he must have partially unearthed the remains.”
    “I’ll head out there right now.” Worked for her. Now she had a legitimate reason to head up to the lake. “What’s the address?”
    She jotted down the information on a small notepad she kept in her purse. She was always prepared—you could take the job away from the reporter, but you couldn’t take the reporter away from the job. “I’ll report back to you this afternoon on what I discover.”
    “Terrific. Thanks for stepping up. I’ll wait to hear back from you.”
    Excited for the thrill of the drive and the breaking news assignment, she was already going more than twenty miles per hour over the speed limit before she hit the city limits. Still a half mile or so from crossing the line, she heard a siren blaring behind her. She glanced up into the rearview mirror and saw the dreaded blue-and-red flashing lights.
    She took her foot off