The Puzzle Lady vs. the Sudoku Lady by Parnell Hall Read Free Book Online

mad if I do not do it.”
    â€œHow is that worse than your mother?”
    â€œMy mother does not tell me what to do.”
    â€œWhy not?”
    â€œShe is not here.”
    He smiled.
    She stuck her nose in the air. “You are laughing at me?”
    â€œI’m not laughing at you. You made a joke.”
    Michiko pouted. “I am glad it is funny for you. It is not funny for me. It is like being in jail.”
    His eyes twinkled. “Have you ever been in jail?”
    â€œNo.”
    â€œThen how would you know?”

    He was teasing her. Michiko didn’t like being teased. “My aunt said I shouldn’t talk to strangers.”
    â€œI’m not a stranger. I know your aunt. I just don’t know from where.”
    â€œShe is famous.”
    â€œOh?”
    â€œShe is the Sudoku Lady.” Michiko made a face. “Big deal. I cannot go anywhere that people do not think they know her. You do not know her. You just think you do. Because she wears a silk kimono. Like a costume.”
    â€œAt least she doesn’t have a big red S on her chest.” Michiko looked puzzled. “You know. Like Superman. We have our own superhero in town. The Puzzle Lady. Did you know that?”
    â€œOf course. My aunt came to see her.”
    â€œShe did?”
    â€œYes. All the way from Japan. And I have to come along.”
    â€œYou didn’t want to come to America?”
    â€œNot to be a babysitter.”
    â€œYour aunt has children?”
    â€œNo. To babysit her. I am looking out for her. She thinks she is looking out for me. It is so stupid.”
    â€œWhy does she need looking out for?”
    â€œShe thinks she can do anything. A woman fell and hit her head. Everyone says it was an accident. She says it was murder.”
    â€œReally?”
    â€œIf I do not watch her, she will get in trouble. And—”
    â€œMichiko!”
    Minami was glaring at her from the doorway.
    â€œOh. Gotta go.” She hurried to rejoin her aunt.
    â€œWho is that man?”
    â€œNo one.”

    â€œYou’re not supposed to talk to strangers.”
    â€œHe is not a stranger. He knew you.”
    â€œI do not know him. I cannot leave you alone for a minute.”
    The two of them went out the door, the teenager whining about overprotective aunts.
    Dennis Pride watched them go. Well, that was interesting. He wondered what two Japanese women were doing calling on Sherry and Cora. So she was the Sudoku Lady. Whatever that was.
    Dennis had been in a funk ever since Sherry got married. Yes, she’d divorced him and, yes, he’d gotten married again, to her best friend Brenda Wallenstein. But that was different. Entirely different. He still cared for Sherry. Still wanted her. He’d gotten married because she didn’t want him. But he was there for her. Always. Ready to pick up the pieces. His marriage meant nothing because it was no bar to his desire.
    Hers was different. Entirely different. She hadn’t gotten married in spite of wanting him. She’d gotten married because she didn’t want him.
    At least that’s what she thought. Dennis knew it wasn’t true—that sooner or later she’d come to her senses. Indeed, her marriage had given him hope. It was just the spur she needed to see that she was on the wrong path. Married life, Dennis thought, could soon sour her on that young reporter, a man not worthy of her in any way. She would see what a mistake she’d made, and she would want to fix it. When she did, he’d be there waiting.
    And now this. A rival for Cora Felton. A Japanese counterpart. With a precocious teenage niece. That was good. That had to be good. Anything that stirred the waters, that created controversy. If there was a rivalry between the two, how sweet would it be if he could beat them both?
    At long last, things were finally breaking his way.

Chapter 14
    Jason Fielding was somewhat overwhelmed. His wife was dead. He