The Secret Keeper by Dorien Grey Read Free Book Online

the bedroom.
    *
    Assuming for the moment that I wasn’t being paranoid in thinking that the shooting and Jonathan’s being followed were related and did have something to do with Clarence Bement’s death, the most logical explanation for it was that somebody for some reason thought Jonathan knew something he shouldn’t. What that might be, I had no idea, and doubted if Jonathan did, either.
    From what he’d said, only two other people had seen him with Bement—the housekeeper and Bement’s grandson. Since I couldn’t imagine the housekeeper luring him out to an isolated road or driving a Mercedes, plus the fact that it was a man who had called him, on the surface at least, that narrowed the field down quite a bit.
    From what I’d gathered, Bement had a pretty dysfunctional family, and the lure of money is always a strong motive for murder. Then again, that raised the question of how anyone else in the family could even have known about Jonathan.
    Jonathan had told me Bement said something about his housekeeper spying on him. If he was being serious, that might open the door a bit wider. I made a note to definitely have a talk with the housekeeper, and also with the grandson, Mel…Fowler.
    If it was not the grandson, there was the possibility that whoever took a shot at Jonathan might not even know exactly what he looked like. Since he drove a rather easily identifiable pickup truck with “Evergreen” on the doors and tailgate, and it had been parked frequently at Bement’s home, it wouldn’t be necessary to know what the driver looked like to target it.
    At least, that’s what I hoped. It was a weak theory, but it was also another reason I wanted Jonathan to take my car to work the next day.
    *
    “I think you should take Joshua to Happy Day and pick him up until we leave,” Jonathan said as we dressed in the morning. “I don’t want him with me.”
    I understood and shared his concern. “I can do that,” I said, “but assuming whoever it is doesn’t know what you look like, it’s your truck he’d be watching for so it’s best that we keep Joshua away from it. You’ll be driving my car, which he won’t recognize, so I’m sure you’ll be okay.”
    He thought a minute, then said, “I suppose.”
    I was tempted to follow him to work, but if I was right about the shooter only recognizing the truck, it wouldn’t be the brightest move to follow Jonathan around in it. Instead, I left the house when they did and arrived at work a few minutes early. Though I knew Marty wouldn’t be at work yet and would call me as soon as he could, I left another message for him.
    I didn’t want to tie up the phone by calling the airline for reservations until I heard from Marty, so began my customary coffee/newspaper/crossword puzzle ritual more as a matter of habit than with any real interest. 
    At eight thirty, just as I was only halfheartedly paying attention to the crossword puzzle and struggling to find a three-letter word for “unworldly and vague” (fey), the phone rang.
    “Hardesty Investigations,” I said on picking it up, though I hoped it was Marty. It was.
    “What’s up?” he asked. “Two calls—it must be important.”
    “It is,” I replied, and quickly told him what had happened. “I know it could just be a freak accident,” I said, “but I wouldn’t be calling you if I didn’t think there was some validity to Jonathan’s belief.”
    “I understand. Where’s the truck now?” 
    “In the parking lot right across from my office. I had Jonathan take my car today.”
    “Better safe than sorry,” Marty said. “I’ll send somebody over to take a look at it.”
    “You want me to meet them at the truck?”
    “That won’t be necessary. Just give me a description and the plate number.”
    “I don’t have the plate number, but you can’t miss it. It’s got ‘Evergreen Nursery’ on the doors and tailgate, and I’ll run down and unlock it and tell the lot attendant.” I then