Tortoise Soup by Jessica Speart Read Free Book Online Page A

life was comatose. I stripped off my clothes and turned on a Bonnie Raitt tape. Pouring a tequila in honor of my Mexican meal, I settled into a bubble bath with my burritos and part of Annie’s stash of letters within reach.
    I opened envelope after envelope, only to discover that what I had stumbled on were old love letters. They had been sent by a man who at one time had been her fiancé. Posted from Nevada, each letter told of a fortune in gold just around the bend, screaming out to be discovered. He would come home to her then. I wondered how long Annie had waited before giving up hope. And what had finally caused her to head for Nevada. I was beginning to discover that everyone has their own reason for deciding to live in the desert. It’s a place where you can find yourself if you’re looking or lose yourself if you choose. Then there are those who are running from something as fast as they can. Annie fell into one of those categories. So did I. I was still trying to figure out which was the perfect fit.
    Visions of Annie in her tub flitted across my mind and I shivered, sliding further down into my blanket of bubbles as I poured another drink. Gut instinct told me that she had been murdered. I also knew I’d never convince Brady to keep the case open. My one hope was Lanahan and what he might find.
    I concede that it’s time to get out of the tub when my fingers reach the consistency of prunes. I opened my medicine cabinet and poked around for any remnants of lotion to slather on my skin, and was confronted by a bottle of Mylanta and memories of Santou. He practically lived on the stuff. In my twisted state of mind, I kept it in order to feel close to him. A pang of homesickness squeezed at my heart in a surprise attack.
    To hell with pride. Picking up the phone, I dialed Santou’s number. I had asked him for space and time. I guess I should also have asked for more frequent phone calls. I listened to the phone ring for a while and finally hung up. It was one in the morning, New Orleans time. I didn’t even want to think about where he could be. I thought about him enough as it was. Every morning, noon, and night, not counting my dreams.
    Terri had warned me that I would be lonely. His advice had been to get a bird. “You don’t have to walk them, and they’ll never break your heart.”
    He was wrong about that. I’d had a parakeet as a kid. It had escaped one day through an open window to perch on a tree. I had begged the bird to come back inside. Instead it had flown away. I should have taken that as a sign then and there that either birds weren’t meant to be caged or I had about as much luck with them as I would in my future relationships with men.
    That night, though I left the lights blazing bright, my demons hit in full force. A mass of maggots swam into my dreams. Emerging from a Pepto-pink milk shake, they crawled up into my bed to swarm on my body, covering me from head to toe. It wasn’t until hours later, as my demons were finally leaving and deep sleep had begun to set in, that I wondered about Annie’s closest neighbors.

Four
     
    Dawn was just creeping up as I started out the next morning. The sunrise, a crimson streak against the sky, stretched like an animal come to life. I barreled down the road serenaded by the demented yammer of coyotes ending their partying for the night. A kit fox loped over a rocky outcrop on his way home.
    I stopped at the Mosey On Inn and stumbled inside for my morning transfusion of coffee along with directions as to where the group of wacko scientists were holed up. I also gave Ruby the news about Annie. Ruby took it in stride.
    “These things happen,” she casually informed me.
    “Being shot in a bathtub?” I asked, surprised by her response.
    Ruby adjusted her chest as she put on a new pot to brew. “Darlin’, there are lots of bodies buried in holes out in the desert. The trick is to make sure you don’t trip and fall in with them.”
    The words