A Temporary Ghost (The Georgia Lee Maxwell Series, Series 2) by Michaela Thompson

Author:Michaela Thompson [Thompson, Michaela]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: booksBnimble International Mysteries Thrillers and Suspense
Published: 2013-11-07T07:00:00+00:00

A MOTORCYCLE RIDE

At midnight, I was sitting on a chair next to my bedroom window, hugging my knees, staring out at the dark. I was thinking about Twinkie. When she was a kitten, I’d pick up feathers and bring them home to her. She loved them. She’d pounce on a feather, roll around with it, chew it, kick it with her hind legs. I assume she knew instinctively it was part of a bird. It wasn’t a bird, though. It was only a feather— a wrecked and mangled one after she finished with it.

I asked myself if I was on to something substantial here, or was I kicking my hind legs at trivialities? Bird or feather?

The bird argument went like this: Alexander was the solitary motorcyclist. He hadn’t, as he’d claimed with a straight face, landed in Nice this— now yesterday— morning. He’d been here, lurking in the woods at least part of the time, since the day we went to Les Baux. His motorcycle had been parked in front of the Auberge de Ventoux in Beaulieu-la-Fontaine yesterday afternoon. He was probably in this vicinity when Pedro went off the cliff. If he had no sinister motives, why sneak around and lie?

The feather argument went: You didn’t see Alexander. You saw a Yamaha motorcycle and a Bingo’s Buckaroo BBQ bandanna. Maybe he borrowed the cycle from somebody yesterday, when he got here.

Sure. Some Frenchman who happens to have a handkerchief imprinted with the name of an unmistakably American restaurant.

It’s possible. The French love American-sounding stuff. What about those “University of Harvard” sweatshirts you see?

All right, all right. I still think—

But you don’t know. That’s the point.

I didn’t know. Which made it too soon to lay my bird at the feet of Constable Reynaud, or some more enthusiastic member of the police force, and risk having it recognized as nothing but a feather after all. The best I could do was talk to Alexander and keep an eye on him. The worst I could do was let him know my suspicions.

After formulating this semblance of a game plan, I allowed myself to go to bed. When I finally fell asleep, I had nightmares. Pedro’s body was lying in the rain at the foot of the bluff. He got up and walked toward me, rain pouring from his eyes. Paralyzed with horror, I allowed him to kiss me, a soft, tender kiss that woke me in a gurgling panic. Day was breaking before I got back to sleep.

I woke late, only to discover, via Marcelle, that Constable Reynaud had phoned and summoned Vivien to sign some papers. She and Ross had driven to Beaulieu-la-Fontaine more than an hour before. “I answered the telephone when he called,” Marcelle told me. “I believe it has to do with the disposition of Monsieur Pedro’s body.”

“The disposition of his body? Already?”

She raised an eyebrow. “That’s what he said, Madame.”

What else had I expected? I’d known Constable Reynaud wanted to get this foreign and unwelcome case closed fast.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.