Bittersweet by C. J. Carmichael

Author:C. J. Carmichael
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Mystery
ISBN: 9781951190088
Publisher: Tule Publishing Group, LLC
Published: 2019-07-18T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Sixteen

Zak went to bed with Nadine, slept a few hours, then was awake at three. Nadine had her back to him. Out cold.

Quietly he eased from under the down comforter, planting his feet on the cold plank flooring. He grabbed his clothing from the chair next to the door and got dressed in the bathroom. If he couldn’t sleep, he might as well go home and keep his cat company. This living part-time at home and part-time at Nadine’s was beginning to get old. He wondered if she ever thought of moving in together. He was reluctant to bring the subject up, since obviously it would be her house they’d end up in, because horses were rarely permitted in basement suites.

Watson put on a show of not caring less that his so-called master was home. He didn’t even bother to come out of whatever hiding space he’d found until after Zak had settled on the sofa with a mug of instant cocoa he’d made in the microwave.

If this was an old-time western, and he was playing the part of a stymied sheriff, Zak had no doubt he’d be drinking bourbon. But any man who grew up with an alcoholic father either became an alcoholic himself or set stringent rules around alcohol consumption.

And for Zak, drinking alone was a very rare thing.

He drank his cocoa and wondered what the hell he was missing.

Focusing on the men Sybil had met on the online dating site seemed a no-brainer. There was nothing else going on in her life at Lost Trail that raised alarm bells.

Everyone loved and valued her.

No one they’d interviewed had been able to name a single person who might wish her harm.

But obviously there was such a person. Was it possible the same man was skulking around town, targeting children? The only thing connecting the two was the facial hair, the man’s age, and a cowboy hat.

In a small county like this one, though, it was difficult to believe two serious crimes could be going on at the same time and not be connected.

He wished Debbie-Ann had taken a picture of the man in the park today. From her description in the detailed statement she’d given Kenny, the man might have been either Rick Wright (in cahoots with Marty Thomson) or Dr. Zane Elser. But how did it make sense to abduct a woman past middle age and then go after a prepubescent girl?

*

May 7

Tuesday morning, Zak went back to Sybil’s house. How handy if criminals really did head back to the scene of their crime. In his experience, however, this was a myth.

Using the key he’d taken from Sybil’s purse, he let himself in the back door, then proceeded to tour through the rooms. He took his time, hoping to see something he’d missed in the adrenaline-fueled first days after Sybil’s disappearance.

The house had been vacant for less than a week, but already it felt colder, cheerless, neglected. Not even Sybil’s bright pillows and colorful artwork could alter the air of despondency in the place.

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