Body in the Basement (Hearts Grove Cozy Mystery Book 12) by Danielle Collins

Author:Danielle Collins [Collins, Danielle]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Fairfield Publishing
Published: 2020-08-03T16:00:00+00:00

“It had to be sand, didn’t it?” Ralph said, kicking out one foot after the other as streams of loose sand trailed out, carried off by a stiff wind coming from the water.

“He chose the place, not me,” Henrietta said with a gentle shrug. “Though you could just take off your shoes.” She indicated the sandals she held in one hand.

“Not likely,” he said.

She grinned and they continued up the beach toward the pier. It wasn’t a very large pier, but mostly used by tourists who came up the coast from Port Angeles to visit quaint Heart’s Grove in the summer months. It stretched out into the water enough that some fished from the end, but most ended up taking photos of far-off Canada and selfies in front of the beautiful view.

As they drew closer she could see the shadowed figure of Abe beneath it. Out of habit she checked behind them.

“No one’s following us,” Ralph said, reading her actions. “I’ve been checking.”

“I just feel…uneasy.”

“With what you accused Abe of I’m not surprised,” Ralph spoke without malice, but it was clear that he thought she was wrong in her assessment. Partly, that comforted her, but it also worried her. Ralph had excellent gut reactions and the fact that he disagreed with her was telling.

As they approached, Abe held up his hand and beckoned them under the pier. With a sideways glance at Ralph, still seeing that comfortable look on his face, she followed Abe deeper into the darkness.

“Have a seat,” he said, indicating a large U-Haul blanket spread out on the cool sand. That was unexpected.

“Thank you,” she said, sliding down to her knees then into a sitting position. Ralph did the same, creating a type of triangle between the three of them as Abe joined.

“I’m sorry for the secrecy,” he began, his gaze dipping to his sandy feet crossed in front of him before he looked up to meet Henrietta’s gaze, “But this was for the best.”

“You’re going to need to explain a few things,” Ralph said.

“Absolutely.”

“Are you working for the Deep Water Corporation?” Henrietta blurted. She’d been considering her line of offense and had landed on directness. It was easy to see the shock on Abe’s handsome features, but she needed to see if it was genuine. “Well?”

“Sheesh, Henri,” Ralph said. “Give the man a minute to catch up.”

“I—wait. What? How do you know about the Deep Water Corporation?”

Henrietta’s stomach plummeted. “So you are?”

“I—no! Wait, why do you think that?”

Some of the tension eased. “We need the truth here, Abe. You’ve been acting strangely ever since you found the skeleton in my basement with the card that linked to the DWC. I need—we—need to know that you’re on our side.” When she said it like that, she felt a little too dramatic, but time was too short for that.

“I’m not, nor have I ever been, anything other than the lead detective of Heart’s Grove PD. I promise you that.” His gaze pierced into hers, unflinching. She believed him.

“I’m very glad to hear that.

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.