Dark Night--A Mystery by Paige Shelton

Author:Paige Shelton
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: St. Martin's Publishing Group

Twenty

I looked at Mill sitting on the edge of my bed, absently picking at a fingernail. She was disappointed I hadn’t gotten anything important out of Lucy.

“Do you … like her?” I asked. “I mean, you don’t seem to be bothered by her.”

Mill frowned. “I guess I just don’t dislike her as much as everyone else seems to. She’s had a rough life.”

“She’s a thief.” We knew that much for sure.

Mill shrugged. “Sometimes the backstory explains everything. Now, I can’t say I need to know more of her backstory, but maybe she’s just done things she feels need to be done. If anyone knows about that, it’s me, I guess.”

I nodded. “Hey, let’s go to the Petition.”

“Even with the storm?” Mill said, though she sounded more excited than critical of the idea.

“Even with. I have a call I want to make anyway. I don’t want anyone to hear it.”

“Now that sounds interesting.” Mill smiled.

The trip wasn’t easy, but my truck and its tires were up for the challenge.

At the Petition, Mill made herself at home as I cranked the heat and lifted the mini blinds over the window.

I grabbed my burner phone and punched in Dr. Genero’s number. Disappointingly, she didn’t answer. I left a message, attempting not to sound like I was worried. Apparently, I wasn’t successful.

“Beth,” Mill said when I folded the phone closed, “you okay?”

“I am. I really am.” I paused. “I’m concerned about me sleepwalking and what might have happened when and if I did, but sure, I’m fine.”

“Darlin’, if you’re sleepwalking, there are ways to keep you safe. You didn’t kill anyone, don’t worry about that. We can put a monitor on you at night, maybe on your bed. It will beep if you get up.”

“That sounds fabulous,” I said flatly. I wanted to believe her, that there was no way I could ever kill anyone. There wasn’t any evidence that I had—well, except maybe for the now-removed blood on my doorknob.

“I know you’re worried, but there are ways to help us understand what might be going on. That’s all I’m saying. Viola will be happy to monitor you after I leave.”

“I’m sure she’ll love that.”

“I bet we can just order something online. A buzzer, a bell, something that might electronically send messages. I don’t know. Let’s look.”

“We can order anything online, Mill, but we don’t get consistent deliveries out here. It will take a while.”

Mill frowned. “Man, that’s irritating.”

“Not all the time.”

“Okay, let’s put a bell on your door in the meantime. We’ll figure something out.”

I might have had a clever comeback about the bell, but my phone buzzed. I grabbed it too quickly and flipped it open, almost dropping it.

“Dr. Genero?” I said as I put it to my ear with too much force.

“Beth, I’m sorry I missed your call. How are you?”

Dr. Genero was one of the country’s foremost brain surgeons. She had immediately answered my calls more times than I could remember, and she always apologized when she had to ring me back.

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.