Headline: Murder by Maggie K. Black

Author:Maggie K. Black
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2015-11-15T00:00:00+00:00

TWELVE

The trees parted. A narrow and twisted back road lay at their feet. Water coursed down it like a river. They sloshed in. Daniel grabbed Olivia’s hand. The water was already knee-deep on her.

Rain beat against their bodies as though it was trying to push its way straight through. Branches and debris swirled down the water past them. Southern Ontario was no stranger to harsh late-summer thunderstorms, but he couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen a storm hit this hard. If the rain didn’t let up soon, a lot of the roads would be impassable. And even more rain was predicted to fall before the weekend was through.

The dark, ghostly shapes of abandoned stores and houses appeared ahead of them in the gloom. A small brick church sat by the edge of town. He pulled Olivia toward it. The door was closed, but it opened when he leaned his shoulder into it. They tumbled out of the rain. Olivia held up her cell phone and shone the light over the abandoned space. A couple of broken pews. A few dusty crates of books. An old hand-drawn sign announcing a strawberry social that had no doubt been held a very long time ago. She switched the phone off and slid it back into her pocket. “I still can’t get a signal and the battery is down to five percent.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised if the storm knocked out the cell towers.”

Maybe even the electricity and phones, too. Thankfully, Sarah had escaped before the worst of the storm hit. Hopefully she was safe at the motel now, curled up in the shabby front lounge chatting with the police. Olivia sat on the floor and looked out at the rain. He sat beside her. The motel and campgrounds were probably less than an hour’s walk now. Rain like this came in waves. They’d wait for the next break then start running again.

“I never realized just how many abandoned buildings there were out in the country.” A sad sigh left Olivia’s body. “I can’t imagine having a home and just leaving it.”

Yeah, he’d felt similarly the first time he’d realized such a picturesque world existed commuting distance from Toronto. “Well, a lot of smaller farms and communities are struggling economically. Factories and farms shut down. Stores can’t afford to keep their doors open. Towns die. People leave. Sometimes shutting the door and walking away is easier than fighting for something that no longer seems livable.” He shook his head. “But I was hoping that one day I’d move up here permanently.”

Olivia pressed her lips together. The soft patter of rain and rumble of thunder filled a long pause between them.

“I never had a home,” she said. “We moved constantly when I was growing up, all over Canada and the States. So I lived in a lot of temporary apartments. Nineteen total by the time I left for college. Sometimes I’d just get settled in a school, then wake up the next day to hear we were moving again.

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