Queen Of the Night (2010) by J a Jance

Author:J a Jance [Jance, J a]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2011-01-14T19:13:27+00:00

Tucson, Arizona

Saturday, June 6, 2009, 11:00 p.m.

72º Fahrenheit

Once Diana showed up, Brandon let Damsel out for her last walk. When they came back in from that, Diana was sitting in the living room studying the baskets.

“How was it?” he asked.

“How was what?”

“The party?”

“Abby wasn’t there,” Diana said.

“Abby?”

“Abigail Tennant. She’s been doing the night-blooming cereus party for years. She was the one who originally invited Lani to do the storytelling honors tonight. It’s not good manners to issue that kind of invitation and then be a no-show yourself.”

Brandon shrugged. “Maybe she came down with something,” he said.

“It’s still rude,” Diana insisted. “How was your day?”

Diana had been so distant of late that Brandon was a little surprised by her question. “Geet Farrell’s wife called and wanted me to stop by, so I did.”

“I remember Geet. How is he?”

“Not so good,” Brandon answered. “I’m afraid it won’t be long now.”

“I knew he had cancer. Are you saying he’s dying?”

Brandon nodded. “They’re doing hospice care at home,” he said.

“Why did he want to see you?”

“He handed over a case file to me—an unsolved homicide from 1959.”

“That’s a while ago,” Diana said, smiling.

“It is,” Brandon agreed. “I’ve spent the afternoon going over what he had, including a lead that came in just before they slapped Geet in the hospital this last time. I called the woman tonight after I got home. She lives down by Sonoita, and she invited me to come see her. I’m driving down there tomorrow morning. Want to come along?”

“Tomorrow?” Diana asked. “If the case is already that old, why the big rush now?”

“Because, as I said, Geet is dying,” Brandon said. “This case is one that has deviled him for years. If it turns out to be solvable, I’d like to do that for him before it’s too late.”

Diana nodded. “I see,” she said.

“Would you like to ride along?”

“Could we take the Invicta?” Diana asked. “With the top down?”

Brandon started to object. It was June, after all. It was likely to be hot as blue blazes, but this was the first time in a long time that Diana had shown much interest in anything. Besides, the last he had heard she wanted to unload her pride and joy. It would be fun to take it on one last road trip.

“Sure,” he said. “We’ll plaster ourselves with sunscreen and wear hats and long-sleeved shirts, but it sounds like fun. Are you coming to bed?”

“You go on ahead,” she said. “I’ll be there in a while.”

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.