Shadow Retreats by Jennifer J. Morgan

Author:Jennifer J. Morgan
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: mystery, amateur sleuth, amateur sleuths, strong female protagonist, cozy mystery series, southwestern fiction, pets in mystery stories, murder mystery series books for adults, mystery series for women
Publisher: Columbine Publishing Group, LLC

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

I found Bella curled up in a chair reading again when I got back to our place. She apparently sensed my energy. “Wow, you’ve been gone a while; guess Abram got your fire going,” she teased.

I laughed, and then my voice turned serious. “Bella, do you have a picture of Jill?”

She set down her book and stood up. “What’s wrong, Libby? Did you find her?”

“I may have seen someone matching the description. I would love to see a picture of her to be sure.”

“If I did, it would be on my phone. And, obviously, we don’t have phones with us so I cannot look.” She moved by me to heat water for tea.

I completely forgot. There had to be a way to get to those phones. Then I had a vision of the monstrosity guarding the compound.

“Where do you think you saw her? I’ve been looking everywhere since we’ve arrived here.”

I didn’t really want to divulge too much about what could only be the staff residence. I certainly didn’t want Bella heading out on her own since I felt sure they’d be on guard now.

“Well, Danny, Shadow, and I were walking the pathways getting exercise. There was a tall girl with blonde hair. Guess that doesn’t mean it’s Jill—but, I did think of her.”

“I think I know the one you’re talking about. I’ve seen her a couple times myself and did a double take.”

Deciding to change the conversation, I asked, “What teas did Badri drop off today?”

“I’m going to have one that says it’s ‘perfect energy’…” she held up the bag.

“Ok, I’ll try that too.”

“Sure you need any more energy?” she smiled.

Shadow was already lying down for a nap after our walk.

“I think I should try to rest for a while before our evening activities.”

“Yeah, I’m a little nervous about what the ‘fire’ activity will be.”

I grinned, kicking off my shoes. Shadow followed me into the bedroom where she plopped down on her bed in the corner. I closed the door and then started hunting for that envelope that Lexi had given me. It wasn’t laying around, so I began searching drawers. When that didn’t yield anything, I opened the closet, looked under the mattress—nothing. Where did I put it?

Bella tapped on my door. “Everything okay in there?”

I opened it up and let her in. “Have you seen an envelope laying around. White … with closures.”

She turned back to the kitchen. “This?” She held it up and I grabbed it from her. “What is it?”

“Lexi handed this to me after last night’s meditation. I think it’s something from JJ but I’d completely forgotten after getting sick.”

I tore into the envelope and there were several sheets of paper. He had handwritten on the top sheet: Call me later after you’ve read through. At first glance on the second sheet, I saw the Pima County Medical Examiner insignia at the top. As my eyes scanned the page, it detailed Bonnie’s cause of death as asphyxiation, due to aspiration pneumonia. There was mention of a known epilepsy condition since childhood.

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.