[01] Dying to Read by Lorena McCourtney

Author:Lorena McCourtney
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Mystery, Romance, FIC022040, FIC026000, Women private investigators—Fiction
ISBN: 9781441238221
Publisher: Revell
Published: 2012-07-31T16:00:00+00:00

12

Cate dodged behind the only available shelter, an oversized barbecue grill with a metal hood.

Before Cate could say anything, Texie yelled, “Get out of here! You have no right to—”

A crash and clatter—gunshot! The sound blasted through the quiet backyard like an explosion.

Am I hit?

Cate flexed body parts, almost frozen with shock, grabbed her thigh when something bit into it, then realized it was only the rocks still in her pockets. She warily peeked over the top of the grill. Texie just stood there, looking as stunned and shocked as Cate felt. They spotted something at the same time. The gun! It lay on the concrete patio, only a couple of feet from the grill. Cate lunged for it, and they met with a crash of heads. Cate saw spinning stars from the impact, but she managed to snatch the gun first.

She stood with the gun shakily pointed at Texie. Although she didn’t really know what to do with it. Her dad had taught her to shoot a rifle, but she knew nothing about handguns. She wanted to look at it to try to figure it out, but she also didn’t want to take her eyes off Texie.

“You shot at me,” Cate accused, voice as shaky as her hands on the gun.

Texie snapped out of her daze. “I didn’t shoot at you! I accidentally knocked that stupid table over, and the gun went off when it hit the ground. Now give it back to me.” She held out her hand.

Cate realized now that the table was indeed sprawled on its side, but she warily backed away and just stood there, undecided what to do. She didn’t have to contemplate the problem of her ignorance about guns for long. Mitch grabbed the weapon out of her hand and held it as if he definitely knew what to do with it. Cate didn’t remind him she’d told him to wait in the car. She was too glad he was here beside her.

“Okay, what’s going on?” he demanded.

Cate saw now where the bullet had blasted a ragged splinter off the side of one of the wooden posts supporting the patio cover. It had missed her by only a few inches. Shattered glass littered the patio, and iced tea spread an amoebic pattern dotted with ice chips over the concrete. Texie’s book lay on the concrete too.

Texie didn’t apologize about the gun. She held a hand over her eyebrow, apparently the impact point of their collision, and glared at Cate. “What are you doing here? Who told you I was here?” She didn’t wait for an answer, and her voice gathered steam and volume. “It was Doris, wasn’t it? Nosy old blabbermouth Doris! Did she tell Radford too? But I’ll bet she didn’t tell you she had just as much reason to kill Amelia as I did, and maybe she pushed her down the stairs!”

Cate tried to assimilate the barrage of questions and information. The first thing that hit her was that Texie was admitting she had reason to kill Amelia, but the next item was more startling.

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