Candy Apple Dead by Carter Sammi

Author:Carter, Sammi [Carter, Sammi]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Mystery & Detective, General, Fiction
ISBN: 9780425205327
Publisher: Penguin
Published: 2005-04-15T07:00:00+00:00

Chapter 14

It was nearly seven o’clock when I left the Playhouse, frustrated by my conversation with Vonetta and several hundred dollars deeper in debt. Vonetta could be wrong about Chelsea, but she’s such a great judge of character I had trouble patching the holes she’d punched in my theory.

The rich aromas of grilling beef spilled onto the street from the Timberline Grill next door, making my stomach clench and reminding me that I’d skipped lunch. Since it was already dark, I gave up on my stroll past Man About Town and decided to take care of my hunger pangs instead.

I grabbed a Whopper, fries, and a Diet Coke at Burger King and carried everything back to my apartment. While I ate, I made a list of Brandon’s friends, their phone numbers and addresses. Surely one of the people on my list would know where to find Chelsea. They might even be able to confirm Vonetta’s story.

Maybe I was grasping at straws, but it felt good to be doing something constructive. Maybe Chelsea wasn’t capable of murder, but she was the only other person who’d floated to the surface as a possible suspect, and I wasn’t ready to let go of her yet.

By the time I polished off the last fry, I had a game plan. First stop, Urban Ross, Brandon’s closest friend. If anybody could identify Iris Quinn’s mystery man, set my mind at ease about Brandon and Elizabeth, or corroborate Vonetta’s story, Urban was the man.

I thought about calling him, but people can hide too much over the phone. I wanted to see his face while we talked.

I tossed the trash, grabbed a sweatshirt, and headed out the door. The storm had moved out of the valley at last, but the temperature had dropped when the sun went down, and I could see my breath as I walked to my car.

After living in Sacramento for so many years, it felt good to be back where I could enjoy the changing seasons, but I’d forgotten how it feels to live with freezing temperatures in September. I cranked up the heat and set off for Paradise’s residential district.

Old maps of Paradise divide the town into distinct sections, with Chinatown running along the creek bed and Swede Alley just above that. Follow Swede Alley half a mile north, and you’ll find yourself surrounded by modest single-family houses and apartment buildings. This is where you’ll find the schools and all the less glamorous businesses no town can survive without.

I drove until I found the address the phone book had listed for Urban Ross and pulled up in front of a small duplex. One side of the lawn was littered with toys. Urban’s black pickup sat in the driveway of the other, right in back of his Harley-Davidson.

I parked on the street and hurried to the door where I could hear the TV playing. The sound died away when I rang the doorbell, and a few seconds later the porch light flared to life.

Urban is short with the solid build of an athlete.

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.