BooksBarbecue
Back Season of Fear Save as PDF
Chapters (67)
  1. Contents
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright Page
  4. PROLOGUE
  5. PART ONETHE EXTREMES
  6. 1
  7. 2
  8. 3
  9. 4
  10. 5
  11. 6
  12. 7
  13. 8
  14. 9
  15. 10
  16. 11
  17. 12
  18. 13
  19. 14
  20. 15
  21. 16
  22. PART TWOSOMETHING BAD
  23. 17
  24. 18
  25. 19
  26. 20
  27. 21
  28. 22
  29. 23
  30. 24
  31. 25
  32. 26
  33. 27
  34. 28
  35. 29
  36. 30
  37. PART THREECHAYLA
  38. 31
  39. 32
  40. 33
  41. 34
  42. 35
  43. 36
  44. 37
  45. 38
  46. 39
  47. 40
  48. 41
  49. 42
  50. 43
  51. PART FOURHIT AND RUN
  52. 44
  53. 45
  54. 46
  55. 47
  56. 48
  57. 49
  58. 50
  59. 51
  60. 52
  61. 53
  62. 54
  63. 55
  64. 56
  65. 57
  66. EPILOGUE
  67. AUTHOR’S NOTE

‘What’s that?’

‘If I wanted to kill Diane Fairmont, she’d already be dead.’

10

The day washed away.

Peach and Annalie sat in cheap folding chairs on the beach at Honeymoon Island, which was connected to the Gulf coast by a causeway from the town of Dunedin. Peach propped her leg on a third chair. She’d twisted her ankle as she landed, and it was tightly taped with an athletic bandage she’d bought at Walgreens. Her other foot dipped in the hot surf. Her body ached, and she had scratches on her face and arms. Whenever she moved, she felt the grit of sand inside her clothes.

Annalie’s phone rang, playing a song by Gloria Estefan. ‘Rhythm is Gonna Get You.’ Peach watched Annalie check the caller ID and ignore it. It wasn’t the first call she’d ducked.

‘Do you need to be somewhere? You don’t have to hang out with me.’

‘No, I don’t need to be anywhere,’ Annalie replied, shoving the phone back in her pocket. She wore a wide-brimmed yellow hat, and her face was shadowed from the sun. ‘Saturday afternoon at the beach is pretty great, particularly since I thought I’d be working all day.’

She toasted Peach with a tilt of a warm beer bottle. Offshore, speedboats sliced the waves. The beach around them was crowded and noisy. Dozens of seagulls dodged the children and picked at the foam. Pelicans skimmed the surface with lazy wings. They sat in the midst of the calm water, near an uprooted palm tree half-buried in the sand. A cooling breeze took the edge off the heat, but when Peach closed her eyes, she felt the burn on her face.

‘You change your mind about calling the police?’ Annalie asked. ‘If some guy’s out there pretending to be a cop, they should know.’

‘They’d say it was all about Justin and drugs,’ Peach said. ‘They’d figure that’s why I was there, too. Besides, I can’t get the police involved in anything without talking to Deacon and Ms Fairmont.’

‘Justin was murdered. This isn’t political.’

‘Everything’s political.’

Annalie shook her head. ‘Well, it’s your call. Just watch your back, okay? You can identify this guy, and he knows it. Maybe he’s the one who killed Justin, did you think about that?’

‘Yeah, I thought about it,’ Peach said.

She’d thought about it, but she didn’t believe it was true. She didn’t think the killer would risk coming back, not after the police had already torn Justin’s life apart. Whoever the man was in Justin’s apartment, he was looking for answers, like her.

‘You don’t believe his death was about drugs, do you?’ Annalie asked.

‘I have no idea.’