Credible Alibi. Tyler Anne SnellЧитать онлайн книгу.
Jenna’s name scrolled along the screen. Madi wasn’t about to ignore her friend, even if she’d asked not to be disturbed.
Madi sloshed water out of the tub and with wet fingers answered the phone.
“Hello?”
“Sorry to mess up your quiet night,” Jenna said, diving in. “But, uh, I have Nathan here with me right now and—” There was a rustling sound as she must have moved away from the man. She lowered her voice as she continued. “He wants to know if you and Loraine are done talking.”
Madi gave her reflection in the mirror over the sink a dubious look before grabbing her towel to dry off.
“Come again?”
“Right? That’s what I was thinking when he asked but he said that you called Loraine an hour ago and asked her to come up to your room. He tried calling her to come to dinner but the phone went straight to voice mail. He didn’t want to come up there because he didn’t know the rules.”
Madi felt her eyebrows fly high.
“Why would I do any of that? I wanted to not be disturbed because of Loraine. She was two seconds out from getting popped in the face.”
“Nathan seems adamant.”
Madi sighed.
“Tell him to go ahead and call Loraine again. She was probably just tying up the phone line with her gardener complaining about life.”
Jenna repeated the suggestion while Madi bent down awkwardly. She felt around for the drain plug and shouldered the phone. When a song started blaring from the next room she nearly dropped both.
“What in the world?”
“What?” Jenna asked, voice still low.
Madi pulled the drain plug up and placed it on the counter. She shook her hand off and looked at the door separating her from the small living area. A weird knot started to tighten in Madi’s stomach. She slipped into her robe.
“What’s going on, Madi?”
“I think Loraine might really be in my living room,” she whispered. “A phone is going off.”
Jenna said something, but for the life of her, Madi couldn’t pay attention to what it was. Her focus narrowed to pinpoint precision. She opened the door, ready to confront the woman who was still managing to ruin her day, but found it empty. Or, at least, no one was around.
A cell phone continued to play music from the coffee table. It wasn’t the only thing out of place. A shotgun sat next to it. Madi’s blood ran cold.
“That’s Dad’s.”
“What’s going on, Madi?”
Madi felt like she was falling down some wild rabbit hole. She knew that shotgun. Her father’s initials were carved into the grip. Right next to her grandfather’s. It was supposed to be at the ranch.
Not on her coffee table with a phone that wasn’t hers.
The phone finally stopped ringing. Madi touched the gun, running her finger over her dad’s initials to make sure it was real.
“I’m coming up,” Jenna said, no longer trying to be discreet.
Madi heard the concern, knew she should say something, but another detail caught her attention.
Her bedroom door was closed.
With steps that felt like wading through water, Madi went to the door and swung it wide.
“Oh my God.”
She saw the pearls around the woman’s neck first. The dark red, tight-fitted dress second. The Louboutin pumps third.
Finally, as though her eyes had been reluctant, Madi saw the woman’s red hair. It flowed around a disfigured face covered in blood.
She was dead.
And if Madi were a betting woman, she’d wager that the gun lying on her coffee table had been used to murder Loraine Wilson.
“And you think this is a good idea?”
Chance Montgomery gave him a look filled with skepticism.
“I never said it was a good idea,” Julian admitted. “I just said it was an idea.”
They were standing on the side of the road, their cars parked in front of the town of Overlook welcome sign. It was as quaint as Julian remembered. Worn but filled with charm. Two small spotlights lit up the hand-painted letters. It sent a warm glow bouncing off the hood of his truck.
It probably would have been better to come back during the day but the pull of seeing the Overlook innkeeper had tugged Julian right off the road to his new life.
Chance took his cowboy hat off. He’d been finishing up a personal matter in North Tennessee and had met up with Julian to caravan on the way back to Alabama. He sucked on the toothpick between his lips. He’d gotten it from the diner where they’d eaten an hour ago. In another hour they were supposed to be stopping at a hotel. The next day, Tuesday, they’d be in Alabama at the security firm. Next Monday would be Julian’s first official day as a private bodyguard.
His first official day in his new life.
Yet there they were.
“Well, I can’t really tell you not to do it,” Chance said. “Just that you might want to think it over a little. I can’t say my track record with women has been outstanding but even I’d be a bit worried about rolling into town unannounced. You haven’t talked since you left. That’s a lot of time between then and now. A lot could have changed.”
Julian knew better than anyone how different life could be from one moment to the next. He knew how just one second could irrevocably change everything. He also knew that dropping in after all this time could be construed as too much.
“Listen, I’m not going to go there and stand outside in the rain with a stereo over my head and hearts in my eyes,” Julian deadpanned. “I’m just going to see if there’s an opening at the inn for the night and, if there is, see if she wants to grab a quick meal to catch up. Last we talked she was worried about the inn doing well and I was on the way to a job interview.” He shrugged. “Nothing more or less than a conversation or two. Then I’m back on the road tomorrow. No harm, no foul.”
“And if she doesn’t want you there?”
Julian shrugged again, though he had to admit he didn’t like the thought.
“Then I’m back on the road tonight.”
Chance nodded, conceding to the logic. Plus, he was right, there wasn’t much he could do to stop Julian from taking the detour.
“Well, here’s to hoping she’s not married and keeping your time together a secret from her husband,” Chance teased. He clapped Julian on the shoulder and went back to his truck. Before he got in he paused and grinned. “And if she’s happy to see you, well, then I guess I’ll see you Monday morning.”
Julian watched his friend take off down the road before he got back into his own truck. There he sat and stared at the sign for a moment. It had been over half a year since Julian had seen Madi Nash. For all he knew she could absolutely be married. She could have sold the inn. She could have moved.
She could be happy to see him.
She could wish he hadn’t shown up at all.
Julian scrubbed a hand down his face and exhaled. He’d been deployed six times in his career, three of those in combat zones. He’d set boots down in the dusty heat of Iraq. He’d navigated the islands of Japan with little more than a partially busted radio. He’d