Distortion Control (A Makayla Rose Mystery Book 3) Read Free Page B

gave me a look as if to say who would? “And now you’re worried about your young man, the sheriff.”
    I had wondered if she knew about Spencer, but of course she did with half the town camped outside the police station. Word must have spread far and wide. “He’s not mine,” I corrected her. “And it looks like for the time being he’s been stripped of his position.”
    I was proud of myself. My voice hadn’t wobbled in the least. While I was scared for Spencer and fearful of whether or not he was guilty, the reality of what I had lived through kept hitting me between the eyes and knocking me off center. Edna pushing me to return to my seat was a good thing because otherwise I might have fallen down. Thinking of falling down , I recalled Spencer’s voice when he had shouted out that someone should catch me as I fainted in his basement. The memory of his concern tightened my chest painfully.
    To combat the softer emotions that began to arise, I told Edna, “Spencer and I were—” Here I faltered and pushed on. “We were…um… something . Now we’re…”
    “ Not something?” Edna suggested, amused.
    I laughed. “Yes.”
    “Well, someone tried to hurt you, Makayla, but they failed.”
    “Did they?”
    Confusion colored her expression. “Well you’re not a ghost pretending to be alive, for heaven’s sake.”
    I smirked. “Of course not. That’s ridiculous. No, I mean, maybe they didn’t intend to kill me in the first place.”
    Edna appeared to consider my words. “That would only work if it was the sheriff. He wouldn’t want you dead, but he might want his wife permanently out of the way.”
    “Edna!”
    I didn’t know how to respond. The thing about Edna was one couldn’t prepare for what would come out of her mouth. She was as direct as Talia, my crotchety upstairs neighbor, but usually held no malice. Edna never bit her tongue but laid out what she thought and darn the consequences. Sure, I thought of the possibility of Spencer being guilty, but I didn’t want anyone else to think so, least of all Edna.
    “I’m just going over the possibilities, dear,” Edna said, echoing my thoughts.
    I sighed. “Of course you’re right.”
    “Do you remember the man’s face?” Edna rose from the table and walked to the counter. She stretched above it to the cabinets that appeared low to me, but I realized someone must have built them to be a custom fit for Edna’s diminutive size. When she brought out two plates, she set them on the table and began dishing baked chicken, potato salad, and green beans for each of us.
    I tried not to salivate, but my stomach grumbled. When I knew I would be dining with Edna, I always had a light breakfast. My older friend loved to feed people more than anything, and I enjoyed being one of her more favored guests.
    “That’s the problem,” I told her, and my appetite took a sudden dip, which worried me. “I don’t remember anything before Spencer rescued me.”
    I decided not to mention the details of how he had found me. If no one had relayed those facts, I wouldn’t. They horrified me, and I wouldn’t be a party to scaring poor Edna worse than she had been when no one knew where I was.
    “A face, a smell, a scent, a sound?” Edna suggested. I smiled.
    “You’re like a regular detective, Edna. Maybe I should employ you to help me investigate.”
    “Investigate?” She shook her head. “No, no, no, Makayla. Leave this to the professionals. Let the police handle it. You remember how you and your friends were almost run down in the street?”
    “I know.” I shivered, recalling. “This has to do with me and, well, Spencer asked me to look into it.”
    Disappointment reflected in her gaze. “I liked him from the start, but I can’t approve of him asking you to get involved with a madman.”
    “Believe me when I tell you I don’t want to get involved.” I clutched my hands together in my lap to keep them from shaking. “I went to visit him, Edna, at