Frosted on the Ferris Wheel Read Free Page A

forehead furrowed with lines. The first hint of doubt.
    She continued to speak, urgency growing with every word. “I know it’s no coincidence he ended up here of all places. This land, which has been abandoned for months, he purchased last month. It can’t be coincidence.”
    The man’s face lost the doubt, turning sharp and intuitive. “What do you know about that, Judy? Tell me.”
    Holly took another picture.
    Judy bit her lip and brushed at a dried tear. “Not much. Just what I overhead from late-night phone calls. Dave kept this all very hush-hush. He didn’t want me to know about it.” She looked over the property at the foundation that had been dug and the piles of rocky earth. “Though I’m not sure why. This place isn’t anything special or much to look at. It’s like the rest of his properties...” She let her words trail off as if she already spoke more than she intended.
    “Rest of his properties?” the man asked, now extremely curious. “What properties, Judy? You must tell me. It might help with the investigation.”
    She forced out a laugh. “You probably know more about that than me. It was work. And that’s a big part of his life that he only gave me the vaguest of details. Like when he sold a mansion worth a couple million.”
    “Hmm. I see. I’ll look through my stuff at the office. You check around at home. Maybe together we can figure out the whole picture. Meet me for dinner tomorrow night in town?”
    Judy nodded. “Thank you,” she whispered. “I should tell you one more thing.”
    The jackhammering started up again while she spoke. Holly dug her heels into the soft earth in frustration. Of course, just when she was about to drop the biggest piece of information. She tried to read Judy’s lips to no avail. “The rubber ducky has launched?” Holly silently laughed. Right. “Your words are like glue to me.” After that Holly quit.  
    Ears ringing, she tried to catch a peek of the victim. Broken, jagged cement lay in a pile. They were about to pull out the body. Was he killed before or after the cement? They’d find out later. Given her relationship with Trent, it would be even harder to get answers from him. He’d share nothing, not wanting to put her in danger, and not wanting to feed her hunger to solve a mystery.
    The jackhammering stopped. Crowds drew closer, blocking Holly’s view. She wasn’t sure she wanted to see the body anyway.  
    “Are you sure?” the man asked Judy.
    “Yes. Positive.”
    “What about—”
    A blue uniform stepped from the crowd and approached Judy and the man. Holly froze. It was Trent. His cap was pulled low. He strode toward them with the intimidating confidence of a detective. Chief Hardy watched from the distance, taking in the scene.  
    She had to get out of there. Dressed in a sweatshirt, hood pulled up, and wearing sunglasses already made her look suspicious. Charlene’s motto of get-in and get-out needed to be activated.  
    Holly inched away, slowly, as Trent talked with Judy and the man. Every minute brought her closer to safety.
    Until she bumped into someone.

    ***

    “Oh, I’m so sorry. This ground is rocky and so hard to walk in heels.”
    Holly didn’t need to turn around to know who it was. Millicent. She’d recognize that voice anywhere. When they first met, Millicent had been a nice, sweet person. She had turned out to be anything but a friend.
    “Um, apology accepted.” Holly attempted to disguise her voice, and she didn’t turn around but kept her snail-crawl pace away before Trent or Chief Hardy recognized her.
    “I’m a reporter with the top newspaper in Fairview. What have you seen so far?”
    “Not much.” Holly spit that out, trying not to scoff. Top newspaper? More like top source of lies. Drivel. Cheap entertainment. Complete joke.
    “I see a body is being pulled from what looks like cement.” When Holly didn’t answer, Millicent spoke lower, her words choppy and in phrases. “Body chalky gray,