Linda Crowder - Jake and Emma 01 - Too Cute to Kill Read Free Page A

shovel.  Now she was glad he had insisted.
    If she should get stuck in a drift, Emma knew the safest thing would be to stay in the car, running the heater for a few minutes at a time, shoveling out the exhaust pipe periodically.  So many people didn’t know that or thought they would be better off trying to find help.
    There hadn’t been anything else to say and the day passed silently, both of them absorbed in their own thoughts.  When Emma awoke, she’d slipped quietly out of bed and stood for a long time under the hot shower, trying to wash away the disturbing image of the body by the fence.
    Jake was eating cereal and reading the paper as she came from the bedroom.  He was dressed casually so Emma knew he didn’t have a court case today.   None of the attorneys Emma knew wore suits except when they appeared before a judge. 
    She poured the coffee Jake had ready for her and joined him at the table.  “Anything about our mystery woman in the paper?” she asked.  He shook his head and continued reading.  Too early, Emma thought.  She finished her breakfast and did the dishes while Jake fed the animals.  Then they kissed a hurried goodbye and headed for their separate offices.
    As Emma pulled into the parking lot at her office, Emma’s thoughts began to center on her schedule for the day and the memory of the woman at the fence faded into the background.
    “You look like something the cat dragged in!”  Kristy Castle was not a flatterer.  Emma usually appreciated that quality in her assistant but this morning she frowned.
    “Happy Monday to you too,” quipped Emma.  “Is that any way to greet the woman who signs your paychecks?”
    “I have automatic deposit,” Kristy replied.  “The computer signs my paycheck.”
    “How about you buy me a cup of coffee and I’ll tell you about my big adventure yesterday.”  Emma unlocked her office door and hung up her coat.  She sat down at her desk, switched on her computer and waited for it to come on line.
    Kristy came in with two cups of steaming coffee.  Putting one on the desk in front of Emma, she settled into the visitor’s chair and sipped from the other.  “You and Jake decide to start working on that family you keep talking about?”
    Emma laughed.  “Not that kind of adventure, unfortunately.”  She told Kristy about the finding the woman, leaving out her own strong reaction to viewing the woman’s body.  Kristy’s eyes widened and she set her cup down on the desk, forgotten.
    “Emma, I can’t believe it.  How did she…? Why your house?  Are you sure you didn’t recognize her?”
    “I’m sure.  I have no idea what happened to her or how she came to be in front of my house.”
    “It’s crazy,” Kristy sighed.  She sat back in her chair.  “You’ll have to let me know what the police find out.”
    “If they let me know.  They might not tell me anything.  I don’t really have any connection to the woman, aside from finding her.  We may have to wait and read it in the paper like everybody else.”  Emma wondered if she would ever know what happened.
    “Well, it’s a good thing you don’t have any clients today,” concluded Kristy.  “You look like hell.”
    Emma didn’t think about the mystery woman for the rest of the morning.  She was a therapist with a busy private practice and Mondays were reserved for paperwork.  She caught up her case notes, resolved issues with insurance billings and wrote an occasional article or blog entry. 
    She never accepted appointments on Monday, unless a client was in crisis, so Monday became a relaxed, casual start to her week.  This Monday Emma was working on a journal article she’d been asked to write.  The tight deadline drove all thought of the dead woman from her mind.
    As Emma was struggling with a particularly troublesome paragraph, Kristy reminded her she needed to leave if she was going to be on time for her Rotary Club meeting.  Emma thanked her and hurried