Over Troubled Water: A Hunter Jones Mystery Read Free Page A

look and laughed.
    “Has B.B. got enough stuffed animals and mobiles?” she asked, tossing her backpack onto the bed that had been moved to one corner and covered with a bright hand-made quilt.
    “Well, I think that’s what comes of not being willing to tell people whether it’s a boy or girl,” Hunter said. “People don’t know whether to get pink or blue, so they go for toys.”
    Bethie said, “They won’t even tell me. I’m hoping it’s a girl.”
    “No point in hoping,” Hunter said to her. “Baby Bailey’s already one or the other, and you just have to wait and find out. Hey! I hear the timer. Mallory, you’re faster on the steps than I am. Would you go and get the pineapple-upside-down cake out of the oven?”
    “I wondered what smelled so good,” Mallory said.
    “Did you get photos of China Carson and Jim Jordan?” Hunter asked later as Mallory set up her laptop computer on the coffee table.
    “Yep. Like you said, they both had photos in their personnel files – the ones they used on their IDs. Jim Jordan’s is okay, but I’ve got to find something else for China. Her Board of Ed picture was taken back when she first started working there. Since then she’s lost about 50 pounds and gotten really fit. I guess the bike riding was part of that. Anyway, the last time I saw her, she looked beautiful and had her hair cut shorter and streaked. I just don’t think it would be right to use one of her old pictures if we can find a newer one.”
    “I agree,” Hunter said, “So where are you looking?”
    “On Facebook,” Mallory said. “One of her cousins is on my friends list.”
    Two hours later, part of the pineapple-upside-down cake had been devoured, and Bethie was reading herself to sleep. Hunter and Mallory finished up their plans for the next day’s deadline and settled into a rambling conversation.
    Mallory told Hunter that her twice-widowed father, Jack Bremmer, was going to marry Sue-Ellen Larson. Hunter ventured that Sue-Ellen was a nice woman and Mallory agreed and said, “She wants him to buy another house.”
    Hunter considered the fact that Jack Bremmer’s first two wives had died in the house, and said tactfully, “I can see somebody wanting to start fresh. I really would love to have more room and so would Sam, but he is so picky about the quality he wants and how much land he wants.”
    Hunter’s phone rang. Miss Rose Tyndale wanted to know if Mallory was with her, because she hadn’t come home to her apartment, and Hunter winked at Mallory and assured Miss Rose that Mallory was safe.
    “Well, I suppose I could have just called her,” Miss Rose said, “But I don’t want to be too grandmotherly, and I did want to ask you about what happened today.”
    They talked briefly about the shooting on the bridge.
    Then Miss Rose said, “I heard Annie Chapman’s Andy wouldn’t let his sister into the house when she got here, which is ridiculous. It was their mother’s house, and they certainly can’t have read the will yet. The way it happened was that four or five ladies from First Baptist had come with food, and he told them just to put the food in the kitchen, and didn’t say so much as thank you.
    “So while they were still putting things into the refrigerator, Sunshine got there from Macon, and he just stood in the door and told her she couldn’t come in. The ladies tried to persuade him to let her in, but Sunshine told them not to worry about it, and she left. Anyway, she’s staying at Hilliard House.”
    “Sunshine’s her real name?” Hunter asked.
    “Oh, yes,” Miss Rose said. “Sunshine Elizabeth, if I remember correctly. She was in the last class I taught at the high school. Sweet girl. Her brother – well, he’s an odd one. Always has been. Smart as a whip, but odd.”
    “Did Miss Rose keep up with you when she was your landlady?” Mallory asked after Hunter got off the phone and relayed the information about Annie Chapman’s son and daughter.
    “Not