Where Is Henderson? (Sam Darling mystery #5) Read Free Page A

decided to wait until we were both done with our respective sides of the train car.
    I did take a picture of the vase, and it was the only one I saw. The rest of the car was the same rust red as the outside.
    George and I met at the opposite door and he asked me the same question—“Anything?”
    This time I was able to give him more information. “Yeah, I saw the vase painted on that wall over there.” I turned and pointed in its general direction. “I still think it’s significant,” I said, “and I took a picture of it and also the one outside.”
    “Thanks. Good instinct.” Praise from my beloved. My day was made, and that was no exaggeration. George was sweet and gave me compliments freely. However, for him to say something good about my police instincts, well, that was a fairly infrequent occurrence.
    I think I might even have blushed. George gave me a quick hug and then said, “Okay, it’s time to jump down. You up for it?”
    “Yep. If you go first and help me.”
    Of course that had been what he had in mind anyway. He jumped to the ground, giving lie to the fact that he was the same age as I was.
    When I looked down, it appeared to be the distance from the earth to the moon. “I know I’ll break my leg if I jump.”
    George smiled. “Then turn around, get on your stomach, and scoot until you are more than half-way off. You’ll be able to drop to the ground easily. Plus, I’ll catch you at the same time. C’mon, you can do it, honey.”
    His pep talk was helpful so I said, “Okay.” However, I was still a little nervous. Plus my bottom would be sticking out right in front of the face of my soon-to-be husband. I hoped the sight wouldn’t deter him from marriage.
    I did just as he suggested, although my stomach was tender and scraped from the climb up, and I had the feeling the same thing would happen on the downward “jump.” I inched my way backward until I could feel my legs dangling. Although the idea of all this was scary to me, I felt George hold on to my legs around my knees. I did my best not to think of my bottom near his face and kept progressing on my backward trek.
    Inch by inch I moved, until the balance of my body was out of the car and I had no choice but to push the rest of the way. With a final “Oof,” I landed on firm ground with George’s arms around my entire body from behind.
    I turned, with him still holding me, and said, “I love you.” I kissed him. “Even though this wasn’t a life or death situation, it was scary for me, and you were there as usual.” I kissed him again, and repeated, “I love you.”
    “You are quite the distraction,” he said, and kissed me again. “But I’m on duty and need to get moving.” He started walking, but held his hand backward so I could grab it. “We probably need to set some ground rules for those rare occasions when we work together.”
    “You’re right. Let’s do it later though. I love holding hands while we walk.”
    It wasn’t long before I had to let go of his hand and lean over to gulp some air. “I will… I will… start running… again. I will. And Clancy will appreciate it.”
    I’d been neglectful of my physical health since we got back from Missouri. No surprise. My days were always filled. I worked hard as a part-time therapist at Quincy Community Clinic. On my off time, I was busy with my huge extended family, and planning our wedding. Not to mention my forays into detecting, when George and others allowed it. Today was just a lucky break for me. George had been in a good mood, as usual, but this time didn’t complain about me wanting to tag along. Well, it was a lucky break for me, but not for the poor dead guy.
    As we walked I said, “I wonder how long he’s been dead.”
    “There didn’t seem to be any decay, but that’s probably because it’s freezing. Conrad will let us know his conclusions as soon as he gets done with the post-mortem. He’ll be able to tell if the body was frozen a long