Witness Read Free Page A

smiled. “Yes, we are. I’m Keilah Wilson, and this is my big sis, Bethany Offenkuffler.”
    Keilah extended her hand, and Joe took it. “Hi. Joe Tarleton.”
    “Tarleton?” Keilah asked, her eyes widening.
    “As in Tarleton Detective Agency?” asked Bethany.
    “Well, yes.” He’d have been surprised they’d heard of it if they weren’t standing five yards from the door with his name on it.
    “We’re your new neighbors.” Keilah grinned and gestured toward the future gift shop.
    “Ah.” It figured. If Joe hadn’t been so preoccupied, he’d have guessed that. “So, when’s the grand opening?”
    “Memorial Day, we hope,” Keilah said. “There’s a lot of work to be done between now and then.”
    “We plan to carry a wonderful selection of gifts.” Bethany smiled bigger than ever.
    “So you can pop in any time you need to buy one,” Keilah said.
    “Terrific. And you ladies pop in any time you need a case solved.”
    They laughed and waved as Joe made his escape along the sidewalk, their cheery goodbyes echoing in his ears. Just what he needed. A couple of Pollyannas next door trying to sell him crystal unicorns and Maine shot glasses.
     
    Petra woke to Mason’s frantic barking. She blinked and rolled over to see the red glow of her bedside clock: 1:30 a.m. She sat up, her heart racing. What on earth had excited the dog? Mason usually slept peacefully on his cushion in the utility room.
    She reached for the lamp, then stayed her hand. Instead, she climbed out of bed and tiptoed into the hallway barefooted, relying on the faint moonlight that shone through the windows to illuminate her path. She followed Mason’s barking into the living room to find him batting occasionally at the drape that covered the patio door.
    A shiver rocked her. The hair on her arms stood on end. “Hush,” she whispered. He stopped barking and turned to face her, ears aquiver. Then he looked back to the door and whined. She stole to the side of the drapery and pushed it back with one finger, peering cautiously out onto the empty deck. She stood still, listening. Her throbbing pulse and shallow breath dulled any sounds from outside.
    After half a minute, Mason whined again. She reached to pat him, staring into the night at the hulk that was Rex Harwood’s house.
    “It’s nothing, Mason.” But she knew it was something. He never barked at nothing. She let the drape resume its place. Maybe a raccoon had visited their deck. “Go lie down,” she told him.
    She went back to her bedroom but found she couldn’t dismiss her fears. Every time her eyelids drooped, she stiffened and listened again…for what? She couldn’t stop the images from coming to mind. The woman struggling as the man tightened the scarf around her neck. Harwood had told the police his wife wasn’t due home until tomorrow. Was he sleeping tonight? Or was he coming to get her, too?
    The clock now flashed four o’clock. She knew she would go to work with a headache. Not good. The emergency room nurses at Maine Medical Center needed to stay alert and sharp-witted on duty.
    Petra breathed another semblance of a prayer and slowly forced her muscles to relax, concentrating hard from her neck and shoulders down the length of her body to her toes before finally drifting back into a fretful sleep.
     
    Joe stayed out of the office as long as he could on Friday. The noise from next door was unbearable. Power drills, hammers, circular saws. Then there were the smells. Since the diner closed, the tempting smell of greasy onion rings ceased to waft beneath his door. Now it was paint fumes and cleaning solutions.
    Last night, he broke down and bought an answering machine. He closed out a case he was working on for the insurance company and collected a check. It wasn’t much, but enough to keep his rent check from bouncing.
    One of the dispatchers at the police department had come through for him, and he had a new case. That was a relief, since his last missing