Dig Two Graves by James Harper (best inspirational books txt) 📕

That might have been enough to cut her out of the will.

It was all useful background information. His gut told him that the answer was most likely in there somewhere. But it didn’t help him with his immediate problem of finding Bella. That’s what the man sitting beside him cradling the steering wheel so lovingly was for.

‘Do you know what Thomas has hired me to do?’

‘I can guess. To find Arabella.’

‘Got it in one. That’s the same Arabella that made you change the subject with all the subtlety of a punch in the nose when I brought up her name last time.’

Leon keep his eyes on the road, his mouth shut. Evan hadn’t finished anyway. He counted the points off on his fingers.

‘Arabella suddenly reappears after thirty years just as her father is about to die. Her father is a very private man who has kept his illness under wraps. Yet somehow she knows about it because I don’t believe in coincidences like that. Somebody is feeding her information. Maybe it’s Aldrich. Except he’s the new kid around the house, never even knew her. That means it must be somebody else. Somebody who’s close to the family, who’s been around so long he’s part of the furniture. Who would you put your money on?’

Leon continued to concentrate on the traffic as if Evan’s voice was nothing more than the background drone of the radio announcer. Evan let his words sink in and a couple minutes later they pulled to the curb outside the terminal building. He opened the door, didn’t get out.

‘There’s one more thing you need to know.’ He waited until Leon turned his head, his face deadpan. ‘Somebody tried to kill her yesterday. My guess is they’ll keep trying until they succeed. The only reason they didn’t yesterday is because of me. If I can’t find her, they’ll probably get lucky the next time, or the time after that. It’s worth their while persevering, after all. We both know how much money is at stake. I’m only glad that if they do succeed, it won’t be on my conscience.’

They held each other’s stare for a long moment. Then Evan got out his wallet, shook a business card loose, tucked it in Leon’s top pocket. Gave it a double pat to make sure it was safe.

‘Tell her to call me. Or she can find me in the Jerusalem Tavern like last time.’

6

The next morning Evan was sitting at a table in the window of The Rusty Spoon diner eating his breakfast when his phone started to vibrate its way across the table. He put down his fork and caught it before it escaped over the edge, his pulse quickening at the sight of the unknown number on the display.

‘Evan Buckley?’

A man’s voice. His heart sank. And it wasn’t even Leon calling with Bella’s number.

‘That’s me.’

‘This is Detective Liam O’Brien of the Boston PD. I was wondering if I could have a word with you.’

‘Sure, go ahead.’

‘I meant face to face.’

There was no way he was getting on another plane and heading back to Boston two days in a row.

‘You should’ve called me yesterday. I was in Boston.’

There was a slight pause that made Evan think of an irritated head shake at a missed opportunity. What followed proved how wrong he was.

‘That’s okay. I’m not in Boston myself right now. I’ll come to you. Where are you?’

‘Having breakfast in The Rusty Spoon.’

He’d have expected an exasperated, where the hell’s that? from somebody from out of town.

Wrong again.

‘I’ll be there in ten minutes.’

The line went dead before he had a chance to reply. He thought about the conversation as he finished his breakfast. It could only be about one thing. Bella. Then he spent a while thinking about coincidences. And that made him pick up his phone again, send Guillory a quick text. He wasn’t one to append a line of kisses to his messages, and he didn’t do it now. But he did add something that was more likely to get her pulse going.

URGENT.

He put the phone in his pocket rather than leave it sitting on the table, thinking about her face when she read the text and the indignant outburst the word urgent would provoke, when he saw O’Brien coming down the sidewalk. He didn’t scream cop at you like some of them did, but it would’ve been in the top five if you had to guess.

O’Brien spotted him with equal ease, made him hope it wasn’t because he had a sleazy PI look about him. He half stood to shake hands, O’Brien’s grip firm and reassuring. He gave Evan a quick flash of his gold shield, then sat down.

‘Thanks for meeting me at such short notice.’

‘No problem. Should we wait for your partner?’

The cop shook his head.

‘He’s got other things to do before we head back. This shouldn’t take long.’

They waited while the waitress came over with a refill for Evan and took O’Brien’s order.

‘The eggs and bacon are good,’ Evan said, wondering if he should have a second helping.

O’Brien patted his stomach. It wasn’t easy to see through his shirt but Evan got the impression of something flat and ridged like a washboard under it.

‘Gotta watch my weight. Just coffee for me.’ This to the waitress.

‘How did you get my number?’ Evan said.

‘The bartender in the Jerusalem Tavern gave it to me. And your name. It’s a nice place.’

Evan was reminded of the evening before last when he met Bella there. She’d said the exact same thing.

‘Yep. Some people would say I spend too much time in there.’

O’Brien smiled like he knew how it was.

‘My wife says the same thing to me. Actually, it’s the Jerusalem Tavern I wanted to speak to you about.’

Evan shook his head.

‘I don’t think they’re hiring. But I’ll put in a good word for you if you like.’

They both laughed, him more than O’Brien. He wondered if Guillory had picked up the text yet. Or done anything about it.

‘I saw you