HELL'S HALF ACRE a gripping murder mystery full of twists (Coffin Cove Mysteries Book 2) by JACKIE ELLIOTT (diy ebook reader txt) 📕

hike out there in the first place. If the location is significant, or the killer wanted a message sent, then he or she had to be confident the body would be found.”

“Good point. Not many people go traipsing through the woods, there are too many old mineshafts. You have to know where they are.”

“OK, boss.” Andi yawned. “I’m bushed, so I think I’ll call it a day. I need an early night. Tomorrow night is the belly dancing display and Cheryl’s expecting a crowd.” She pulled a face.

Jim laughed. “As senior reporter for the Coffin Cove Gazette, I expect you to attend.”

“I thought you were the senior reporter?” Andi retorted.

“No, I’m supervisor to the senior reporter, remember? And you’d better get off. You’ll need an early start. As soon as your inspector sees the headline tomorrow, he’ll be trying to shut you down.”

Andi grimaced. “I know. Still, all is fair in love and war, right?” She gathered up her purse and said goodnight.

* * *

Andi didn’t usually worry about a story after she’d submitted it. But although she was tired, she couldn’t sleep that night.

She flung back her bedcovers, padded over to her kitchen area and drank a large glass of water.

Damn it, she was concerned about Andrew Vega’s reaction to her short article. If she was entirely honest with herself, she’d written it in a fit of self-righteous pique after their phone conversation the other day. Andrew had been so patronizing. She hated being talked down to, as if she was naïve about the potential impact of her investigation.

As Andi sat in the darkness, she had to admit she’d used Constable Beaufort’s inexperience for her own ends. Just to get back at Andrew. And that wasn’t right.

What was wrong with her? Why did she care what he thought of her? Hadn’t she had enough of trying to please men? She’d spent so much energy — to no avail — to get Gavin’s attention, and that had ended in disaster. She couldn’t make that mistake a second time. Problem was, she really liked Andrew Vega, and she was certain he liked her back. But that would likely change when he read her article tomorrow.

Andi put down her glass and went back to bed. As she pulled up the bedcovers, she decided this was one more sign she wasn’t ready for another relationship. Not for a long time.

Chapter Eighteen

Kevin Wildman sniffed. Something was wrong. The smell had intensified. He’d ignored the unpleasant odour in his apartment for how long? A day? Maybe two, he thought. Yeah, two days. He’d been too busy checking forums and blog sites on his laptop, and there were so many now, it was hard to keep up. So much important information the government was hiding from everybody. He had to be ready. There would be a revolution. A day of reckoning, he was sure.

Daylight was showing through the threadbare curtains Kevin kept closed at all times. When he’d found this apartment, it was the perfect place to crash. But now he was worried he was being watched. He knew he was being watched. The red light on the camera attached to the Smoke Room at the end of the strip mall was always glowing.

It was hard to see, because Kevin’s apartment was all the way at the far end of the strip mall. Kevin’s “apartment” was a ramshackle affair built over the Coffin Cove Bookstore. All the other stores had flat roofs, but at some time in the past, someone had tried to make a little living space above this one. At first Kevin had been delighted with the clear view of the Smoke Room and the parking lot from the small side window, like a sentry guard in a tower. But now he wasn’t so sure. If he could see everybody, maybe everybody could see him? He felt exposed. And now, the red light seemed to be angled towards him. Kevin tried to keep out of view, making sure the curtain was always pulled closed, and crawling around the two rooms on all fours. He’d stopped leaving the apartment unless it was absolutely necessary. When he had first noticed the red light, he’d investigated at different times during the day, running down the stairs at the back of the apartment and along the overgrown parking lot to the Smoke Room, gazing up at the camera to see if the light was still on.

Now Kevin knew that was a mistake. He’d given away his location. Now they knew where he was. Ricky had vanished ages ago. But they were still watching him.

Kevin had spent many hours fixated on the small red halo. Whenever the Wi-Fi signal from the nearby trailer park dropped out, Kevin would crouch down below the grimy window, making notes of his observations. He was sure the red light blinked at him sometimes. He just didn’t know what it meant.

Kevin stood up shakily. It was possible the smell was coming from him. He’d smoked a lot of weed, popped some pills. He must have eaten. There were pizza boxes scattered on the floor. But he wasn’t certain how long they had been there. And it was hard to keep clean here. The water was still on and the toilet could flush, although it had been blocked for some time. It had overflowed, and all his piss and shit and the pages he’d ripped from the old books downstairs and used to wipe himself had spread over the wooden floor of the small two-piece bathroom. Kevin had just shut the door.

Kevin had noticed this potential living space back when he was working for Ricky. These stores in the strip mall were abandoned. Some had plywood in the windows and large padlocks on the doors. But the old bookstore had an outside metal staircase leading up to the second floor. At the top of