Dead Drop by Jack Patterson (reading cloud ebooks txt) 📕

“Yes, yes. Everything is fine. Why do you ask?”

“There’s a policeman in our front yard.”

Rebecca got up and peered out the window. “That’s strange. Why don’t you go clean up for supper?”

Mason bent over and picked up a handful of the papers strewn about the floor. “What’s this?”

She snatched it out of his hands. “Oh, it’s nothing, Son. Go get cleaned up like I said.”

He scampered upstairs and was out of earshot when an officer rapped on the front door.

“What do you think that’s all about?” Elizabeth asked.

Rebecca shrugged and walked toward the door to open it. “My day can’t get any worse, no matter what it is.”

“Can I help you?” she asked.

A pair of officers stood at her door. The officer closest to the door looked down, holding his hat in his hand. “May I come in, Mrs. Westin?”

“What’s this all about? You’re starting to scare me.”

“It’s about your husband.”

She gestured for both officers to come inside. “What about him?”

The officer stepped inside and swallowed hard. “You might want to sit down for this.”

“No, tell me what you came here to say about my husband right now. Is he in jail or the hospital?”

“No, ma’am. Your husband was shot today during a bank robbery, and he passed away before any medical help arrived. I’m really sorry, Mrs. Westin.”

Rebecca staggered toward the couch. She couldn’t believe the swirling emotions inside her. A few minutes ago, she would’ve killed him herself if she had the chance. But now?

She started to sob. Elizabeth sat down next to Rebecca, placing her arm around her grieving friend.

“Thank you, officer,” Elizabeth said.

He handed her his card. “I’m sure you’ll have more questions later. Tell her she’s free to call me whenever she feels up to it to discuss all the details and what funeral home she wants us to deliver his body to.” He paused. “I’ll show myself out. Again, I’m really sorry, Mrs. Westin.”

Rebecca didn’t look up at him, continuing to sob.

“What is it, Mum?” Mason said as he descended the stairs.

She didn’t answer.

“Mum, what’s wrong?”

***

THREE HOURS LATER, Rebecca was starting her second bottle of wine and had no intention of stopping. She slumped into a chair in the living room and wiped away another set of streaking teardrops.

Elizabeth came down the stairs and settled onto the couch.

“Is he asleep?” Rebecca asked.

“It took him a while, but he finally stopped crying and fell asleep.”

“Thank you for staying with me.”

“Do you want me to stay here tonight? I can call Bill and ask him to drop over some clothes.”

Rebecca shook her head. “No, you go home and kiss your husband. You don’t need to wallow with me in my misery all night.”

“Just promise me you’ll stop drinking, Becs, okay? That’s not going to help you tonight.”

“It’ll help me sleep.”

Elizabeth picked up her coat and sighed. “I’m not your mother, but please consider what I’ve asked, all right?”

“Fine,” Rebecca said as she put her glass down on the coffee table in front of her. “I’ll take your advice.”

“I’ll call you in the morning. I’ll clear my schedule and help you do whatever you need help with.”

Rebecca got up and hugged her friend again. “You’re the best.”

Her phone started buzzing on the coffee table.

“Don’t answer that unless you want to,” Elizabeth said. “And don’t be afraid to tell people that you just need some time.”

“I won’t. Don’t worry.”

Elizabeth gave her another quick hug before exiting.

Rebecca locked the door behind her and walked back into the living room where her phone was still buzzing.

She glanced at the name on the caller ID. It was normally something that would make her smile, but not tonight.

“My god, Becs, are you okay? I heard it on the news.”

“I’ll be fine, just more relieved than anything that it’s over. The bastard served me divorce papers this afternoon after he disappeared and went to the bank.”

“Well, you won’t have to worry about him any more.”

Rebecca picked up her glass of wine and took another sip. “Is it a good idea for you to be calling me right now?”

“Nobody is going to catch us. I’ve been good about covering my tracks. Besides, there’s nothing odd about me calling you tonight. It’d be expected, in fact.”

“I hope you’re right. I’ve got enough things to worry about right now.”

“Well, at least you won’t have to go through a nasty public divorce now, will you?”

She forced a smile. She wanted it to be more authentic than it was, though she still wasn’t sure she should be exhibiting any signs of happiness at the moment. If anyone were watching her, she wouldn’t want them to get the wrong idea—or the right one.

CHAPTER 5

CAL SCROLLED THROUGH his Twitter feed and resisted the urge to write back to at least a half dozen classless responses to his post about Sid Westin’s death. Cal felt his blood pressure rising as he kept reading. He was breaking one of his hard and fast rules: never read the comments. But he also had another rule that required him to: always keep a pulse on your readers.

In half an hour, the Seattle Football Club—or Seattle FC as they were more commonly known—would commence a press conference detailing anything they’d learned from police about Westin’s death and how they planned to honor him. If it had been any other player, Cal suspected they would’ve waited for another day or two before commenting publicly. But Sid Westin wasn’t just any other player.

Cal interviewed Westin for a feature story less than two years ago and spent an entire day with him. He got to know Westin’s son and nanny when he hung out at his house. He met everyone in the family except Rebecca, who was out of town playing at a charity golf tournament. The profile article was well received and helped Cal curry favor with Westin. Not that Cal was trying to do that, but he generally liked Westin after following him around and meeting his family—and