Deadly Notions - By Elizabeth Lynn Casey Page 0,54
purse, she extracted the vibrating phone and glanced at the caller ID screen, the name stretching her mouth into a wide smile as she looked at the pair on the blanket once again.
“Hi, Milo.”
“Hey, beautiful. Any chance you have a few minutes for lunch?”
She winked at Mr. Downing. “Actually, I’m finishing up my lunch right now.”
Disappointment filled her ear. “Oh. I was hoping that maybe I could see you.”
Turning her focus back toward the blanket, she noted the way his shoulders slumped as he held his cell phone to his ear. “You can.”
His shoulders pulled upward. “When?”
“How does right this very second sound?”
“Right this very second?” he echoed as Beth’s shoulders took over the task of slumping.
“That’s what I said.” She knew she was teasing, being deliberately evasive, but talking to Mr. Downing had boosted her spirits.
“Where are you?”
“Watching you.”
“Watching—” He stopped then looked left and right until he finally spied her sitting on the bench at the base of the tree. “There you are.”
“Here I am.” She heard Mr. Downing chuckle as Milo flipped his phone shut, thrust it into his pocket, and then jumped to his feet, his long legs making short distance of the gap between them.
When Milo reached the tree, he spread his arms wide. “I had no idea you were here.”
She closed her eyes as he held her tight, reveling in the feel of his nearness. “I stopped by Leeson’s and picked up a sandwich, figuring I’d take it back to the library to eat. But when I walked past the Green, I couldn’t resist a little time in the sun.”
Slowly he released her, stepping back in the process. “Why didn’t you tell me you were there?”
“I’d just noticed you when Mr. Downing”—she swept her hand in the direction of the elderly man on the bench beside the pathway—“started talking to me.”
She felt Milo studying her, knew he saw right through her words. “Is that the only reason?” he asked.
“I think so,” she said honestly. “I hope so, anyway.”
“Milo! Come quick!”
They both turned to see Beth cowering on the picnic blanket, her hand pressed to her mouth. In a flash, Milo retraced his steps, Tori on his heels. “Beth? Are you okay? What’s wrong?”
With one hand still covering her mouth, Beth raised her other hand and pointed toward the cropping of trees that lined the northern border of the Green. “Someone—someone was watching me.”
Milo whirled around. “Tori, you stay with Beth and make sure she’s okay.” And then he was gone, his feet pounding against the asphalt pathway that wound its way toward the trees.
As he disappeared from sight, Beth slowly lowered her hand to her lap to reveal the megawatt smile that was as much a part of her exterior as the hair that cascaded down her back. “The prince always comes to his princess’s rescue, doesn’t he?”
Chapter 20
The worry in Nina’s eyes said virtually everything Tori needed to know. Dixie’s drumming fingers simply filled in the gaps like the thump of a sledgehammer.
“Are you okay, Miss Sinclair?” Nina asked as she walked through the door. “I was getting worried.”
“You do realize your lunch is only supposed to be forty-five minutes, don’t you?” Dixie crossed her arms in front of her chest. “As head librarian you really should know better.”
“I’m okay . . . now. And yes, Dixie, I’m aware of how long my lunch break is supposed to be.” Tori crumbled her plastic grocery bag inside her hand then tossed it into the trashcan behind the information desk. “Things just . . . Well, let’s just say that something came up that was out of my control.”
Nina exhaled a rush of air. “I’m just glad you’re okay. I was worried, especially when I heard the police siren.”
A police siren in response to a false claim.
She shook her head, the action as much to placate Nina as it was to free her own head of the realization that had come the moment Milo ran toward the woods.
Beth Samuelson was a liar, of that she had no doubt. And the motive for those lies was clearer than ever. Beth wanted Milo and she’d stop at nothing to get him back. Even if that meant lying to the police.
For a few moments Tori had actually considered calling the woman on her trumped-up claim, but in the end, she’d let it go, opting, instead, to sit back and watch the whole thing play out. Even when it resulted in Beth nearly jumping into Milo’s arms the moment