Left to Murder (Adele Sharp #5) - Blake Pierce Page 0,55

hand, she had two glasses of iced tea held by the lip—the ice clinked appetizingly against the glass and the cool, amber liquid.

“Take your time, dear. I’m still going to be cleaning inside. Holler if you need me. Don’t run off with that thing; it’s expensive.”

Adele nodded quickly. “I won’t, I promise.”

“I believe you.”

And then the lady, still limping, moved back in, her pink shirt fluttering as she exited the porch once more, leaving Adele with a glass of iced tea and the small iPad displaying the recordings from the Ring device.

Adele scrolled through the files and found the day in question. She went back to the start of the morning from the previous day, and then settled in, sipping on the iced tea, and playing the video at four times the pace. Her eyes remained fixed and anytime she felt the urge to blink she paused the video. It would take a while, but it was worth it. Soon, she felt certain, she would find something. The killer had to have taken a straight shot. A direct drive from the wine-making shop, to where he had dumped the body. It was the only possibility.

And so Adele waited, watching, her eyes fixed on the screen.

***

Afternoon arrived, witnessing Adele still sitting on the white bench, facing the rope swing dangling from the tree, and scrolling through the iPad.

The old woman popped her head out of the screen door for the second time in the last hour. She had a plate of cookies and extended them to Adele.

Adele looked at the chocolate chip cookies and winced. “Sorry, I shouldn’t.”

The woman looked downright offended. “You should; a skinny girl like you. Come on.”

Adele chuckled, but then, with a gracious nod, accepted one of the cookies. She took a bite, and decided to never turn down cookies from old ladies ever again. It was the single most delicious thing she’d ever tasted. For a moment, she felt a strain of sadness. Adele thought with a pang what her own mother would have been like if she was allowed to reach a certain age. Would she have been able to make cookies this good?

Instead of retreating back into the house this time, the lady moved out onto the porch. The four-year-old boy who Adele had spotted from before was now peering through the window, just above them, sitting on the windowsill in the kitchen and watching her watch the iPad.

The bench creaked a bit, as the lady leaned down onto it and sat. Her pink shirt pressed against her, and she heaved a steady breath.

“Are you all right?” she said to Adele.

Adele looked over. “I’m fine, still looking. I found a few cars, but none of them fit our description.”

The old lady nodded once. She had a glass of iced tea in her own hand, and took a long sip.

“Don’t you sort usually work in pairs?” she asked.

Adele, her eyes still glued to the iPad, felt a buzz in her head, the ache of staring at a screen so long, but still had the wherewithal to nod once. She saw no harm in maintaining decorum.

“Well, what did your partner do? He piss you off?”

Adele chuckled. “What makes you so sure it’s a he?”

“Pretty girl like you? No other option.”

Adele looked over, and then grinned. “Maybe. That’s very kind of you. You’re quite beautiful yourself.”

The older woman laughed. Now shaking her head, and causing her iced tea to clink with the cubes against the glass. “Mighty heavens what a bald-faced compliment.”

Adele continued to scan across the iPad.

“Mind if I give you a prayer?” the woman said.

Adele felt taken aback for a moment. She looked over. “A prayer?”

The woman shrugged. “Helps me when I’m trying to find things. Lost my keys the other day, I prayed, two minutes later, I found them. Lost Elijah last week, prayed, found him. He was beneath one of the orange trees out back, trying to smoosh flies into the fruit. Slow but sweet, like I said.”

Adele stared, and laughed. “Well, can’t see how it would hurt.”

The old woman nodded once. She didn’t close her eyes and she didn’t bow her head. She instead looked across the road, toward the path. In a stern, serious voice, she said, “Good Lord, there is a pervert roaming around. I hope you help this pretty young lady catch them. Thank you and amen.”

Adele took another sip from her iced tea, her eyes still scanning the image in front of her. She could feel the exhaustion