Death on the Coast, M Comley [book club books TXT] 📗

“Brendon? Brendon?” She looked at her phone and saw the signal had disappeared. She wasn’t sure at what point in the conversation she’d lost him, but hoped he’d gotten the gist of where she was. She sat and decided to wait a bit to catch her breath before she went back down to meet him. Brendon would probably chase her off, anyway. He needed her to show him exactly where the glass was, so she took her time.

Her thoughts went back to Mark and his suspicious behavior. She wondered again if he was having an affair and had decided to leave her? She had huge doubts he would have done it that way, though. For one thing, he’d need his job. Unless he’d already found another. She supposed that scenario was always a possibility.

Tears pooled. She’d hoped, no, dreamed, for the best when she’d married him. By this point, Lucy had envisioned herself pregnant or maybe even having given birth. Mark would be the proud father, and his goal of teaching their child and bringing it up in a happier atmosphere than the one he’d grown up in would be the glue that held them together.

She picked up small pieces of loose rock and threw them at the water, even though they fell far short. The village was picturesque and clean. Their neighbors cared for one another, and even though their tiny house was no castle, they could afford it and would be able to update it as more money came in. She didn’t want much from life. Her husband. Children.

Then Brendon’s face flitted through her confused mind. Lucy couldn’t deny that he’d stirred tingling feelings inside her. He was the darker, stronger, and more mysterious character of the two. She couldn’t picture Mark being anything more adventurous than the schoolteacher he was. Brendon, on the other hand, inspired a sense of adventure, discipline, and deeper emotions than most people gave him credit for.

Lucy checked her phone to see how much time had passed and decided he’d probably arrived at the park below by now and would be heading up. If she left now, they’d meet up at the designated spot at about the same time.

She wasn’t ashamed to admit to herself that she needed his strength for a few moments. There was a niggling fear inside her. Not only was Mark missing, there was a part of her inner self that had been missing for a long time—long before Mark had left. Lucy knew where it was hiding, and that scared her even more.

“I wasn’t sure if you’d understood all of my call,” Lucy shouted to Brendon, who was climbing the path toward her.

He gave her a thumbs-up and held out his phone, evidence bags, and more yellow tape. She couldn’t lie. It felt good to be included in an ongoing investigation. It made Brendon and her partners.

“So, what did you find?” he asked, coming closer.

Lucy held up her hand to stop him in his tracks. “Hang on right there. I’ll show you.”

Brendon waited patiently and his gaze drifted the length of her body several times as she walked toward him. A thrill shot through her veins.

As Lucy came close, she got a waft of his aftershave and the slight breeze whipped his hair against his cheek.

“There, in that clump of grass I marked,” she said, pointing. “It looks like glass to me. I saw it glint in the sun.”

Brendon, bent low and with gloves on, carefully parted the fronds of the seagrass and lifted out the glass with his fingertips. He dropped it into an evidence bag and marked it. He withdrew his camera and snapped some shots.

“So?” she prompted him.

“If I had to guess, it looks like part of a lens from a pair of eyeglasses. It might be glass, or it might be hardened plastic. But, you see the way it enlarges whatever you see on its far side?”

“I think you’re right,” Lucy agreed.

“Back off, if you will. I’m going to call in some men and comb this whole area. This is only one piece, and there might be more. This on its own could be a valuable clue.”

Lucy stepped back, checking behind herself. She looked up at him and locked gazes with a thoughtful Brendon.

“Good spot, Luce,” he said softly.

She nodded and smiled, pulling the hair away from her cheek and mouth. “I’ll leave you to it, then.”

“Sure. That might be best.” There was a catch in his tone, a catch which she pretended not to hear.

“No word from Mark yet?” he asked, hesitantly. It was a voice completely disconnected from his official duties.

Lucy shook her head. “Not a word.”

Brendon waited a moment too long and then said, “He’ll turn up. I’m sure of it. Just give him time.”

He turned quickly, and spoke into his radio. As she made her way back down the path, she heard his request, “Yeah, I need two officers up here. We have discovered some evidence in the latest murder case.”

Lucy brought Len a half dozen of Sal’s cinnamon sugar donuts and an extra-large coffee.

“What’s up?” he asked, frowning.

“Nothing, not really. I just needed some undisturbed time on the computers with the paper’s database, so thought I’d come in early.”

He’d pried off the lid and had already bitten into the first concoction. “That shouldn’t be hard. You’re not here enough for anybody to know you work here. No reason for them to disturb you.”

“Okay, okay, I get it. But you’ll be sorry when I crack this case and you’ve got the detective and best reporter on the payroll.”

“Did I hire someone new?”

Lucy swallowed the snarky retort. “Funny, Len, really funny.”

Lucy shut the door behind her and went into what served as the newspaper’s morgue. It was a combination of old issues, converted to microfilm, and a computer with subscriptions to high-level databases. In fact, Len wouldn’t deny that some of the access might even be a little illegal.

The computer’s screen flipped into life, and she brought up