The Alpine Xanadu Read Online Free

conclusion, I noticed Milo standing across the way at the back. I decided that was my cue for making an exit.
    The sheriff noticed my departure. By the time I got out into the vestibule, he was waiting for me. He didn’t look happy.
    “What’s wrong?” I asked, craning my neck to stare up at him. The more-than-a-foot difference in height between us always made me feel as if he were looming over me.
    He glanced around to make sure nobody was lurking in the alcovesor on the stairway. “Mulehide. She’s driving up here later this afternoon. Did you buy the crab already?”
    “No,” I said. “I haven’t had time. Can you come later?”
    His big hands clutched at his regulation hat as if he wanted to rip it to shreds. “No. She’s staying at the house. Linda Grant hasn’t got any heat. Her furnace went out last night.”
    Linda was the high school P.E. teacher and an old chum of Tricia’s. The last time Milo’s ex had come to town, she’d spent the night with Linda. “Oh, damn! Can’t you …” I stopped. “No, you can’t leave her there by herself. She’s probably worried sick.”
    Milo looked as disappointed as I felt. “Maybe she’ll take Tanya back to Bellevue. If I walked out on Mulehide, it would only give her an excuse to make me miserable. She already figures I’m responsible for every one of our kids’ problems, including chicken pox. Hell, I was lucky to see them once a month after she took off. I’ll never know what godawful bullshit she told them about me and why she left.…” He winced as the Wailers let out an earsplitting cry like a dying elephant. “Jesus,” he said under his breath, “can’t I arrest those old bats for breaking an anti-noise statute?”
    “Do we have one? Do you want them wailing away in the jail?”
    “God, no. I’d ship them to Everett.”
    We turned as Al Driggers, the funeral director, opened the double doors. I could hear the organ playing. Apparently the funeral was over.
    “Hello, Sheriff. Hello, Emma,” Al said in his suitably mournful voice. “You can go downstairs to the reception hall now.”
    “I stopped in for Beth,” Milo said. “I have to get back to work.”
    I told Al I had to do the same. Milo steered me outside. “I’m blocking the exit, so I’d better go.” He gave me a quick squeeze. “Later.”
    I watched him head for the Yukon SUV. I headed for my Honda. I knew life wasn’t fair, but that didn’t make me feel better. I’d never met Tricia. I trusted Milo, but the idea of him spending the nightunder the same roof with his ex irked me. My perverse nature goading me, I purposely stepped in a big puddle. Now I could bitch about ruining my good black shoes along with everything else that had gone wrong lately.
    Amanda greeted me with a friendly smile. “I didn’t think you’d get back so soon. Mayor Baugh wants to meet with you Friday morning.”
    “Why doesn’t the old coot just wander in the way he always does?”
    “He said this was official business.” Amanda shrugged. “Don’t ask me. He sounded very formal. He forgot to use his Louisiana accent. Is he really from down there in the Bayou?”
    “Yes,” I said, wiggling my toes inside my damp shoes. “The Baughs moved here thirty years ago. Their son married a girl whose family owned a dairy farm by Monroe. The senior Baughs moved nearby, but later, he and Irene split up. The farm was sold and his son’s family moved to Edmonds. After Fuzzy and Irene reconciled, they came here and he ended up as mayor.”
    “He must be eighty. Does he
do
anything as mayor?”
    “It’s mostly ceremonial.” I removed my jacket. “He does have a rare brainstorm. Eleven is okay. If he’s too windy, I’ll say I have a lunch date.”
    “Will do,” Amanda said, making a note. “How was the funeral?”
    “Fine, except for the Wailers. And before you ask, I still haven’t heard from Ginny. I sense she isn’t coming back. With three kids, she’s got her hands full. Maybe she