A Reagan Keeter Box Set: Three page-turning thrillers that will leave you wondering who you can trus Reagan Keeter (most difficult books to read TXT) 📖

“You handled that well,” he said.

“What are you doing here?”

“Just keeping an eye on things. Doing my civic duty. I think the police might want to know about Liam’s visit, don’t you?”

Squeezed between the door and the frame, Ashley continued to stare at the Tall Man, but said nothing.

That was okay. She didn’t have to. He could tell from the look on her face that she’d gotten the message. Since he had nothing else to say, the Tall Man turned and walked away.

Liam Parker

Liam was barely two blocks away from Elise’s building when his phone rang. He answered, routing the call through the Tesla’s speakers.

“It’s Anita,” the caller announced. “You came to my sister’s funeral.”

Liam remembered the family gathered around Elise’s grave. This had to be the young woman with a scar on her cheek. “My mom’s been pretty upset. I mean, she hasn’t been herself since Elise disappeared. But since her death—well, I’m sure you can imagine. Anyway, she wanted to talk to you. I guess she’s looking for closure or something.”

Liam was surprised to hear from anybody in Elise’s family, and not just because of how they had acted at the funeral. Certainly they knew he had been charged with Elise’s murder, even if they hadn’t seen it in the paper. Bash would have told them.

After a couple of seconds, he settled on a simple, “Why?”

“You mean why does she want to speak to you?”

“That’s exactly what I mean.”

“We haven’t seen Elise in six years. We haven’t even gotten so much as a phone call. But, Mom and I, we don’t think the person who killed her would come to her funeral, passing out his business card and asking to talk to us. There’s a place to eat at the corner of Park and Third. It’s called The Griddle. Are you free this morning?”

Liam felt a warmth well up inside him that nearly brought him to tears. Sure, David believed him. But Liam had started to wonder if he might be the only one. Even Patricia had her doubts; she’d basically said as much at the jail. But Anita and her mother more than anyone had reason to blame him and they didn’t. “Yeah, I guess so. I can be there in an hour.”

The truth was, Liam didn’t know how much help he could be. The more he learned about Elise, the less he knew. But, as one parent to another, he wanted to do what he could to provide Elise’s mother some solace.

Liam arrived at The Griddle ten minutes early. The diner was chrome-everything and had an honest-to-God jukebox. Anita and her mother were already there. He joined them at their booth. Anita’s mom looked frail. Her eyes and nose were red from crying. Once again the arch of her eyebrows and her high cheekbones reminded him of Elise.

Anita was wearing a black motorcycle jacket, zipped up. Her skin was darker than her sister’s. She had long black fingernails and a don’t-fuck-with-me look that seemed to have more to do with genetics than attitude.

Both women were drinking tea. A collection of discarded tea bags, wet napkins, and open sugar packets had been pushed to the corner of the table.

The mother held out her hand and Liam shook it. In a high-pitched voice that had a bit of a quiver, she thanked him for coming. She didn’t tell him her name, which he figured was an oversight and let it slide. This would probably be the only conversation he ever had with her.

She looked at Anita. “Remember not to say anything to your father about this.”

Anita patted her mother’s forearm. “I know, Mom.”

The mother turned her attention back to Liam. “He would not like me to talking to you.”

Liam wasn’t surprised. He couldn’t expect everyone in Elise’s family to believe in him. “So what do you want to know?”

“You and Elise were dating?” the mother asked.

“Yes, for two months.”

“And you said she was working in advertising?”

Liam nodded. He had decided it would be best to keep up the lie.

“She came a long way,” the mother said to Anita proudly. “What was she like?”

“She was one of the nicest people I ever met,” Liam said. He could tell from the mother’s face she wanted something more meaningful. What boyfriend wouldn’t say that? So he elaborated. “She had this sort of motherly instinct when it came to animals. There was this one time when we had dinner reservations and were running late. When we stepped outside her apartment building, I didn’t pay any attention to the stray cat that was circling the bushes. All I could think was that if we didn’t get to the restaurant soon they’d give away our table. But she did. She stopped and asked me to be quiet. ‘Did you hear that?’ she said. I didn’t hear anything. I said we needed to hurry, but she wouldn’t let it go. She told me to hold on while she shooed the cat away and looked into the bushes, where she found this small gray bird. Elise was worried it was hurt, so we took it to McAllister Animal Shelter.” Liam paused the story as he remembered the night and smiled. “Our dinner ending up being McDonald’s, and we ate it at the shelter while we waited for them to examine the bird. They said we didn’t have to stay, but Elise wanted to know it would be all right before we left.”

“Was it?”

“They said it’d be fine.”

The mother smiled too.

“And Elise was smart. She was always reading. It didn’t matter what it was. Newspapers, paperbacks, biographies. Just about everything. I think her favorites were books on psychology. She had two shelves dedicated to them, and those were just the ones she liked enough to buy. Most books she checked out of the library. One of her favorite authors was Patrick Ainsworth.”

“Really?” her mother said, surprised.

“She never read when she was living at home,” Anita added. “She was always