Free Killerfind by Sharon Woods Hopkins Page B

and the clubhouse will all be in that area. We
must have those amenities in place to lure builders to build the type of homes
Jeremy is planning for the lots. So, you see, it is critical to get the barn
removed as soon as possible.”
    Rhetta just shook her head. While she was hoping for
several mortgage loans from the subdivision, she couldn’t fathom this woman’s
coldness about the “derelict” who chose to die in the barn. This conversation
was totally off the wall.
    To get away from the Ice Queen, as Rhetta now
thought of her, she asked,” Is there a bathroom nearby?”
    Anjanette motioned toward the hall with her
jewelry-laden hand. “Down there. Second door on the right.” As Rhetta moved
away, Anjanette returned to her guests.
    Rhetta meandered down the hallway, peeking into the
first door on the right. Inside was a beautifully appointed office. She scoped
the hallway and finding no one around, eased open the door and entered. She
closed the door softly behind her. Against one wall was a large oak roll-top
desk, modernized to hold a computer and all the peripherals, like a printer and
scanner.
    A polished oak gun cabinet stood against the
opposite wall. Alongside the cabinet, the wall was decorated with framed
awards. She tiptoed to the glass-fronted cabinet and spied several cleaned and
blued rifles lined up like sentries in their slots inside. When she glanced at
the awards she was surprised to learn that Anjanette Spears was an expert shot.
This was definitely not the bathroom.
    She sidled to the desk where she marveled at the
sleek flat-screen monitor, wireless keyboard and accessories. The computer
itself was out of sight. Curious about the type of computer, Rhetta began
looking for the unit. It had to be pretty small to be concealed inside this
desk. She wondered what brand it was. She needed a new one at the office and
would love to have a small CPU, or one that was altogether with the monitor.
She glanced around the top of the desk without spotting it, so she opened a few
of the doors.
    One side door opened to a series of drawers behind
it. She pulled the top drawer but it stuck. She tugged it harder, and the
drawer sailed out. When she knelt to retrieve the contents that had spilled on
to the carpeted floor, she was eye level with the empty space where the drawer
had been. She peered into the cavity. Something was lodged at the back,
probably the reason the drawer was sticking. She reached for it.
    She stared at a handwritten envelope bearing an old
postmark. Even with squinting, she couldn’t make out the date. She fished out
her glasses from her purse and tried again. If she wasn’t misreading it, this
envelope was postmarked nearly sixteen years ago.
    Using her thumb, she opened the flap on the envelope
open and withdrew the letter.
    “To my dearest Anjie,” it began. What followed was
obviously a love letter. As Rhetta scanned to the bottom, she thought how sweet
it was that Mrs. Spears had kept this letter sent to her by her late husband,
probably when he was away on a trip. She felt guilty for invading the woman’s
privacy.
    Then, she spotted the signature line: “All my love,
Malcom.”
     

     
     
     
    hetta
blinked in surprise and then re-read it. Malcom? Malcom Griffith, Willard Spears’ partner? Had
Anjanette Spears been having an affair with Malcom Griffith at the time of his
disappearance? If that was so, then who was the exotic pole dancer everyone
talked about?
    The ramifications of what she held in her hand hit
her squarely between the eyes in an instant headache that shot outward to her
temples. She dropped the letter back into the envelope, and tucked it into the
drawer with the rest of the contents. She pushed it to go back in place, but it
resisted. She shoved harder, wanting desperately to leave the office that she’d
carelessly entered to investigate.
    As she struggled with the desk, she heard two people
talking as they walked down the hall, their voices growing louder as