Read A Mother's Day Murder (Mt. Abrams Mysteries Book 1) for Free Online Page A

gone, and her husband lied about her whereabouts. Her car is gone. And he told us he took her to the train station. We heard him say that. Her sons are really upset about something.”
    “You might have something,” Carol said slowly. “It’s starting to get more complicated. Maybe you could just, you know, talk to a detective or something? In fact, you could go and see Sam Kinali.”
    “Who?” I asked.
    She carefully stepped over a stray tree branch. “He’s a detective with Lawrence Township. I’ve met him a few times. He presented a few programs at the main library, and he seemed very friendly. In fact, I’m closing today and don’t have to be a work until four, so I’ll go with you.”
    Going to the police. So, we were going to find out what had happened to Lacey and become neighborhood heroes, or we’d discover that nothing had happened at all and become neighborhood laughing stocks.
    We walked a little farther, and Carol spoke again.
    “So, I met someone on Fish.”
    Carol had started dating. Her husband had been dead for almost five years, and recently she’d decided to sign up for every dating site she could find. Her conversations were peppered these days with a sort of cyber-dating shorthand—Fish, JDate, FOB and SOH. Fish was Plenty of Fish, a dating site, as was JDate. FWB meant friends with benefits (a big no-no for Carol), and SOH meant sense of humor (a must-have).
    “Leon. He’s age appropriate and financially secure. He wants to meet for coffee.”
    “Excellent,” Shelly said.
    “I think so.” Carol was the type of woman who still wrote thank-you notes and used linen napkins when she had us all over for lunch. She approached dating with the same efficient sensibility that she used for changing her seasonal house decorations, sending out Christmas cards, and having her tires rotated. For her, there was a proper time and place for everything. Right now, Leon fit in perfectly.
    “Does he have a friend for Ellie?” Shelly asked.
    “Ellie,” I said loudly, “doesn’t need his friend.”
    “Yes, you do,” Maggie said. “Do you want to grow old alone?”
    I slowed to give Boot the chance to pee all over a fallen log. “I have children, Maggie. I’m never going to be alone.”
    “Okay, then,” she countered. “Do you want Cait choosing your nursing home?“
    What could I say to these women? Sure, they were all my friends, and yes, I’d throw myself in front of a bus for them. But I could never admit, not even to these best of confidants that I was still madly in love with my ex-husband.
    “I’m sure Cait will do an excellent job, but thanks for thinking of me.”
    We walked the rest of the way in silence. We all liked to talk, but we all also enjoyed that moment, halfway around the lake, when the only thing you could hear was birdsong and the sound of our breathing.
    It appeared that any Lacey Mitchell conversation was closed until we found ourselves directly in front of the Mitchell house. We all stopped and stared.
    “I wonder if her car is still gone,” Shelly asked no one in particular.
    “Are you thinking that someone returned it in the middle of the night?” Carol asked.
    We all walked up the driveway. The left-side door of the garage was open, as it always was during the day. Yes, I suppose anyone could have snuck in and stolen any number of empty garbage cans or rakes or shovels, but that usually wasn’t a problem in Mt. Abrams.
    We walked into the garage. No Suburban.
    We started back down the drive, when Shelly stopped short. “The back door is open,” she said.
    We looked. Yes. The screen was shut tight, but the actual door stood ajar.
    “I wonder if somebody’s in there,” Maggie said in a somewhat hushed voice.
    Shelly climbed the back steps, opened the screen, and yelled, “Hello.”
    Silence.
    Shelly opened the door further and yelled again.
    “What are you doing?” Carol hissed.
    “Checking to see if everything is all right,” Shelly said.
    “What