Read Circle of Influence (A Zoe Chambers Mystery) for Free Online Page B

joined them, the balance of composure Pete was establishing would crumble into panic, concern, and frantic questions. No, she should stay right where she was. 
    Minutes passed. Zoe shoved her fists deeper into her pockets and slouched inside her coat, like a turtle in its shell hiding from the world. She closed her eyes, trying to block out reality, but Ted’s battered face floated behind her eyelids. Blinking away the vision, she caught the sweep of headlights approaching from the rear of the police SUV and twisted in her seat. The car pulled up behind her.
    Rose.
    Zoe bounded from Pete’s car and intercepted her friend as she staggered toward the sidewalk to her house.
    “Zoe? What the hell’s going on? Why’s Pete here? What’s happened?” Rose’s voice faltered.
    Maybe Zoe should have waited inside with Pete and Logan. She wrapped an arm around her friend’s shoulders. “Let’s go in the house.”
    Rose shook her off. “No. Tell me now. What’s happened to my kids?”
    A lump wedged in Zoe’s throat. “The kids are fine. Pete’s in there with Logan now.”
    “Then what?” Rose’s gaze bored into hers.
    “It’s Ted.”
    Tears filled Rose’s green eyes. “How bad is it? Is he…”
    Zoe couldn’t speak the words. He’s dead refused to pass her lips.
    It didn’t matter. Rose knew. Her wail pierced the snowy night’s silence.
    FOUR

    The scream jolted Pete into full alert. “Stay back,” he barked at Logan. Two strides carried him to the door. He fingered his sidearm, ready to snap it free from the holster. With the other hand, he edged aside the curtain hanging on the door’s window. Outside, two women knelt in the snow at the end of the sidewalk. Zoe had her arms around Rose. He relaxed his stance.
    “What is it?” Logan asked.
    Pete signaled him with a raised closed fist, but then remembered the kid didn’t know what that meant. “Stay here. Keep an eye on the coffee.” He snatched his coat from the back of the chair where he’d draped it and stepped out onto the porch.
    Zoe looked up at him, panic in her eyes. Rose had collapsed, and Zoe was all that kept her from going face-down in the snow. Pete approached them, thinking Rose had passed out, but her keening told him otherwise. He dropped to his knees beside them.
    “I should have let you break the news,” Zoe whispered. Her face was damp with tears.
    “Yes. You should have,” he said, but kept his voice gentle. She didn’t need to be chastised right now.
    He scooped Rose up in his arms and carried her back to the house with Zoe trudging behind him.
    What the hell was the kid going to do when he saw his mother in hysterics? So much for keeping everything low key. But to Pete’s surprise, Rose thumped him on the shoulder when they reached the stoop.
    “Put me down. I can’t have my kids seeing me like this.”
    Atta girl, Rose . He lowered her to her feet, and she straightened to her full height, which barely reached five feet.
    She swiped her arm across her face and sniffed a couple of times. “Was it a traffic accident? What happened to him?”
    “We’re not sure what happened just yet. I need you to answer some questions for me.”
    Rose gave him a quick scowl. “Are you sure it was Ted? Maybe there’s been some mistake.”
    He squeezed her shoulder. “I’m sorry, Rose. There’s no mistake.”
    She looked past him to Zoe. He didn’t break eye contact with her to see Zoe’s reaction, but she obviously backed him up. Rose’s shoulders slumped. “I have to talk to my kids.”
    As they stepped into the kitchen, Logan launched out of his chair and caught his mother by her arms. “Mom, what’s going on? No one will tell me anything.”
    “In a minute. Where’s your sister?”
    “Upstairs asleep.”
    Rose eyed Pete. “If it’s all right with you, I’d like a few minutes alone with them.”
    “Absolutely. Take all the time you need.”
    She led her son into the darkened living room, and they disappeared down the