Linda Hall

Storm Warning


Скачать книгу

to her mannerisms. “Selena, come, sweetie, and have look at the pictures of Daphne and Rachel.”

      The way she said Daphne and Rachel cheered Nori. It was like she was referring to old friends, kids already a part of the community. This would be a good place for her girls, she was sure of it.

      But Selena didn’t come over. Instead, she kept her back turned to her mother and put a new coffee filter into the commercial coffeemaker.

      Marlene’s face was blank as she watched her daughter for a moment. Nori didn’t know what she would do if one of her daughters blatantly ignored her like that, but Marlene simply turned back to Nori and said quietly, “I try to excuse Selena. The kids here have all been through a bit of a bad patch.”

      “What happened?” Nori asked.

      Marlene lowered her voice.

      “About a year ago one of the very popular girls went missing. It’s been hard on all of them. Especially Selena. She and Heather were close.”

      “Went missing?” Nori took a sip of her coffee. “What do you mean?”

      “Disappeared. Gone. Heather was a sweet girl. She was quite active in the church youth group. Poor Heather, as sometimes happens, she got in with the wrong crowd. Phyllis, that’s Heather’s mother, and I used to have long talks. Anyway, she got herself some boyfriend from Bangor and the two disappeared. No one’s seen or heard from them since. Phyllis has never lost hope that her daughter is alive somewhere, but I think Alec—” she lowered her voice to practically a whisper “—believes they both came to foul play.” She paused, letting her words sink in.

      Nori said. “That’s horrible! Both of them?” She had no idea that something like this could happen in so lovely a place.

      Marlene nodded, then glanced back at Selena’s stiff back.

      The bell over the door at Marlene’s Café jingled as a few more customers entered.

      “Well,” Marlene said, raising her bulk out of the chair. “Duty calls. That’s why I try to give Selena the benefit of the doubt every now and then.”

      A few minutes later, Nori closed her laptop and got up to leave. As she exited the café she glanced up at Selena, who was leaning into the counter. “Have a nice day, Selena,” she said.

      But the girl merely hugged a stack of menus into her chest and looked at Nori with dark and frightened eyes as if she was hiding some deep and dreadful secret.

      Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.

      Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».

      Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.

      Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.

/9j/4AAQSkZJRgABAgEASABIAAD/4QE2RXhpZgAATU0AKgAAAAgABwESAAMAAAABAAEAAAEaAAUA AAABAAAAYgEbAAUAAAABAAAAagEoAAMAAAABAAIAAAExAAIAAAAcAAAAcgEyAAIAAAAUAAAAjodp AAQAAAABAAAApAAAANAACvyAAAAnEAAK/IAAACcQQWRvYmUgUGhvdG9zaG9wIENTMyBXaW5kb3dz ADIwMTM6MDY6MjYgMTY6MzY6NDcAAAAAA6ABAAMAAAABAAEAAKACAAQAAAABAAAFeKADAAQAAAAB AAAIpgAAAAAAAAAGAQMAAwAAAAEABgAAARoABQAAAAEAAAEeARsABQAAAAEAAAEmASgAAwAAAAEA AgAAAgEABAAAAAEAAAEuAgIABAAAAAEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAEgAAAABAAAASAAAAAH/7QZEUGhvdG9z aG9wIDMuMAA4QklNBAQAAAAAAAccAgAAAgAAADhCSU0EJQAAAAAAEOjxXPMvwRihontnrcVk1bo4 QklNBC8AAAAAAEq45AEASAAAAEgAAAAAAAAAAAAAABgDAABkAgAAAAAAAAAAAAAYAwAAZAIAAAAB KAUAAPwDAAABAA8nAQB2AGUAcgAuAGoAcABnADhCSU0D7QAAAAAAEABIAAAAAQABAEgAAAABAAE4 QklNBCYAAAAAAA4AAAAAAAAAAAAAP4AAADhCSU0EDQAAAAAABAAAAB44QklNBBkAAAAAAAQAAAAe OEJJTQPzAAAAAAAJAAAAAAAAAAABADhCSU0ECgAAAAAAAQAAOEJJTScQAAAAAAAKAAEAAAAAAAAA AjhCSU0D9QAAAAAASAAvZmYAAQBsZmYABgAAAAAAAQAvZmYAAQChmZoABgAAAAAAAQAyAAAAAQBa AAAABgAAAAAAAQA1AAAAAQAtAAAABgAAAAAAAThCSU0D+AAAAAAAcAAA//////////////////// /////////wPoAAAAAP////////////////////////////8D6AAAAAD///////////////////// ////////A+gAAAAA/////////////////////////////wPoAAA4QklNBAgAAAAAABAAAAABAAAC QAAAAkAAAAAAOEJJTQQeAAAAAAAEAAAAADhCSU0EGgAAAAADdwAAAAYAAAAAAAAAAAAACKYAAAV4 AAAAIQA5ADcAOAAxADQAMgA2ADgANAA2ADgAOQAyAF8ATwB1AHQAcwBpAGQAZQBfAEYAcgBvAG4A dABfAEMAbwB2AGUAcgAAAAEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAFeAAACKYAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAQAAAAAQAAAAAAAG51bGwAAAACAAAABmJv dW5kc09iamMAAAABAAAAAAAAUmN0MQAAAAQAAAAAVG9wIGxvbmcAAAAAAAAAAExlZnRsb25nAAAA AAAAAABCdG9tbG9uZwAACKYAAAAAUmdodGxvbmcAAAV4AAAABnNsaWNlc1ZsTHMAAAABT2JqYwAA AAEAAAAAAAVzbGljZQAAABIAAAAHc2xpY2VJRGxvbmcAAAAAAAAAB2dyb3VwSURsb25nAAAAAAAA AAZvcmlnaW5lbnVtAAAADEVTbGljZU9yaWdpbgAAAA1hdXRvR2VuZXJhdGVkAAAAAFR5cGVlbnVt AAAACkVTbGljZV