Read Online Scandal in Copper Lake by Marilyn Pappano - Free Book Online

Glory had promised she’d be home by eight; there’d been no sign of her by eight-thirty, and her hysterical daughter insisted that something was wrong, that her mama was in the water. The babysitter was a believer, the dispatcher was not.
    There had been another call at ten, another at midnight, both brushed off. Then the fisherman had called in shortly before six the next morning.
    That baby’s crying that her mama’s in the water. She’s scared to death, and she’s making herself sick. You’ve got to do something.
    Do you see dead people? he’d asked Anamaria over lunch, making a joke of it.

    I have visions, she’d replied.
    He hadn’t believed her. It was so easy to claim parapsychological abilities, and so hard to prove. So easy to prey on people who were vulnerable, seeking peace, trying to ease a loss, and so easy to dismiss anyone who was less gullible as a nonbeliever. I don’t waste my time on skeptics, Anamaria had said.
    But according to the police dispatch tapes, she had known her mother was in the river at least ten hours before Glory was found. How? Could she have seen a vision of Glory’s death?
    He’d find it easier to believe that she had literally seen Glory in the water. The river ran just behind the trees that bordered the Duquesne house, less than two hundred feet away. Maybe she’d gone on that walk with Glory—or sneaked out and followed her—and had seen her mother fall. Or maybe she’d even caused her to fall…
    Either way, psychic vision or real life, how traumatic would such a sight have been for a five-year-old?
    After rereading the witness statement, he returned the file to the envelope, laid it on the coffee table and got to his feet. He was halfway to the door when his cell phone rang. Harrison Kennedy’s name on the caller ID display made him grimace, but he answered.
    “You know, the girl met with Liddy this morning.”
    “Yeah, I know.”
    “What did they talk about?”
    “I don’t know, Harrison. There were only two people there. Anamaria’s likely to tell me it’s none of my business or to ask Lydia, and you told me not to ask Lydia anything.” He let himself into the garage, opening the door as he settled in the Vette’s driver’s seat, then switched the phone to speaker as he backed out. “Have you asked Lydia?”
    “She said they talked mostly about her mother.”
    “Lydia’s mother?”

    Harrison sounded impatient. “No. The girl’s mother. Why would they talk about Lydia’s mother? Marcette’s been dead for years.”
    Why would they talk about a white-haired man and flowers the first time? Robbie thought irritably. People didn’t go to psychics to get messages from the living.
    “Lydia says she’s here to find out more about her mother. Says she’s curious. She didn’t ask for any money, but she said something to Lydia that made her…I don’t know. Sad. Worried.”
    Why are you here? Robbie had asked, and Anamaria had smiled. Because I used to live here. She’d added other reasons: she was resting, retreating, taking a break from her regular life.
    He hadn’t believed her about that, either. If her purpose for coming to Copper Lake was as simple as a vacation, why had her first act been to contact Lydia? Why had she asked to meet with her a second time? He supposed even scam artists needed a break from time to time, but a few slick tricks with Lydia here could pay for a real vacation somewhere else.
    “Did you ask Lydia why she was sad?”
    “She acted like it was nothing. Just that the girl made her think about the mother.”
    The girl had a name, and so did the mother. Was it asking too much for Harrison to use them? “She did see Glory regularly for a year,” Robbie reminded him. “Some people might consider that a basis for friendship.”
    “I have no doubt Lydia liked the woman, but they weren’t friends. Lydia was a source of income for her. Nothing more.”
    Maybe. “Will you change your mind about letting me talk to