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The opportunity lost for thea wreath of pink, peach, cream, and lavender blosso trail where herto pay her respects like she did once a week, no h the conversation she was going to have with her ry that her mother had to die in the pris Alicia was driven with the need to avenge herher so But this ti different More alive than she’d felt in years Distracted from her mission
Neither of her former husbands hadkisses Never had her body melted into a pool of ecstasy frouided her outside or froh he wanted to eat her for dessert--her treat--after he’d so gallantly paid for her breakfast
He was dangerous, all right And armed!
She’d joked about it, but she’d really been flattered she could arouse hi hi what she had to do to prove to Mario’s breakfast companion that she truly did know Jake intimately and had backup if she needed it But the way Jake had reacted showed he was playing the gaht tryst, she assuh she suspected he was not the kind of person who frittered away hours doing inconsequential things Neither was she Her mother had always said she ay too serious But for Alicia, it had been a case of survival
Still, after her two husbands and a number of no-account boyfriends, for the first ti for a man--just because of the kind and interested way Jake had treated her
Alicia parked at the trailhead, changed out of her heels, and slipped on a pair of tennis shoes Then, with the fragrant wreath in hand, she hiked along Spruce Creek Trail to where hertendrils of hair around Alicia’s cheek and the sweet scent of pine drifting to her
As she often did on the hike, Alicia thought about herthis very path as she started the trek to the Upper and Lower Mohawk Lakes to meet her lover at Continental Falls Alicia had been there before and loved seeing the crystal water cascade in a foaonally doildflower-blanketed hillside with alpine woods all around and abandonedcabins scattered over the area But her mother had never made it that day The macabre truth was that Tony Tho before Missy would have reached his location
Alicia thought about the tiether--intermediate blue trails, not black-diamond expert runs for them, unless they skied onto them by accident And they had done that a few tihed as they tried to ul at a ti they’dnever again to get on another expert slope Until they made the same mistake later on a different black-dia that she stillthat her mother had listened to her, believed her when Alicia had told her she thought the erous to associate with
She soon stood in the thick forested area where hikers had found Missy’s body and notified police Despite it having been h the murder had taken place only yesterday She took a deep breath, having to make a confession to her mother One she really didn’t want toto place the flowers beneath a tree, "I’ve tracked down the family that killed you Mario Constantino was the one who ordered the hit Danny Massaro was the e set the trial, so they can eat in fancy restaurants, drink their fancy drinks, and have their fancy women"
More strands of hair pulled loose froed them and then slipped them behind her ear
"But the one, Danny Massaro? He’s already skipped his trial, so as soon as I canhim in to the police Once Mario misses his trial date, I’ll re-arrest him, too I swore to you…" Alicia sed hard "I swore to you I’d make them pay"
A tear and then another slid down her cheek, and she hastily brushed them away "I’ve been…" She wiped away a couple ofreminds me of you--the little tea shop on Main Street that we used to eat at, even that Victorian restaurant, Victoriana, across the street froed with tears
"I… I followed Mario into that restaurant thisOur restaurant The bastard," she said softly "But I met someone else there today And… well, it e"
That uiling as Jake Silver and how nice it would be to date someone like him, when she had a pro for a while as she looked up at the wisp of clouds dotting the blue sky She thought about how this was just like the kind of day she used to enjoy on nature walks with her odsend, if not for what Mario and Danny had done to her ave a sad little laugh "You never really liked any of the guys I dated, and no wonder They were all losers But Jake, well, he seeood way" She stood and took a shaky breath "You knohat a uys" Just like her mother’s relationships withto say Only that Jake ht I was But it scares me Not only because my past relationships were such disasters, but also what if I fall for sos kill him, too?"