Escapes Can Be Murder

by Connie Shelton

  I wondered whether anything they could come up with would be enough to derail Quinto’s political career now that he’d graduated to Washington.

  Rory seemed to have read my thoughts. “One day we may have sufficient evidence, but until then I need to keep a low profile.”

  “So, you’ll go back to Maine?”

  “Not saying that. I have to keep my options open. I need to be able to vanish again.” He stuck a hand out his window, reached across the space between us, and took my hand. “Thank you, Charlie.”

  “Did your dad know about the abuse—near the end?”

  Rory withdrew his hand and gave the tiniest shake of his head. It was some consolation to me, knowing the old man had never learned the worst of the secrets.

  The first time, it had been Fergus’s idea to help his son disappear. He’d told me as much. Now, Rory was in charge and I had no doubt he could do anything he was determined to do. At my slightest hint of stepping forward to tell what had happened, he’d already said he would evaporate. I had no doubt of this.

  We parted, and as I drove away I pondered all that had happened. We’d spent the last half-hour only a couple of freeway exits away from the airport. Rory could get a last-minute ticket to anywhere and be on a plane, almost by the time I reached home. It wasn’t the first time a client of mine had a dodgy story, and it certainly wasn’t the first time a politician had sidestepped responsibility for his actions, I thought as I headed westbound toward a lowering sun.

  Justice. It’s a concept everyone wants to believe in, and here in America we like to think we have a good system for it. But I’m learning that things are not always black and white. There are gray areas everywhere, and how can any of us ever really know the truth?

  I felt hopeful that eventually Rory, with Damian’s support and Helen Bannerly’s help, would be cleared of the allegations that had ruined his career. Perhaps Herman Quinto’s dirty tricks would come to light in the process and come back to take him down politically.

  I wondered where Rory would be in the next twenty-four hours, where he would be in a year, and how many discarded cell phones there were at the bottom of that lake in Maine.

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  Thank you for taking the time to read Escapes Can Be Murder. If you enjoyed it, please consider telling your friends or posting a short review. Word of mouth is an author’s best friend and is much appreciated.

  Thank you,

  Connie Shelton

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  Author’s Note

  As always, I have a huge amount of gratitude for everyone who helped shape this book into its final version. Dan Shelton, my husband, helpmate, and expert on all things helicopter—I couldn’t do it without you. And thank you Stephanie, my lovely daughter and business partner, for your part in keeping our business strong!

  Editors Susan Slater, Stephanie Dewey and Shirley Shaw spot the plot and character flaws and help smooth the rough bits in the prose. And topping off the effort are my beta readers, who drop everything in their own lives to read and find the typos that inevitably sneak past me. Thank you for your help with this book: Christine Johnson, Marcia Koopman, Lisa Train, Sandra Anderson and Judi Shaw. You guys are the best!

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  Books by Connie Shelton

  The Charlie Parker Series

  Deadly Gamble

  Vacations Can Be Murder

  Partnerships Can Be Murder

  Small Towns Can Be Murder

  Memories Can Be Murder

  Honeymoons Can Be Murder

  Reunions Can Be Murder

  Competition Can Be Murder

  Balloons Can Be Murder

  Obsessions Can Be Murder

  Gossip Can Be Murder

  Stardom Can Be Murder

  Phantoms Can Be Murder

  Buried Secrets Can Be Murder

  Legends Can Be Murder

  Weddings Can Be Murder

  Alibis Can Be Murder

  Escapes Can Be Murder

  Holidays Can Be Murder - a Christmas novella

  The Samantha Sweet Series

  Sweet Masterpiece

  Sweet’s Sweets

  Sweet Holidays

  Sweet Hearts

  Bitter Sweet

  Sweets Galore

  Sweets, Begorra

  Sweet Payback

  Sweet Somethings

  Sweets Forgotten

  Spooky Sweet

  Sticky Sweet

  The Woodcarver’s Secret

  Spellbound Sweets – a Halloween novella

  The Heist Ladies Series

  Diamonds Aren’t Forever

  The Trophy Wife Exchange

  Movie Mogul Mama

  Children’s Books

  Daisy and Maisie and the Great Lizard Hunt

  Daisy and Maisie and the Lost Kitten

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  Escapes Can Be Murder

  Published by Secret Staircase Books, an imprint of

  Columbine Publishing Group, LLC

  PO Box 416, Angel Fire, NM 87710

  Copyright © 2019 Connie Shelton

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by an information storage and retrieval system without permission in writing from the publisher.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. Although the author and publisher have made every effort to ensure the accuracy and completeness of information contained in this book we assume no responsibility for errors, inaccuracies, omissions, or any inconsistency herein. Any slights of people, places or organizations are unintentional.

  Book layout and design by Secret Staircase Books

  Cover images © Jana Jurkova, Michael Shake, Peter Wollinga, Ayutaka

  First trade paperback edition: June, 2019

  First e-book edition: June, 2019

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  Publisher’s Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Shelton, Connie

  Escapes Can Be Murder / by Connie Shelton.

  p. cm.

  ISBN 978-1945422713 (paperback)

  ISBN 978-1945422720 (e-book)

  1. Charlie Parker (Fictitious character)—Fiction. 2. New Mexico—Fiction. 3. Maine—Fiction. 4. American politics—Fiction. 5. Women sleuths—Fiction. I. Title

  Charlie Parker Mystery Series : Book 18.

  Shelton, Connie, Charlie Parker mysteries.

  BISAC : FICTION / Mystery & Detective.

  813/.54