She held out her arms and took the cat, which seemed to nestle against Sharon’s chest. “For me?” she asked.
I nodded. “If you want her. Her name’s Sparky. She was Wayne’s.”
Sharon stared at me. “Wayne had a cat?”
I smiled. “According to the girl at the shelter, he took very good care of her. This kitty is healthy and happy. She’s been well loved.”
She rubbed her cheek against the cat’s fur. “I will cherish her,” she said.
My phone rang at eleven thirty that night. It was Alex’s turn to call. “Hi, babe,” I said.
“You all tucked in?”
“I am. You?”
“Mm,” she said. “Tomorrow at this time you’ll be here tucked in with me.”
“If we can outwit the trolls,” I said.
“I’m not sure I believe in trolls,” said Alex. “I’d rather believe in fairies.”
“I think we can have it both ways.”
“Trolls and fairies?”
“And wicked stepmothers and fairy godmothers,” I said. “It’s a more interesting world with all of them, don’t you think?”
“A more complicated world, anyway.” She chuckled softly. “I’m at a good place with my novel,” she said. “I’m not going to think about it all weekend. I’m just going to hang out with you and Henry. Walk in the woods, paddle our kayaks, cook good food, watch some old movies, and snuggle in bed. I can’t wait.”
“I’m at a good place, too,” I said.
Also by William G. Tapply
The Brady Coyne Novels
One-Way Ticket
Out Cold
Nervous Water
Shadow of Death
A Fine Line
Past Tense
Scar Tissue
Muscle Memory
Cutter’s Run
Close to the Bone
The Seventh Enemy
The Snake Eater
Tight Lines
The Spotted Cats
Client Privilege
Dead Winter
A Void in Hearts
Dead Meat
The Marine Corpse
Follow the Sharks
The Dutch Blue Error
Death at Charity’s Point
The Stoney Calhoun Novels
Dark Tiger
Gray Ghost
Bitch Creek
Nonfiction
Bass Bug Fishing
A Fly-Fishing Life
The Elements of Mystery Fiction
Sportsman’s Legacy
Home Water
Opening Day and Other Neuroses
Those Hours Spent Outdoors
Thicker Than Water (with Linda Barlow)
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
OUTWITTING TROLLS. Copyright © 2010 by Vicki Stiefel Tapply. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
www.minotaurbooks.com
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Tapply, William G.
Outwitting trolls: a Brady Coyne novel / William G. Tapply.—1st ed.
p. cm.
ISBN: 978-0-312-53127-0
1. Coyne, Brady (Fictitious character)—Fiction. 2. Lawyers—Massachusetts—Boston—Fiction. 3. Murder—Investigation—Fiction. 4. Boston (Mass.)—Fiction. I. Title.
PS3570.A568O99 2010
813'.54—dc22
2010032515