Page 2 of Accidental Murder

“Nice.”

Two Sundays a month, Kayla attended a group of motocross enthusiasts. Her uncle David used to go with her. Lately he’d become too busy with his medical practice.

“Learned any new stunts?” Mary asked.

“I mastered a Nac Nac.”

“When the rider slings one leg over the rear fender, like he’s dismounting?”

“Exactly. I’m also working on a Superman.”

“Where you get up speed and thrust both legs backward off the pegs at the same time? Wow!”

“Don’t get too jazzed,” Kayla chuckled. “I mastered the stunt for about a split . . . Aha! Found the culprit.” She wriggled from beneath the desk and held up a paper clip. “Metal on metal, Mary, major snafu.”

“Oh, man. My bad.” Mary reddened. “Sara was here last week and dropped the magnet cube. I thought I’d collected them all.”

“No big deal. Nothing blew up. Everything’s fine.” Mini-catastrophes happened often to computers, problems her clients could prevent if they were more careful, but if all of them complied, she’d be out of a job. She brushed off her jeans. “How’s your thesis coming along?”

“You went through the neighborhood network to clean up the computer’s memory last week. You’ve seen the file.”

“I know you landed on a title, but I didn’t read it. That’s private property.”

“It’s a mess.”

“When’s it due?”

“January first.” Mary made a tick-tock sound with her tongue. “PayPal okay?”

“Sure.”

Mary tapped an app on her cell phone and sent Kayla her fee. “I’ll have lots of time to tweak my paper since Jerk-o dumped me.”

“He didn’t deserve you.”

“Sara thinks he deserves to die.”

Dread slithered up the back of Kayla’s neck.

CHAPTER TWO

Sara Simmons flattenedherself against the exterior wall of Bledsoe Research Institute. To ward off the cold, she zipped her jacket to the neck and tightened the drawstring of the hood. Tonight was the night. Get inside. Get photographs. Get out. For insurance, she’d e-mail them to Kayla in an encrypted file.

The security camera at the far end of the building swooped in her direction. She ducked.

For over a month, she’d planned the incursion. She knew the guards’ schedules. She’d studied the building’s layout and the locations of every camera. Monday was the slowest day—fewer employees, fewer comings and goings. After the last of the day-shift employees exited, she would sneak in without detection.

A buzzer sounded.

Sara jolted but didn’t peek around the corner. She listened as someone in heels hurried across the parking lot. A car door creaked open and slammed shut. The employee revved the engine, switched on the headlights, and drove into the night.

Pulse throbbing in her ears, Sara dashed to the entrance and punched in the security code she’d memorized while taking a tour of the facility.

Kayla was thinkingabout Sara’s breathless phone call when her sister Ashley stopped on the sidewalk and waved a hand in front of her face.

“Earth to Kayla.”

They’d been walking to dinner with Ashley’s boyfriend Peter Vaughan.