Read this excerpt from the next Sandy Reid Mystery THE PRICE OF CANDY.

The sequel to One Deadly Sister Beyond the solid screen of sea grapes that lined Highway A1A, and down a gentle sea oat covered slope, laid an isolated patch of sandy beach warmed that late afternoon by one of the celebrated southerly breezes that enhance Florida in November. Only the murmur of the ocean disturbed the quietness. On that secluded beach, cast in the slanted shadows of the sunset, were two men and a woman. The two men were alive.

One was a st.u.r.dy younger man, scarcely thirty. He wore a Miami Dolphin's sweatshirt and slouched with his thumbs hooked in the pockets of his faded jeans. The other man was dressed precisely for business except fine sand had scattered across his well-shined Testoni shoes. He walked away from the body, put both hands to his head, and walked back. He took off his tailored suit coat and covered the face and upper body of the woman on her back in the sand. Her orange bikini bottom and bare legs remained exposed below his coat.

The younger man knelt beside the body and started to lift the coat. "She really dead?"

"Don't move that. Don't look under there!"

"I'm not looking at her. Looking at her body. She's not in there anymore. Gone, like up in smoke or whatever happens." He raised the coat and made an unhurried consideration of the body.

"You're looking at her."

"Ask her if she cares. Don't often get a free peek like this, you know. I'll just close her eyes so she's not staring back at me." The younger man pa.s.sed his hand over her face and the woman's hushed hazel eyes closed easily.

"How'd you know that?"

"That's what they do in the movies. Read someplace where some people believe if the eyes are left open, the dead will look around and spot someone to take with them."

"Keep your hands off her." The other man reached down and readjusted the coat to cover as much of the face and upper body as possible.

"Who knows what the dead are capable of? This one's doing a good job messing with your head."

"Don't touch her again, okay?"

"Why, she your wife?"

The man shook his head. "I...think I'm going to be sick." He pulled the knot of his silk necktie loose, tilted his head back, and took in a deep breath.

"Girlfriend, huh? Lucky man...at least up until now. She's definitely from another world. You rich guys get all the goodies."

"I don't think about things in that way."

"You don't think about money at all. Like you don't think about that fancy car parked up there. Just ask for the best or pick what you want. Like you picked which girl you wanted. Of course, now you can't bear to look at her. Guess you'll just have to pick another."

"I don't need to justify anything to you."

"Yeah, the rich never have to justify." He made a wide grin. "Your money won't help when you try to explain to your wife how you happen to know Miss Universe here and why her top is off. You're shaking already."

The other man stiffened. "Her top came off when I put my arms around her from the back, you know, that Heimlich maneuver, squeezing her to stop her choking." He combed his fingers through his thin brown hair.

"If you say so. When I first looked down you were behind her with your arms around her. I saw her top fall off and her b.o.o.bs bouncing around. You bet I remember that part."

"I couldn't get the d.a.m.n thing back on."

"Must've been fun trying to stuff ten pounds in a five pound bag."

"Do you have to talk about her like that? It's not decent. She deserves our respect. She was a nice girl."

"You knelt down beside her with your head down for a long time. What was that?"

"Just thinking about her."

"Just crying over her is more like it. Okay, I guess you tried to save her. Don't know how you screwed up the Heimlich. Any dork can do it."

"I've never thought about learning such things. Things where I must actually touch people. There's always someone around to do it. Of course I regret it. Someone trained might have saved her."

"You drove here together. I saw you."

"You saw us? Oh...I didn't realize that. She's sort of a friend." He wiped his palms on the front of his trousers.

"I hope my friends do a better job if I choke."

"She needed a ride, that's all...she needed a ride."

"A ride to the beach? That what you're saying?"

The man folded his arms across his chest and didn't answer.

"I stood up there at the top of that knoll and watched you. Funny, when she got out of your car and started changing into that bikini, it looked like you were trying to peek at her. You've never seen your girlfriend naked? She moved to the other side like she didn't want you to watch her undress. She didn't notice I had pulled in. I'm the one who got the show."

"So she was modest. Stop saying things."

"Modest then, won't bother her a bit anybody looks at her now."

"But it bothers me. You shouldn't speak of her in that manner. It's not...honorable. Just keep my coat over her." He folded and unfolded his arms again. "You know I tried to help her. You know I didn't do anything wrong."

"Relax, it's an accident. Like you say, she choked herself to death. Crazy way to die."

The older man said, "My cell's in the car...."

"I've already phoned the police. Told them send along an ambulance."

"Oh, you already called them? That's good...I guess." He turned away from the body and rubbed the back of his neck. "They're not going to believe me...they're not going to believe me."

"You're really sweatin' this, aren't you?"

"Of course I'm shaken. A person just died before my eyes. Her dead body is lying there."

"I suppose you've got big deal friends, a big deal job, a big deal reputation."

"You don't know the half of it. You wouldn't believe the fallout there's going to be about this." He tilted his head back and closed his eyes tightly.

"So take off."

"What?"

"Go...leave. You've got nothing to do with this, it happened like you said. She happened to be on the beach. You happened to be on the beach. You tried to help her. That's the way it was, wasn't it?"

"I guess."

"So, go. Get out of here. You don't have to get involved. I'll look after her. Things like this happen all the time."

"I don't think I should leave her. Should I go? I don't think I should."

"No sweat. Nothing else you can do here. Get moving the police will be here any second."

"Then you'll be in trouble."

"No, they know me. I live around here. I take care of some things around here. Nothing bad happened. There's been no crime. The M.E. will find she died of choking. Case closed.

"The medical examiner?"

"Yeah, like on TV. Now come on we'll walk up to your car. You leave and I'll wait up there for the police."

"I should take my coat." He reached back and picked it up off the body. He paused to look down at her. Freddy, you always want things nice and neat. Good lord, he thought, does it end this way?

"She should have something over her," he said. "I don't have a blanket in my car. Do you?"

The younger man shook his head.

They reached the top of the sandy knoll and could now hear the occasional hum of vehicles going by on A1A beyond the screen of foliage. The older man stopped abruptly and pointed. "Is that your SUV parked there? Wait a minute, I saw it at that truck stop up in Jacksonville. You're lying. You're not from around here. You pulled out right behind us on 95."

"Not me, buddy. I've been here all day. Haven't been out of town in a month. Now you should get out of here."

"I was certain it was your white SUV that followed us."

"You're saying you gave Miss Universe a ride down here from Jax so she could go to the beach?"

The nervous man didn't answer.

"Stop talking and go."

"I can't leave. I won't do it." He wondered just how much he owed her anyway. He could stay and identify himself to the police. That wouldn't bring her back and might destroy him. Certainly he didn't owe her that much. "I don't know. Will she be okay? Nothing's going to happen to her?"

"Nothing's going to happen to her. I'll keep an eye on her. Now leave."

"Well, I guess it's all right, since the police are on the way. I truly appreciate your doing this for me. So, you'll stay up here and wait up here until they come, okay?"

"Sure."

(End of excerpt from The Price of Candy. -- the next Sandy Reid mystery by Rod Hoisington).

end.