A Purse to Die For (22 page)

"
For how long?
"

"
A few days. I don
'
t know. Just to Toronto. Not out of the country.
"

Gina swallowed hard.
"
Does Rob know?
"

A grin.
"
He does now.
"

"
Well, have a good time.
"
The second the words were out, she realized how idiotic she sounded.

"
Look, Gina, stay close to Becki while I
'
m gone.
"

Gina looked up at the sky.
"
I would if I could. Where is she?
"

"
I don
'
t know. But find her. She knows more, I swear it. And she loves you to pieces, so I know you
'
ll be safe with her.
"

He stood up with the sinewy grace of a wolf.
"
I don
'
t know about anyone else.
"

"
Gina, thank God I finally got hold of you,
"
Becki said over the landline
and the relief was real
.
"
Where
'
ve you been?
"

"
Where have
you
been?
"
Gina replied.

"
In the hospital. I
'
ve been trying to reach you—
"

"
The hospital?
"

"
Don
'
t ask.
"

"
Of course, I
'
m asking. What
'
s wrong?
"

"
Nothing now, but—
"

"
I
'
ll be right there. I
'
ll have Nellie with me.
"

"
Hold on!
"
She tried to listen through the silence on the other end.
Is Gina still there?
"
Gina?
"

"
Yes.
"

"
I think I
'
ve given you the wrong impression. I
'
m fine. Just fine. Long story.
"

"
Coming right over.
"

"
Not necessary. Honestly. I
'
ll be released very soon. And I
'
ve got my car sitting right outside in the parking lot. Drove myself in yesterday. It was just a touch of food poisoning. That
'
s all. No reason for you to be concerned.
"

"
Really.
"

Gina sounds
awfully
sarcastic for someone as sweet as she.

"
Perhaps there
'
s some contaminated food I should throw out before anyone else gets sick.
"

"
No…yes…no…
"

"
Becki!
"

"
The vegetarian sausages I offered around at breakfast yesterday. No takers. And I seriously doubt anyone has developed a craving subsequently. But just in case, will you—
"

"
Certainly.
"

"
Discretely?
"

"
Of course.
"

"
Gina?
"

"
Yes?
"

"
I have something important to say. And the more I think about it, the more worked up I get. In fact, unless you
'
re able to talk me out of it, as soon as I hang up, I
'
m calling Rob. Tony and Karl
too
.
"

"
Why?
"

"
Your grandmother didn
'
t have cancer after all. Not according to Dr. Crosby.
"

"
You
'
re the one who told me it was cancer.
"

"
I know.
"

"
And Carla confirmed it later.
"

"
Right. It was Carla who told me Godmom had cancer. And Dr. Crosby just told me she didn
'
t. So there you have it. Two different stories. Did she have cancer or not? Do we believe Carla or Dr. Crosby? Is cancer the cause of death? Did she die of natural causes? Or—
"

"
Becki, you
'
re scaring me. You make it sound so sinister. Don
'
t you think the whole yes or no cancer thing is a misunderstanding?
"

"
Which brings me to exactly what I want from you—your advice. Because I
'
m not an official member of your family—
"

Gina started to object, but Becki cut her off.

"
I
'
m not. So I
'
m torn about how to proceed. I decided it was best to run it by you. And ask is there reason to be suspicious of Carla? Is she covering up for Reggie, perhaps? Should we tell the police?
"

Gina seemed at a loss.

Becki let out a sigh.
"
I should add I remember wondering why there weren
'
t any prescriptions or drugs of any kind in Godmom
'
s room when I helped your mom clean it out. I even asked Carla about it
'
cause she was the one who was living with Godmom. You know what Carla said?
"

"
What?
"

"
She said she cleared out the drugs earlier so Nellie wouldn
'
t happen upon them and poison herself.

"
Good idea.
"

"
I thought so
too
at the time.
"

"
You know, Grandmother could have fibbed about cancer to Carla, although for the life of me, I can
'
t think why she
'
d do it…
"

"
Endless possibilities.
"

"
Hmmm...
"

"
So should I talk to Rob? To Tony? To Karl?
"

"
Let me think.
"

Becki waited
a few seconds.

"
No, poor Carla. She doesn
'
t need more heartache on top of what she
'
s been through. I mean, what if it
'
s…nothing? How about if I talk to her and try and get a feeling for what
'
s going on? I
'
m pretty intuitive, you know. A nose for weather and all that.
"

"
Sure,
"
Becki said.
"
And I
'
ll be there soon. Let me know what you get out of her,
'
kay?
"

Chapter 36

"
That didn
'
t take long,
"
Rob yelled at Carla when she breezed past the library door.

Carla backed up, poked her head in the room.
"
What?
"

"
Thought you were on your way to Toronto.
"

"
Was. Luckily I didn
'
t get too far because my doctor
'
s office called to reschedule. Seems a time slot opened up at his dentist
'
s and he jumped on it. Naturally, my esteemed doctor
'
s scaling units, white amalgam fillings, and root canals are number one priority. No problem for us little people to reshuffle our agendas.
"

"
You sound bitter.
"

"
Just an inconvenience.
"

"
Are you fond of your
esteemed
Toronto doctor?
"

"
He
'
s
all right
.
"

"
Must be more than just
all right
for you to keep going to him even if he
'
s all the way in Toronto.
"

"
You know I lived there for a while. Couldn
'
t be bothered switching doctors. Don
'
t go often. Just my annual check-up. Then I do a bit of shopping.
"

"
That
'
s what your appointment was, then—an annual check-up?
"

Carla eyed him suspiciously.

"
You
'
re okay?
"
he specified.

"
Just my annual check-up,
"
she repeated.
"
Mother died of cancer, so…keeping on top of things.
"

"
But Nellie has a doctor in town?
"

The fingers of her right hand holding the strap of her purse tapped.
"
Of course she does.
"

"
And your mother?
"

"
She does—did
too
.
"

"
Can I have their names and addresses?
"

"
For crying out loud, Rob. What
'
s with the third degree? You
'
ve known me and my family since I was a kid. You already know everything about me.
"

"
Not the name of your doctor.
"

"
And that
'
s going to help how?
"
She sidled up to his desk. Not
his
desk, actually. She bent to look at him, steadied her brown eyes on his.

No two ways about it, Carla was looking one whole heck of a lot better. The bruises on her face were nearly imperceptible now. In fact, she was hotter than before bastard Reggie beat her up. Like she was blossoming or something…finally out from under his control.

"
Just doing my job,
"
he said.
"
Being thorough. Leaving no rock unturned.
"

"
Bending yourself in two looking under rocks, Rob? Bet Tony doesn
'
t do that.
"
She smirked.

"
Tony?
"
he snarled in irritation. But seconds later, he felt like smacking his lips with satisfaction. Because he recognized an important slip when he heard one.

Carla knows Tony
'
s a cop, damn it! And she shouldn
'
t, should she? Tony would never tell her. Nor would Gina. So she overheard our conversation last night. Therefore she must also know we
'
re on to Reggie. And that
'
s what
'
s really going on here.

He let out a groan. Carla had been on her way to warn the bastard, but she
'
d spotted her tail.
Stupid, stupid broad! What do women see in men like that? No matter what they do to them! It
'
s like they can
'
t stop trying to save them.

He looked up at her with real pity in his eyes. But still he needed to call her doctor to confirm this new theory.

"
I
'
m sorry, Carla, you
'
re going to have to cooperate whether you feel like it or not. I need those names and addresses.
"

She pulled away.
"
If you must,
"
she said.
"
I
'
ve got business cards upstairs in my files. I
'
ll bring them down later.
"

Rob could have sworn she batted her eyes.
"
Not later. Now.
"

Not only did he need them immediately, he figured she might respond to masculine forcefulness. Maybe that
'
s what she dug about Reggie Williamson—his authority.
Of course,
Gina is a much b
etter catch than Carla, and if I could have Gina again, I
'
d jump at the chance, but in the meantime…

In the meantime, he enjoyed watching Carla
'
s butt flounce out of the room.

Upstairs, Carla braced herself on her dresser, leaned in and checked out her reflection in the mirror. She had to admit she was looking fine, but, hell, the day wasn
'
t going so well.
Cut off at every damned turn!

Okay. She knew how to stall.

Oh…Rob. I forgot! Shoot, you
'
re not going to make me climb up the stairs again, are you? Not with this cast on. I
'
ll bring them down next time. Promise.

Yes, that
would be perfect.
Not all men a
re as hard to deal with as Reggie.

Suddenly, in the mirror, she saw someone standing outside her room. She hiked in a breath.

But it was just Gina who filled the gap between door and doorframe. She tapped lightly.
"
Sorry to bother you.
"

"
That
'
s okay.
"
Carla turned.
"
Nellie
'
s
all right
?
"

"
Absolutely. No problem. We were playing in her room
,
and I saw you walk by. Nellie didn
'
t see you. She was facing the other way. Anyway, I wondered if everything was okay with you.
"

"
Why wouldn
'
t it be?
"

"
You asked me to babysit Nellie. You were supp
osed to be gone most of the day. A
nd now you
'
re back already.
"

"
No biggie. Doctor had to reschedule. I
'
ll take over with Nellie. Just give me a minute.
"

"
No, it
'
s not that…
"
Gina took in a breath.
"
We
'
re having fun. Take your time.
"
She
turned to go then changed her mind.
"
Becki called this morning.
"

"
Oh? Where the hell is she, anyway?
"

"
In hospital.
"

"
What
'
s up?
"

"
Food poisoning.
"

"
Ha! If she can
'
t stomach vegetarian, may
be she should drop down a level
to macrobiotic.
"

"
Not funny, Carla. Becki was really ill.
"

"
Right. Sorry.
"

Carla
didn
'
t understand Gina
'
s concern. Becki wasn
'
t even her real aunt. And they were nowhere near close in age. In fact, she was kinda pissed at how close Gina and Becki seemed to be.
"
Nellie and I will make a point to go see her this afternoon,
"
she said in a conciliatory tone.

"
No need. S
he
'
s coming home any minute now.
"

What does Gina mean
'
home
'
?

"
And I
'
d like to talk to you about something she said on the phone this morning.
"

Carla
'
s ears pricked.
"
Ya
?
"

"
Becki said Grandma
'
s doctor, Dr. Crosby, claimed she didn
'
t have cancer.
"

"
What?
"
Carla
'
s eyes widened.
"
How can tha
t be? Is the man deranged
?
"

"
He said,
'
Check your source.
'
Which means
you
. You told us she had cancer.
"

"
Because that
'
s what she had. That
'
s what she told me. And she didn
'
t want anyone else to know. Just us who lived in the house with her.
"

"
Well, now we have two stories
,
and they don
'
t match. It
'
s really weird, don
'
t you think?
"

"
I
'
ll say. Maybe Mother had a different doctor for her cancer treatments or something.
"

"
Wouldn
'
t her family doctor be kept advised?
"

"
I suppose…But you know how stubborn Mother could be. If she wanted something kept secret…
"

Gina
'
s eyes brightened with an idea.
"
Carla, it was you who tended to her, so what was the name of the doctor on her prescriptions?
"

"
Hell if I know.
"

"
Didn
'
t you read the labels?
"

"
Not the fine print, for Christ
'
s sake.
"

"
And you said you threw out the bottles.
"

"
Explained that.
"

"
You know, a lot of us had an odd feeling about Grandma
'
s death…right from the start.
"

"
What do you mean,
a lot of us
?
"

"
Becki, Tony, me.
"

"
Whatever for?
"
Carla asked with increasing impatience.
"
Mom was old,
"
she said, feeling her face flush.
"
She was sick—
"

"
She was found with a pillow on her head. It was you who found her like that. And you can stand there and tell me you never thought a thing of it?
"