A Purse to Die For (23 page)

"
What can I say? Maybe she twitched…and it fell on her head.
"
Now she looked at Gina through slitted eyes.
"
You don
'
t know how awful it was to find Mom like that. I described everything to the ambulance guys and to Rob when he came by and to everyone else who wanted to know. Even though I hated to relive it all. Then each and every one of them determined Mom died
of natural causes. And
now she
'
s laid to rest.
"
Her eyes filled with tears.
"
Why are you dragging it all up again?
"

Chapter 37

Tony drove the Audi like a Formula 1 racer to Toronto.
Of all the times to be called away…

While driving, he brooded. These crimes pointed to two people, but which one was it? If it were the right person—and oh yes, there was a right person to be guilty, at least for the family—then everything would be okay for now. But if Tony were wrong…if the wrong person was guilty…

Transports slipped behind him like little toys in the distance. The sign for the 400 went by in a flash. Tony drove the manual transmission with skill, but even he had to admit this was reckless. Thing
was
, it was even more reckless leaving Gina back at the house.

He cursed again.

When he got close to Barrie, he pulled off the highway into a service station. He sat for a moment watching people come and go from the coffee shop. What was the worst that could happen? If he didn
'
t respond to the work call, they could sack him.
Fine with him.
Whoa, that made him suck air. Yeah, it was true. They could sack him
,
and he wouldn
'
t mind a bit. In fact, it would make everything a whole lot simpler.
Bloody hell.

Funny how only a few years ago his job had been everything. He had thrived on the excitement, the adrenaline rush every time he got a new assignment. The travel was a bonus
,
and he couldn
'
t count how many times he got a kick out of playing with all the tools of the trade. He had liked carrying a concealed weapon. He had liked working behind the scenes
,
and damn, he was good at it. How, recently, had it all become old? The thought of leaving the country one more time and flying alone to some forgotten hole of a place did not appeal anymore. Maybe he was getting old. In any case, it sure wouldn
'
t fit with the lifestyle he planned in the future with Gina.

If he didn
'
t go back to the house…
p
riorities, man. What
is
really important?

He picked up his cellphone—the other cellphone, the one strictly for confidential use—and talked quickly. When done, he put it on the seat beside him and spun the car around. In no time he was on the ramp to the highway speeding back to Langdon Hills.

Becki drove back from the hospital. She felt much better physically, almost euphoric after the stomach episode. But she thought,
I have to get back to the house immediately.

She considered stopping at the side of the road to phone Karl but decided against it.
Don
'
t waste a minute. Better to get back. Why am I feeling so uneasy? Why in heck am I suddenly so anxious?

Andrew stood with his hands in his pants pockets and watched the departing car. What a nightmare watching Ian
'
s mom pack up his things. Standing helplessly by
,
unable to say anything useful. Taking glares from Jerry. As if it was all his fault. As if Ian wasn
'
t always this way, years before Andrew met him.

That was the last time he would see Ian
'
s parents, thank goodness. Oh no, that wasn
'
t right. There was still the funeral. Andrew felt a catch in his throat. He turned back into the motel and hurried down the hall to the room Ian had occupied, making it just in time.

Once in, he pushed the door shut and leaned back on it. Tears were coming now. Hot, steamy tears—the kind that made your eyes sting. He walked over, reached for a tissue on the bedside table and blew his nose.

Oh God, Ian
'
s gone.
Happy Ian, clever Ian, fun-loving Ian. Ian, who was like an older brother as well as a lover. Ian, who looked after him.

What was he going to do now?

He sat on the corner of the bed and let the tears come.

"
Have you seen Gina?
"
Anna asked.

Linda stepped out of the BMW and looked at her sister-in-law with disinterest. Nothing much could catch her attention now. Ian was gone. His beautiful belongings were packed neatly into the trunk of their car. Nothing mattered. There was nothing to keep her here anymore.

"
Linda, are you all right?
"

Linda focused on Anna and took a breath.
"
No. I haven
'
t seen anyone.
"
She stared into space.
Why won
'
t Anna go away?

Jerry had walked around the side of the car and was talking with his sister now. What were they saying? Linda could hardly make it out.

"
…packing up Ian
'
s belongings…not herself…haven
'
t seen her, but she
'
s with Tony, I think.
"

Linda stared at the back seat through the window. Ian
'
s argyle sweater sat there, left behind from another journey. She remembered that trip—shopping on Bloor Street in Toronto and then a quick lunch in Yorkville. They had had such fun watching everyone around them…Ian making such caustic, witty remarks about the other patrons. Linda gazed at the pullover lovingly and big tears started to roll slowly down her face.

Reggie sat in the neighbour
'
s cabin cruiser looking through the starboard porthole. Good thing Mark had left him the key in case he felt like fishing. They
'
d done a lot of fishing together years ago. Mark was a good guy, even if he did allow that shrew of a wife to boss him around.

But now his thoughts focused on the action at the cottage next door. How the hell did the cops find him? What were they doing crawling all over his cottage? He still thought of it as his cottage even though it belonged to his first wife
,
and they
'
d been divorced for years.

He leaned back on the blue cushions of the V berth, out of sight. By now the cops would surely know he had been living there. His clothes were scattered about and the laptop—yes, it would be obvious. What would they do next? Send out a search? Luckily he had his wallet with him and a cellphone. The car was still in the driveway, though, and that was a bad sign. They would figure he hadn
'
t gone far.

To be honest, he was surprised. He hadn
'
t thought Carla would go through with charging him.
Da
mned bitch.
That
'
s what it had to be—unless they still thought he had something to do with Hilary
'
s murder. But surely, they
'
d figured that one out…or were they too stupid to be real?

He took a chance and glanced out the window. One young guy was down on the dock next door looking about. Reggie knew he couldn
'
t be seen from outside with the sun shining brightly like this. The inside of the boat would appear pitch black. But any time now, one of them might come snooping. Of course, they didn
'
t have a key to get in. Reggie walked quietly over to check the lock again to make sure it was secure. At least there would be a delay as they tried to contact the owners. He slipped silently back to the V berth and peered out the porthole again.

In the dark of the cabin, Reggie frowned. Not only charging him with assault, the damned bitch was setting him up for Hilary
'
s murder. That had to be it. Of all the—

Reggie swore. Sit tight, that
'
s what he had to do for now. Sit tight and think.

The call startled both of them.

Gina
'
s hand went to the portable hall phone. She picked it up and pressed
Talk
.

"
Gina speaking,
"
she said automatically. Now why did she say that, like she was at the studio?

"
Oh, good. Gina, it
'
s Reggie.
"

She nearly dropped the phone on the floor. It took everything in her to speak normally into the mouthpiece.

"
Hi, how are you?
"

"
Gina
,
listen to me. Carla killed Hilary. She
'
s trying to frame me. Are you listening? Are you there…? Gina…say something.
"

Gina forced her face to go blank. She paused a moment and then said clearly,
"
Where are you? Are you coming home soon?
"

"
What is it? Is she there in front of you?
"

Gina nodded then realized Reggie couldn
'
t see that.
"
Yes,
"
she said carefully.
"
I miss you too, Tony.
"

"
Gotcha,
"
Reggie said. She could hear his sharp intake of breath over the phone.
"
You
'
re trying to make her think I
'
m someone else. Get away from her, Gina. Tell Dumont. Oh shit, they
'
re coming. I
'
ve got to go now.
"

The phone clicked. Gina looked up, finding Carla three feet away and staring right at her.

"
That wasn
'
t Tony,
"
Carla said.
"
Who was it?
"

Chapter 38

Because Nellie got bored waiting for Gina to come back and play with her, she
'
d left her room and drifted downstairs. Coming down, she
'
d noticed through the front door
'
s thick, wavy glass it was snowing again.
Enough to make a fort?

Maybe. At the bottom of the staircase, she made a fast left to check what it looked like outside on the ground, from the much, much lower window in the living room. Since no one ever used that room
,
which was just for company
,
she was really surprised to see Uncle Jerry sitting on the couch.

She knew it was because he was sad about his son
'
s death that he hunched over on the sofa, head in hands, shaking like he had a fever, and didn
'
t even notice when she came in.

She walked toward him
,
but didn
'
t get very close. Balancing on one foot, then the other, she whispered,
"
Uncle Jerry?
"

He raised his eyes and they were blurry, but he wiped
them with the back of his hand and
tried a smile
.
"
Hi, Nellie. How are you today?
"

"
Fine. B
ut you
'
re really sad, aren
'
t you?
"

"
Yes.
"

Maybe he
'
s going to start crying even harder.

"
It
'
s nice of you to stop and talk to me,
"
he said.

"
I know it
'
s hard when someone
dies—
"

He
grabbed hold of the edge of the sofa cushion.

"
—because of Grandma,
"
she
sai
d
.
"
I miss her a lot, and she was your mom too, right? But know what?
"

"
What?
"

"
Mom says Grandma and Ian are in a better place now.
"

"
That
'
s what Mom says, eh?
"

"
Yup. Think she
'
s right?
"

"
Maybe.
"
His lips trembled like he was going to say something else.

"
What?
"
she asked.

"
Many things I should have done differently. So many things… Nellie, what really, truly matters in this world, is appreciating what you
'
ve got—the good people in your life. Your immediate family. Not all the working and working to get more stuff, or impressing others with what you
'
ve accomplished. My whole life I tried to prove to my mother how successful I was, and in the end it didn
'
t make a difference. It was just this huge waste of time. She wasn
'
t about to love me any more because of it. And poor Ian…
"

For a moment, Nellie thought he might not to be able to continue.
He needs a hug.
She inched closer.

"
…my poor Ian worked so hard. Took so many punches in his quest to make it to the top. And in the end, do you think he knew how proud I was of him? How much I loved him? No…I don
'
t think so. I was no better than Mother…harsh…critical. And now I have to plan my only son
'
s funeral. Ian
'
s…funeral.
"

"
You and Aunt Linda,
"
Nellie said.

"
Me and Aunt Linda…
"
Then he shook his head like cartoons do when they change their minds.
"
Here I am burdening you,
"
he murmured, waving her away.
"
It
'
s not right. You go off now, Nellie. Off to play.
"

She wanted to do exactly what he said. Run away and forget all about him, and how sad he was. But something made her sidle up and put her skinny arm around his great, shaking shoulders.
"
You wanna go outside and build a snow fort with me?
"

"
Of course it was Tony,
"
Gina said.
"
But he had to hang up. Just like him. His business is always interfering.
"

Carla realised Gina was trying hard for a hurt expression, but what came across was guilt.
"
You little brat. Don
'
t you lie to me!
"
She grabbed her niece by the arm.

Gina yanked it away.
"
What
'
s with you, Carla? For crying out loud!
"
She started down the hall.
"
I
'
ll check on Nellie. I think I
'
ve been gone long enough.
"

"
You said Nellie
'
s fine.
"

"
Then I
'
ll let her know you
'
re home
,
and I
'
ll go on with my business.
"
In ten paces they reached Nellie
'
s room, and they both saw through the open door Nellie wasn
'
t there. Gina
'
s hand flew to her chest.
"
Where is she?
"

"
No need to panic just because she
'
s not in her room. My girl
'
s got the run of the house,
"
Carla said.

"
You don
'
t worry about her?
"
Gina started down the stairs.

Carla followed close behind.
"
Of course I worry about her. But she can go downstairs by herself without falling. She can make herself a snack in the kitchen. I
'
m her mother, I know what she is and isn
'
t capable of.
"

"
Does Nellie know what
you
'
re
capable of?
"
Gina asked under her breath.

Carla caught the tone in the slipstream behind Gina
'
s descending body. And she wanted to explode with pent-up rage.
Little Ms. Perfect. Ms. Cushy Job. Ms. Designer Clothes. Who the hell does she think she is? She doesn
'
t even have kids of her own, and yet pretends to know what
'
s best?

When the two of them reached the bottom, Carla heard Nellie
'
s voice and said,
"
My daughter
'
s in there,
"
pointing toward the living room doorway. She peeked inside.
"
She
'
s fine. She
'
s talking to Jerry.
"

"
Good,
"
Gina said. She pivoted and headed in the direction of the kitchen.

"
You didn
'
t answer my question.
"
Carla pursued her as best she could on her stupid cast.
"
Who was that on the phone?
"

"
Carla, leave me alone. I want to make myself a cup of tea. And I don
'
t have to answer to you.
"
Once in the back room, she pulled open the door of the cupboard holding the tin of tea bags.

"
Do if I say you do.
"

"
Nonsense. You sound like your husband, trying to boss me around.
"

"
Well…I
'
m tired of being the pushover.
"

"
Is that how you explain it?
"

"
How I explain what?
"

"
The way you
'
ve been lately.
"

"
What do you mean?
"

"
Weird—that
'
s all.
"

"
Oh and how would you be if the man you were with, say Tony, beat
you
up, and it was Tony the police were looking for in connection with two murders, and at the same time you had to protect his child?
"

Gina whirled.
"
Reggie says
you
killed Hilary and are trying to frame
him
for it.
"

Oh boy! The man was going to say she wasn
'
t in bed when he came back from meeting Hilary that night. She
'
d told him she was checking on Nellie, and he seemed to believe her. But after discovering Hilary had been killed, he raised the issue again and nearly beat the life out of her. And now, apparently, he was outright accusing her. Further complicated by the fact Rob was suspicious of her, and Gina was questioning her about Mom. Now all she needed was for someone to link her to—

"
Oh, God. He
'
s right, isn
'
t he?
"
Gina stared at her, wide-eyed.
"
The way you looked out the door just now—
"

"
You
'
re crazy!
"
Carla hissed.

"
Your expression was—
"

"
Stop it!
"

"
You killed Grandma first then Hilary.
"

Carla
'
s blood vessels swelled. Exactly like when Mother got on her case. Like when Mother left her out of her will. Like when Reggie punched her. Like when she watched Reggie and Hilary. Like when Ian taunted her about Hilary.

Enough!
She needed to get
control
.