A Purse to Die For (26 page)

Chapter 43

"
Everything
'
s going to be fine, honey,
"
Carla said, wishing she could put her hands on her child
'
s head, run her fingers through her soft, but matted hair, cup her tiny chin, and lift her face so Nellie could see the truth in her one and only caring parent
'
s eyes.
"
See
,
honey, darling
,
grown-ups make mistakes. I know, I know…
"
she comforted. Poor Nellie was bawling harder than she
'
d ever witnessed.
"
Great, big, huge mistakes
even,
"
she continued.
"
Like Detective Dumont. He
'
s making a whopper.
"
She said this partly for the benefit of the others, who
'
d gathered around her like a posse.
"
And he
'
ll correct it
soon enough.
"
Before crouching down on a level with Nellie, she twisted around, and bore holes through Rob Dumont with her eyes.

"
We
'
ll see about that. Where
'
s
my
daughter? Where
'
s Gina?
"
Anna demanded.

Normally
big sister Anna was a poster woman for poise. Now she looked like
she
required restraints. And Carla had never seen brother-in-law Gord look menacing before. Rob had to hold him off with his hand.

The world turned upside-down. How could they stand by while Rob arrested her? How could they think she
'
d allow herself to harm someone? Gina? Pent-up emotion threatened to erupt inside her, but she forced herself calm. Wasn
'
t she expert at tamping down? Reggie put her through her paces over and over again through the years, didn
'
t he? And basically, when you came right down to it, once again it was Reggie who laid this shit on her.
Bastard! And to think I tried to warn him.

Mostly she tried to think like Nellie
'
s mother. And reme
mber her sister
was a mother
too
. Worried about her child.

"
Gina
'
s fine, Anna. She
'
s safe. I left her at a Brownie camp outside town—
"

"
What
'
d you do that for?
"
her brother-in-law demanded.

"
Trying to avoid this very situation,
"
she started to explain.

"
Trying to avoid getting caught,
"
Rob said.

"
Yes, but—
"

"
You killed my son. You freaking killed my son!
"
Jerry looked like a heart attack waiting to happen.

"
Let me finish
.
I
was
trying to avoid getting caught, just like Rob said.
"

She was interrupted again by screeches from the posse. Nellie clamped onto her so tightly, Carla found it hard to breathe.

"
What I mean is I was trying to avoid getting caught in Reggie
'
s lies. See? He
'
s trying to squirm out of serving time for beating me up.
"
She looked around and wondered if she seemed like someone pleading for her life
, which is
just
what she felt like
.
"
That
'
s exactly what he
'
s trying to do.
"
Unless he really believes I did it.

"
He thinks if he sets me up as the murderer, as a monster, the case against him will be dropped. But—reality check—I
'
m no murderer. He
'
s conning you. Tell me you see it!
"
How depressing to have her own family, not to mention the long arm of the law, believe her abusive husband over her.

"
Maybe not,
"
she said, watching them, and then she heaved a sigh.
"'
Cause Reggie
'
s a pro. He
'
s been lying and manipulating and getting away with it for years. He
'
s convincing
all right
. And because the tension
'
s so high around here, with these murders right outside our door, we
'
re all secretly wondering about each other. Aren
'
t we? Doubting. Even Gina.
"

No one budged.

"
Hard to believe.
"
she said.
"
Once the deadly virus of suspicion breaks out…
"
She shrugged.
"
I
'
ll admit I was scared. Especially when I found out Reggie was accusing me. And on top of that, Gina—of all people—let me know she suspected me, as well. I thought I was done for. And my God, my daughter needs me. So what did I do? I tried to buy time. Until the
real
murderer gets caught. Until things sort themselves out. But now here I am.
"
She rattled her cuffs behind her back.
"
Am I getting through to you at all?
"

She felt herself running out of strength. But she had to make them see.
"
You
'
ve known me all my life, Jerry, Anna. We may not be close or anything, but for God
'
s sake, you know I
'
d never kill anyone.
"

"
Prove it,
"
Gord said.
"
Take us to Gina.
"

"
Now
,
"
Anna said.

Carla knew Anna would show her no compassion until she saw Gina with her own two eyes.
"
I will. Rob?
"

He nodded.
"
Beside me in my cruiser. Lead the way, Carla. The rest of you can follow.
"

"
What about Nellie?
"
Carla asked.

"
She can come with us,
"
Mandy offered.

"
Fine.
"
She whispered in her daughter
'
s ear,
"
Go with Aunt Mandy.
"
If only her hands were free. But she could only soothe and coax.
"
Everything will be fine. I promise. I
'
m going to take us to Gina. You
'
ll see. Go with Aunt Mandy now. Okay, hon? Please.
"

Nellie swiped at her tears, turned, then raised her voice and stated very clearly for all to hear,
"
My mother would never hurt a fly. And you should all know that.
"
Then she stalked over to her aunt.

"
Carla, are you saying it
'
s Reggie, then?
"
Jerry asked.
"'
Cause if it is, I
'
ll kill him.
"

Carla sighed.
There they go again, jumping to conclusions.
"
It
'
s not Reggie, Jerry. If I thought it was him, I
'
d have turned him in myself. The—
"
She stopped herself.
"
He
'
s only a threat to me. Not to his daughter. And not to anyone else, either. Although, if he doesn
'
t smarten up, I can see him headed in that direction.
"

"
What makes you so sure it
'
s
not
him?
"
Rob asked.

"
Because I saw him that night. Meeting Hilary.
"

Jaws dropped.

"
I followed him. I knew he had a meeting with someone. I thought it was because he was gambling again. Thought maybe he had a debt to pay off or something. Believe me, it didn
'
t warm my heart to catch him with another woman.
"

She shifted. The cuffs stretched her arms behind her back.
"
It looked like they were arguing behind the garage. Didn
'
t get close enough to hear what they said. Don
'
t care anyway. Thing is, when he left her, she was intact. So Reggie didn
'
t kill her. And I—
"

"
Yes, you
,
"
said Rob. His voice still carried a dose of mistrust.

"
I scrambled back to our bedroom. Got there shortly after Reggie.
"

"
Why should we believe you?
"
Anna asked.

"
Why would Carla protect that misfit of a husband of hers?
"
Gord put in.
"
After he
'
s accused
her
.
"

"
Well, if it
'
s not Carla, and it
'
s not Reggie, who the hell did it?
"
asked a voice that floated from the top of the stairs. Linda looked unsteady, like she might come tumbling down the staircase.
"
Who killed my son?
"

Tony barrelled down the lane. He sped the vehicle up as they approached their final destination, as proved by the sign further back that read
Dead End
. Nowhere else to go except straight ahead to the Girl Guides of Canada summer camp. Although he noted fewer details than he normally would, he did notice Becki clutching the passenger door.

Rob had hung up on them earlier.
I
'
ll call you right back,
he
'
d said. Then nothing. Normally, Tony would have tried to make conversation, but not now, because Gina—Gina was all that mattered.

His phone rang. Becki picked up immediately.
"
Hello?
"
She made a rolling motion with her other hand.
"
Keep going, Tony. I
'
ll tell you everything he says.
"

They hit something hidden under the snow. Even with its excellent shocks, the Audi bounced them so that Tony banged his head on the roof.
"
Christ!
"

"
Rob says Carla
'
s at home—ha!—in handcuffs.
"

"
Gina?
"
Tony broke in.

"
Where
'
s Gina?
"
Becki asked.

The windshield wipers furiously beat off snow.

"
Not with her.
"

It made sense. Tony
'
s tracer indicated she was near. Now he could see a break in the canopy of trees. The sun
'
s last effort flooded the open area. Oh, God. What would he find?

"
Carla says she left Gina at the camp. She says Gina
'
s fine.
"

To Rob on the phone, Becki said,
"
Do we believe her? Is Gina—
"

"
She
'
d better be fine.
"
Tony cursed.
"
Tell Rob that.
"

Becki didn
'
t follow orders well. Instead, she turned to Tony.
"
He says they
'
re on their way here.
"