Convicted (11 page)
Authors: Jan Burke
“Keep the motor running,” he said as they pulled into the drive. “I'll be out in a minute.”
Bill burst through the front door, nearly knocking a startled maid off her feet. He could hear voices in the dining room, but he didn't bother with the dinner party in progress. He ran up the stairs.
“Sir!” the maid called. “You can't go up there!”
He ignored her.
His only moment of hesitation came as he stepped inside Ellie's bedroom and saw her for the first time in months. He had expected to find Ellie's bedroom door locked, but quickly realized why it wasn't.
She was too ill to run away.
He forced himself to move again, came quickly to her side. Her skin was jaundiced and she was so thin, almost skeletal, he thought, then pushed the thought away. Her hair, her beautiful hair, was dull in color and missing in patches. Her breathing was steady but rasping. He put his hands beneath her and lifted her frail body from the bed, keeping the blanket wrapped around her. He told himself that self-recrimination must wait.
Her big brown eyes were open now, watching him.
“Good to see you,” she whispered.
“My God, Ellie.” He tried to gather his wits. “How long has she been poisoning you?”
“Little at a time,” she said, wincing as she spoke.
“Don't talk now, not if it hurts. Has it just been since I left?”
She nodded, the effort seeming to wear her out.
A month. A month of arsenic. “I'm not leaving again, Ellie. Except to take you with me.”
She continued to watch him, but now the barest smile came to her lips.
He had started down the stairs when Miriam, dinner party in tow, entered the foyer.
“What are you doing?” Miriam screeched.
“I'm taking her to a hospital. To see a real doctor. You had better pray to God that I'm not too late.”
Miriam tried to block his way. “She's too ill to move! You have no business . . .”
“Careful, Miriam,” he said in a low voice. “She's awake and lucid. Shall we discuss this in front of your guests, or do you want to wait until after Harry describes your so-called doctor to the gents at the sheriff's office? Ellie's bloodwork will probably give them all they need to go after both of you.”
Miriam paled, then stepped out of the way.
“What's going on here?” one of the guests demanded.
“My sister's . . .”
“Fiancé,”
Bill supplied, as he reached the front door. “Her fiancé is taking her to a hospital.”
The group followed him toward the car. He wasn't watching them. He was watching Ellie. She moved her hand, covered his with it. Her skin was cool and paper dry. “You're safe now, Ellie,” he told her.
“I'm coming with you!” Miriam said, hearing the guests murmuring behind her.
“No you aren't, miss,” Harry said, helping Bill into the backseat.
“She's her sister!” one of the guests protested.
“Her sister will remain here with you,” Bill said. “She wants to tell you about a Hitchcock film.”
“What are you talking about?” another man asked.
“Notorious,”
Bill said, closing the car door.
“YOU'VE WON, SIR, HAVEN'T YOU?”
Harry said as they drove off.
“I've had help,” Bill replied. “All along, I've had help.”
Ellie squeezed his hand.
about the author
National bestseller Jan Burke is the author of a dozen novels and a collection of short stories. Among the awards her work has garnered are Mystery Writers of America's Edgar® for Best Novel, Malice Domestic's Agatha Award, Mystery Readers International's Macavity, and the RT Book Club's Best Contemporary Mystery. She is the founder of the Crime Lab Project (
CrimeLabProject.com
) and is a member of the board of the California Forensic Science Institute. She lives in Southern California with her husband and two dogs. Learn more about her at
JanBurke.com
.
FOR MORE ON THIS AUTHOR:
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This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author's imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2014 by Jan Burke
“Devotion,” “Revised Endings,” and “The Muse” were previously published in
Eighteen
© 2002 by Jan Burke.
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First Pocket Star Books ebook edition July 2014
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Interior design by Meryll Rae Preposi
Cover design by Anna Dorfman
Cover photographs © Santiago Cornejo/Shutterstock (hand/blinds); LukaTDB/Shutterstock (police lights)
ISBN 978-1-4767-4916-7