Murder.Com (27 page)

     
"I noticed her demeanor last night and wanted to talk to you about it.
 
She appeared to be escaping into another world."

     
"She's been that way all week.
 
Thank God, we found her before Ken persuaded her to go inside."
 
Angie shuddered.
 
"I've never seen him look so mean."

     
Tom remained silent.

*****

     
Later that day, Angie sat at her desk in the kitchen, fingering the report she'd picked up for Melinda at the doctor's office and mulling over the idea of how she would approach the girl about Bud not being her father.
 
She didn't know how to contact her and hesitated about asking Marty just yet.

     
Deep in thought, she jumped when the buzzer at the gate went off.

     
She pushed the intercom on the phone.
 
"Yes."

     
"Mrs. Nevers, this is Officer Kelley.
 
A Melinda Smith wants in.
 
Is that okay?"

     
Angie sighed.
 
This isn't what she had in mind.
 
But Melinda appeared to be hot-headed and aggressive.
 
And Tom even thought her capable of physical violence, so why agitate the girl?
 
She reached across the counter and pulled her purse toward her.
 
Running her hands inside, she felt the barrel of the Barretta and wrapped her fingers around the cold metal.

     
The gravelled voice of the officer brought her back into focus.
 
"Are you still there, Mrs. Nevers?"

     
"I'm sorry.
 
Yes, let her in."

     
Just as she slipped the gun into her pocket, she flinched at the voice behind her.

     
"Who's coming?"

     
Angie had her hand on her heart when she swung around.
 
"You startled me."
 
She tried not to show her shock at Sandy's appearance.
 
Still in her robe, her eyes looked like sunken marbles in desert sand.
 
"How are you feeling?"

     
"As good as can be expected."
 
Then she pointed out the kitchen window.
 
"Someone just drove up."

     
Angie glanced out and saw the white Toyota.
 
"Yes.
 
It's Melinda."

     
"She frightens you, doesn't she?
 
That's why you put your gun in your pocket?"

     
She stiffened, realizing Sandy had seen her gesture.
 
"The woman unnerves me a bit, that's all.
 
I'll feel more secure having my gun close."
 
She noticed how Sandy's eyes shifted nervously when the doorbell chimed.
 
Putting a hand on her shoulder, Angie spoke gently, "Why don't you go on upstairs and get dressed while I talk to her."

     
Sandy jerked away.
 
"No.
 
I'm not going to leave you.
 
I want to meet this child of my husband."

     
Angie furrowed her brow.
 
"Are you sure you're up to this?
 
She's not a charming person, regardless of how beautiful she appears.
 
I'm not going to tell her who we suspect is her father, so don't say anything.
 
Obviously, Marty hasn't told her or she wouldn't be here."

     
The doorbell rang again.
 
She patted Sandy's shoulder and hurried toward the entry.
 
"Hello, Melinda.
 
Come in."
 
When she stepped into the entrance hall, Angie waved a hand toward Sandy.
 
"This is my friend, Sandy Weber."

     
Melinda acknowledged her with only a quick nod, then turned back to Angie.
 
"Have you heard from the doctor?"

     
"Yes.
 
The results came yesterday.
 
I have a copy of the report for you."

     
Angie picked it up off the hall table and handed it to her.
 
She watched Melinda read.
 
The blood drained from the girl's face and her eyes flashed.

     
She threw the paper at Angie. "I don't believe this.
 
It's a goddamn lie.
 
Bud Nevers is my dad.
 
Mother told me so.
 
You've paid the doctor off so you wouldn't have to deal with the thought that your husband had an illegitimate daughter running around.
 
You're all a bunch of rich bastards."

     
Angie didn't expect this type of reaction.
 
"Melinda, how can you say that?
 
Why would I want the doctor to falsify the report?
 
If you don't believe it, go have it done again by your own doctor."

     
Her green eyes bore into Angie.
 
"You bitch!"
 
She then bolted out the door and raced toward the cottage.

     
"Melinda, wait!" Angie rushed after her, scared at what the girl might do to Marty.
 
By the time she reached the cottage, Melinda had already knocked Marty to the floor and was about ready to hit her again.

     
Angie pulled the gun from her pocket.
 
"Stop, Melinda!"

     
The contorted expression on the girl's face looked like a strange and evil mask.
 
But when she glanced toward Angie and spotted the gun, her arm dropped to her side.

     
She threw back her head and laughed.
 
"You going to shoot me, Mrs. Nevers?
 
I can just see the headlines.
 
Wife kills dead husband's illegitimate daughter."
 
Then she turned her attention back to Marty, who'd crawled into a sitting position, wiping the blood from her split lip.
 
"You lied to me," she screamed.
 
"My own mother lied to me."

     
Angie stepped forward.
 
"That's enough, Melinda.
 
Your mother is innocent.
 
She didn't know either until the test results came in."

     
Melinda reached down and yanked Marty up by the arm.
 
"Then who is my father?
 
You're bound to have some idea."

     
But before Marty could answer, Angie gripped her gun with both hands and pointed it at the girl's heart.
 
"Melinda!
 
I said that's enough.
 
Get off this property and never set foot on it again.
 
If you give your mother or me one ounce of trouble, I'm turning you over to the police.
 
Do you understand?"

     
Melinda backed slowly toward the door, her eyes spitting green fire and her stare never leaving the gun.
 
"You haven't heard the last of me," she hissed.

     
Angie shot a glance at Marty.
 
"You okay?"

     
Marty nodded through tear-rimmed eyes.

     
Her gun still drawn, Angie dashed out the door and followed Melinda.
 
But just as Melinda opened her car door, two shots rang out.
 
She crumbled to the ground.

     
Whirling around, Angie screamed.
 
"My God, Marty!
 
No!"

     
"She's evil," Marty sobbed. "Not fit to live."

     
Angie yanked the gun from her hand, and raced toward Melinda's fallen body.
 
Sandy had reached the girl first and glanced up at Angie. "She's still breathing, but there's so much blood."
 
She looked down at her hands and shivered, raking them across her robe, leaving long red streaks.

     
Angie tossed the guns on the car seat.
 
"Go call 911, I'll see what I can do."

     
Examining Melinda, she found a scalp wound, causing profuse bleeding, but it didn't appear deep.
 
The other bullet had entered her shoulder.
 
At that moment, Sandy ran back with a handful of towels and a blanket.

     
As the two women worked over Melinda, Marty stood over them, sobbing.
 
"Is she going to die?"

     
"She's still alive.
 
But I can't tell how badly she's hurt," Angie said, gently laying a towel under the girl's bleeding head.
 
When the sirens sounded, Angie quickly picked up her gun and slipped it into her pocket, leaving the other one on the car seat.
 
It flashed through her mind that her fingerprints would be on that gun, but hopefully only on the barrel where she'd grabbed it from Marty.

*****

     
Tom heard the 911 call come over the radio and recognized Angie's address.
 
He threw the light on top of the unmarked car and made a U-turn in the middle of the street.
 
His only thoughts were that Ken had somehow made it onto the property.
 
He hated to think what might have occurred.
 
If anything had happened to Angie, he'd have Ken hung.

     
A strange feeling of relief surged over him when he came to a grinding halt beside the paramedic's wagon and saw Angie tucking a blanket around a body on the gurney.
 
He bolted from the car and ran to her side.
 
"Thank God, you're all right.
 
What the hell's going on?"

     
"Marty shot Melinda."

     
He quickly glanced over the group and spotted two officers putting Marty into a patrol car.
 
He hurried toward the crying woman.
 
"Marty, why?"

     
"She hurt me once too often, Detective Hoffman.
 
I raised an evil girl," she said, climbing into the car.
 
"I couldn't take it any more."

     
After the ambulance took off, carrying Melinda, the police car followed.

     
Tom stood with his fists on his hips, watching the vehicles disappear over the crest.
 
He remained staring for several seconds before he headed back toward Angie and Sandy.

     
Angie gathered up the blood-soaked towels, then started toward the house, but suddenly dropped the towels on the ground and grabbed Sandy's shoulders. "Sandy, what is it?"

     
Sandy stood staring down at her blood-covered robe.
 
Her body shook with such intensity that Angie had trouble holding on to her.
 
"Tom, come here.
 
Hurry.
 
Help me."

     
Tom dashed over and grasped Sandy's stiff but trembling body.
 
He tried to move her, but she just stood, rigid and shaking.
 
Garbled words tumbled from her mouth.

     
"She's having some sort of a breakdown," Angie cried.
 
"We better get her to the hospital."

     
Finally, Tom just picked her up and carried her to his car.
 
Angie jumped into the back seat and cradled Sandy in her arms.
 
Tom only slowed long enough to tell the officer at the gate to close it and not allow anyone in or out until they returned.

     
After admitting Sandy to the hospital, Angie paced.
 
Tom motioned for her to come and sit beside him in the waiting room.
 
"Sandy's going to be all right.
 
She's just under a lot of stress."

     
Angie sat down and took his hand.
 
"I know.
 
But I'm also concerned about what's going to happen to Marty."

     
Tom turned toward her.
 
"I'm worried about you.
 
How much more of this can you take?
 
You haven't even had time to yourself to grieve over Bud's death.
 
And the news I have to tell you is only going to make matters worse."

Chapter Twenty-four