Миранда Джеймс - Digging Up The Dirt

CHAPTER 19

“Good heavens,” An’gel said, stunned and still half-asleep. “What happened?”

“Car wreck,” Barbie said. “Her car went into a ditch on the highway between where you live and town, evidently. Somebody came along and found her and called 911, thank the Lord.”

“Gracious,” Dickce said. “I wonder what caused her to go off the road?”

Barbie said, “Well, she has been known to drink more than she should and then get behind the wheel. I suspect that’s what happened.”

“Yes, I suppose so,” An’gel said. “Where was she going? Has anybody been able to talk to her?”

“I don’t think so,” Barbie said. “She’s in a coma. I thought y’all should know. She’s going to need all the prayers she can get.”

“Poor Arliss,” Dickce said. “We certainly will pray for her.”

“Thank you for letting us know, Barbie,” An’gel said. “We’ll get over to the hospital first thing in the morning to check on her and see if there’s anything we can do.”

“I’ll see you there,” Barbie replied. “Bye.”

An’gel and Dickce hung up their phones, and An’gel walked out of her room into the hall. Dickce met her there.

“Sister, what on earth is going on?” Dickce said after a yawn. “First Sarinda, and now Arliss. Could they both be accidents?”

“Mighty coincidental if they are,” An’gel said. “Come on, I don’t know about you, but I could use a hot drink. Let’s make hot chocolate.”

Dickce nodded and followed An’gel downstairs to the kitchen. An’gel took charge of making the hot chocolate, and Dickce retrieved mugs from the cabinet. Neither spoke again until they had filled their mugs and were sitting at the kitchen table.

After a couple of sips, An’gel spoke. “Barbie said Arliss was found in a ditch along the highway between here and town. I think she was probably on her way home from Ashton Hall.”

“Or going to Ashton Hall,” Dickce said. “If she had a snootful, it’s the kind of thing she would do. She’s brazen enough when she’s sober, but she gets reckless when she’s had too much to drink.”

“I suppose,” An’gel said. “I think it’s more likely she was on her way home.” She had more hot chocolate. “There’s one way to find out.”

“Call Hadley, you mean?” Dickce asked.

An’gel nodded. “I imagine Barbie has already called him, so he’s probably awake. Shall we?” She gestured toward the kitchen phone.

“Why not?” Dickce asked. “You do it.”

“All right, I will.” An’gel stared at her mug for a moment before she set it aside and went over to the phone. “Do you remember the number?”

“I think so.” Dickce recited it, and An’gel punched it in.

After three rings, a sleepy voice answered.

An’gel put her hand over the mouthpiece. “Not Hadley. A woman. Maybe the housekeeper?” She took her hand away and said, “I’m so sorry to wake you. Is this Ashton Hall?”

“Yes, it is. Who are you, and why are you calling in the middle of the night?” the woman asked, obviously annoyed.

“This is An’gel Ducote. I’m trying to reach Hadley. A mutual friend of ours was badly injured in an accident on the highway near there. I’m trying to get in touch with him to let him know.”

“I see.” An’gel heard the sounds of bedcovers rustling. “Let me see if I can find him for you. Does he have your number?”

“Yes, he should,” An’gel said.

“Okay, then, I’ll go find him and tell him to call you.”

An’gel heard a dial tone. She came back to the table with the handset. “She’s going to look for him and have him call us.”

“I feel bad we woke her up.” Dickce frowned. “Why didn’t Hadley answer, I wonder?”

Nearly ten minutes passed before the phone rang. By then they had both finished their chocolate and Dickce was washing out the mugs and saucepan.

An’gel answered the call. She barely had time to say hello before Hadley launched into speech.

“An’gel, thanks for calling, but I’m about to head to the hospital,” he said.

“Obviously you already know about Arliss,” An’gel said. “I guess Barbie Gross called you.”

“No,” Hadley said. “The hospital called my cell phone. Evidently Arliss had me listed as an emergency contact. Look, I really need to get to the hospital.”

“Be careful,” An’gel said. “Call and let us know if there’s anything we can do.”

“Sure.” Hadley ended the call.

An’gel replaced the handset. “That was peculiar.”

“What are you talking about?” Dickce asked. “What did Hadley say?”

An’gel shared Hadley’s part of the conversation with her sister. When An’gel finished, Dickce shook her head.

“Why would Arliss have him listed as her emergency contact? She has a cousin in town, and a sister in Jackson. That’s strange. He hasn’t been back in town that long.”

“They must have struck up a relationship almost immediately,” An’gel said. “Or else Arliss was jumping the gun. I wouldn’t be surprised if that was the case.”

“Maybe,” Dickce said. “Did he sound really upset?”

An’gel nodded. “Maybe he’s closer to her than we realized.”

“You didn’t get to ask him whether Arliss had been with him at Ashton Hall tonight,” Dickce said. “I suppose we’ll find that out tomorrow. In the meantime, I’m going back to bed.”

“Me, too.” An’gel followed her sister out of the kitchen and back up to the second floor.

“Good night again,” Dickce said.

“Good night.” An’gel closed her bedroom door behind her. She removed her robe and laid it across the foot of the bed. Then she climbed in and got comfortable before she reached over to turn out the light.

She lay there awhile, her mind too busy to let her relax into sleep right away. She worried that Arliss’s accident was not an accident, but a deliberate attempt on the woman’s life. An’gel found the coincidence of this event too great after the deliberate—and successful—attempt on Sarinda’s life.

What was behind all of it? She worried over that until, at last, she fell asleep from exhaustion.

An’gel and Dickce were on their way to the hospital a few minutes before eight that morning. About a half mile past the driveway to Ashton Hall they saw the place where Arliss’s car had evidently gone into the ditch. To judge by the deep gouges in the turf, An’gel thought, the wreck had been horrendous. She uttered another quick prayer for Arliss.

“She went off the road less than a minute after she turned onto the highway,” Dickce said.

“Yes, and that strikes me as odd,” An’gel said. “This stretch of road is perfectly straight for nearly a mile here. What made her run off the road?”

“A deer maybe?” Dickce tightened her grip on the steering wheel.

“Maybe,” An’gel said.

They found Hadley, looking exhausted and hollow-eyed, asleep in the waiting room near the ICU. They hesitated to wake him, but Barbie Gross and Lottie MacLeod entered the room only moments behind them. Lottie went straight to him and shook him awake before anyone could stop her.

Hadley sat up and yawned. He rubbed his face, and after a moment he focused on them. “Good morning,” he said, his voice hoarse.

“Poor man, you’ve been here all night, haven’t you?” Barbie sat down on one side of him, Lottie on the other. Barbie patted his leg, and Lottie stroked his shoulder.

Hadley looked at Barbie and Lottie in turn before he stood up and walked a couple of feet away. He turned and gazed at An’gel and Dickce. “It’s been a hellish night.”

“How is she?” An’gel asked. She and Dickce seated themselves near him.