Миранда Джеймс - Digging Up The Dirt

“Thank the Lord,” Hadley said. “I feel responsible for her being in the shape she is.”

“Nonsense,” An’gel said. “The person who ran her off the road is responsible, not you.”

“I agree, dear,” Coriander said. “You aren’t at fault for the actions of a lunatic.”

Hadley didn’t look convinced, but he would have to wrestle with his feelings of guilt, An’gel knew. In his place she would probably feel the same.

“How are you going to figure out which one of them is responsible?” Coriander asked.

Before Kanesha could respond, An’gel said, “I have an idea that might help get this over with quickly.”

Kanesha looked at her, one eyebrow raised. “And what is that idea, Miss An’gel?”

“I know you don’t like interference in your investigations,” An’gel said. “But you have accepted our help in the past, and I think in this case we can help bring things to a close before anyone else gets hurt.”

“Yes, I understand that.” Kanesha frowned, and An’gel could see that her patience was wearing thin. “What is this idea?”

“We flush out the killer.” An’gel leaned forward. “You have deputies here in the house, ready to arrest her. Dickce and I will each call one of them, ostensibly to gossip and share what we’ve found out, that Hadley is married. I’m thinking that news might make her so angry she’ll storm over here and try something. Your men will be on hand, and they can arrest her then.” She sat back in her chair and waited for reactions.

“The person would have to make a direct attack against either Mister or Mrs. Partridge,” Kanesha said. “That’s a big risk, and they would have to be willing to take it before I could even consider consenting to that kind of scheme.”

An’gel looked at Hadley and Coriander. “What do you say?”

“Absolutely not,” Hadley said. “In Cory’s case, that is. I’m willing to be the bait, but I’m not going to allow her to be.”

“Excuse me, Mister Partridge,” Coriander said, her voice a little sharp, “you’re not going to allow me? Is that so?”

Hadley’s expression turned even more stubborn, An’gel thought, as he regarded his wife.

“This is no time to talk about being equal partners,” he said. “This is your life we’re talking about.”

“It’s also your life,” Coriander replied. “I’m not all that eager to see you put yourself in danger, you know.” She turned to An’gel. “Tell me, what do you think would enrage this woman more, seeing me or Hadley, or the two of us together?”

An’gel hated to say it, because she figured Hadley would never forgive her. “You two together.”

“Then that’s how we’ll do it, or not at all.” Coriander picked up the teapot. “I’ll make more tea for all of us.”

CHAPTER 34

Hadley yielded to his wife’s determination, and that surprised An’gel a bit. She admired Coriander for her courage, and said so.

Coriander thanked her and continued her preparations for another pot of tea.

An’gel turned to Kanesha. “So what do you say?”

“I’m not fond of the idea,” Kanesha said. “But it could resolve things quickly. At present, it could be weeks before we have enough information to make an arrest.” She paused for a moment. “Okay, I’m in. Let me call for some backup first. I need to get them in place before you make those phone calls.” She turned to Hadley. “Is there somewhere we can hide the patrol cars?”

“There’s room in the garage behind the house,” Hadley said. “We have only one car there at the moment, a rental, and there’s space for three more.”

“Good enough.” Kanesha stood. “I’ll just step into the other room to call, if you don’t mind.” She strode out of the kitchen but was back in less than two minutes.

“Everything is set,” she said. “I’m going to move my car now. Will you come with me, Mr. Partridge?”

“Certainly,” Hadley said and followed her out of the kitchen.

Coriander came back to the table and resumed her seat while she waited for the water to come to a boil. “I have to say, you two seem remarkably cool about all this. I’m a bit jittery myself, but I’m going to see it through. But do you really think this woman might try to kill me? Or Hadley?”

“It’s a distinct possibility,” An’gel replied. “You’re the more likely candidate, unfortunately. She would have to get rid of you in order to have Hadley for herself, you see.”

Coriander nodded. The kettle whistled, and she rose to attend to it. Over her shoulder she said, “This is certainly not what I expected to be dealing with when we came back to Athena. Prejudice, certainly, but not a deranged person fixated on my husband.”

“There will be prejudice from some people, even now,” An’gel said. “I’m sorry about that, for your and Hadley’s sake.”

Coriander brought the teapot back to the table and resumed her seat. She poured more tea for the three of them, then set the teapot aside. “It’s not anything we haven’t faced already,” she said. “I dealt with it growing up because my mother was black and my father was mixed race. I can stand anything they throw at me.”

“I believe you can.” Dickce smiled. “And brava to you. Once all this is settled we look forward to meeting your family.”

“Thank you,” Coriander said. “I’m not sure what they’re going to think of Mississippi, although Hadley and I have both talked about it often enough.”

Hadley and Kanesha entered the kitchen through the back door and came to the table. Coriander refilled their teacups when they sat.

“My deputies will be here in under five minutes,” Kanesha said. “I think it’s okay to go ahead and make those calls, Miss An’gel, Miss Dickce.”

An’gel nodded. “All right. Sister, will you call Reba, and I’ll call Lottie?”

“Sure,” Dickce said. “Doesn’t really matter.” She pulled her cell phone from her purse. “I’ll go into the hall. You can stay here.” She strode out of the room.

“Pour it on thick,” An’gel called after her. She wasn’t sure Dickce heard her, but she figured her sister knew what to say to Reba.

An’gel retrieved her own phone from her purse and found Lottie’s name in her contacts. She tapped the call icon and waited for an answer. Kanesha, Hadley, and Coriander watched and waited quietly.

“Hi, Lottie, how are you?” An’gel asked, her tone bright and breezy. “I hope you’re well.”

“Doing fine,” Lottie said. “What’s up, An’gel? I’m supposed to meet Barbie in a few minutes.”

“I won’t keep you long,” An’gel said. “I simply couldn’t wait to call you. You’ll never guess what Dickce and I found out. It’s so juicy, you’ll have a fit when you hear.”

“Really? Do tell,” Lottie said. An’gel heard the eagerness in Lottie’s voice. She adored gossip.

“Well, Dickce and I dropped by to see Hadley a little while ago, and you could have knocked us down with a feather,” An’gel said. She groaned inwardly at the cliche, but pressed on. “You’ll never guess who opened the door.”

“Who?” Lottie asked. An’gel thought she detected tension in that one syllable.

“His wife.” An’gel paused deliberately too see how Lottie would react.

“I don’t believe you,” Lottie said. “Who is she, some English woman?”

An’gel laughed. “Heavens, no. You’d never in a million years guess who she is.”

“Who, dammit? Who is she?” Lottie was obviously agitated, whether from An’gel’s teasing her by delaying an answer or from the very fact that Hadley was married. An’gel wasn’t sure, but it was time to drop the bombshell.

“Do you remember Callie’s maid? Coriander Simpson?” An’gel said. “She’s Mrs. Hadley Partridge now.”