Миранда Джеймс - Digging Up The Dirt

“You have got to be kidding.” Lottie snorted into the phone. “You’re telling me that Hadley Partridge married his brother’s servant? They’ll kick him out of the country club for this. I can’t believe it. Why’d he go and marry her?”

“For the same reason most people marry,” An’gel said. “He loves her, and she obviously loves him. You should see them together. They make such a beautiful couple. She’s every bit as striking as Hadley is handsome.”

Hadley grimaced at her, and Coriander appeared embarrassed. An’gel couldn’t help that. If Lottie was the killer, An’gel wanted to do what she could to get her worked up enough to show her hand.

“I’ve got to go,” Lottie said abruptly. “Barbie’s waiting. Talk to you later.” The call ended.

An’gel set her phone on the table. “If that doesn’t get her here—presuming she’s the one we’re after—nothing will.”

Kanesha smiled. “Miss An’gel, you are even more devious than I ever suspected.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment, thank you very much.” She shared with them some of what Lottie had said. Hadley laughed at the remark about his being kicked out of the country club.

“I couldn’t care less about those old fogies,” he said. “I hate golf anyway.”

Kanesha stood. “I hear the squad car.” She went to the back door. “Back in a moment.”

Dickce returned to the kitchen. “Mission accomplished.”

“How did she react?” An’gel asked.

“I was afraid she was going to have a stroke.” Dickce shook her head. “I’m not going to repeat some of the things she said. Trust me, if she’s the killer, she’s bound to show up here in record time.”

“The other deputies are here,” An’gel said. She began to feel nervous. Would her plan work? Was she unnecessarily putting lives in danger? They would simply have to see how things played out.

Kanesha returned with three deputies. She discussed with Hadley where to have them wait, and they decided that she and two of her men would wait in the room next to the front parlor. There was a door between the two rooms, and they would stand there with it slightly ajar, ready to come in the moment they were needed. The third deputy would wait across the hall where he would be watching what happened when Hadley answered the door. He would move into place outside the outer door to the parlor once Lottie or Reba was in the parlor.

“We’re going to be in the parlor with you,” An’gel told Hadley and Coriander. She shot a defiant glance at Kanesha. “You’ll have to lock us up somewhere to keep us out of there. Are you with me, Sister?”

“Absolutely,” Dickce said. “We can cause a distraction if necessary. We both have mace in our purses, and we’ll use it if we have to.”

Kanesha looked resigned. “We don’t have the time to argue this, and I’m sure not going to lock you and Miss Dickce up, Miss An’gel. I can’t even imagine trying it.” She paused. “Let’s get everyone in place. No telling how quickly the killer will show up.”

They all trooped out of the kitchen. Hadley showed Kanesha and her men into the library, the room next to the front parlor. Kanesha fixed the door how she wanted it. An’gel, along with Dickce and Coriander, seated themselves in the parlor. Hadley joined them moments later.

“I could use a drink,” Hadley said. “Bourbon, anyone?”

“Not for me, honey,” Coriander said. “You go ahead, though. Ladies?”

“No, thank you,” An’gel said in unison with Dickce.

“I guess I’ll hold off until after this is over,” Hadley said with rueful smile. “I’ll probably need it even more then.”

A silence fell, and An’gel could feel the tension begin a slow rise. She was on edge, and she could only imagine how tightly strung were Hadley’s and Coriander’s nerves.

Twelve agonizing minutes passed as An’gel checked her watch every few seconds. Then they heard a car coming up the driveway, and it sounded like it was coming at a high speed. Hadley moved over to a front window and peered out. He winced as they all heard the sound of the car screeching to a halt. “She almost hit your car,” he said to An’gel and Dickce. “Looks like Lottie MacLeod.”

He headed for the front door while the women waited in the parlor. They all heard the sound of another car coming up the driveway, also at a high rate of speed. An’gel and Dickce shared a glance. What the heck was going on? Was Reba going to turn up as well?

An’gel got up and went to the window. She looked out just in time to see Reba Dalrymple’s car make contact with Lottie MacLeod’s. Reba climbed out of the car without even a glance at the damage she caused and made a beeline for the front door.

“Reba’s here, too.” An’gel hurried over to the doorway to the hall and peered out from behind the door. Hadley was admitting Lottie, carrying a large handbag, when Reba came barreling through the door. She knocked into Lottie, and if it hadn’t been for quick reflexes on Hadley’s part, both women might have crashed to the floor.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Reba jerked her arm from Hadley’s grasp and glared at Lottie. Reba also carried a large handbag.

“I came to talk to Hadley about his unfortunate marriage,” Lottie said. “Why the hell are you here?”

“The same reason,” Reba said. She looked at Hadley. “What the hell were you thinking? Have you lost all sense of pride in your family’s name and heritage? Why did you have to go and marry that slut of a maid?”

“That’s exactly what I want to know,” Lottie said. “Hadley, how could you? I’ve been here waiting all this time for you to come back to me. I thought you would have asked me to marry you by now. You’re really naughty for not doing it but of course you can’t now because you’re married. That’s a problem, but not one we can’t solve.”

An’gel was struck by Lottie’s calm tone. The woman might have been discussing the weather or a favorite recipe.

“Marry you ?” Reba shouted the words. “He’s not going to ever marry you. He’s going to marry me because I can give him a son. A son who will take care of Ashton Hall after he’s gone. He’s going to adopt Martin and make him his heir.”

“The hell he is,” Lottie said, still calm. “Why would he want to have that half-witted son of yours as his heir? No, that wouldn’t do at all.” She reached into her bag and pulled out a pistol. “No, that wouldn’t do at all. I can give Hadley the son he’s always wanted. And with that so-called wife out of the way, we can marry.”

The moment Lottie pulled the gun from her purse, the deputy came out of the room across the hall. Hadley stepped back to get out of the way. He tried to push Reba away, but she resisted. The deputy tackled Lottie just as she fired her pistol at Reba. An’gel watched in horrified fascination as a patch of red bloomed on Reba’s shoulder. Reba stared in shock at Lottie as the deputy bore her to the floor and wrested the pistol away from her. Then she began to crumple.

Hadley caught her in his arms and lifted her. He brought her into the parlor. Kanesha’s other two deputies were in the hall with their fellow officer. An’gel watched as it took all three of them to handle Lottie. She fought them fiercely as they held her arms and tried to get cuffs on her. She kicked and screamed and tried to bite. The men were trying their best to subdue her without hurting her.

An’gel knew it was wrong of her but she itched to get out there and slap the heck out of Lottie. She wished one of the men would do it. They ought to coldcock her. That was the term, An’gel thought. Yes, coldcock her and stop all that carrying on.

They were being too gentle, and Lottie was fighting hard. An’gel moved quickly to her purse, pulled out her mace, and ran into the hall. She got as close as she could, and when she had a clear shot, she sprayed Lottie right in the face.