Миранда Джеймс - Bless Her Dead Little Heart

An’gel glanced up again. Rosabelle stood at the top of the stairs, both hands to her mouth, staring at everyone below. An’gel couldn’t read her expression from this far away. Rosabelle made no move to descend. Instead she appeared rooted to the spot.

“Come on, Sister,” Dickce said, her tone agitated. “I don’t know about you, but I need to sit down.” An’gel tore her gaze away and allowed her sister to lead her into the parlor.

Dickce got An’gel seated on the sofa. An’gel still felt shaky, and she could see that Dickce was as white as she no doubt was. She watched as Dickce headed for the liquor cabinet, pulled out the whiskey and a couple of glasses, then poured two healthy shots. She handed one to An’gel and urged her to drink. An’gel accepted the glass, eyed it for a moment, then knocked it back while Dickce did the same.

An’gel felt the warmth spread through her body, and her head cleared. “Thank you, Sister,” she said. “I needed that.”

“Me, too,” Dickce replied as she sank down on the sofa by An’gel. “That poor woman. So awful.” She paused for a steadying breath. “What the heck have we gotten ourselves into?”

“Please, Lord, let it be an accident, and not murder,” An’gel said in response. “She simply tripped in those heels and fell.”

Dickce squeezed her hand, but An’gel took little comfort from the gesture. She had the uneasy feeling that the horror had only just begun.

From the hallway they could hear the muted sounds of conversation in short bursts. After a moment An’gel pushed herself up. “We’d better see what’s happening. The others are likely to need a restorative as well.” Dickce grimaced but followed her sister to the hall.

Juanita continued her efforts to revive Marla, but from what An’gel could see, Marla remained unresponsive. Benjy and Wade remained close by, their gazes focused on the motionless body. Maudine and Bernice still huddled together, several feet away.

Junior, cell phone still stuck to his ear, spoke in low tones to the emergency dispatcher. “No, she’s not responding. How long is it going to take that ambulance to get here?”

An’gel glanced up at the second-floor landing. Rosabelle no longer had her hands to her mouth, but her gaze appeared focused on the scene below. An’gel waved to catch her attention and then motioned for Rosabelle to come downstairs. Rosabelle stared at her hostess for a moment before she slowly began to descend, her body tightly against the right banister.

When she reached the foot of the stairs, Rosabelle stepped around the supine form of her daughter-in-law, barely glancing at her granddaughter still hard at work. She ignored her daughters, even though Maudine held out her hand toward Rosabelle.

She stopped beside An’gel and Dickce. “We need to talk. In private.”

“Come into the parlor,” An’gel said. She figured Rosabelle was in shock and would benefit from a shot of whiskey as she and Dickce had. She took Rosabelle’s arm and led her into the room. She heard the siren of the ambulance as it neared Riverhill and was glad the professionals would soon be on the scene.

An’gel seated Rosabelle on the sofa while Dickce went to the liquor cabinet to pour the whiskey.

Rosabelle didn’t speak again until she had downed the liquor. She set the glass on the coffee table and leaned back. She turned to stare at An’gel, seated beside her.

“That was supposed to be me out there, dead on the floor, not Marla.”

CHAPTER 8

“Does that mean you think Marla’s fall was no accident?” An’gel watched Rosabelle’s face intently even as her stomach began to churn from anxiety.

Rosabelle nodded.

“And that you were the intended victim of whoever caused her to fall,” Dickce said.

“Yes,” Rosabelle replied.

“How can you be sure it wasn’t simply an accident?” An’gel hoped fervently that it was and that Rosabelle was imagining things.

Rosabelle glared at her. “There’s water on a couple of stairs on the left side of the staircase near the top. Unless you have a leak in the ceiling, someone had to put it there.”

An’gel felt cold to the bone at those words. She could think of no innocent reason that there would be water at the head of the stairs. Water on marble was dangerous, as she had occasion to know, having slipped herself a few times when mopping the stairs.

“On the left side?” Dickce frowned. “Why on the left side? Most people descend on the right, don’t they? I know I always go up and down on my right side.”

“That’s because you’re right-handed,” Rosabelle said. “I’m left-handed.” She paused. “And so was Marla. It was just her bad luck she got there ahead of me; otherwise, I would be the one lying dead.” She shuddered. “Just as my murderer intended.”

So that was why Rosabelle pressed herself so tightly against the banister to her right when she came downstairs a few minutes ago, An’gel thought. She glanced at her sister and could see her horror mirrored in Dickce’s expression. It had to be murder after all, if Marla really was dead.

Rosabelle appeared not to care much that Marla was probably dead. An’gel thought that was cold, even for someone as generally self-absorbed as Rosabelle.

The doorbell rang before An’gel could question Rosabelle further. Pull it together , she scolded herself. You have to deal with this, and sitting here quivering isn’t going to do one little bit of good to anybody.

An’gel pushed herself to her feet. “I’d better go see who that is.” She shot her sister a glance and knew that Dickce would understand she was to stay with Rosabelle.

When An’gel stepped into the hall, she saw that someone had admitted the emergency personnel. Rosabelle’s family stood out of the way near the wall opposite the parlor. Wade was talking to one of the EMTs while two others examined Marla.

An’gel glanced toward the front door. It stood open, and as she watched, Kanesha Berry, the chief deputy of the Athena County Sheriff’s Department, strode into the hall, followed by another deputy. Bates , An’gel said to herself, pleased that she could recall the name when her brain felt so sluggish.

Chief Deputy Berry glanced her way after surveying the scene. She walked over. “Miss An’gel. Looks like a bad fall.”

An’gel had known Kanesha Berry since the deputy was a small child, and had watched her grow into a seasoned professional who was outstanding at her job. An’gel was thankful that a person she knew and trusted would be in charge of the investigation into this dreadful event.

Her mouth suddenly felt dry. “I’m glad you’re here.” She hesitated over her next words. “It might not have been an accident.”

Kanesha’s gaze sharpened. “What do you mean?”

Before An’gel could answer, Deputy Bates claimed Kanesha’s attention. He motioned for her to join him where he waited with one of the EMTs.

“Excuse me a moment.” Kanesha walked over to the two men.

An’gel wished she could hear what they were saying. The EMT shook his head in response to something Kanesha said. She then spoke to Bates, who stepped away and pulled out his cell phone.

Probably calling for backup , An’gel thought. The churning in her stomach grew worse. As she watched, the two EMTs who had been working on Marla stood and moved away. One of them approached Wade and the rest of the family. An’gel averted her gaze. She couldn’t bear to watch as the EMT confirmed to them that Marla was beyond help now.

Kanesha approached An’gel again, while Bates joined the EMT talking to Wade and the others.

“She’s dead.” An’gel said it flatly, and Kanesha nodded.