Миранда Джеймс - Bless Her Dead Little Heart

What if Rosabelle and Bernice were still in the house somewhere? Rosabelle might use the confusion as an opportunity to kill Bernice. Maybe she had even set a fire for that very purpose.

Dickce had to talk to that deputy. He was still with Juanita. She darted forward.

Juanita turned at that moment and came forward. “It’s all right, Miss Dickce,” she said. “I’ve told him about Mother and Grandmother. They’ll find them.” She took Dickce’s arm. “Let’s stay over here out of the way.”

Dickce thought Juanita seemed strangely calm. Why wasn’t she more upset over her relatives’ failure to appear? “Would you like to go back around to the front and check on them? They are probably there by now with your uncle.”

Juanita shook her head. “No, we don’t need to do that. Everything will be fine. I hope the firemen will be able to stop the fire from spreading. I would hate to see you lose your lovely house.”

Thoroughly bemused, Dickce allowed Juanita to lead her back to where the EMTs were still examining An’gel. She and Juanita stood beside Junior, Benjy, and Diesel and watched the firemen. Dickce figured she and the others were far enough away from the house, plus the wind was blowing away from them, that they should be able to remain here safely.

She wanted to talk to her sister, but she knew it was best to let the EMTs take care of her. The minute they were done, however, she would be right over there, demanding to know what had happened and whether An’gel was all right.

From what Dickce could tell, the fire crew appeared to be making headway against the fire. She could no longer see anything burning, though there was a lot of smoke. She prayed that the fire was out and had been contained in the kitchen. They would have to have the house thoroughly cleaned, of course. Not to mention the repairs to the kitchen and wherever else the fire might have spread. She let her mind roam back and forth over these mundane details. As long as she and her sister were alive and relatively unharmed, nothing else mattered.

One of the EMTs approached her and drew her a few steps away from the others. Dickce recognized him after a moment. He was the grandson of one of her school friends, Norma Faye Allenbury. She couldn’t recall his name, though.

“Miss Dickce,” he said, “I don’t know if you remember me. I’m Grant Tisdale. My grandmother is a friend of yours.”

Dickce nodded. “I recognized you,” she said. “I’m sorry I couldn’t remember your name.”

Tisdale smiled. “No worries. I wanted to let you know that we are going to take Miss An’gel to the hospital. She’s going to be fine, but she did have a bump on the head and was unconscious for at least ten minutes or more. She’s stable, heart rate and everything are fine, but it’s a good idea to have the doc in the ER check her out.”

Greatly relieved, Dickce nodded. “Yes, I think that’s a very good idea. Has An’gel objected?”

Tisdale smiled again. “Only a little bitty bit. Would you like to come with us in the ambulance?”

“Yes,” Dickce said. She saw a dark form coming toward them. When the person walked into a less dim area, she could see it was Kanesha Berry. “Let me speak to the deputy for a moment, and then I’ll be ready to go.”

“That’s fine,” Tisdale said. “We’ll be over there.”

Dickce scurried over to Kanesha, conscious that she was in only her nightgown, slippers, and robe. “Thank the Lord you’re here.”

“Are you and Miss An’gel all right?” Kanesha asked. “I got here as soon as I could.”

“They want to take An’gel to the ER and have her checked by a doctor,” Dickce said. “The EMTs think she’s okay but it’s better to be sure. I’m going with her.”

“You do that, and don’t worry about anything here,” Kanesha said. “I’ll make sure everything that needs to be done will be.”

“Thank you,” Dickce said. “I’ll be at the hospital with An’gel.”

Kanesha nodded. “I’ll catch up with you there as soon as I can.”

Confident that Kanesha was in charge, Dickce walked over to where the EMTs waited with An’gel. “We’re going to the ER,” she said in her best no-nonsense tone.

“All right,” An’gel said. “I don’t have the energy to argue.” She held out a hand, and Dickce grasped it. “As long as we’re both here, that’s all that matters.”

Dickce felt the tears forming, but she was determined not to let An’gel see her cry. She simply nodded.

On the way to the hospital in Athena, Dickce thought briefly about the fate of Rosabelle and Bernice. She had the oddest feeling that something bad had happened, but all she could concentrate on right now was her sister.

CHAPTER 39

“So it was Bernice who attacked you?” Dickce, still fuzzy from lack of sleep, stared at An’gel.

Her sister nodded, then winced. “Remind me not to nod for a few days.” She lay her head back against the pillow.

Dickce rose stiffly from the hospital recliner to adjust the blinds. The sun was too bright for her tired eyes. “There, that’s better.”

“Thank you,” An’gel said. “The light was bothering me, too.” She shifted in the bed. “I cannot get comfortable in this bed.”

“You’ll have to figure out how,” Dickce said, though not without sympathy. “The earliest Dr. Kenyon said you could be released is tomorrow morning. He wants to keep you here for at least twenty-four hours, remember?”

“Yes, though I don’t see why. I told him I felt fine except for a little stiffness in my neck and a sore head. A few aspirin and a day’s rest at home, and I’ll be right as rain.”

“We don’t know yet if we’ll be able to rest at home,” Dickce reminded her. “Until we hear from Kanesha about the extent of the damage, we don’t know whether we can stay in the house. The smell of smoke might be too strong, or there could be structural damage. Your room is right over the kitchen.”

“Yes, yes, I know all that,” An’gel said.

“Why did Bernice attack you like that?” Dickce asked. They were both so tired, they couldn’t stick to the subject. “I was sure Rosabelle was the murderer.”

“I was, too,” An’gel said. “But why would Bernice attack me if she isn’t the killer?”

“I don’t know,” Dickce said. “What do you think happened to her?”

“How do I know?” An’gel said. “When did Kanesha say she’d be here? I hope she’ll have some answers for us.”

Dickce glanced at the clock on the wall of An’gel’s room. “It’s eight twenty-five now. She said she’d be here by nine.”

“Well, she should hurry up.”

“Stop being so fretful,” Dickce said. “You sound like a four-year-old. She’ll get here when she gets here.”

“That’s certainly profound,” An’gel snapped at her. Then she frowned. “Don’t mind me. I feel bad, and I want to take it out on someone.”

“Lucky me,” Dickce murmured.

“What was that?” An’gel’s eyes narrowed.

“Never mind,” Dickce said. “I hope they’re all okay. I thought about them a little during the night. As angry as I am over what happened to you and to our house, I still don’t want anyone else to be dead.”

“Surely they’ve got Bernice locked up somewhere by now,” An’gel said. “I guess she snapped.”

“How so?” Dickce asked. “Are you talking about what she said at dinner last night after the big scene?”

“That, and other things as well,” An’gel said. “Think back over how Maudine treated her. She was the oldest, and Bernice was the middle child. She seemed to be under Maudine’s thumb, and we know Bernice felt humiliated by Rosabelle.”

Dickce knew what it felt like to have the thumb print of an older sister on her back. She forbore to mention it at the moment, however. “So you think Bernice set out to kill her mother and got Marla by mistake?”