Family Case of Murder Read Online Free Page A

of sympathy for her sister until her mother continued.
    “And I do hope you’ll take care of her next weekend when you’re there.”
    “Riley’s a big girl, Mom. She doesn’t need my help.”
    “She’s your little sister, Lacy. It’s your responsibility to take care of her, especially near those people.” Those people being Robert’s crazy relatives.
    And who will take care of me? Lacy wanted to say, but she didn’t because it would fall on deaf ears. Riley had always been her mother’s favorite, just as Lacy had always been a Daddy’s girl. “Is Dad there?”
    “No, he’s out.” Her mother’s terse tone told her that her parents were still having problems, and she sighed.
    “Mom, what’s up with you and Dad?”
    “Nothing. Everything is fine. Just take care of your sister. I have to go. We’ll talk about the shower later.”
    “Super,” Lacy said, not masking her sarcastic tone. It didn’t matter, though; her mother had already hung up. And now she had a new item to add to her agenda for the dreaded weekend. Not only did she have to make amends with Riley, but she also had to protect her from Robert’s loony bin of a family. Things were so bad; could they possibly get any worse? Lacy was beginning to learn that anytime she asked herself that question, the answer was always a resounding yes.

Chapter 4
     
     
    The next few days went well for Lacy. The third floor renovations of the Stakely building were on schedule, she was due to meet with her new prospective tenant after she returned, and Tosh was excited about the weekend.
    That was why it was all the more disappointing when he called on Tuesday, sounding glum.
    “Mrs. Rae’s appendix ruptured,” he said with no preamble.
    “Isn’t she like ninety?” Lacy asked.
    “Ninety four,” he said.
    “Shouldn’t her appendix be desiccated by now?”
    “I’ll make sure and ask her when I get to the hospital. The point is that it ruptured and there are complications. They’re talking a lengthy hospital stay.”
    Now Lacy felt bad for making fun of her, but she felt even worse when she realized what he was saying. “You’re not going, are you?”
    “I can’t leave her right now. Her family lives far away, and they’ve basically told me that they expect me to visit her every day in the hospital.”
    “But this is Tuesday and we’re not leaving until Thursday. She could make a miraculous turnaround between now and then.”
    Tosh sighed. “I’m sorry, Lacy. It’s not going to happen. You’re going to have to take him.”
    “I doubt he can get off work at this late date.”
    “‘No, Tosh, you’re irreplaceable. I don’t have someone standing in the queue, waiting to take your place.’ That was the correct line there, not ‘I doubt he can get off work at this late date.’”
    “Any other time I would be glad to nurture your fragile, fragile ego with meaningless platitudes, but this is an emergency, Tosh. What am I going to do? I cannot show up at this weekend alone.”
    “He’ll go,” Tosh said. “Trust me; he’ll go.”
    “How do you know?”
    “I know because he’s not an idiot and he realizes this is the chance he’s been waiting for. He’ll go because it’s what I would do for anything less than a church-related emergency. Why must I be such a caring pastor? Curses on my giant, soft heart.”
    If his intent was to make Lacy laugh, then it worked. Even if there were a few self-pitying tears mixed in with the laughter.
    “I’m sorry,” he said, and he sounded miserable now.
    “It’s really okay. I’ve been looking for a loophole out of this whole best friend thing; this may be it. Goodbye forever, loser.”
    “Ah, that delightful yet cuttingly painful sense of humor of yours. Oh, how I’ll miss it while you bask in another man’s adoration. But don’t feel sorry for me because this weekend is shaping up to be a good one, what with the copious amounts of time I’ll be spending at the hospital hearing Mrs. Rae