Pink Balloons and Other Deadly Things (Mystery Series - Book One) Read Online Free Page B

muffins. “Someone must've seen you.”
    I pushed the muffin away, nauseated. “I went for a drive.”
    “Alone?”
    “Yeah.”
    “Where?”
    “Home,” I mumbled, avoiding her eyes.
    “Home. Well, that’s not...you don't mean, home—-Rich's house?”
    Miserably, I nodded. “I don’t know why I went there. I just freaked out after Allie told me about the wedding. Erica was by the pool jabbering to Rich on the phone about her damned five-thousand-dollar gown, and she sure as hell was alive! I just watched her for a while, and then I---”
    “Anyone see you?”
    “Sue Tomkins was out walking her dog. She gave that detective a blow-by-blow of how I was sneaking around and acting weird, and then my car died on the next block and they’ve impounded it, and I think they're looking for the murder weapon.” I stopped for lack of oxygen.
    “Well, they're not going to find it, so you've got nothing to worry about. This detective—-what's his name?”
    “Brodsky. Sergeant Brodsky.”
    “What’s he like?”
    “Tall, thin, didn’t crack a smile.”
    “I mean was he obnoxious? Did you get the feeling he was trying to trap you?”
    “I’m not sure. He was...polite, you know, but cold. It was obvious he suspects me.”
    “They want you to think that so if you're protecting anyone, you'll fold. It’s a tactic they use.”
    “What do you know about police tactics? You probably never even had a parking ticket.”
    She started clearing the counter. “I read it somewhere.”
    “Who would I be protecting? Certainly not Rich.”
    Meg almost dropped the plate she was holding. “Oh, my God! Rich!”
    “What?”
    “You don’t suppose he told them?”
    “Told them what? What're you talking about?”
    Meg was usually so unshakable; her obvious alarm undid all the calming effects of the tea.
    “What you said the day he left.”
    “What did I say?”
    “Don't you remember?”
    “I don’t remember anything I did that day.”
    “About Erica,” she whispered. “The scene that night.”
    It started coming back. Had I told Meg that story? I couldn't remember. “How’d you know about that?”
    “I guess you must’ve told me,” she said.
    “I don't think so.”
    “Maybe it was Rich, then.”
    I wouldn’t have thought Rich would have that kind of discussion with a friend of mine but he’d obviously wanted to embarrass me. “What did he say I said?”
    She didn’t look at me as she began brushing muffin crumbs off the counter. Her voice was so low, I could hardly catch the words, but they transported me back to my old bedroom.
    Tears were streaming down my face. Carrying his suitcase, Rich was moving determinedly toward the door.
    “ Rich,” I begged, my pride in pieces around my feet. “I love you. We'll work this out. Whatever’s wrong, we'll fix it. If you’ll just tell me what---”
    But I was talking to a robot, a puppet. Someone else was pulling the strings. It was as though a magnet were drawing him out of that room, away from me, from the children, from our past and from our future. And inside me a terrible rage started welling up because I knew exactly on which body part the other end of that magnet was located. I heard the garage door go up. I ran to the window and threw it open.
    “Give your whore a message from me, you bastard!” I screamed. “Tell her I'll see her dead and buried and roasting in hell before I see her married to my husband!”
    I came back to the present and looked at Meg. She was right, of course. If Rich remembered and told that to the police, my goose was well and truly burned to a crisp!
    I DIDN’T GO BACK to the office. I borrowed Meg’s car, drove home, lay down on my bed, and listened to a relaxation tape. I stayed there until I heard the front door slam.
    Allie and Matt had gone to a friend's house after I had Meg call and tell them I'd be late. I remembered I’d promised a barbecue, but I dreaded going downstairs to tell them what had happened. I didn't have to.