Free Wicked by Joanne Fluke

Dean had scrubbed the wooden floor with cleanser.
    Eve stared at the bloodstains with horrible fascination. She couldn’t help remembering how Cheryl’s lifeless eyes had started up at them. They’d seemed wide and startled as if death had taken her completely unaware, and Eve fought down the urge to turn and run back out into the hall.
    She’d never been a coward, and Eve braced herself for the task ahead. No one else had been in the kitchen all day. They’d all snacked on the chips and cookies they’d kept in the library. But chips and cookies weren’t a meal, and Eve knew that everyone would be hungry soon.
    â€œI know exactly how you feel, Eve.”
    Eve whirled around to see that Angela was standing behind her. “What do you mean, Angela?”
    â€œI don’t want to go in there, either. It feels too much like . . . like a crime scene.”
    Eve shook her head. “But it’s not a crime scene, Angela. Cheryl’s death was an accident.”
    â€œI know that. But it still feels like a crime scene. I can’t help thinking about how awful Cheryl looked when I found her.”
    There were dark circles under Angela’s eyes, and she looked as if she’d been up all night. Eve felt an unwanted twinge of sympathy for the girl she’d come to think of as her rival. “It must have been horrible, finding her like that.”
    â€œIt was. And what made it even more horrible was that I wrote about it before it happened. I mean . . . I didn’t describe it exactly, but it was close enough to scare me. Do you think everyone blames me, Eve?”
    â€œOf course not! How could you know what was going to happen? It was just a coincidence that Cheryl died, right after you killed off her character.”
    â€œI guess, but it still makes me feel strange, almost like I predicted the future, or tempted fate, or something like that.”
    â€œThat’s totally crazy, and you know it!” Eve took Angela’s arm and led her down the hall. “You’re dwelling on it, Angela. Just try to think about something else. Let’s go out to the courtyard and see who’s there.”
    Everyone else was lounging on the deck that ran around the pool. Ryan spotted them and he waved them over. “Hi, Eve. I’m glad you found Angela. We were about to go up and look for her.”
    â€œThat’s right,” Jeremy said. “It’s not good for you to be alone, Angela.”
    Angela sighed. “I would have come down sooner, but I didn’t think I’d be very good company. I’m just too miserable about what’s happened.”
    â€œThat doesn’t matter.” Beth smiled at Angela kindly. “You know what they say. Misery loves company.”
    Dean pulled out a deck chair for Angela. “Beth’s right. That’s why we’re all sticking together. We were just talking about how we’ve got to put this behind us and go back to our regular schedule.”
    â€œWe’d be eating dinner right about now.” Tracie glanced at her watch. “I’m getting hungry. How about everyone else?”
    â€œI’m hungry and it’s my turn to make dinner,” Eve said. “We’ll have pizza tonight. There’s some frozen pizza dough in the freezer, and we’ve got pepperoni and cheese in the walk-in cooler.”
    â€œYou’re going in the cooler ?!” Tracie sounded horrified.
    â€œOf course.” Eve hoped she looked more confident than she felt.
    â€œBut . . . you can’t!” Tracie’s face turned pale. “Cheryl’s in there!”
    â€œI know that, but so is our food. Somebody’s got to go in and get it.”
    â€œâ€™Atta girl, Eve!” Ryan started to applaud, and so did everyone else, everyone except Tracie who looked very upset.
    â€œI still say it’s wrong! If you go in there, you’ll . . . you’ll disturb her!”
    â€œHow can