Free Running From Mercy by Terra Little Page A

her?”
    â€œI don’t think so. She’d probably rise from the dead just to point a shaky finger at me and call me a whore.” She left the doorway and dropped into a seat on the couch against the wall. “She finally keeled over, huh?”
    â€œThe good Lord couldn’t put off taking her home any longer and not have a good excuse,” Jasper said dryly. “Got some hogshead cheese and some crackers in the refrigerator upstairs.”
    â€œAnd that’s where it’s going to stay, too. Nobody eats that shit but you. A beer would go down good though.”
    He dropped his feet to the floor and came to a sitting position as he folded the paper. “Got that in the refrigerator right next door,” he said and left the office. A few minutes later, he returned with two bottles and handed Pam one on his way back to his desk. “Saw you racing around town with Nikki earlier in the week.”
    â€œUhhmm. She needs the distraction. I do too, come to think of it.”
    â€œAnd what about Chad? How’s he doing?”
    â€œOkay, I guess. I’ve been avoiding going over there to see for myself, but I have to go today. After I leave here, as a matter of fact.” She tipped the bottle up and took a long drink. “Can’t put it off any longer.”
    â€œBeen what, two weeks?”
    â€œSince Paris died, yeah. Chad wants me to help him go through her things.” She looked at the floor, then brought her eyes back to Jasper’s face. “I don’t want to.” She set her beer on the floor by her feet and fished around in her bag for her cigarettes, lit one. “Packing up her stuff makes everything real.”
    â€œIt’s real whether you pack up her stuff or not. How come you ain’t been over to the house before today?” Bushy brows rose toward the ceiling as he leveled a serious look at her.
    â€œI go by and pick up Nikki.” She caught his look and didn’t pretend not to know what it meant. “Hell, Jasper, you know why.”
    Jasper knew what a lot of people didn’t know, and his question was loaded with the knowledge. For Pam, it wasn’t as simple as going to the house where her sister had once lived, though that was part of it. Her reasons for keeping her distance had more to do with what the house represented and who was still there.
    â€œSeems to me the time for running is long gone, Pam. You gotta go over there and help your sister’s husband pack her stuff up, whether you want to or not.” Jasper swallowed the last of his beer and set the bottle on his desk with a click. “You might as well go through all that other shit and pack it up too, while you at it.”
    â€œCan I come here and hide out if things get ugly?”
    â€œHell, you used to come here and do everything else, I don’t see why not.” The startled expression on her face had him throwing his head back and cackling with laughter before he could catch himself.
    Â 
    â€œWhere’s Nikki?”
    â€œShe went over to a friend’s house.” Chad closed the door and locked it. “She didn’t want to be here. I’m supposed to call her after we’re done.”
    Except for a dim light in the kitchen, the house was dark. Pam’s eyes darted around nervously, looking for some place to land other than on his face. He was still dressed for work in khakis and a navy blazer. Underneath it an oxford cloth shirt was unbuttoned far enough to reveal the neckline of his undershirt. He looked tired.
    â€œLong day?”
    â€œIt’s about to get longer. You sure you can do this?” He took his glasses off and swiped the back of his hand across the bridge of his nose.
    â€œYou don’t think it’s too soon?”
    â€œIs there a timetable?”
    â€œIsn’t there?” she snapped, meeting his eyes, then looking away again.
    He took a long time looking at her, silently willing her eyes to