Free Two-Faced by Sylvia Selfman, N. Selfman Page A

of this makes any sense...”
    "It was last night," Sykes said gently. "Sometime around eight when he was taking what I understand, was his nightly walk.”
    "His walk," Jess nodded.
    Again she b egan shivering. She placed the coffee cup on the cocktail table realizing she must in shock. She’d been through it before when her mother died. There’s always shock. Even when you expect it—like when her mother died after a long illness.
    But this… sudden, violent death.
    She ’d never get to say goodbye. And worst of all, her last meeting with her father had been an argument. How could she have said those things to him? And now to never see him again.
     
     
     
     

 
     
     
     
     
     
    CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE
     
     
     
    It had been two h ours since Jess heard the news about her father and in that time she’d been too numb to cry. It helped to have Maddy there, to keep her company and make calls to various distant family members, but Jess knew that until she reached Ally, it wouldn’t feel real.
    She ’d left several messages but her sister still hadn’t returned any of her calls.
    Murdered--it didn ’t seem possible.
    Jess heard the phone in the other room, then listened as Maddy answered, speaking in a soft voice. She came into the bedroom and hand ed Jess the phone.
    “ It’s Ally,” she said.
    Jess took the phone. "Ally?”
    “Hey, Jess. What’s up?”
    “ Ally, did you hear? About Daddy?" Jess's voice began to quiver.
    "Yeah, I heard," Ally said in a voice that betrayed not a hint of sadness, at least none that Jess could pick up on over the phone. “I got the messages you left on my voicemail about it, and the cops were just here. Bummer, huh?" Ally said.
    "Ally, please..."
    “Please, yourself. I didn't like the bastard when he was alive and I'm not going to pretend to care now that he's dead. Why are you so upset anyway? He wasn’t exactly father of the year to you either."
    "But… you know deep down he loved us."
    Ally's overly-dramatic sigh came through the phone, loud and clear. "Jess, you ’re so naive. Always making excuses for him. I guess that's why you're still in the will and I'm not. Not that I give a shit. You can have his money...after all, he bought your loyalty.”
    Jess fought back the rage stirring inside her. But now was not the time to argue. "Listen the reason I'm calling, we have to plan the funeral and..."
    "You'll have to do that on your own," Ally interrupted. "I don't think I'll be able to make it.”
    "You're not going? To Daddy's funeral?”
    "I'm not a hypocrite. Oh, and by the way. Jess…” Ally’s voice grew pensive . “You didn't tell the police where you were last night--did you?”
    "Of course not," Jess snapped.
    "That's good. So what did they ask you?"
    "They wanted to know where I was last night and I told them I was home sick."
    "Good girl! I knew I could count on you."
    Jess could hear the relief in Ally ’s voice, which made her blood boil. Why bring that up at a time like this? The trip to Mexico and lying to the police were last thing she wanted to think about now.
    "Look, I'll talk to you later, I have to go," Jess said and hung up quickly. Tears spilled from her eyes and she wondered how she could still be surprised by Ally's behavior. It was so typical. She didn’t know how she ever could have thought that Ally had changed.
    She broke into uncontro llable sobs.
     
     
     
     
     
     

 
     
     
     
     
     
    CHAPTER TWENTY SIX
     
     
    The funeral was four days later. As the priest spoke solemnly about what an impressive man her father had been, Jess glanced down Danny, who was sitting next to her. She took his hand and gave it a gentle squeeze, wondering just how much he understood of what was going on.
    Several days before, had sat him down and, told him about his grandfather’s death without going into detail. But she knew he didn’t fully understand what it meant and was certain there’d be many more discussions about it in the future. Perhaps