Free A Shattered Wife by Diana Salyers Page B

forward to it."
    "Paul talks about your home constantly and I’m anxious
to see it. I understand that it’s quite beautiful." Katie’s friendly, warm
manner was sincere.
    "I’m glad you two had a chance to meet but…" Paul
was steering Martha toward the pharmacist with a firm hand on her arm. "I’ve
got rounds to make and I want to give you some more of those sleeping capsules."
    "What do you think?" Paul asked after he and Katie
were several blocks away from the drug store.
    "She seems like a very nice lady," Katie said
softly. She did not mention that there was something about Martha, something in
her eyes she had seen before.
    "I mean, did she seem -" Paul shrugged while
searching for the right word. "- strange?"
    Katie paused, her sea-green eyes narrowing for a moment in
concentration. "The woman looked tired and a bit confused, but not
strange," she said. "You scared her half to death."
    Paul’s disappointment in her answer showed.
    "Paul, I’m a psychologist, not a mind reader. To make a
real decision about her state of mind, I’d have to give her some tests - at
least talk to her for a little while."
    "Will you?"
    "What?"
    "When we go out there next week, will you talk to her?
See if you can find anything wrong, something I’m missing?" Paul turned on
the pleading, little boy look that almost always got him what he wanted,
especially with women.
    Katie laughed and touched her finger to his lips. "Okay.
But don’t expect too much. She’s probably just a very tired woman under a lot
of stress."
    ***
    Bill sat on the porch, thinking. Why should he suffer
through an operation that may or may not free him from the wheelchair? He had
often wanted to see the animals he killed at a closer range and sometimes, when
his bullet didn’t quite do the trick, they needed a sharp blow to the head to
finish them off. Other than that, he was reasonably content.
    An idea crossed his mind and he smiled to himself. Why
hadn’t he thought of it before? He had two perfectly good legs: Martha, his
faithful wife.
    Bill shifted impatiently as Martha brought the groceries in
out of the hot sun and hung the truck keys on the nail by the back door He had
completely made up his mind. No more doctors, no surgery.
    And later that afternoon, he got his first opportunity to "walk".
    His next kill was a good, clean one and he wanted to see the
results. "Martha!"
    "I’ll mark it down," she answered wearily from
behind the screen door.
    "No! Come here," he commanded.
    Reluctantly, she stepped onto the porch.
    "Just at the end of the driveway, to your right, is a
groundhog. I just shot it," Bill told her, indicating the general
direction with a nod of his head.
    Martha waited; hand on the door, not understanding.
    "I want to see it."
    Comprehension dawned on her and she looked as though she had
been slapped. "What!"
    "I want to see it," Bill repeated. "Go get
it."
    Martha shook her head slowly from side to side. She had to
be dreaming, or hallucinating, or something.
    "Now!" Bill shouted. The sharp bark in his voice
snapped her into action.
    As if in a dream, she hurried off the porch and down the
driveway. Her legs and arms felt like lead. With little difficulty, she found
the young animal curled in a tight ball, black paws cupping his large head, as
though asleep. Its eyes were squeezed shut and the strong white front teeth
were bared in a grimace of death. Several BB - sized holes marred the beautiful
pelt. Kneeling, she touched the dead animal. It was still warm. The groundhog
was not heavy, no more than 10 pounds, but Martha had to force herself to pick
it up. She felt queasy, and wanted only to drop the dead thing and get away.
    She laid the animal on the porch at Bill’s feet. Inside, she
was screaming that she would die before she ever performed that task again.
Putting her hands in her apron pockets, she felt the jagged piece of glass from
the saucer still hidden there.

CHAPTER
9
    "That’s the end of those babies," Bill