Free Elizabeth C. Main - Jane Serrano 02 - No Rest for the Wicked by Elizabeth C. Main Page A

filling Velda in . I ’ll stay to bring Tyler up to speed, but you go see Alix , before the press gets there . ”
    “ Has something new happened? ” Dread buil t in the pit of my stomach.
    “ I saw Brady this morning . He looked absolutely stricken. He found the body, you know. ”
    Before I could ask again, Velda limped up to us. “ How can I help? ” Minnie turned to her . I seized my chance to intercept Bianca .
    “ Everything ’s okay. ” I propelled her into the office, closing the door behind us.
    “ You don’t understand. There’s something you don’t know. ”
    “ Then s he told you about … ? ”
    “ T he marriage. Yes, and she was acting so weird. ”
    “ Probably embarrassed. Look, h oney, everyone makes mistakes . ”
    Velda stuck her head into the room. “ Sorry to interrupt. ”
    I snatch ed a tissue and thrust it to ward Bianca. “ What is it? ”
    “ Sorry, but Tyler and Laurence have both disappeared and people want to buy books. Should I tell everyone the store is closed , or what? ” Velda twisted her hands in indecision, her plain face still blotchy with the strain of trying to work up the nerve to speak in public.
    I exhaled in frustration. Couldn’t anyone manage anything without consulting me? “ I’ll be there in a minute. Thanks. ”
    Velda let her hands drop to her sides, almost like a soldier coming to attention. “ I can do it. ” She started to close the door, but stuck her head back inside. “ Would it be helpful if Minnie and I cleaned up the refreshments? ”
    I couldn’t believe the indecision Velda brought to the simplest task. How did she decide which clothes to put on each day? “ That’d be great. ”
    Velda made her painful way toward the front of the store. Now that she had a clear notion of what was expected of her, she was on firm ground. I only hoped I could work similar magic with my daughter.
    “ Look, Arnie knows Alix had nothing to do with the murder. Otherwise he wouldn’t have let her go home last night. ” I smoothed Bianca’s silky hair and spoke in my most soothing voice. “ Everything’s fine. ”
    “ But Arnie knows Alix saw Hunter Blackburn the day he was murdered . You think he’s going to forget that information when he can’t find the real killer ? ”
    “ Alix told Arnie that ? ” Alarm raised my voice about an octave.
    Bianca nodded, her long hair bouncing with the intensity of her movement.
    I flashed back to my interrupted talk with Alix last night. Asleep, she’d looked so peaceful that I hadn’t awakened her to finish the conversation. Seems I should have.
    “ Get Tyler behind that counter. Now. We’re going to see Alix. ”

Chapter 8
    Alix was scrubbing the sink when Bianca and I burst into her kitchen. After one startled glance at us, she returned to her task. “ Coffee if you want. ” She gestured toward the sleek black Cuisinart coffeemaker .
    Fleeting thoughts of Lady Macbeth washing away imaginary blood rushed through my mind before reason could reassert itself. This was my friend Alix, not some evil monster, but I was off-balance and frustrated. “ Why d idn’t you tell me last night that you’d seen him? ”
    Mechanically, Alix polished the already- gleaming chrome faucet before turning around at last . “ I’m sorry. I should have told you — would have — but it felt so good to get out of that place last night that I … just let go . That make any sense? You were gone when I woke up . ”
    “ And Arnie knows? ”
    A rueful nod. “ Figured he’d find out soon enough. Better to come from me. And Bianca and Minnie double-teamed me this morning. You know how that is. ”
    Her wan smile coaxed a reluctant one in return from me. Bianca and Minnie acting in concert constituted determination personified and doubled. I reached for a kitc hen chair and dropped into it. “ Okay, let’s hear it. ”
    “ Yes, p lease explain it to her , Alix. ” Bianca danced from foot to foot, hardly able to contain