Free Life Penalty by Joy Fielding Page B

nervous?” she asked, looking back at her daughter whose eyes betrayed her almost total lack of rest.
    Jennifer shook her head. “Not really. It’s just English. I’ve read all the books. I always do all right in English.”
    “I remember how upset I used to get over final exams,” Gail told her.
    “You were a real pain,” Carol laughed. “We couldn’t even talk on the phone when she was studying,” she embellished for Jennifer. “The world had to come to a complete halt until her exams were over. I remember Mom actually taking the phone into the closet once so she wouldn’t disturb her.”
    “No,” Gail protested. “I don’t remember that.”
    “It’s true. You were a real tyrant.”
    “The only exam I’m really concerned about is math,” Jennifer interrupted, “and Eddie’s going to help me with that.”
    Gail tried to smile, but the sound of Eddie’s name was like a finger poking sharply into her ribs. He had been unable to provide the police with an alibi; he was still their prime suspect.
    It was June 1. Thirty days had passed since Cindy’s murder.
    “Well, you just get this set of exams out of the way, and then you can start work for your father in a few weeks.”
    “I can hardly wait,” Jennifer said, though her voice lacked the enthusiasm it had once held when she spoke of the opportunity to work as Mark Gallagher’s photography assistant over the summer holidays.
    “I’ll go get breakfast ready,” Gail said, heading for the door.
    “I’m not very hungry,” Jennifer called after her.
    “Just coffee for me,” Carol concurred.
    “You’ll eat,” Gail told them, and went downstairs. Jack had already left for work, called in early with an emergency. Gail set about making a fresh pot of coffee, dropped an egg into some boiling water, and cut a grapefruit into appropriate wedges, laying everything out on the table and waiting until she heard footsteps on the stairs before lowering the bread into the toaster.
    “This is too much,” Jennifer protested. “I can’t eat all this.”
    “Eat as much as you can,” her mother told her.
    “Just coffee for me,” Carol said again.
    In the end, coffee was all anyone could manage, and Jennifer kissed her mother and aunt goodbye and ran out the front door.
    “Good luck,” Gail called down the street after her.
    When she got back to the kitchen, Carol was already clearing the table. “What should I do with the egg?”
    “Put it in the fridge,” Gail shrugged. “Maybe somebody will eat it for lunch.”
    “We’re getting quite a collection of five-minute eggs in here,” Carol laughed, putting the egg alongside the others that had been cooked and abandoned over the last week.
    At exactly eight-thirty the phone rang.
    “Who’s going to answer it this time?” Carol asked.
    “I’d better,” Gail said, moving to the phone. “It’s me they want to check on.” She put the phone to her ear. “Hi, Mom,” she said, without waiting to hear who it was.
    “How are you, darling?” Lila Harrington asked.
    “The same as yesterday,” Gail told her, trying to smile through the telephone wires. “You really don’t have to call every night
and
every morning.”
    “Yes, I do. I’m not convinced we did the right thing coming back to Florida as soon as we did.”
    “Of course you did,” Gail assured her. “Mom, you and Dad can’t keep me company forever. You have your own lives. You were here almost a month.”
    “It wouldn’t have hurt to stay one more.”
    “I’m all right, Mom, really I am.”
    “Have you cried?” her mother asked, as she had been asking for the last three days.
    Gail toyed with the idea of lying, but she’d always been a notoriously poor liar. “No,” she answered truthfully.
    There was a pause. “Anything new with the police?”
    “Not since I spoke to you last night.”
    “I’ll speak to Carol for a few minutes.”
    Gail handed the phone to her sister and tried not to listen to Carol’s end of the