Free Dying to Kill (Angel Delaney Mysteries Book #2) by Patricia H. Rushford Page A

their mother hadn’t been arrested. What were they thinking? Their actions gave little indication of the trauma they had to be going through.
    “Are you sure you want to go to school today?” Anna asked, apparently picking up the thread of a previous conversation.
    “I have to,” Gracie said. “I have a test in language arts and after school I have cheerleading practice.” She bit her bottom lip. “I mean . . . it’s not like we could do anything except sit around if we stayed here.”
    “It’s better if we go.” Brian propped his elbows on the table and rested his head on his hands.
    “Yeah, better.” Dorothy mimicked his pose.
    “All right,” Anna relented. “But if you change your mind, you can come back. One of us will come get you. Now, elbows off the table,” she admonished. “Use your manners.”
    The children quickly complied.
    “We’ll be fine,” Gracie said. Her anger from the night before seemed to have dissipated, though she seemed thoughtful and subdued. “As long as we don’t have to talk to the cops anymore.”
    “Officer Caldwell questioned all of you?”
    “Yeah, before he took our mom away.” Brian frowned. “We told him she didn’t do it, but he wouldn’t listen.”
    Angel was determined to talk to Nick about his actions, but she had some questions of her own. “Gracie, were you in school all day yesterday?”
    Gracie’s head snapped up. “Yeah. Where else would I be? I don’t have a car.”
    Angel shrugged her shoulders. “I just wondered. A lot of kids go home for lunch, and I wondered if you had and if you might have seen or heard anything unusual if you’d been there.”
    “No. I didn’t.” She picked up her orange juice and started drinking.
    Something about her demeanor told Angel she was lying. She wanted to pursue the conversation but decided now wasn’t a good time. Not with her mother giving her the not-at-the-table glare. Anna liked to reserve mealtimes for pleasant conversations, not controversy.
    When they finished eating, Anna sent the children to the bathroom to brush their teeth and finish getting ready. “Angel, could you see to the children while I feed your father?” She set their lunch bags on the counter and walked into the living room without waiting for Angel’s response.
    “Can I get you a cup of coffee or anything, Tom?” Angel heard her mother ask. Always the hostess.
    Angel paused in the doorway. “I can get it, Ma.”
    “I’m fine.” Tom smiled at Angel then picked up his jacket from the sofa and shrugged into it. “Thanks anyway.”
    “Are you finished for the day?” Anna asked. “He hasn’t exercised.”
    “I have another client to look in on this morning. Thought I’d come back around 10:00 and work with him on his exercise routine, if that’s okay.”
    “Sure.” She glanced at Frank. “Is that okay with you, sweetheart?”
    Frank grunted and dipped his head in the affirmative. She squeezed his hand. “Good. That will give us some time to have a cup of coffee together. We need to talk.”
    Talk? Angel didn’t know how they’d manage that. For days after having the stroke, Frank had tried to communicate with them. When nothing came out right, he’d tear up and stop trying. Though everyone would reassure him, he eventually stopped trying to talk altogether. Her mother had learned to interpret Frank’s signals, and much of the time she could tell what he wanted.
    “Well, I’ll leave you then.” Tom lifted Frank’s limp right hand and shook it. “I have a surprise for you today. If the weather holds up, I thought maybe we’d go to the pier this afternoon and take in a little fishing.”
    Frank lifted his head and gave him a lopsided grin. At least it looked like a grin to Angel. Her heart did a little flip. He so rarely displayed any emotions but sadness and anger.
    “That’s a wonderful idea.” Anna hesitated. “Tom, are you sure?”
    “Trust me, Anna. A guy needs to get out every now and then. Frank