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

was telling me the other day how much he missed fishing.”
    He’d talked to Tom? Well, apparently Tom had found a way to communicate with Frank. Better than Angel had done. She envied the rapport Tom had with her father. You might have the same rapport if you’d stick around a little more.
    Anna smiled. “What would we do without you, Tom?”
    When Tom left, Anna brought a cup of coffee and a plate of food and set it on Frank’s tray. As if it were the most ordinary task in the world, she tied the ends of his terry cloth napkin around his neck. She refused to call it a bib and told Angel and her brothers that babies wore bibs, not sixty-five-year-old men. “There you are.”
    With a shaky left hand, Frank raised the cup to his lips. Anna always cooled his coffee slightly so he wouldn’t be burned if hehappened to spill it. He looked almost like his old self this morning, except for the drooping facial features on his right side.
    Anna settled herself on the ottoman to Frank’s left. She gave him a warm smile and tipped her head to the side. “This is nice.”
    Angel had to admire her mother for taking everything in stride, and wished she could have a little of that patience.
    Frank picked up his coffee and took another sip. He had always been such a handsome man, rugged and strong. He looked thinner now, pale, but his hair was still ample with that wonderful salt-and-pepper look. Anna’s hair was still black and thick, thanks to Nice ’n Easy. Had he ever noticed that while he was graying, his wife never had? Probably not.
    “I suppose you’re wondering what these children are doing here,” Anna said to him. “I didn’t have a chance to talk much about it yesterday, and when I finally got to bed, you were already asleep.” She told him what had happened to Phillip Jenkins and that Candace had been arrested.
    He grumbled and wagged his head from side to side.
    “I know what you’re thinking.” Anna squeezed his good hand. “We shouldn’t get involved. And you’re worried that Candace may have killed her husband. And that we were taking a risk having her here.” Anna took a sip of her coffee and set the cup back in the saucer then scooped up a spoonful of eggs and eased it into his open mouth. “Not that we need to worry now. While you were in the shower this morning, Nick Caldwell came by. He questioned the kids and arrested Candace.” Anna shook her head, not bothering to hide her disgust. “I thought that boy had better sense than that.”
    A frown creased Frank’s forehead, leaving Angel to wonder what he thought about the situation or if he even knew what his wife was talking about.
    Angel turned away and began making her way down the hall to check on the kids. The hall bathroom door was closed, and she knocked. “Hurry up in there. You’re going to be late.”
    “Coming,” Gracie said. “I’m helping Dorothy.”
    Brian stepped out of the room once occupied by her twin brothers, Peter and Paul. “I’m ready.”
    “Grab your lunch and get into the car,” Angel said. “Hopefully the girls will be out soon.”
    He rolled his eyes. “Don’t count on it. We taking your car?”
    “No.” She chuckled. “We won’t all fit in mine, and I’m not driving you separately.”
    Brian sighed and headed outside, letting the door slam behind him.
    Turning to her mother, Angel said, “I’ll have to use your car.”
    “The keys are in the usual place.” Anna glanced at Angel, then turned back to Frank and continued the one-sided conversation. “Nick seems to think Candace killed her husband. She didn’t. I’m quite certain of that. You should have seen the way Nick came in here and Mirandized her. I wish you had been out here. Maybe he’d have treated her with more respect. Not that he was mean, just brisk. Barely said a word to me. In fact, when I told him he had no right to take her, he told me it wasn’t my concern. Can you believe that? We practically raised that boy.”
    Anna sighed