Dixie was staring out the window with a martini in her hand. It was late. Very late. At the sight of headlights driving toward the mansion, she smiled.
"You took your sweet time," Dixie said.
"I had a lot of cleanup, tonight. Who knows when the health department will descend? It's about that time of year."
"Do you think he bought it?" Dixie asked.
"I laid it on pretty thick."
Dixie moved behind an ornate desk. She opened a drawer and pulled out a thick brown envelope.
"Thanks for everything, Rosie."
Rosie took the envelope and left the room. Dixie drifted to the shelf of carnival toys. Maddie had loved carnivals. If only Maddie was still alive. Maddie. Maddie. Maddie. An innocent lamb slaughtered.
She watched the tiny red taillights disappear into the darkness. She sipped her martini. She retrieved the little blue dog from the curio cabinet. So long ago. She and Maddie had had to stay up north for over seven months. Why hadn't she given this toy to the baby that first day back when she dropped Maddie off with the kid at Maddie and Virgil's?
"Deck, you bastard," Dixie whispered to the empty room. "Dying on me like that! I'll never forgive you! How could you leave me here alone to deal with our son? God, I hate you!"
A single tear traced down her cheek and fell silently into the paper-thin glass.
THE END
YOU ARE READING
In Hell: When Love Kills A Small Town Mystery
Mystery / ThrillerWhen love kills, it leaves more questions than answers. Cash Matstock's mother was murdered when he was a small child. When his drunken uncle is found beaten to death in the home they share, suspicion falls on Cash. Maybe murder really does run in...
