No Accounting for Murder

Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Tuesday morning found Carly stiff and sore from head to toe. She shuffled into the bathroom, hoping a hot shower would wash away the cobwebs from her brain and the aches in her battered muscles. She relished the biting sting of the spray as it hit her skin, the pain reminding her all over again how lucky she was.

The new day brought with it a new outlook on her situation. With the sunrise had come a less bleak picture of what was really going on. Her fears of the night before now seemed silly, and now she looked forward to talking to Mike this morning. She really missed hearing his voice. Sometimes it struck her funny how connected were she and Mike. Denise joked they were joined at the hips and the lips. Her aching body provided no competition for her aching heart, however, because when she called Mike at his hotel, she had to leave another message.

Determined to get to the bottom of all of these mysteries no matter what, she hurried to get the day under way. Denise loaded the kids into the car, and Carly enjoyed the perfectly choreographed process of ensuring seat belts and restraints fastened properly. At one point, Carly offered to help, but Denise shooed her away.

"Carly, don't you dare lift these youngsters. You were in a serious accident a few hours ago."

"It wasn't a serious accident." She had repeated that phrase at least a hundred times that morning. Every time she lifted a finger for anything, Denise stopped her. "If I don't keep moving, I'm going to seize up."

"Seize up? That means you're a whole lot stiffer than you are telling me."

Carly sighed in resignation. "Fine, I will sit here in the front seat like a good girl." She sank into the seat, wincing with the pain. Maybe it would be okay to let someone else take care of her for a change.

Denise baby-talked with the little ones. "There you go, Di-Di. Let's take Gramma to see her car. Won't that be fun, Toby? We'll go see the Sheriff's cars."

Carly squeezed Denise's hand when she slid into the driver's seat next to her. "Thanks for watching out for me."

Denise returned the gesture. "I'd better, or Dad will have my skin."

Carly gulped as she realized the implication of that. Denise was right-Mike would be fit to be tied if he saw her hobbling around like this. He was always saying she liked poking her nose in where it didn't belong and that one day she would get into something serious. His concern was one way he showed his love for her. She had to get herself in shape before he got home. She hated it when Mike thought she couldn't take care of herself-and now he would be proven right.

Carly buckled herself in. "Let's go see about the car. I want to get the rental and go to the school to take a look at those records for you today."

"You don't need-"

"I came here to help you and I'm going to do that. It's not hard work, just tedious. I won't overdo it, I promise."

Denise's eyes filled with tears, and she swallowed before answering. "Thanks. I don't know what we would have done, what I would have done, if-"

Carly leaned her head against the headrest and closed her eyes. "I'm okay, Denise."

"God was watching over you like He always does."

Carly kept her eyes closed so Denise wouldn't see them roll. She summoned a non-committal hmm-mmh in response. That's all the energy she had for right now.

Denise put the car in drive. "Okay, kids, here we go. Who knows a song?"

The kids started singing "Jesus Loves Me". As one of the few church songs Carly knew, her eyes filled with tears as she listened to their angelic voices. She loved to hear children sing.