A Purse to Die For (11 page)

Chapter 16

Carla was a mess
. T
hat much Rob could see. It hurt him just looking at her. The nurse had given her a load of painkillers and she wasn
'
t very sentient.

"
Carla, who did this to you?
"

"
Didn
'
t see
.
"

The nurse was hovering. She looked formidable.
"
Inspector, I insist. We need to prep her.
"

"
You didn
'
t see your attacker?
"
It didn
'
t make sense. She was hit in the face, among other places. She must have seen someone.

The nurse pushed him out of the examining room. He
'
d have to get a uniform to come guard her. He left to use his cellphone outside.

When he returned, Becki was sitting in a chair by the wall, drinking out of a paper cup. Her eyes were anxious.
"
Did she say anything?
"

Rob sat down next to her.
"
She says she didn
'
t see him.
"

"
But that doesn
'
t make sense,
"
Becki said.

"
I know. She has to be protecting someone. Don
'
t know if it
'
s just her attacker or the killer
too
.
"

Becki gasped.
"
You don
'
t think they
'
re the same person?
"

Linda and Jerry came rushing down the hall.

Linda was out of breath. She looked like she was ready to host an evening cocktail party in that get-up.
Mutton dressed as lamb,
Rob thought again.

"
I
'
ve ordered roses,
"
Linda said with satisfaction.
"
Pink ones. They didn
'
t have yellow.
"

Rob looked at her as if she
'
d spoken in Swahili. What the hell had roses to do with anything?

"
Ian
'
s parking the car. How is she?
"
Jerry asked.

"
Pretty beat up,
"
Becki said.
"
But they think she
'
ll be
all right
, as long as there
'
s no internal damage. She
'
s going for X-rays or MRIs—whatever they do now.
"

"
That bastard Reggie.
"
Linda almost spit the words.

"
You think Reggie did this?
"

"
Of course, he did. He
'
s the wife-beater type. Good-looking, thinks a lot of himself and a total failure at everything he tries. So he takes it out on someone weaker. Believe me, I know the type.
"

Everyone looked at Jerry.

"
No, no! I don
'
t mean like Jerry. Don
'
t be ridiculous. I just know. From before…in my childhood.
"

Everyone stared at her. She shifted nervously from foot to high-heeled foot.
"
What are you looking at?
"

"
Do you know this for sure or are you just surmising? Has Carla said anything to you?
"

Linda shook her head.

"
Has she said anything to anyone else?
"

Both Becki and Jerry shook their heads.

"
Do we know this has happened before? Have any of you seen any signs of bruising on Carla that might be indicative?
"

Linda and Jerry shook their heads this time. Becki did not, Rob noted. He looked right at her and crossed his arms.

"
I
'
m not sure,
"
Becki said carefully.
"
There are times I
'
ve thought it odd—the things she
'
d wear. Turtlenecks when it was too hot and long sleeves. She didn
'
t wear her favourite dinner dress once when she had the chance and I couldn
'
t figure out why. The excuse she made was nonsense. And once I saw these marks on her upper arms that looked like thumbprints. She said she
'
d hit the wall funny, but you don
'
t get marks on both sides by doing that.
"

"
Just like I said.
"
Linda was triumphant.

Rob sat, thinking. It looked like a simple case of wife-beating…what a terrible way to put it. Simple made it sound ordinary or banal, when, as a man, he thought this was one of the most despicable things another man could do.
What a terrible world we live in,
Rob thought bitterly.

"
Reggie is a bastard. I bet he killed the other woman
too
. Probably having an affair with her, the son-of-a-bitch.
"
Linda was on a soapbox.

"
He was having an affair with someone. I don
'
t know if it was her,
"
Jerry said.
"
Ian saw him at the motel with a woman.
"

There was a sharp intake of breath from Linda.
"
What hotel?
"

"
The one on the edge of town, the Green Hills something.
"

"
Why didn
'
t you tell me? Why didn
'
t Ian?
"

Jerry just shrugged.

"
Did you know about this?
"
Linda turned to Rob. She sounded personally outraged.

Rob nodded.
"
Ian told me. We
'
re checking it out.
"

All this time, Becki had been quiet. She spoke up now.
"
You can
'
t be sure Reggie killed that other woman.
"

"
What do you mean?
"
Rob asked

"
I know what you mean,
"
Jerry said.
"
If he was the killer, he wouldn
'
t have used a bat. Reggie would have used his bare hands.
"

Ian had not told the police everything. Yes, he had confessed to Dumont about seeing a woman with Reggie, but he neglected mentioning the woman was familiar. That would have been the right thing to do, of course, but Ian had plans of his own. Besides, he liked to plant a few wild seeds and watch them grow. Let the police find out who the mystery dame was—that was their job. Ian would guard his own thoughts, which were both puzzling and disturbing. For Ian had seen someone who shouldn
'
t be there. Rather, someone who surprised him; a person who had no reason to be in town at this time. He frowned, wondering what to do about it. At last, he pulled the cellphone from his pocket. The number was there in his speed dial. He stared at it, and then called.

Gina looked up from her cellphone. She felt like she
'
d been hit by a truck.

"
What is it?
"
Tony asked
. They were drinking takeout coffees, walking home.

"
That was Becki. Carla is in hospital. She
'
s been beaten badly.
"

Tony cursed.
"
Let
'
s go,
"
he said. He looked on high alert.

"
I can
'
t. I have to get home for Nellie. Becki asked me to just now. Nellie is at a friend
'
s. Someone has to stay until she gets home.
"
Gina
'
s voice was breaking.
"
You go.
"

He shook his head.
"
I
'
m not leaving you and Nellie. Not now.
"

They walked quicker.
"
The killer is close, isn
'
t he?
"
She shivered.

Tony
'
s look was dark.
"
Yes, but I don
'
t know if the killer did this to Carla.
"

"
You think it
'
s two separate people?
"
That was too horrible. Gina could hardly bear the thought—two dangerous people running lose.

"
I just said I don
'
t know. But the killer is close, so I
'
m not taking any chances.
"

Gina wondered what he meant by not taking any chances. He looked deep in thought, a million miles away. What was he planning to do?

She decided to take the plunge.
"
Tony, do you have a gun with you?
"

He looked up, startled.
"
Why on earth would you ask that?
"

Evasion. That was no answer. He did have a gun, then. She forced herself to tread deeper into the water.

"
It was something Rob said by mistake. A little slip…something he thought I would already know. He looked red and back-peddled immediately.
"
Gina watched Tony closely. His face had com
pletely shut down.
"
Look,
I don
'
t know what you
'
re doing or what you
'
re into, but if it has something to do with this murder, you
'
ve got to tell me.
"

Tony snapped back to the present.
"
It has nothing to do with this murder.
"

"
You
'
re sure?
"
She didn
'
t know whether to believe him.

"
Positive.
"

"
Does Rob know this?
"

"
Yes. He asked the same thing.
"

Gina felt herself exhale.
"
So are you going to tell me what the gun is all about?
"

A pause. They were nearly at the house.

"
No.
"
His voice was low.

Gina
'
s feet wouldn
'
t move. She couldn
'
t feel the ground. She felt as if the world had suddenly lost all gravity and her body was up there floating, spinning around in space.

This is what betrayal is like. This is what it feels like to have the one man you trust turn into a stranger.

It took her a full minute to talk.

"
Well, I guess that
'
s it then,
"
she said. She ran up the steps to the house and didn
'
t look back.

Tony stood on the sidewalk looking after her. Damn Dumont. Damn him to hell. He knew the score. He knew the deal on secrecy. Why the hell would he think Gina could know?

Unless Rob did it on purpose. Unless the son-of-a-bitch wanted Gina himself and knew that this was a way to split them up before they even got started. Tony felt anger twist in him. Giving away cover was a serious offence. He could have Rob
'
s badge for this. Tony vaulted up the steps to the house and flung open the door, slamming it against the porch wall.

Chapter 17

Nellie knew right after Mr. Spenser pulled up to the curb in front of her house that something was wrong because normally she let herself in and Mom would be waiting in the living room or the kitchen. But tonight, before she finished thanking Mr. Spenser, Cousin Gina stepped out onto the porch. And even though Gina waved, she looked worried.

Gina came to her and hugged her tightly.
"
Let
'
s go in.
"
To Abigail
'
s dad, she said,
"
Bye. Thank you.
"

"
What
'
s going on?
"
Nellie asked.

After closing the door behind them, Gina said,
"
Let
'
s sit in the living room before you go up to bed.
"

"
Where
'
s Mom?
"

They walked into the room. Aunt Mandy and Cousin Tony were there.

"
Why don
'
t you sit down,
"
Aunt Mandy said.

Even if it started with the word
why
, it wasn
'
t a question. So Nellie sat in her favourite chair, the one that was good for reading.
"
Where
'
s Mom?
"

"
That
'
s what we want to talk to you about,
"
Gina said. She looked at Tony and he looked back at her.

Nellie knew it was going to be worse than when Father found out she spilled orange juice in his truck. He
'
d wanted to get out his belt and punish her, but Mom said it was just an accident and partly her fault for letting her have a juice box while they were out running errands. And not to take it out on their daughter.

"
Your Mom
'
s in the hospital,
"
Tony explained.

"
The doctors there are looking after her,
"
Gina said.

"
She
'
ll be fine,
"
Aunt Mandy said.

Nellie rubbed her hands on the sides of her jeans.
"
Can I go to the hospital and see her?
"

"
Maybe in the morning.
"

"
Probably.
"

"
Everything
'
s going to be
all right
, dear.
"

"
Father?
"

They all looked surprised.

"
We don
'
t know, dear.
"

Sometimes he was gone all night. Not as scary as Mom being in the hospital.
"
Do I still go to school tomorrow?
"

"
Not if you don
'
t want to,
"
Gina said.

Nellie
'
s lip quivered.

"
Do you think you can start getting ready for bed now, hon?
"
asked Gina.
"
If I help?
"

"
What about Mom
'
s go
odnight kiss?
"
Nellie tried to get off the chair like she knew she was supposed to, but her legs got tangled up and she tripped. All three grown-ups reached out to catch her, but she didn
'
t fall. Or cry. She thought she might make it all the way up the st
airs without any tears
because she almost never cried in front of people. Except it felt like an entire oc
ean was pushing against her eyeballs
from
inside. S
he let out a howl.
"
I want Mom!
"

Her aunt and two cousins rushed toward her. Nellie knew they
'
d
all
put their arms arou
nd her and try to comfort her. But s
he turned to Gina and
buried her face i
n her cousin
'
s stomach
.

Becki called the house to see how Nellie was doing and also to pass along the last thing Detective Dumont had said before leaving the hospital.
One thing for sure, tell everyone in the Ferrero family that no one, including Ferrero houseguests, leaves until this case is sorted out.

While on the phone, after assuring Becki she
'
d managed to settle Nellie, Gina had passed along her own piece of startling news. Her mother and father had cut short their vacation, flown all day and were now heading to Langdon Hills in an airport limo.

In the meantime, Becki was trying to find a comfortable position in one of the plastic chairs in Carla
'
s hospital room. Jerry, Linda and Ian were still around somewhere. Maybe getting
c
hocolate
g
lazed
d
onuts from a Tim Hortons, if there was one in Langdon Hills. But Becki wanted to make sure Carla didn
'
t wake up to an empty room. She was pretty sure the guard outside the door wouldn
'
t be a reassuring presence.

Becki knew she couldn
'
t sleep even if she did find a position she could hold longer than five minutes. Some people could sleep sitting up, some couldn
'
t. When she worked in Toronto, there was this annoying co-worker who bragged that after she closed up whenever she worked late, she got on the subway at Eglinton and slept until the train stopped at her station—North York Centre—and she never, ever missed her stop.

"
Ahhh!
"
Carla
'
s body jerked under the thin blanket covering her. Her
better
eye opened.

"
It
'
s
all right
, Carla,
"
Becki soothed.
"
Sleep if you want. Everything
'
s fine. Sleep.
"

But Carla turned her head left, then right, and pushed herself up against the headboard. She was bandaged and her leg was in a cast, but she wasn
'
t attached to any tubes or lines, so Becki adjusted the pillow behind her back.
"
How
'
re you feeling?
"
she asked.

Carla looked at her and asked her own question.
"
Nellie?
"

"
At home. Gina tucked her into bed. With Macho.
"

Carla nodded.

"
You checked out okay, Carla. No life-threatening injuries. Thank God. Dr. Henry will let you go home tomorrow. But he wants you to sleep it off tonight, okay?
"

Carla mumbled past her cracked lip.
"
Okay.
"

"
Detective Dumont was here.
"

That made Carla tense.

"
Wanted to know who did it.
"

"
You tell him?
"
Carla asked, chewing her bottom lip.

"
No, you
'
re the only one who can. We don
'
t know who attacked you. I found you in the alley not far from where that woman was murdered, so we
'
re all scared you may have run into the killer. And maybe you would recognize him if you saw him again. Got a guard outside your door and everything.
"

Carla glanced toward the hall.

Becki knew what she wanted to ask next was a touchy subject.
"
Unfortunately, we
'
re also wondering if maybe Reggie did it.
"
She paused for a moment.
"
He
'
s nowhere to be found. You
'
d think he
'
d be here, with his wife in the hospital. I mean…if he knew.
"

"
He knows,
all right
,
"
Carla said, her single eye blazing.
"
Bastard!
"

Becki hesitated because she wasn
'
t exactly Dr. Phil.
"
Wanna talk?
"

"
I told him if he ever hit me again, we were done.
Over
.
"
H
er one eye rounded in terror.

"
Nellie will be fine,
"
Becki said, acknowledging what Carla needed to hear.
"
Mandy
'
s there. Gina. Tony. They
'
ve been warned it might hav
e been Reggie who beat you. T
here
'
s no way he
'
ll get near her tonight. He
'
d have to get through Tony first.
"

Carla sighed.
"
I tell myself he
'
s just taking out his frustrations. Not thinking. He can be so sweet the next day, you know
.
"

"
Suppose,
"
Becki
mumbled
.
Not the time for a lecture on the cycle of abuse.

"
But now
?
I
'
m sure he hates me.
"
Carla
began to sob
.
"
I tell him I
'
ll leave if he keeps on hitting me
. A
nd what does he do? Beats me to a bloody pulp. And he never hit me in the face before. I pleaded for him to stop.
"

Jerry took a turn sitting with his baby sister, but couldn
'
t be long because Linda was waiting in the car. Meanwhile, Becki walked the silent hall, feeling badly for Carla and for all the poor souls who were patients in the darkened rooms of Langdon Hills Hospital.

She was pretty tired herself and wasn
'
t paying attention. Just walking. Ended up outside the tiny, glass-walled waiting room near the entrance and saw Ian pacing inside. He had his phone to his ear.
Aren
'
t cellphones prohibited in hospitals?

She
'
d made her calls to the house from the pay phone in the foyer.

She was about to go in and see if there was a halfway decent magazine to read in the pile on the coffee table when she stopped.
Is there a full moon out o
r something? Ian is
shouting.

"
Andrew, listen to me! You
'
re not doing this to me. You going to walk away from two million dollars?
"

And while his face flushed redder and redder, Becki worried every single man in Langdon Hills was transforming into the darkest version of himself.