A Purse to Die For (19 page)

Chapter 31

Becki realized she was delirious as she sped toward her destination.
Ca
r
forty-nine
, driven by Rebekkah
Green, careens
into the hospital parking lot.
Ya, she
'
d use the word
careen
. She swung open the door.
Got keys? Wallet with health card?

She staggered toward the emergency entrance. Stopped once. Bent over. Wretched.
Wonderful. Okay. Black and white chequered flag ahead. Finish line—one hundred thousand paces to the sliding emergency doors.

Once inside, things blurred. She thought she spotted a track official, or maybe a triage nurse, who fortunately also seemed to spot her, and in the wink of an eye she was led through another gateway
,
and the kindness of the man
'
s voice made her feel safe. Soon she felt something soft meet her skin
,
and it felt so comfortable to be lying down and to be congratulated over and over again on her win.

"
So here we all are once again,
"
Carla pronounced.
"
A pathetic group. All we do is sit around the table and pretend to eat.
"
She wanted them all to leave. To go home. To leave her alone with Nellie. To start over. But she couldn
'
t just say that.

"
No need to make things even worse than they are.
"
This from Gina, who always seemed determined not to let conversation turn maudlin. But her voice held a gentle tone nonetheless.
"
It
'
s a good sign, don
'
t you think, that we
'
re hanging in
together
?
"

"
Here, here,
"
brother-in-law Gord said.

"
But when will it be over?
"
Mandy asked.

"
Doesn
'
t matter anymore,
"
Linda moaned.

Jerry put his arm around his wife.

Carla sympathised with Linda, but not to the point of,
Yes, this is the absolute end of the world. Let
'
s everyone lie down and play dead.
No way!

She waited to see if big brother Jerry would also hold strong. He didn
'
t disappoint. He shot invisible daggers at Andrew, who
'
d been invited to join the family for lunch—out of propriety more than anything genuine. Andrew was sort of part of the family. It was just a case of sometimes more than others. And at the moment, he was on the outs as a suspect in the death of Jerry and Linda
'
s only son. Lucky for him, the most likely suspect at large was still her very own husband.
Fucking Reggie!

"
Where
'
s Tony, hon?
"
Anna asked Gina, breaking into Carla
'
s thoughts.
"
Didn
'
t see him at breakfast this morning.
"

"
Not feeling well. Flu or something,
"
Gina said.

Good girls don
'
t make good liars. There
'
s a fact for Wikipedia online.
"
Don
'
t ask me how he could have caught a bug,
"
Carla couldn
'
t help but comment,
"
cloistered here.
"

"
And Becki?
"
Anna asked.

"
Don
'
t know.
"

"
Haven
'
t seen her.
"

"
Ya, where is she?
"

"
Probably taking a break,
"
Carla said.
"
She must be so sick of us by now.
"

"
Mom, may I please be excused?
"
Nellie asked.

She said please, so even if it didn
'
t look like her daughter
'
d quite managed to swallow her last mouthful of grilled cheese, Carla said,
"
Sure, sweetie.
"

Dr. Crosby, who happened to be gorgeous with greying hair, tanned skin and startling blue eyes, said,
"
Food poisoning.
"

"
That does it,
"
Becki said. She sat up straighter in her hospital bed.
"
Eating
'
s out.
"

"
Well, you might want to avoid certain foods. What did you eat that nobody else at the house ate? Say, at breakfast?
"

"
Something nobody else ate
. L
et me think
.
Well…don
'
t want to admit it, but
no one else said
yes
to vegetarian sausages…with their eggs.
"

"
Maybe your vegetarian sausages were past the recommended eat-by date. Not a large clientele for something like that in Langdon Hills. Name of the store?
"

"
Don
'
t remember,
"
she said. Humiliated—a middle-aged woman in a shapel
ess gown that tied in the back, if you could reach the back
—in front of this virile, blue-eyed doctor.
"
S-s-sorry.
"
She felt close to irrational tears.

His voice soothed.
"
Don
'
t worry, I understand. Things have been bad for friends of the Ferreros like you. A lot has happened, hasn
'
t it? Starting with Fiorenza. You know, that was hard on me
too
because I was her doctor.
"

Becki found his commiseration comforting.
"
Hate cancer,
"
she declared.

"
Me too,
"
he said.
"
Hate cancer
.
"
Pause.
"
But why bring that up? Do you have cancer? Is there something more I can do for you while you
'
re here?
"

Wow…weird.
"
No. I mean Godmom.
"

"
Fiorenza?
"

One heck of a lousy memory! How many patients could he have to keep track of in a town the size of a…postage stamp?

"
You
'
ve got incorrect information,
"
he said, interrupting her thoughts.

"
What?
"

"
Can
'
t say more.
"
He threw up his hands.
"
Check your source.
"

"
My source…
"
She stared into space.

"
Okay?
"
he asked, withdrawing.
"
Can I leave you alone now?
"
He stood.
"
A nurse will be in soon and…
"
He backed out of the room.

Becki remembered exactly who told her Godmom had cancer. And she
'
d passed the information along herself to Gina and Tony. Like it was Gospel.

Chapter 32

Gina paused at the doorway. She had been wrestling with this dilemma for hours…wondering what was best. Would Linda want company? Would she want to talk about what had happened? Finally
,
Gina decided that if something happened to someone she loved, it would be a whole lot worse if others just ignored it.

She knocked softly on the side of the doorframe.

A small voice said,
"
Come in.
"

Linda was lying on the bed on her back. There was no one else in the room.

"
Aunt Linda…I
'
m just so sorry.
"
Gina felt her voice break.

Linda looked up from the bed. Her eyes were swollen
,
and her mascara was smudged. Somehow, her hair was still perfect. How did she do that?

"
I just can
'
t take it in, Gina. Ian—my beautiful, harmless Ian. Gone.
"
Her voice was low and hoarse.

Gina walked in tentatively. She stopped at the end of the bed then turned and sat on the corner of it.

"
I know. I can
'
t believe it, either. Where
'
s Jerry?
"

Linda shrugged. She seemed disinterested.

Gina continued.
"
Ian was…well, he was always good to me. He was a great older cousin and a good man.
"

"
And talented,
"
Linda added.

"
Very talented,
"
Gina said.
"
I love his show.
"
Loved
, she should have said. It wouldn
'
t be the same without him. They sat in silence for a moment.
"
He actually introduced me to the producers at the station, did you know? He helped me get my start.
"

Linda smiled weakly.
"
Isn
'
t that just like him?
"

Gina grabbed on to the topic.
"
I was still in university
,
and Ian suggested I contact this producer guy he knew. Get a head start in the business, he said, before the other graduates started to send out resumes. He was smart about things like that.
"

Linda nodded. Her eyes started to tear.

"
My boy was always bright. He did swell in university…something cum laude, whatever it is. He was meant for the stage or television.
"
She seemed to take strength from this memory.
"
That Andrew—he was just eye-candy for the camera. It was my Ian who was the brains behind the show.
"

Gina cleared her throat.
"
How much do you know about Andrew?
"

Linda sniffed.
"
Enough. He
'
s sweet, I
'
ll grant you that, and very polite. Good dresser. I knew about him and Ian, if that
'
s what you mean. Goodness knows, I
'
m his mother, and we were very close. He confided in me. Not in Jerry, of course.
"
She sounded satisfied, as if this were a stellar accomplishment for a mother to achieve.

"
I mean,
"
Gina searched for words,
"
what do you know about Andrew
'
s past, Aunt Linda? Do you know his people? Where he
'
s from?
"

Linda frowned.
"
Somewhere in New York, I think. His folks have a cottage up by Gananoque in the Thousand Islands…that
'
s where Ian met him. At some restaurant or other, where Andrew was working.
"

More likely some gay bar in A-Bay,
Gina mused,
but no need to bring that up.

"
Ian was crazy about Andrew from the start,
"
Linda continued. She sat up and motioned for a tissue. Gina lifted the box from the bedside table and handed it to her.

"
I can
'
t say I was pleased.
"
Linda blew her nose into the tissue.
"
Oh, I didn
'
t care about his sexual preference. I
'
ve known about that for years. It
'
s just that Andrew always struck me as flighty. I didn
'
t think he
'
d stick.
"
She folded up the tissue and tossed it to Jerry
'
s side of the bed.

Gina reflected. That was a good description—probably as accurate as she could imagine.

"
And with his looks…
"
Linda continued.
"
All that temptation. I was worried for Ian.
"

It had to be said. Gina geared herself.
"
You don
'
t think he had anything to do with this?
"

Linda looked horrified.
"
Oh no! I didn
'
t mean that. Andrew would never…I
'
m sure he loved Ian. I just meant that, well, Ian can be a bit possessive. And Andrew is the sort that likes to be taken care of. That can be very attractive to older men and women who want to be needed, you know. I wouldn
'
t be surprised if…
"
She closed her mouth.

They sat in silence for a moment.

Finally Linda said,
"
Andrew will be hurting a lot right now. I should go look for him.
"

Gina nearly choked. From what she had seen of Andrew this afternoon, he was more concerned with finding out the details of Ian
'
s will. But give credit where it is due.

"
That
'
s awfully kind of you, Linda. Not everyone would think of that.
"

Linda nodded with satisfaction. She wiped away a tear.
"
I
'
m not a bitch all the time, Gina. Sometimes—when Jerry isn
'
t around—I can be almost human.
"

Gina laughed and reached over to hug her.

Linda pulled back and looked off in the distance.
"
Don
'
t ever love too much, Gina. It
'
s hell on earth.
"

"
Linda, I
'
ve got to say it. Do you have any idea who might have done this horrible thing? Any idea at all?
"

Linda rose and moved slowly to the door.
"
Not a clue. Wish I did. And you know why.
"

Gina knew, all right. But she wasn
'
t going to say it out loud.

Rob tried to keep his temper, but it was hard.

"
Yes, sir… I know—yes, the press are here…I won
'
t, but you
'
re going to have to…No, not a word until you say…We
'
re working as fast as we can. If you could spare McTaggart…
"

He clicked the phone shut and swore.

It rang again.

"
Bloody hell, Chris, where are you?
"
Rob listened to his sergeant. This day had gone from bad to worse. Still no sign of that loser, Reggie. Where the hell was the son-of-a-bitch? Only one person might know
,
and she wasn
'
t cooperating. Wait a minute…that gave him an idea.

"
Get back up here, ASAP. Listen to what I
'
m thinking.
"
He explained to Chris what he had in mind.

Gina sat on the front porch, gratefully alone. Linda and Andrew were having a cry-fest in the kitchen—oh dear, she shouldn
'
t put it that way. That was cruel. They were genuinely grieving. It
'
s just there was no place for Gina. Her grief was secondary…a quiet thing. So she had discreetly made her way down the hall and out to the world beyond the doors of this fractured family home.

She sat on the bench, half wishing she
'
d gone for that long walk with her parents. Now, she waited for them to return. No, that was a lie. She was waiting for someone else.

Footsteps brought her out of a dark reverie.

"
Waiting for Tony?
"

Gina turned in shock. Rob stood in the doorway.

"
Don
'
t bother making excuses. I know he
'
s skipped, the bastard. Never could take orders from anyone.
"

Rob came forward and motioned with his hand. She shifted to make room for him on the bench.

"
Will he be back soon?
"
Rob
'
s voice was gritty. His big body shifted, moving the entire bench.

Gina nodded. She looked straight ahead.

"
Do you know where he
'
s gone?
"

A pause. She shook her head.

"
You telling the truth?
"

She turned to look at him.
"
Of course I am. He didn
'
t tell me because he knew you would ask.
"

Rob laughed abruptly.
"
Son-of-a-bitch. Okay, Gina. But do you have any idea what he
'
s doing?
"

Gina paused a moment. She looked back at Rob and made her decision.
"
I think he
'
s getting in touch with some people he knows who might be able to help locate Reggie. Work people.
"

Rob frowned. He leaned his forearms on his knees.
"
Yeah, they might be able to, all right.
"
He sounded pissed.
"
Spooks don
'
t have to go through the same channels we lawmen do.
"

He made it sound like they were in an old Western. Gina
'
s mouth broke to a thin smile.

They sat in companionable silence for a few moments. Rob appeared to be deep in thought. Finally, he said,
"
That was clever, your deduction about tracing the victim through the store where she bought the handbag. It
'
s the sort of thing we cops think about.
"

Gina smiled.
"
I had a bit of luck. It doesn
'
t always work. As a matter of fact—now that
'
s funny.
"
She paused.

Rob raised one eyebrow.

"
About the bag being unique.
"
Gina continued.
"
Remember I said that thing about how the sales clerks keep track of who buys what
,
so we don
'
t show up at the same event in the same dress?
"

Rob nodded.

Gina looked off in the distance.
"
It can happen. In fact, it did happen, at the Belle Canto Opera Gala a few years ago. And you
'
ll never guess to whom.
"

Gina turned to face him now. Yes, she had his interest. Funny that she remembered it now, years later, after never once thinking about it before.

"
Hilary walked into the place wearing a super-expensive Givenchy red chiffon gown. Darned if her sister Andrea didn
'
t show up wearing the very same dress. They met each other in the centre of the crowded lobby.
"
She giggled at the memory.
"
Oh my goodness, you never saw such a scene.
"

"
Hilary didn
'
t like it much?
"