Classic Revenge (29 page)

Trish leaned forward. "Clarissa, you said Tom showed
you a letter from Mary he kept in his night stand. Do you
think he still has it?"

Clarissa shrugged. "I can't be positive, but I'd bet
that he does. He doesn't throw anything out"

Trish almost admitted knowing the same thing, but
held back at the last minute and prayed fervently that
Millie wouldn't volunteer information about Tom's living habits, either.

"Okay, here's what we're going to do. You have to
tell everything you know to the police. They can protect
your mother until Tom is in jail, and you won't have to
worry about her. You stay here and keep your doors
locked. We'll bring the police to you, or we'll take you
to the station, but it probably won't be until tomorrow.
There are a few loose ends we need to tie up to make
sure Tom doesn't wriggle himself out of this."

"Yes, we have to-" Millie began.

"Come on, Millie," Trish interrupted, gripping her
hand tightly and standing. "Clarissa, thank you very
much for trusting us. This is all going to be over soon.
Will you do as I asked and stay here until we get back to
you?"

Clarissa stood and clasped her hands in front of her.
"Of course I will. I can call in sick today. But, please
keep me informed, won't you? My phone number is in
the book"

"We will, dear," Edna said, squeezing her shoulder.
"Don't you worry about a thing."

"I can't tell you what a relief it will be not to have to
worry anymore about what that man might do," Clarissa
said tremulously.

GGVh-oh, look who's here," Trish said as she pulled
into her driveway.

"It's Larry!" Edna exclaimed. "That's perfect timing."

Millie turned to look at her. "This is horrible timing!
Remember, we can't say anything until we put the stuff
back in Tom's house"

"Smile, ladies," Trish said as she forced a pleasant
smile on her face. "He's getting out of his car." Plastic
smiles covered their faces as they got out of the car.

"Good morning," he called cheerfully.

"Good morning, yourself," Trish said.

"Where have you been?" Millie asked, dropping her
smile. "Are you still trying to plant evidence on an innocent man?"

"Hello, Larry. What are you doing here?" Edna asked,
a worried expression crossing her face before she remembered to replace it with the required smile.

Larry stopped and burst out laughing. "You three never fail to surprise me. If I was a gambling man, I'd
bet you have definitely been up to something, and that
you're not going to tell me what it is."

Trish grinned. "Keep your dollars," she advised.
"Come on in. We were just getting ready to make some
coffee"

Larry held the door open for them. "Where have you
ladies been so early this morning?"

"Look, Larry, you don't tell us your secrets, and we're
not going to tell you ours," Millie said as she marched
past him. "There's nothing wrong with a little bit of professional competition. Rest assured, though, that we've
been working to clear Sam, which is probably more
than you've been doing."

Trish stumbled over her own foot as she entered the
kitchen. How much bail would Millie require to get out
of jail for insulting an officer? And, more importantly,
would it be wise to even try to get her out?

But Larry surprised them. "Oh, I wouldn't say that,"
he said casually as he sat down.

All three women stood still and stared at him. "What
did you say?"

"Oh, no," he said, shaking his head, "I have to stay
quiet about it-professional competition, you know."

Millie narrowed her eyes and gave him a fierce look
as she sat down across from him. "That old ploy won't
work with us, Larry. You're not going to get us to reveal
anything. We don't play that squid prose quad game."

"Wh-? Oh you mean `quid pro quo.' No, I wouldn't
dream of it. I know that, as ... professionals, it would
be against your code of ethics to reveal information. I
just came by to see how you all were doing."

"Well, we're good," Millie said with a nod. "We're
fine. How are you?"

Larry gratefully took a sip of coffee from the cup
Trish placed in front of him. "Oh, I'm fine, just fine.
Are you enjoying this beautiful weather we're having?"

Millie took a sip of her own coffee. "I am, very much.
Are you?"

"Yes, I am. As a matter of fact-"

"Oh, stop it, both of you," Trish laughed. "This is
ridiculous !"

Edna was looking back and forth at Millie and Larry
as though they had lost their minds.

Millie grinned impishly at Larry. "We've established
that we're both stubborn. Now, are you honestly still
looking into Sam's case-other than as a suspect, I
mean."

Larry reached over and squeezed her hand. "Honestly, Millie, I can't talk about it. But I can tell you that
some interesting information has come up, and that
we're looking into it."

Millie jumped up from her chair and gave a whoop
for joy. "I've known all along you were an ace detective!" She planted a kiss right on Larry's mouth. "If I
were ten years younger, I'd marry you!"

"That's more like forty," Trish mumbled under her
breath, but she felt the smile grow on her face as she, too,
realized they were nearing the end of this nightmare.

They weren't that thrilled fifteen minutes later
when Joe came over, though. His arrival coincided
with Larry's departure, and it was obvious he wasn't
going to put up with any nonsense. Sensing that Joe
was at the end of his patience with them, they went through two pots of coffee explaining and apologizing,
not necessarily in that order. Trying to tell him that
they had not wanted to worry him was a flimsy excuse,
even to their own ears. He knew immediately that it
was more like they hadn't wanted him to stop their private investigation.

To say Joe was furious would have been a huge understatement. Even Millie was cowed into silence as they all
sat there, ashamed and regretful at how they had taken
Joe's kind nature for granted. But, as he so rightfully
pointed out, there would be time for further recriminations later. Right now they had to concentrate on replacing the evidence they had gotten from Tom's and, once
and for all, notifying the police. But, Joe informed them
in no uncertain terms, he would be the one to go back to
Tom's.

Dusk was just starting to settle when Joe dropped off
Edna at Trish's. Millie was already there, pacing back
and forth with nervous energy. The next couple of hours
were going to be pure misery as they waited for news
from Joe. Edna, as expected, was extremely worried, but
she presented a calm front, sure in her belief that Joe
could handle anything.

"Millie, please sit down," Trish requested. "You're
driving me crazy."

"I can't help it," Millie snapped. "I don't see why we
can't drive over to Tom's real quick and see what's going on."

"No!" Trish and Edna shouted in unison.

"Well, we need to play cards or something. We can't
just sit here twiddling our thumbs, and you two aren't
any good at waiting patiently. You're going to make me
batty"

"That's a good idea, Millie," Edna hastily agreed before Trish could strangle their friend. "Trish, do you have
any cards?"

Just then, thunder rumbled in the distance. "Where
did that come from?" Trish asked.

"Didn't you listen to the forecast today? Strong
thunderstorms possibly, today and tomorrow." Millie
got up from the table. "We'd better get some candles and
make a fresh pot of coffee in case the power goes out."

Trish looked at Edna and saw the fresh worry cross
her face. "Honey, don't worry about Joe. I'm sure he'll
be back before the storm hits, if it even does"

Edna nodded and forced her lips into a tight smile as
she stood. "Of course, you're right. Where do you keep
your candles?"

With a full pot of coffee, and candles and matches
placed nearby, the women settled down to play cards.
The thundering roar of the approaching storm was closer
now, with intermittent flashes of lightning, but they tried
not to pay too much attention to it. Millie was beating
them both three games to one, and since she was such a
gracious winner, they were determined to kick her butt.
Unfortunately, it wouldn't be this hand, though.

"Ha!" Millie gloated.

"Oh, for heavens sake," Trish said, stretching in her
seat, "I need a break" She got up to pour coffee for
everyone while Edna shuffled the cards and Millie went
to the bathroom. It was while she was in the process of
lighting one of the candles that they heard the front door
open.

"Thank goodness," Edna exclaimed and jumped out
of her chair, "Joe's here!" She hadn't made it two steps,
though, before she stopped, staring in shock. "Clarissa?"

Trish whirled around, the match still in her hand. For a
moment, she was too startled to say anything. Clarissa
entered the kitchen wearing jeans and an oversized dark
sweatshirt with pockets. Her hair was pulled up under a
dark blue scarf and she was smiling as though she had
been invited to the party. But her eyes were frightening.
They were cold and unnaturally bright, almost feverish.

"Hi, ladies. Surprised to see me?"

"What are you doing here, Clarissa?" Trish asked as
she blew out the match. And how did you find out where
I live? she wanted to add. Her mind was racing, knowing that something was terribly wrong.

Clarissa giggled. "I was in the neighborhood and
thought I'd stop and say hello to my new best friends."

"What's wrong, dear? Has something happened to
your mother?" Edna had taken a step toward her, but
Clarissa jumped and jammed her hand into her pocket.

"Stop right there! Don't come any closer."

Edna stopped but held her arms out. "Clarissa, we can
help you," she said gently. "Tell us what has happened"

Trish hadn't moved. She watched the interaction between Edna and Clarissa, wondering if there was any
way she could defuse the situation. Obviously, Clarissa
had a gun in her pocket, and, obviously, she meant to use
it. And, then, all too late, Trish realized her mistakes.
Clarissa wasn't an innocent victim of Tom's delusional
mind. Exactly what part she had played in this whole
sordid business was unclear, but that she was as dangerous and unbalanced as her ex-husband was certain.

Trish wanted to somehow warn Edna, who was oblivious to what was really going on. And Millie-sweet
mercy, she was just down the hall! If she came blustering
her way in here, as was her custom, this scene could es calate into a red zone before anyone could take a breath.
Trish knew that she had to do something, but what?

Edna was still trying to get through to Clarissa, believing that Tom had done something horrible to Clarissa or
her mother and that the poor woman must be in shock.
"This is going to end tonight," Edna said soothingly.
"We're going to the police and Tom will be locked up
forever. He won't be able to hurt you anymore"

"You stupid woman!" Clarissa screamed, and poor
Edna reacted as though she had been slapped.

Cold fury enveloped Trish, but she had to stay calm.
She was responsible for the safety of two of the most important people in her life, and nobody was going to hurt
them if she still had a breath left in her body. Edna stood
a few feet from Clarissa, directly in front of her. Trish
was behind them and slightly to the left of the table.
Without moving her head, she looked slowly around at
her nearest environment for some sort of weapon.

"That's right," Clarissa sneered, "you are all so stupid. I've known since the night at the restaurant where
Mary worked what you were up to. How do you think I
found out about the earrings? Yes," she chuckled at
Edna's unbelieving stare, "you were all talking about
Mary wearing Susan Wiley's earrings. That was a godsend, and I've been meaning to thank you."

"You killed Mary Chavez," Edna whispered.

"Duh!" Clarissa mimicked, holding her arms out.
"So one of you has a brain, after all."

"And did you also kill Susan?" Edna asked, her voice
breaking.

Clarissa dropped her arms and looked to the heavens.
"I take that back. Of course I didn't kill Susan, you idiot!
Tom killed Susan. I already told you that"

"You told us a lot of things, Clarissa," Trish said suddenly. She wasn't sure how much more abuse Edna
could take before falling apart. Please, Edna, she prayed
silently, step back. Start moving away from Clarissa.
"You told us things like how you were so afraid of Tom
and what he might do to your mother. So, while you're
insulting our intelligence for believing you, why don't
you go ahead and fill us in on the rest of the story-the
real story this time?"

The look Clarissa shot her was pure evil. There was
madness shining through her eyes, as though she'd just
realized that someone else was there. "Oh, I will," she
said, her smile an ugly sneer. "I'll enjoy rubbing your
faces in the fact that you've been so wrong about everything. But first, where's the old bat?"