“Did either of you know Mavis Greenlee?”
“Oh, yes!” Daria brightened for a second, then sighed as if suddenly remembering what had happened to Mavis. “A shame about her. She was a good woman. Very involved with the church.”
“You’re a member?”
“All my life.” She glanced at her husband, then nudged him with her elbow. “But Otis here, he doesn’t attend.”
“Daria,” he warned, “you know I’m a believer.” His voice was stern, and he explained to Nikki, “Not that it’s any of your business, but God and I, we have our own private arrangement.”
“That’s so arrogant.” Little lines formed around the corners of Daria’s mouth, and Nikki guessed this wasn’t the first time she and her husband had been involved in this argument. “And arrogance is a sin. Proverbs 16:19 says—”
“Don’t you go quoting Scripture and verse to me, woman,” he muttered, his voice low, almost a growl.
But Daria didn’t back down. She didn’t quote from the passage again, but she lowered her sunglasses and arched one eyebrow as if to remind her husband that he was going too far. “I think we’re done here,” she said shoving her shades back onto the bridge of her straight nose. “I’m very upset about Mavis, and I’m over all this talk about that miserable piece of … that horrid man. As I said, he was areal whack job. Dangerous.” Motioning to the SUV with its lift gate gaping open, she added, “Otis, you can unload the car.” To Nikki she added, through tight lips, “Have a blessed day,” before turning on her heel and, with her back ramrod stiff, stalking quickly past the dozing cat and into the house.
“Daria’s right,” Otis said, though he still seemed to be seething. At his wife? Or Nikki? She wasn’t sure. He cast a furious look at the house, scowled, then turned his gaze back to Nikki. “We are done here.”
Chapter 15
For the next five days, Nikki was stymied. All of her investigating hadn’t turned up much. Though she and Pierce had agreed to share information—she promising not to print anything without the department’s approval, he saying he’d give her an “exclusive” first interview once the cases were solved—she was stuck in the house. Chloe had come down with a cold. Both Lily and Phee were battling runny noses and wet-sounding coughs. Her only break had been when Phee had been well enough to go to her riding lesson and Nikki had taken her to the stables to spend the next two hours watching Phee learn from the older girls. Her favorite instructor was Annabelle Van Camp, a friendly girl with rosy cheeks and an athlete’s body. Annabelle could ride a horse as if she’d been born to do it, seemingly at one with the animal as it sailed over fences or streams.
Phee had been exhilarated to have gone riding, but probably she shouldn’t have gone and relapsed slightly the next day.
As difficult as it was, Nikki worked from home, alternately making soup, taking Chloe’s temperature and reading to her, and doing what research she could via the Internet. She brought her laptop downstairs so that she could manage the household and set up a work space at the dining room table while Chloe was wrapped in blanketson the couch, Lily was curled in a nearby chair with the TV on low, and Phee was cloistered in the bedroom she shared with her mother. The dogs took up spots by the fire, while rain peppered the windows and Jennings found a spot on the chair next to hers, his long tail twitching slightly as he slept.
By the sixth morning, Nikki was about to go out of her mind, as Pierce had admitted that the investigation into Mavis’s death was hitting roadblocks. The same was true with Billy Huber. “All the alibis have checked out,” he’d told her just this morning as he’d stood in front of the bathroom mirror while adjusting his tie.
“You mean her husband’s?” Nikki had asked.
“Times three. Not only was Archer where he claimed to be, but Radley Bowers was—”
“Her first husband?”
“Yes, he was with his wife. And as for number two, Leonard Armstrong? He was in Atlanta at a Braves game with clients.”
“And none of them had a connection to Billy Huber?”
“Not that we’ve located.”
“What about the alibis of everyone else who held a grudge against Billy Huber?” she asked, meeting his gaze in the mirror.
“Still double-checking. It seems he pissed off about everyone he met.”
She grunted an assent. “Including his daughter.”
“Right. So, we’ll see.” He eyed his reflection. Satisfied with the knot, he brushed a kiss against her forehead. “I’ll see you later, Nurse Nikki.”
“Very funny,” she said, hearing him laugh as he headed downstairs.
But later in the morning, after she’d seen a twinkle in her daughter’s eye when Chloe had asked for hot chocolate with marshmallows for breakfast, Nikki checked the little girl’s symptoms. Thankfully, she was no longer running a fever, and her little nose had stopped dripping, and yes, Nikki had allowed the cup of cocoa.
Even Lily, who stumbled downstairs later than usual, admitted that she was feeling better. “Thank God. For the first time in, like, forever, I actually got a good night’s sleep,” she admitted, making a beeline for the coffeemaker, where half a pot of coffee was steaming. Shepoured herself a cup and added a shot of cream. As Chloe was still picking melting marshmallows out of her mug, Lily clicked the rim of her cup to her niece’s.
“Cheers!” Chloe said brightly.
“Back at you.” Lily rumpled Chloe’s curls, and the little girl giggled.
“No!” she objected, tossing her head out of the way, but still grinning widely.