in a handbag.”
“I thought they were a true love match?” Tennyson asked gently.
Heidi cackled before starting to cough. It took a minute or two for Heidi to get her breath back. “Damn Virginia Slims got me. End-stage lung cancer.” She offered a thin smile as if to say she was going out on her own terms. “Kyle turned to booze and pills after Skye died, I started smoking. Tried everything I could to quit, but to be honest, I never really wanted to. I’m happy as a clam sitting here with my cats and my cigs. Got two months or so to live. I stopped the chemo and radiation. What the hell do I have to live for?”
“This is a really nice house to raise a family, Heidi. Surely there’s someone who loves you enough to be here for you now?”
Ronan knew what Ten was doing. He was reading her and forming questions based on what he already knew.
“You think you’re clever trying to poke around in my brain, don’t you?” Heidi raised an eyebrow at Tennyson, but didn’t give him a chance to answer. “Got myself knocked-up senior year. I had plans. Wanted to go to college to become an accountant or something to do with economics. My husband was a son of a bitch. Liked to drink and fuck around. I finally got rid of him when Lacey, our daughter, graduated from high school. He ran off with someone half his age. Good fucking luck to her, I say. If I had a nickel for every mark that man put on me, I could have hired a high-priced hitman to whack his stupid ass.” Heidi paused, her eyes turning glossy. “Lacey headed out to California with some man. She sends the occasional Christmas card. Says her rotten childhood was my fault. There’s not much I can say about that. She’s right. I chose to stay.”
Ronan could see the old resentment burning in her eyes. This house was quite a difference from the one he’d visited the other day, belonging to Jennifer Blake.
“I suppose you heard about your old friend’s death.” Tennyson was done being timid. His voice was stronger, indicating he wasn’t going to be bullied into not using his gift.
“Old friend, my ass.” Heidi snorted and started to cough.
“I thought the four of you were best friends forever?” Ronan sat up straighter, leaning closer to Heidi.
“Forever’s a long damn time, Detective.” Heidi coughed again and spat something into a ragged Kleenex she pulled from her pocket. “Everything changed when Skye died. We all drifted apart. I guess she was the glue that held us all together.” Heidi didn’t seem too bothered by the fact that they hadn’t remained close.
“Do you have any idea who killed Jennifer?” Ronan asked.
Heidi cackled again, this time without the ensuing cough. “If you’re accusing me, Detective, I can barely walk three steps without gasping for breath. There’s no way I would have been able to manage the long walk up to her mansion.” Heidi sneered the last word.
“Oh, so you’d been to the house before?” Ten asked.
“Ha! If your career as a detective fizzles, you could be a comedian.” Heidi coughed again. Her entire body shook with it. “No, I’d never been invited there, but I’d seen pictures on the news and in the papers when Saint Jennifer donated money to the poor or some shit like that. I was poor! Where the fuck was my handout. Best friends forever, my ass.” This was the most emotion Heidi had shown since the interview began.
Heidi’s stand on Jennifer was crystal clear. “Since we’ve established that you’re not the murderer,” Ronan paused to smile, “who do you think killed her?”
“Probably that husband of hers.” Heidi crossed her arms over her chest as if her word decided it.
“You don’t own a gun, do you, Heidi?” Ten asked, sweet as pie.
“A gun?” Heidi laughed again. It sounded like the caw of an annoyed sea gull. “Your voodoo must be on the blink. Of course I don’t own a gun. If I did, I would have used it on that wife-beating fucker I married.” Heidi paused. Her look turned serious. “Or on myself.”
Ronan stood and was swarmed by several cats. They meowed up at him, brushing themselves against his black dress pants. He pulled out his card and set it on the kitchen table. “If there’s anything else you remember or that we can do to help you, call me. Day or night.”
Ten reached out to shake