Fatal Intent - Jamie Jeffries Page 0,5

often. If they’d had that, she could run the announcement of the funeral. Since they didn’t, word-of-mouth would have to suffice. Maria had kept to herself anyway, even before she got sick.

“You’re going, of course,” Dad answered.

“Yeah.” In Alex’s short nineteen and a half years, she’d attended very few funerals. Only two she could remember, one for a classmate who died in a car accident, and then one for the mayor’s husband, Hector, last fall.

Dylan hadn’t held a funeral for his stepfather last summer, just had him buried with no ceremony. She couldn’t blame him. Attending his mom’s funeral was not optional, though. She had to be there for him and for the little boys. She supposed there wouldn’t be many mourners, other than Dylan and his brothers, herself and probably Wanda.

“You’re right,” her dad said, startling her. She hadn’t realized she’d spoken her thoughts aloud. “I’ll go, and I’ll see if Jen will. Maybe Rick Englebright,” he added, referring to a local attorney who’d been a help to both Alex and Dylan in months past.

Alex set a small plate of crackers and cottage cheese surrounded by fresh vegetables cut into bite-sized pieces in front of her dad, who wrinkled his nose at it. “It’s good for you. Hey, did you bring in the mail?”

Dad, whose mouth was stuffed with cottage cheese and celery, shook his head.

“I’ll get it.” She went through to the living room and outside to the mailbox at the curb. In it was a heavy cream-colored envelope from the National Scholastic Press Association. Alex’s heart started beating a little faster as she clutched it to her chest and ran inside. “Dad! I’ve got the word on my Pacemaker contest entry.”

Her dad sprayed cracker crumbs all over the table as he answered. “Yeah? Well, what does it say?”

“Give me a second!” Alex stood with the envelope held in front of her, trying to catch her breath, which didn’t want to cooperate. Finally, with shaking hands, she tore open the envelope and reached inside.

“Dear Ms. Ward,” she read. “We are pleased to inform you… oh my God, Dad! I’ve won first prize!” Alex went skipping through the house, with her dad in hot pursuit wanting to read the letter for himself. He caught her when she doubled back down the hall and took the letter from her.

“We are pleased to inform you that your article titled ‘Left for Dead’ has won first prize in our annual Pacemaker award. In addition to the gold medal, which will be conferred upon you at our announcement ceremony, the award comes with a cash prize of $5000. Please inform us of your intentions to attend the ceremony, to be held in Phoenix, Arizona, on April fourth of this year.” Alex’s dad, Paul, practically crowed the last few words as Alex danced around him trying to snatch the letter back.

“Well, isn’t that the pip?” he asked, finally handing the letter back to Alex and smiling at her proudly. “Are you going to attend the ceremony?”

“Hell, yes!” she answered, earning a frown from her dad. “Oh, grow up, Daddy. It’s just a word.”

Her dad sighed, then brightened as he asked, “So, what are you going to do with the money? Fix your car?”

Alex snorted. “It would take more than five-thousand to fix that car. No, I think I’m going to use it to move to Casa Grande for the rest of the semester. It will be more than enough.”

She glanced at her dad to find him staring at her, a disbelieving expression on his face. “Move to Casa Grande? Why?”

Alex sighed. They’d had this conversation more than once. She wanted to be away from Dodge and closer to school, where she was majoring in Mass Communications. The hour-and-a-half commute left her with little opportunity to take part in campus life, and she hadn’t managed to make many friends at school, because she lived so far away. Not to mention, it was wearing the car out faster than she could keep up with repairs. At the rate she was going, she’d have to replace it before she was done with school and earning enough to do so. “Dad, you know why.”

“Kiddo, is everything okay between you and Dylan?”

The change in tactics meant he was really having trouble with her decision. She sighed. “Yes, Dad, everything is okay between Dylan and me. He knows I’ve just been waiting for this opportunity. It isn’t like I’m moving to Australia.”

“What will he do about the boys, if you