even worse now than she’d seen the first time she woke up—black and green, just a slit of eye shining under the swollen lid. Lizette’s right eye was dull and bloodshot. “I’m so sorry,” Riel said. “I didn’t mean for it to end like that, Lizette.”
Her sister put her hands to her face. Laina and Robert exchanged a look, then Laina smiled and put a hand on Olivia’s shoulder.
“Come on, sweet thang, let’s go get some ice cream in the cafeteria.”
Olivia glanced between Laina and Riel.
“I’ll still be awake when you come back,” Riel said. “Go get some ice cream, and help Laina pick out a treat for me too.”
Olivia brightened a bit. “I’ll get you some tamarind candy. That’s your favorite.”
Riel smiled. “If they have it. Otherwise, chocolate is okay.”
They all filed out of the room, leaving Riel to gaze at her trembling sister. Lizette took her hands from her face, her good eye even redder now. “I know you didn’t mean for him to die, Riel. And you did the right thing. You really did. It’s just…”
“I know,” Riel said, her dried-out eyeballs stinging with tears.
“He wasn’t a good husband to me,” Lizette said huskily. “I know that. But there were good things about him too, deep down. He just got so caught up in this business.”
“I know,” Riel said again, tears spilling over.
Lizette pushed a chair over to the bedside and sat, clasping Riel’s hand, pressing it to her wet cheek. “I love you, sister,” she said. “I know you did what you did partially to save me and the kids. I know it was you who had him give me the money. He never would have done that on his own.”
Riel’s heart jumped. She’d forgotten all about the money. Would there still be an investigation now? “Did you get it transferred? Or did he stop you first?”
Lizette sat up, sniffing. “I got it transferred. He was so angry…it was scary…I was sure he was going to kill you.”
Riel let out a breath. “I thought he was going to kill you.”
Lizette’s hand crept up to gingerly touch her black eye. “He wouldn’t have killed me. But you…you should have heard the things he said…”
“He would have killed me eventually, I think,” Riel murmured. Another wave of nausea took her, and she sat very still until it passed. “He didn’t have any problem killing people. He killed Marty when he found out he was working with the police, and they seemed to be good friends.” Riel swallowed hard. She hadn’t even known Marty, but he’d probably saved her life. Why hadn’t the police even told her he was one of theirs?
Lizette blinked, carefully wiping her swollen eye with a wadded tissue. “You mean the guy in the car with you guys, right?”
Riel nodded.
“He didn’t die. He’ll be all scarred up, but they saved him.”
The image of Marty’s torn-apart face flashed unwillingly across her mind. It had looked like he’d been destroyed. She swallowed hard. “Really?”
Lizette nodded, wiping her eyes again. “When the cops came to arrest Mama Maria, a guy named Officer Norton came with them. After they asked me a bunch of questions, he told me everything that happened.”
All the air went out of Riel, dread creeping in. “Officer Norton was here? Was Evan with him?”
Lizette’s brow furrowed slightly. “No. Should he have been?” She looked at Riel searchingly, and a slight, teasing smile flitted over her lips. “Are you two together now?”
Riel twisted the scratchy sheet between her fingers. “I guess so.” But then why wasn’t he here? If Norton had time to get here, Evan should have been here too.
A grin briefly overtook the pain on Lizette’s face. “That’s good. I always liked Evan.” Then the smile faded again, her gaze dropping to her lap.
Riel squeezed her sister’s hand. “I’m glad you’re okay, Lizette.”
Lizette scooted closer. Riel put her arm around her shoulders the best she could, trying not to tangle the IV lines.
They were sitting there like that when a man in a white coat strode into the room, introducing himself as Dr. Rogers. He checked Riel’s monitors. Then he shone a penlight into her eyes and asked a bunch of questions, testing her memory and focus.
When he was done, he smiled and removed her IV, pressing a wad of cotton to the puncture and gently taping it up. “You had a bang to the head, and I think you sustained a concussion, but I don’t think I need a CT scan. You’re recovering