Silent Killer Page 0,48
all the capitals of Europe.
“I’m going to stay up and read for a while,” he told her. “I’ll be in my study if you need me.”
She smiled, then closed her eyes and turned over on her side. He switched off the light and left her to rest.
As soon as he entered his study, he walked over to his desk and picked up the phone. He dialed Kim’s number and waited.
“Daddy?”
He could hear the panic in her voice. “Everything is all right, sweetheart. I—I wanted to ask you to go ahead and look into finding a companion for your mother.”
“Did she have a bad day today?”
“No. Today was a good day.”
“Oh, Daddy…”
“Find someone kind and caring, someone your mother would like.”
“I’ve already found somebody,” Kim told him. “I’ve just been waiting for you to say the word.”
“Who is she?”
“Mirabelle Rutledge. She’s one of my students.”
“You want to send me a young woman who is retarded to look after your mother?”
“Mirabelle is simply a little slow, Daddy. And you know how I hate the word retarded.”
“I’m sorry I’m not being politically correct. In my day, calling someone who was retarded retarded wasn’t an insult.”
“I know, but times have changed. And words can and do hurt.”
“Tell me something—how can she take care of your mother if she can’t take care of herself?”
“She can take care of herself,” Kim assured him. “She’s perfectly capable of cooking and cleaning, and she can read and write. Besides that, she’s young and strong and…and she needs a home. She needs you and Mother as badly as y’all need her.”
Bruce sighed. “Then why don’t you bring Mirabelle to dinner this coming Sunday, and we’ll see how she and your mother interact.”
“Thank you, Daddy. Thank you. This will be good for Mother and for Mirabelle. Just you wait and see.”
Felicity hated sharing a room with her older sister. Charity was such a neat freak. She loved pastel colors and ribbons and lace and disliked everything Felicity liked, especially her music and her clothes. Charity was such a goody-goody, Mama and Daddy’s perfect darling. If Grandma didn’t live with them, she could have her own room. But her mom’s mom had lived with them as long as she could remember. It wasn’t that she didn’t love Grandma. She did. Even if the old lady disapproved of everything about her, from her dyed hair to her violet contacts and dagger tattoos.
“Are you going to stay up all night?” Charity, who was curled up in her twin bed, looked over at Felicity, a frown wrinkling her forehead.
Felicity, still wearing her black jeans and dark purple T-shirt, eased the earphones connected to her iPod down to hang around her neck. “I can’t sleep. I’m worried.”
“What are you worried about? Afraid Seth Cantrell likes Missy better than he does you?”
“What a hateful thing to say. Besides, Seth can like whoever he wants to like. It’s not as if I own him or anything.” Felicity glowered at her sister. “And for your information, I’m worried about Daddy.”
“Why would you be worried about Daddy?”
“Because of what happened today. You know, they found that priest’s body in the park, and he was burned alive just like Seth’s father was.”
“What has that got to do with Daddy?”
“Somebody has murdered three preachers—well, two preachers and a priest. Daddy’s a preacher. What if that person tries to kill Daddy?”
“Nobody is going to hurt Daddy. He’s a good man. There’s no reason why anyone would want to harm him.”
“Everybody thought Seth’s father was a good man.” Felicity laid a pillow against the headboard and sat up straight. “And I’m sure everybody believes that those other two men were good, too.”
“Maybe they weren’t as good as everyone thought they were,” Charity said. “You never know about people.”
“Do you think whoever murdered them did it because he thought they had done something wrong?”
Charity groaned. “How should I know? I just said that to get you to shut up and go to sleep. I have to get up at six in the morning. I start my summer job tomorrow.”
“It would make more sense, wouldn’t it, if they’d all done something terrible, something that made the killer think they deserved being punished.”
“Oh, shut up, will you, and go to sleep. You’re talking nonsense anyway.”
Felicity stuck out her tongue at her sister.
Charity just rolled her eyes and shook her head, then reached out, turned off her bedside lamp and closed her eyes.
Sometimes Felicity wondered how she and Charity could be sisters. They were so different. But