April Fools by Richie Tankersley Cusick Read Free Book Online Page B

the Thornes lived lay just on the other side of the park. She hadn't been to the park since last summer, but she knew her way around well. With its picnic grounds, its pubhc gardens, and small amusement park area, it had been a frequent holiday treat when she was growing up, when Mom and Dad were happy and they were a real family. ...
    Forcing that thought away, Belinda started off, taking the main route through the gardens. The landscape design had changed through the years, old brick walkways now going nowhere, wandering in perpetual circles. As pathways had eventually fallen into disrepair and closed, older areas of the park had also been barricaded and shut off, yet she still remembered the shortcuts and used them when
    there was no one around to see. Slipping through a hole in one of the fences, she cut across an old, abandoned parking lot, now a graveyard for junked cars and outdated parts of mechanical rides. From this spot, she could hardly hear any park activity at all -- it was like being in some alien world, surrounded by hulking metal monstrosities.
    A windblown leaf scraped across the pavement, and she jumped. She glanced back over her shoulder, suddenly uneasy. Overhead the sun struggled weakly through a restless veil of clouds, and the afternoon was chilly. Winter had lingered late and gusty this year, with frost still falling at night. She buried her chin into the collar of her jacket and rammed her fists into her pockets, her fingers closing unexpectedly around a thick wad of cloth. Puzzled, she pulled it out and began stretching it apart, trying to remember where it had come from. Somehow it had gone unnoticed through the wash all balled up in her pocket.
    And then she remembered.
    This was the jacket she'd been wearing the night of the accident.
    She'd been so wet and muddy that she'd washed all her clothes at Hildy's that very night. She must have forgotten about the rag she'd picked up, the rag she'd held to her bleeding face. This was the first time she'd even worn that jacket since then.
    There were still bloodstains on the rag. Except now she could see that it wasn't really a rag at all, but a handkerchief, torn at one comer, right through an embroidered A.
    Belinda shoved the thing back into her pocket and zipped her jacket up tighter against the chill, hurrying the last few yards to another high fence, letting herself back into the mainstream of the park. She was reheved when she saw her exit just ahead; the house was easy to find from there. She pressed the intercom buzzer on the gate and identified herself to a bored-sounding Cobbs, who was holding the front door open for her when she reached it. As soon as she stepped inside, Belinda heard Mrs. Thome^s voice in the living room.
    "Oh, Belinda. You came back, that^s good." The woman greeted her as if she really couldn't have cared less. "Adam's hiding, as usual. Go on up." She glanced in annoyance toward the balcony, then gestured at Cobbs. "My nerves, Cobbs -- my nerves are going. Be sure and pack all my pills. And help me find something to wear. I have to catch that ungodly little commuter flignt in less than three hours -- I don't have any idea what to wear --"
    "How about a gag, madame?"
    "What about my bag? How should / know where the bags are, Cobbs? That's your job!"
    "Is there anything I can do, Mrs. Thome?" Belinda asked, but the woman brushed past her up the stairs.
    "A business trip, Belinda," she said crisply. "I don't know how long I'll be gone. I shouldn't go, of course -- I know I shouldn't go. Fred's lying there in the hospital, and what will people say? But it is his company, after all, and they'll do all they can to take advantage of him now."
    Belinda couldn't believe what she was hearing. Cobbs seemed unperturbed.
    "Take my advice, Belinda, and think twice before you marry for money -- or convenience. It gets harder and harder to keep up appearances, and someone's always waiting for you to slip up . . . make a stupid mistake." She