Death Angel by Martha Powers Read Free Book Online Page A

anything about it. Kids
always carried candy in their pockets.
    He couldn’t afford to make another
mistake. He had to go on the assumption that the police found the wrapper and
get rid of the rest of them. Or at least keep them hidden. Too many secrets.
His brain felt overloaded with everything he had to remember.  
    It was done. Nothing could change what
had happened. All that mattered at the moment was to protect himself. And the
COP was his greatest danger.
    COP
eyes see too much.

 
    Kate had heard of out-of-body experiences
and wondered if that was what was happening. She was present at the funeral
service but it was as if she were not a part of the proceedings. The pew
beneath her was unyielding, yet she had no sense of the solid oak against her
thighs. The organ music came from a distance, the sounds muted and wavery as
though she were underwater.

 
    Jenny loved me
in the springtime
    When the buds
were on the trees
    Once the chill
winds bared the branches
    Jenny left me
in the fall.
     
    Kate closed her eyes and tried to
remember if those were actually the words of the song. Was it a song? Maybe it
was a poem. She couldn’t recall where she had heard it. Over and over, she
rolled each syllable inside her head. It was very important to recall the exact
sequence of the words. She fixed her eyes on a spot above Father Blaney’s head
and ran through the lyrics again. She wished she could say them out loud.  
    She opened her mouth to speak but some
slight motion must have penetrated Richard’s consciousness because he turned to
her and reached over to pat her knee. She closed her mouth. Directing her eyes
to the large crucifix suspended over the altar, she concentrated on the details
of the hanging Christ, noting the contrast between the black iron spikes and
the white skin of the porcelain hands. She closed her mind to the words of the
funeral service.  
    She glanced down at Richard’s hand
resting on her knee, her own fingers clenched around his wrist. She was cold,
and it frightened her that Richard’s proximity brought her no warmth. In the
days since Jenny’s death, he had touched her and held her but he could not
reach below the surface to give her comfort. It was almost as if Jenny’s
absence had opened a void between them that could never again be filled.
    Her eyes flickered to the tiny coffin
standing isolated in front of the altar. She averted her gaze, listening to the
words filling her mind.
     
    Jenny
wandered free and happy
    Dashing
through the summer sunshine
    Even though
she’s gone forever
    I can still
hear Jenny’s call.
     
    It didn’t sound right. Kate started over
but as she repeated the second verse, she stumbled over the word “forever.” She
tried moving her mouth to form the sounds but her lips were unyielding.  
    Oh
please God please God please God.  
    The organ chords trembled at the
beginning of another hymn. Richard stood and his hand dropped away from her.
Kate pressed back against the wooden seat. She wanted to remain where she was,
sitting perfectly still until she became invisible. She didn’t want to
participate.  
    Even as rebellion built within her, she
knew such behavior would draw the eyes of the congregation and that she could
not permit. She could bear the furtive glances, but not the full weight of all
that attention.  
    She stood. One. Two. Three. Six tile
roses edged the doorway into the chancery.
     
    Jenny smiled
at all the young men
    Flocking round
her day and night
    In her eyes I
saw the message
    Jenny loved me
best of all.
    Movement on the edge of her vision broke
through her concentration. Carl Leidecker slipped in the side door and walked
toward the back of the church. For the funeral, he was dressed in a dark suit,
but despite the plain clothes she knew he was attending in an official
capacity, watching their friends and neighbors, eyes once more full of
questions.  
    Questions. Endless questions and still
no answers.
    Kate gripped the wooden