Killing Her Softly by Beverly Barton Read Free Book Online

that fact." Kendall bit off a chunk of protein bar, chewed and washed it down with coffee.
    "Lulu's family. . ." Quinn groaned. "I'd forgotten all about them. She has an elderly father and a half brother over in Mississippi somewhere. The old man still runs the Vanderley empire, with the help of a cousin. I can't recall the cousin's name. Abigail or Adelaide or something like that. I can hear Lulu saying, Abi . . . Adel—Annabelle.. .'That's it, Annabelle. She'd say, Annabelle is a real saint, a true martyr. I love her like a sister, but God she's such a bore.' I suppose the Memphis police notified—"
    Kendall stood put her arms around Quinn and hugged him. "Don't consider it a weakness to allow Lieutenant Norton and Sergeant George to see this I-actually-do-give-a-damn side of your personality."
    Quinn stepped back and looked directly at Kendall. "You think they're going to charge me with Lulu's murder, don't you?"
    "I think that if they don't find another suspect and they can come up with the least bit of evidence against you, no matter how circumstantial, they just might try to pin this on
     
     
    On the way to the Criminal Justice Center, Jim Norton sipped on a container of black coffee as he maneuvered his seen-better-days Chevy truck along Poplar Avenue. He'd downed a cup of the high octane brew before he left his apartment in the Exchange Building, right after wolfing down a bowl of corn flakes. The alarm clock had gone off at six-thirty, but he'd hit the snooze button twice. He'd gotten all of maybe four hours sleep. He'd tried to get in touch with his ex-wife last night without any luck. He didn't really give a damn where Mary Lee was or who she was with, but he sure as hell wanted to know where his son was. Spending the night with a friend again? Whenever Mary Lee needed to scratch an itch, she'd send Kevin to a friend's for the night.
    He could complain. He had in the past. But Mary Lee had pointed out to him that he was lucky she didn't have sole custody. "What if you didn't even have visitation rights?" she had asked him when he'd suggested she let him keep Kevin whenever she had a date. "All things considered you're lucky I let you see Kevin as much as I do. After all, if I hadn't agreed to your getting some visitation rights—"
    He'd just call her again later this morning—or at least try to—to make sure she hadn't forgotten that he was supposed to pick up Kevin this evening and keep him until Monday morning. He'd made plans for them to spend tomorrow with his sister Susan's family. Kevin enjoyed spending time with his three cousins, twin boys only a year older than he and a girl two years younger. Jim liked the idea of his son seeing
    what a real family was like. That's what he'd wanted for Kevin—that ail-American, mom-and-apple-pie life he and Susan had had as kids. But both he and Mary Lee had fucked up big time. And now, thanks to them, Kevin would never have what Jim had wanted most for his son.
    He could blame it all on Mary Lee. And sometimes, especially when he'd had too much to drink, he did blame it all on her. But when completely sober and in the cold light of day, he knew he had to accept his share of the blame. Way back when he'd been a young hotshot with great ambition, he had neglected his wife and son. His arrogance and cockiness had gotten his partner killed had put him in the hospital and had landed him in a heap of trouble with the department. By the time he'd healed physically and emotionally, he'd already lost his wife, even if they didn't divorce until nearly three years later.
    After pulling into his parking place and releasing his safety belt, Jim removed his cell phone from its holder and hit the button that instantly dialed his ex's home phone number. Much to his surprise, she answered on the fifth ring.
    "Mary Lee?"
    "Yeah. Who were you expecting, the Queen of Sheba?"
    "I tried calling last night."
    "I had a date."
    "Stayed out kind of late didn't you?"
    She laughed. "I stayed