Killing Her Softly by Beverly Barton Read Free Book Online Page A

out all night. Just got in."
    If she thought telling him she'd spent the night with some guy would bother him, she was wrong. He had actually given a damn that she screwed another guy only one time. The time he'd caught her in the act. After that, she could have done it with every guy in Memphis for all he cared. He just hated that Kevin's mother had gained a reputation as a. . . as a what? A slut who'd spread her legs for just about any guy?
    Mary Lee had always been a little wild and God knew she hadn't been a virgin when they got married but he hadn't cared. He'd been crazy about her. Hog-wild crazy. And she'd loved him, too. He knew she had.
    "I just wanted to remind you that I'll be picking Kevin up at six-thirty this evening," Jim said. Now wasn't the time to get into it with Mary Lee about Kevin spending too many nights at other people's houses.
    "He'll be ready. He's been looking forward to seeing you."
    "Yeah, me, too."
    "Jim?"
    "Huh?"
    "I saw in this morning's Commercial Appeal where you and your partner are working the Lulu Vanderley murder."
    "Yeah."
    "Lulu Vanderley was somebody real important, wasn't she? If you solve this one and bring her killer in, it sure won't hurt your career, will it?"
    "I don't worry as much about my career as I used to," he told her.
    "You don't worry as much or care as much about a lot of things."
    "That's the way life is." He took a deep breath. "Tell Kevin I'll see him at six-thirty."
    Before giving Mary Lee a chance to say anything else, Jim hung up. One of these days he'd be able to have a conversation with his ex and not think about what might have been. "If only" was a game for idiots.
     
    Annabelle emerged from her white Cadillac, hoisted her leather bag over her shoulder and took a deep, calming breath. On the drive over from Austinville , she'd made a dozen phone calls, using her On-Star system, which made phoning while driving an easy, risk-free task. She'd spoken to the president and two vice presidents at Vanderley , Inc., and helped their top PR person word a press release about Lulu's murder. She'd also spoken to her uncle twice and it had broken her heart to hear the sound of his weak, trembling voice. Knowing that Dr. Martin had arranged for nurses to be at Uncle Louis's side twenty-four/seven gave her some comfort.
    Before leaving early this morning, she'd fielded numerous calls from local, state and even national newspapers and televisions stations. Her cousin's murder was front-page news throughout the state of Mississippi and most of the South. Even now, a good twelve hours after hearing the news from Sheriff Brody, Annabelle was having difficulty believing it was true. Accepting the death of a family member was always difficult—she'd gone through the agony with her aunt Meta Anne's and both her parents' deaths and again when she lost Chris. When someone young died someone only twenty-seven as Lulu had been, the loss seemed all the greater because you felt that the person hadn't gotten a chance to live a full life. She'd felt that way when Chris died two years ago. He had been the center of her world for so long that shortly after the funeral, she'd fallen apart completely. But in typical Annabelle style, she hadn't allowed herself to wallow in self-pity for very long. She'd pulled herself up by the proverbial bootstraps, dusted off her bruised and bloody emotions and thrown herself back into work. Thank God for work. It had been her salvation more than once over the years.
    As she approached the Poplar Avenue entrance to the Criminal Justice Center, she recited the directions she'd been given over the telephone by the helpful police officer she'd spoken to an hour ago while she'd been en route. With her mind on other matters—finding the homicide division of the police department within this huge complex, as well as thinking about what she'd be told concerning Lulu's murder— Annabelle failed to notice the small crowd gathering around her. Suddenly, someone