Classic Revenge Read Free Page B

thing?"
    Edna walked into the kitchen on rubbery legs and
sank down at the table. She appeared ready to jump out
of her skin. Her face was pale, her hazel eyes opened
wide in shock. Trish silently wondered if Edna had
fallen and bumped her head, but that wasn't likely because her perfectly coifed silver hair was still in place.
    Finally, Edna took a deep breath and leaned back in
her chair. "I was having a cup of coffee with Sam when
his doorbell rang. Claire went to answer it, and when she
returned she had two policemen with her. They started
all that mumbo-jumbo about his rights, and then they
handcuffed him!"
    Trish leaned over and grabbed the box of tissues off
the counter and pushed them toward Edna. "You've got
to be kidding!"
    "I wish I were. You should have seen Sam's face,"
Edna sniffed.
    "Were you able to talk to him? Did he say anything?"
    "No. They rushed him into one of the patrol cars so fast I was afraid there was a sniper around or something. Then the two officers drove off with Sam in the
backseat. Claire was hysterical, so I stayed with her until she calmed down. I came here as soon as I could"

    "I still can't believe Sam could be in any trouble, not
with the law! Did you find out what the police are after
him for?"
    Edna nodded and the tears spilled over. "They say
it's for murder."
    Trish's heart stopped beating for a moment. "Murder? Are they crazy? Who in their right mind would
think Sam was capable of murder?" Her mind couldn't
comprehend this. There had to be some mistake. Then
it occurred to her. "The police think Sam killed Susan,
don't they?"
    Edna nodded, the tears running down her face.
    Trish drummed her fingernails on the table. Her
mind was spinning helplessly as she tried to make some
sense of what was going on. Finally, she said, "Okay,
let's go talk to Claire. Maybe she knows if Sam has an
attorney. First, we need to get him out of jail. I'm not
sure the man can stand much more stress"
    Edna drew a shaky breath and stood. "You're right. We
need to take action. Crying isn't going to help anybody"
    Trish put her arm around Edna's shoulders. "You cry
all you want, sweetie. Get the shock out of your systembecause when Sam does get out we're going to have to
be strong and supportive."
    Edna sniffed and nodded. "You're right, of course.
We know Sam isn't guilty. We can't let him know how
horrified we are that he's been charged with this. He'll
think we may have our doubts. We need to show him,
above all else, that we are there for him, that we believe in him." Edna's voice had gained strength and her hand
was clenched in a fist where it rested on the table. Sam
needn't worry about Edna's loyalty, that was a fact. The
little lady looked like she was ready to punch somebody
out just for suggesting he could do anything wrong.

    Trish reached over and squeezed Edna's hand. "Let's
go see Claire."
    Sam's house was three doors down. It was hard to
believe that the beautiful old home with the meticulous
landscaping and the cheerful red door Susan Wiley had
painted herself held so much recent tragedy.
    They were almost at the house when they heard tires
screeching. Both of them looked over their shoulders.
It was Millie, turning onto their street. "Boy, I wish
they would take her driver's license away," Trish said.
"She's more dangerous than a carload of teenagers on
cell phones"
    "I know what you mean. She scares me to death"
They watched as Millie pulled into her driveway and
slammed on the brakes. It took a few seconds for the big
car to stop rocking.
    "You go fill in Millie on what's happened, and I'll go
talk to Claire. You two can meet me over there"
    Edna nodded and hurried back down the street while
Trish walked up the sidewalk to Sam's house. She rang
the doorbell and waited, then realized that she was still
wearing her bright blue spandex exercise outfit. Hopefully none of the neighbors were watching, she thought
self-consciously as she quickly