Detours Read Free Page B

bed.”
    Even though she felt like she needed an interpreter to decipher Ellis’s mutterings, each comment from Ellis was pushing Mary closer to an eruption. The nerve. Acting as if there was nothing wrong in the least with asking one woman for a date while living with another one.
    “I see.” Mary’s tone was icy. “How long have you and Sam been together?”
    “I picked her up about six months ago.” Ellis’s head lolled back against the headrest. She yanked it forward. “It took about four months for me to convince her it was okay for me to go out and leave her at home alone.”
    “I see,” Mary said again, the temperature in her words dropping well below freezing.
    “’Course, as soon as I get home, she makes me take her for a walk,” Ellis said. “If I don’t, she pees right there on the floor—sometimes right on my shoes.” The matter-of-fact delivery of this observation sent Mary into peals of laughter.
    She caught her breath and asked, “So Sam’s your dog, I take it?”
    “What else? My grandma?”
    If Ellis was joking, it wasn’t evident in the least, and her deadpan reply elicited more chuckles from Mary.
    “I’ll say this for you, Ms. VanStantvoordt, you’re an enigma.”
    “Nope. I’m a Gemini.” With that, Ellis gave in to the effects of the painkiller and dropped off to sleep, her head resting against the passenger window.
    Mary reached for the button to turn on the radio, then decided some quiet time to think might be a better option.
    She made her way through the heavy Saturday afternoon traffic. Worries about Ellis’s foot had kept her from thinking of much else for the past several hours. She rounded the corner off North Druid Hills Road onto Willivee Lane and then made a right onto Wilson Woods Drive in the Laurel Hills subdivision. As the Toyota bounced over a speed bump, Ellis stirred in the passenger seat.
    She reached over and rubbed the back of Mary’s upper arm. More asleep than awake she said, “Sorry I’m so much trouble, Becky. You know I love you best, right?”
    Before Mary could react to the comment, Ellis dropped back under the veil of the Darvocet.
    Mary gave Ellis a skeptical look. First Sam, and now Becky, she thought. She couldn’t wait to see who else was behind this Dutch door.

Chapter 2
    Ellis edged closer to the realm of consciousness. As best she could tell, little green men wearing dirty boots were marching in her mouth. Her right foot felt like it was encased in cement, and she doubted she could lift it an inch, even if she wanted to. The dull, aching agitation in her head was on the verge of causing a spin cycle in her stomach. Worst of all was the eerie feeling that she was being watched—watched very carefully by several pairs of eyes.
    She could tell she was lying on a sofa, but she knew it wasn’t the one in her apartment. Cautiously, she raised her eyelids just enough that she could squint through her lashes. A long-haired gray and white cat lounged on the sofa back. Its tail could double as a plume in d’Artagnan’s cap in a production of The Three Musketeers. The constant fwip-fwip, fwip-fwip of the tail, first on the front side of the sofa and then to the rear, brought to mind a demented conductor waving a fuzzy baton at a silent orchestra playing syncopated tunes. The cat was staring relentlessly at Ellis, and it wasn’t a look of enchantment or welcome.
    Ellis rolled her head slightly to the left. Instantly, a familiar wet nose poked the side of her face. “Hey, Sam,” she whispered through gummy lips. “How’d you get here?” She rubbed the dog’s ears with her left hand and was rewarded with a sloppy slurp as Sam dragged her tongue across her face. “Nice one, Sam.” Ellis used her right hand to swipe some of the dog slobber from her nose and cheek.
    Once Sam knew Ellis was awake, there was no point for Ellis to pretend otherwise. She opened her eyes wide, blinked several times, and looked at the unfamiliar ceiling as she