River's End Read Free Page B

told us,” David began. “There wasn’t any forced entry. She let him in. She was, ah, dressed for bed, but hadn’t been to bed. It looked as though she’d been in the living room working on clippings. You know how she liked to send your folks clippings.”
    He rubbed both hands over his face, then picked up his coffee. “They must have argued. There were signs of a fight. He used the scissors on her.” Horror bloomed in his eyes. “Jamie, he must have lost his mind.”
    His gaze came to hers, held. When he reached for her hand, she curled her fingers around his tightly. “Did he—was it quick?”
    “I don’t—I’ve never seen—he went wild.” He closed his eyes a moment. She would hear, in any case. There would be leaks, there would be media full of truth and lies. “Jamie, she was . . . he stabbed her repeatedly, and slashed her throat.”
    The color drained from her face, but her hand stayed firm in his. “She fought back. She must have fought him. Hurt him.”
    “I don’t know. They have to do an autopsy. We’ll know more after that. They think Olivia saw some of it, saw something, then hid from him.” He drank coffee in the faint hope it would settle his jittery stomach. “They want to talk to her.”
    “She can’t be put through that.” This time she jerked back, yanking her hand free. “She’s a baby, David. I won’t have them put her through that. They know he did it,” she said with a fierce and vicious bitterness. “I won’t have my sister’s child questioned by the police.”
    David let out a long breath. “He’s claiming he found Julie that way. That he came in and found her already dead.”
    “Liar.” Her eyes fired, and color flooded back into her face, harsh and passionate. “Murdering bastard. I want him dead. I want to kill him myself. He made her life a misery this past year, and now he’s killed her. Burning in hell isn’t enough.”
    She whirled away, wanting to pound something, tear something to pieces. Then stopped short when she saw Olivia staring at her from the doorway with wide eyes.
    “Livvy.”
    “Where’s Mama?” Her bottom lip trembled. “I want my mama.”
    “Livvy.” As temper drained into grief, and grief into helplessness, Jamie bent down and picked her up.
    “The monster came and hurt Mama. Is she all right now?”
    Over the child’s head, Jamie’s desperate eyes met her husband’s. He held out a hand, and she walked over so the three of them stood wrapped together.
    “Your mother had to go away, Livvy.” Jamie closed her eyes as she pressed a kiss to Olivia’s head. “She didn’t want to, but she had to.”
    “Is she coming back soon?”
    There was a ripple in Jamie’s chest, like a wave breaking on rock. “No, honey. She’s not coming back.”
    “She always comes back.”
    “This time she can’t. She had to go to heaven and be an angel.”
    Olivia knuckled her eyes. “Like a movie?”
    As her legs began to tremble, Jamie sat, cradling her sister’s child. “No, baby, not like a movie this time.”
    “The monster hurt her and I ran away. So she won’t come back. She’s mad at me.”
    “No, no, Livvy.” Praying for wisdom, Jamie eased back, cupped Olivia’s face in her hands. “She wanted you to run away. She wanted you to be a smart girl, and run away and hide. To be safe. That was what she wanted most of all. If you hadn’t, she’d have been very sad.”
    “Then she’ll come back tomorrow.” Tomorrow was a concept she knew only as later, another time, soon.
    “Livvy.” With a nod to his wife, David slid the child onto his lap, relieved when she laid her head against his chest and sighed. “She can’t come back, but she’ll be watching you from up in heaven.”
    “I don’t want her to be in heaven.” She began to cry now, soft, sniffling sobs. “I want to go home and see Mama.”
    When Jamie reached for her, David shook his head. “Let her cry it out,” he murmured.
    Jamie pressed her lips together,