The Way of the Wicked (Hope Street Church Mysteries Book 2) Read Free Page A

sourly, reflecting that while the Lees hadn’t had the means to spoil their younger child, Ashley had managed to charm people into buying her sweets and trinkets from the time she could talk. At school, she’d always been the prettiest, most popular girl in the class. With each report card that came home, Cooper waited for her chance to finally outshine her sister, but it had never happened.
    After high school, Ashley’s partial scholarship to Hollins University allowed her to cross paths with her future husband, Lincoln Love, at a polo match attended by central Virginia’s most affluent and influential families. A sycophantic sorority sister who also happened to be a congressman’s daughter had invited Ashley. The poor girl had hoped that by bringing Ashley along, the young men who couldn’t get near Ashley would settle for flirting with her. Ashley was in her element and had no difficulty juggling a dozen coquettish conversations until Lincoln rode up on his sleek gray mare. The horse cleared a path through other would-be suitors and Lincoln offered the lovely co-ed a glass of champagne from a bottle tucked in his saddlebag.
    “It was love at first sight!” Ashley always said. “He even had a crystal glass in that bag.”
    Now Ashley was happily established in a mansion off the elite River Road corridor. From the outside, it seemed like Ashley’s life was nearly perfect. A baby would be the jewel in the crown of an already charmed existence.
    “I wonder if I’ll get really fat when I’m pregnant,” Ashley mused, breaking Cooper out of her envious trance.
    For a moment, Cooper allowed herself to picture Ashley at three times her normal weight, wearing sweatpants with an elastic waist and a pullover top that strained across her bulbous bosom and belly. “I doubt you’ll get fat,” she said guiltily. “You work out five days a week.”
    “You’re right!” Ashley declared. “I won’t let my body control the situation. I’ll enroll in prenatal yoga and follow a strict pregnancy diet.” She rubbed her hands together. “When’s your Bible study group getting together again? You didn’t meet all summer, right?”
    “We start again this Sunday and I haven’t finished the homework yet.” Cooper had bought the workbook called Joseph: Amazing Dreamer at the LifeWay Christian bookstore the day after she had received Savannah’s letter in the mailbox announcing the topic of their next study. The following weekend, after spending the morning weeding the vegetable garden, Cooper had immediately settled onto the couch with her workbook and Bible and had completed all of the blanks in the reading with the exception of a single question, which she put off answering day after day.
    Still, Cooper had missed the members of the Sunrise Bible Study during the summer and couldn’t wait to resume their meetings. She vowed to fill in that one blank before she saw her friends again on Sunday.
    Checking her watch, she quickly eased her sticky toes into a pair of flip-flops. “I need to get back to work.”
    “Don’t put your work boots on until the last second and don’t worry about paying, this is my treat.” Ashley patted her purse. “Go on now,” she teased. “You don’t want to keep those copiers waiting. I can practically feel the toner running low somewhere in the city.”
    Cooper could hear her sister’s snigger all the way to the parking lot.
    “Now she’ll add a baby to all her other blessings? And me? I live with my folks, am thousands of dollars in debt, and still want a cigarette months after quitting. It’s just not fair!” she complained to the heavens.
    Eyeing the clock, Cooper realized that her lunch hour was nearly over. She drove back to work, accelerating through two yellow lights—one of which switched to red just as she passed beneath it. Spying a police car in the opposite lane, Cooper’s heart lurched into her throat, but the officer was looking out his passenger window and didn’t