Thankfully, the nurse came in, and Hazel went still. We have a bed for her upstairs, the woman said in a kind, low tone. Are you the sister?
Grrr. Daughter.
Hazel dashed behind Rosie and squatted down, using Rosie as a shield between her and the nurse. Is she going to close the casket? Tell her not to close the casket!
Youre not dead yet, Mom. Youre just here for a little rest.
Are you nuts? This place is a madhouse.
Five minutes later Rosie was sitting across from the admissions clerk, a middle-aged woman with a pinched mouth and piercing eyes, who kept handing her endless stacks of papers to sign so her mother could be admitted.
That lady over there is pointing at you, the woman said, just as Hazel began to shriek again. Is that your sister?
My mom, she said through gritted teeth.
Her mothers screams grew more frantic as an orderly wheeled her toward the bank of elevators at the end of the hall.
I was a virgin and didnt know what the hell was going on, Hazel yelled. Daddy had never had sex before, either. I was a nymphomaniac and screwed everything that came down the walk.
When Hazel suddenly spotted Rosie, her voice grew louder. Rosiedo you know whats wrong with you? Youve been frigid ever since you screwed that motorcycle guy! You need to learn about oral sex!
Mom!
My cats! Charlie and his friends! Ive got to get home!
Ill feed Charlie, Mother.
Hazel struggled to get out of the wheelchair, but the orderly gripped her arm. At the use of force, Hazels voice grew more hysterical.
My daughter killed Dr. Carver! She stabbed him! Because I told her to. And because shes still in love with that motorcycle guy.
Shuddering Rosie covered her eyes with her hands. When she looked up and peered through her fingers, the admissions clerks huge, magnified gaze was devouring her with what seemed to be excessive lurid interest.
Story of her lifebeing publicly humiliated by her family. Reason number one Pierce had dumped her for Anita and her girls, which hed once described as aristocratic little ladies.
Im sorry, Rosie whispered. Theres not a word of truth in anything shes said. Shes totally out of her mind.
Not about Dr. Carver, shes not, the clerk stated in a conspiratorial whisper.
What?
The womans thin brows lifted as she continued to study Rosie as if she were a microbe under a microscope. I heard about his murder when I took my break. Hes dead. Its a real shame, too. He had a lot of talent. We have lots of his patients here. He used to bring us candy all the time. Chocolate truffles. The best. Godiva.
Rosie blew out some air and then fought for her next breath. The blood drained from her face. She almost felt as if she might faint. Piercedead?
Hed been horribly alive last night. Hed been his impossible, arrogant self. He couldnt be dead!
Hed better not be, girlfriend. What if you were the last person to see him alive?
Youyou cant be seriousabout Dr. Carver
He was stabbed in the face. Him, handsome as he was even at fifty. Multiple stab wounds. They say that except for the eyes, you wouldnt know him. His head was practically severed from his body.
Unconscious of the movement, Rose Marie sank her own head lower into her shoulders as if to protect it from being lopped off. Oh, no. No. No.
Crime of passion, the admissions clerk continued. A woman did it, if you ask me.
Why do you say that?
Lowering her voice even further, she said, Dr. Carver had a real reputation with the young nurses around here. Id see him come in here, smiling at the prettiest women. He thought he was Gods gift.
Oh, my GodWhat if I really was the last person to see him aliveI mean, besides the real murderer? My bra and panties!
What if the police found them?
Why did I have to tell everyone last year every vengeful fantasy I had about him, including joking about wanting his head on a platter?
Be careful what you wish for, her daddy used to say before the tragedy, back when shed been a kid and theyd still been pals. Because itll come back and bite you in the butt. Every time, sugarbun.
What was she going to do?
Five
Theres damn sure no page-turner as good as reading about the vicious murder of your ex, is there? Yolie said, fluffing her spiky blond hair.
Yolies big white house was located in a posh, central Austin neighborhood. Todd, her seventeen-year-old son by Pierce, occupied the pool house when he was in town, which wasnt often, since he went to boarding school. Darius, her twenty-five-year-old stepson, Pierces son from Vanessa, his first wife, whod killed herself, stayed in the pool house as well on the rare occasions when he was in Austin. A college dropout, he did a lot of drifting.
The sun beat down on the pool as Rosie swam frantic laps. Yolie avidly read the newspaper in a chaise longue next to the pool house, which the maid was readying because both boys had called and said they would be arriving soon due to their fathers demise.
Yolie looked up from the paper. Hey, can you believe this? It says right here that Michael Nash is the detective in charge of the case. Wasnt he the guy you used to date, the hottie who gave you that ticket last year?
Yolie tossed a section of the newspaper onto the ground and grabbed another.
At the mention of Michael, Rosie felt sick and faint as she emerged dripping from the pool. She toweled off before sinking back onto her own chaise longue. Theres something Ive got to tell you.
You damn sure got your wish. You should be a happy camper.
What?
Pierce getting himself murdered and all. Its what you wanted.
No. How can you say that?
You do remember telling everybody you wanted his head on a platter?
I was joking.
Frankly, I loved the image.
Yolie! Listen to me! I went over there last night. To Pierces! And then Michael Nashwho must have already known about Pierce by thenanswered the call about Alexis.
Slowly, Yolie set the paper down and stared at her.
Pierce called me. Not Jennifer. II let Harry think it was Jennifer.
You went over there? Were you out of your mind?
He owed me money.
That is so lame. Thats not why you went over there, and you know it.
He was alive and furious at me, but he was searching the house for an intruder when I left him.
What time did Nash show up over here?
Rosie froze. II think he already knew. I think thats why he came. He kept asking me if Id seen PierceAnd I lied.
You should talk to a criminal attorney first thing, Yolie said in that maddeningly decisive way of herslike there was no other opinion in the universe.
Despite the intense heat, Rosie shivered. A criminal attorney? She moaned. But I didnt do anything!
But the policethat Michael guyobviously thinks otherwise. You were there last night. Lucky thing Joe Bensons right next door.
Despite the intense heat, Rosie shivered. A criminal attorney? She moaned. But I didnt do anything!
But the policethat Michael guyobviously thinks otherwise. You were there last night. Lucky thing Joe Bensons right next door.
Joe Benson was both a criminal attorney and the stepfather of Jennifer.
Rosie flung the last of the articles about Pierce shed devoured earlier onto the litter of newspapers that lay between her chaise longue and Yolies. At least thered been no mention of a bra or panties being found at the scene.
Guilt struck her. She should be with her mother, not lying out by the pool under the leafy shade of the towering pecan trees, consumed with fear for herself.
How could all this be happening at once? Pierce calling her? Going over there and stupidly quarreling with him when she should have just walked out? His getting himself stabbed? Michael being involved? Not to mention Hazels having another breakdown?
Oh, God! This meant Michael would be back in her life big time. What if he found out about Carmen, too?
Rosies nerves began to jump. Her inner thermostat went haywire. Suddenly she felt as if she was freezing.
So, tell me, why do I need to see Joe?
For advice, sweetie. Just for advice.
Which will cost a bundle.
Youd rather have free room and board in prison?
Rosies chest went tight. I really should go check on Hazel.
Forget Hazel. Shes got round-the-clock doctors and nurses.
They are not her daughter. She wants me. Only me.
You were the last person to see your murdered exboyfriend alive!
Except for whoever really killed him.
What exactly happened at Pierces?
Rosie hissed in a deep breath. Okay, like I told you, he called about eleven.
And you just had to run over there.
When I saw his name in the Caller ID window of my cell, I popped the rubber band on my wrist three times. I swear I tried not to answer. But Ticia Morgan had already told me Anita had left Pierce, and maybe I wanted to gloat a little.
Yolie nodded almost wearily. Ticia? Johns child bride?
John Morgan was Pierces new plastic surgery partner.
Yes. So, Ticia called yesterday to tell me that Anita had phoned her. Apparently, Anita was telling anybody who would listen that Pierce was an obsessive-compulsive, alcoholic monster.
Tell me something I dont know.
Anita kept screaming that hed threatened to send her daughters back to Guatemala because they wouldnt follow all his nit-picky rules.
What did they dowear their shoes in the house?
Yes, and they wanted credit cards, cell phones, drivers ed lessons, television sets, and cars, too.
Hello? Why did he think they married him? Still, you should never have talked to Ticia. Or Pierce.
I know.
So, what did he want?
He wished me a happy birthday. He said he couldnt stop thinking about me. He said Anita was a mistake and that he wanted me back.
He wanted you back? After you sent him that painting where you made his Mr. Willie look like a shriveled peanut, and his entire staff laughed when he opened it? He wanted you back? And you bought it?
Well, not at first, but he was totally sober.
You could tell that over the phone?
He said he wanted a new warehouse key. And I said hed have to pay the rent. He said he would pay it.
This from the man who wont pay for his wifes kids? And you went over there?
Rosie nodded miserably.
And?
We drank some champagne.
Not good. How much?
He kept my flute full while he gave me a tour of the house, so I didnt really count.
Did he touch you? Did anybody take anything off?
Rosie flushed as she remembered their first kiss on the stairway beneath the chandelier. Theyd still been dressed then. Even though their mouths and bodies had fit just like always, something had felt wrong to her. Shed kissed him harder, searching for what shed once thought shed had with him, but the soul-deep wrongness had persisted.
So why had she ended up naked in his upstairs guest bedroom? If it hadnt been for her hearing that noise in the master bedroom and getting spooked, no telling what might have happened.
Pierce refused to pay the rent, so I left.
Thats it? You were there an hour. No funny stuff?
Rosie remembered quarreling with Pierce when shed heard that sound in the next bedroom. Shed accused him of inviting her over to make Anita jealous. Hed sworn they were alone. Then shed heard another sound and had grabbed her clothes and had made him go check the rest of the house. Rosie had left too fast to locate her underwear.
Rosie rubbed the back of her neck where the muscles had begun to tighten. Then she drew a deep breath.
Okay. I get it. There was some funny stuff.
I didnt go to bed with him!
Since hes dead, I think youd better get your story straight before you say something really stupid to Nash. Make an appointment with Joe. Besides being my next-door neighbor, hes an old, old friend of mine.
Translation: a favorite lover.
You remember, he came to the Christmas block party.
And got soused on the bourbon-laced eggnog and left a bruise the size of an apple on my left butt cheek when he pinched me.
Just dont talk to the police without him being there. He knows his stuff.
The police? Rosie squeaked. You really think theyllthat Michael will thinkthat I
I think its wise to consider worst-case scenario.
Rosie swallowed. No sooner had Yolie said that than the image of her own slender neck on a chopping block sprang up in her mind.
A high-profile murder like this? The cops have got to pin this on somebody, sweetie-pie. Who better than the girl who tried to mow him down with her Beamer? Dont you think its odd that he died on the night you say he wanted you back?
Okay, he got me naked. A shiver of remorse traced through Rose Marie. I got cold feet, though. We had a fight. When I left, II couldnt find my bra and panties.
So, theyre at Pierces?
They stared at each other. Or the police have them was the thought that ran through their minds.
Rosie lay back down on the chaise longue and stared up at bright spots of blue through the trees. I never thought people we actually knowrespectable peoplegot themselves murdered. Handsome, wealthy plastic surgeons, not even jerks like Pierce, dont get hacked to death by some knife-wielding maniac.
Too bad for Pierce the murderer didnt read your little rule book.
This whole thing is making me sick. Rosie shivered. At the same time, the more stories she read about his glamorous ex-wives, including Yolie, the more she began to feel ignored, invisible. It was a feeling shed experienced growing up poor in East Austin. She hated it.
I was his fiancée. But do I merit so much as a footnote?