Kill for Me

“Don’t do that,” she said breathlessly. “I mean it.”

He moved his jaw back and forth. “I’m sorry. You looked sweet. I couldn’t resist.”

“I’m not sweet,” she said darkly, and he laughed.

“At the moment, no.” He sobered. “You were dreaming and I couldn’t wake you up.”

She touched her lips with the tip of her tongue. “So you kissed me.”

“And you woke up. We’re here. This is Angie Delacroix’s address.”

“She’ll be asleep.”

“I hope she wakes up better than you do,” he muttered, and came around to get her door. “Let me talk first. If I need you I’ll let you know.”

“How, with some kind of signal?” she asked.

“How about I just say, ‘Susa

“No. But we’ll do what needs to be done.”

Angie opened the door, curlers piled high on her head. “What’s this? Susa

“I’m sorry to wake you,” Susa

Angie looked from Susa

Luke sat on the sofa without hesitation, then patted the cushion next to him. “I’m Special Agent Papadopoulos,” he said.

“I know who you are,” Angie said. “You’re Daniel Vartanian’s friend.”

“Miss Delacroix,” he said, “we need your help on a delicate matter.”

Angie’s eyes shuttered. “What?”

“Tonight we discovered there is another Vartanian,” Luke said. “A half-sister.”

She sighed. “I was wondering when this would come out. How did you find out?”

“Then you knew?” Susa

“Honey, I know things I got no business knowing and things I wish I’d never heard. Yes, I knew. A body only had to look at her to know, even that young.”

“Where is she, Miss Delacroix?” Luke asked, and Angie looked confused.

“Now? I don’t know. She was just a baby when her parents moved away. We lost touch years ago.”

“Miss Delacroix,” Luke said. “Who was the baby’s mother?”

“Terri Styveson.”

Susa

“I thought Wertz was the pastor,” Luke said.

“Pastor Styveson was here before Pastor Wertz,” Angie said.

“You mean Mrs. Styveson had an affair with my father?”

“I don’t know if it was as big as an affair. Terri really wasn’t your daddy’s type. Your mama was pregnant with Simon and as big as a house. That’s genetic, you know.”

“Thank you,” Susa

“Men have needs. Except, apparently, Pastor Styveson. Terri was one frustrated woman. He was very much into his daily devotional. She once asked me how to make herself more appealing to him. That sure made Sunday services more awkward.”

“I guess it did,” Susa

“Yes.” Angie sighed. “I’ll never forget how hurt your mama was when she found out.”

“So my mother knew. How did she find out?”

“Like I said, you only had to look at the baby. One morning your mama was picking up Simon in the church nursery and she got a good look. That baby was the spittin’ image of Daniel at the same age.”

“What happened?”

Angie was quiet for a moment. “Your mother paid a visit to the pastor. Confronted him. The pastor was… angry. Humiliated. Your mama and I were friends for nearly forty years, but she had a mean streak, Susa

“So they left,” Luke said.

“And as far as I know they never had any contact with your father or mother again.”

She didn’t know about Barbara Jean Davis, Susa

“So the woman’s come forward for the inheritance,” Angie said, and Susa

“Yes,” Luke said without hesitation.

“Greed drives people to do terrible things.” She tilted her head. “So does anger.”

“What does that mean?” Susa

“Just that you might want to submit your own sample for paternity testing.”

Susa

“Fine. When your mother found out about your daddy’s dalliance, she reciprocated.”

Susa

Angie looked down at her hands, twisted together in her lap.

All Susa

Angie looked up, her eyes filled with misery. “Frank Loomis.”

Susa

Angie nodded. “Your father.”

Susa

“You need to understand,” Angie said. “Frank loved your mama, for years.”

“Did Frank know he was Susa

“Not till later. Not till Simon got into more trouble than Arthur could fix. Your mother would plead with Frank, ask him to make the trouble disappear. ‘For me,’ she’d say,” Angie said bitterly. “Then one day Simon did something so bad, Frank couldn’t make it go away. That’s when your mother told him about you. He was so shocked. ‘For me,’ she said. ‘The mama of your baby girl.’ So he fixed it. And had nightmares for thirteen years because an i

“Gary Fulmore,” Luke said, and she nodded. “How do you know all this?” he asked.

Her lips twisted. “Frank wasn’t the only one suffering from unrequited love.”

“You and Frank had a relationship?” Luke asked, and her eyes flashed in pain.

“Twenty-five years we were lovers. He’d come in the night, leave before morning. But he wouldn’t marry me. He wanted Carol Vartanian.”

“You must have hated her,” Susa

Angie shook her head sadly. “No. She was my friend. But I envied her. She had an important husband and the love of a man who sold his soul to make her happy. But it didn’t make her happy. A year after Gary Fulmore went to prison, Simon disappeared and your mother was never quite the same. Neither was Frank. When he learned she was dead… that Simon had killed her. It nearly killed him. I guess in the end it did.”

“Miss Delacroix,” Luke said, “we have one more question. The pastor who left, did he leave any forwarding address? Would there be any way to get in touch with him?”

“Bob Bowie and his wife might know. Rose was always active in the church.” Her eyes narrowed. “Why was this so urgent that you woke me in the middle of the night?”

“Someone shot at Susa

Angie looked surprised. “I thought they shot the French girl, the one who’s going public about… well, you know.”

“Susa

“You think Terri Styveson’s bastard baby would shoot Susa

“People get shot for a lot less, every day.” Luke stood, bringing Susa

Angie’s smile was wan. “I haven’t slept in days. Not since Frank was killed.”

Susa

“I always wondered what went on in your house. I always wondered what went on behind those blank eyes of yours. I was afraid I knew. I should have said something, but… Frank didn’t want me to. It would have embarrassed your mother. When he finally learned the truth, that you were his, it was too late. It was too late, wasn’t it?”