We sat there for a long moment, me stroking her back, her squeezing my hand.
Dickie thinks we have no power because we are women. But oddly, we have power togetherbecausewe are women.
But just in case something goes wrong, I’m leaving these diaries behind, leaving them hidden.
If all goes well, I’ll come back for them. After we’re divorced, after Dickie is arrested and locked up in prison, away from all women, where he belongs.
But if Dickie succeeds in killing me, I will leave a clue, buried in the past, leading to the truth.
Chapter Seventy-Nine
Kiersten
Dottie’s last words hung in the air after Kiersten stopped reading.
“Is that all?” Piper whispered.
“That’s it. That’s the last entry from the three diaries I found.” Kiersten closed the small black volume and handed it to Piper.
“Could there be more diaries hidden in the encyclopedias?” Piper asked, leafing through the remaining diary pages, all of them blank.
Kiersten shook her head. “I double-checked last night. This is the last one.”
“It’s like watching a show on Netflix and then they cut off your subscription before you can watch the season finale,” Rosamund said.
“Do you think she got away?” Piper asked, sinking down in her chair.
Kiersten chewed on her lower lip. “We need to talk to Lillian next door. She must knowsomething.”
Rosamund nodded. “And we need to find out if Evil Dickie and Pregnant Peggy—”
“You mean Richard and Margaret,” Kiersten interjected.
“Right. We need to find out if Richard and Margaret have a fallout shelter underneath their garage.”
They all looked at each other.
“And if we find one ...” Rosamund began softly.
Piper swallowed. “If we find one, that’s a coincidence we can’t explain away.”
“Let’s take it one step at a time.” Kiersten began to gnaw on her thumbnail. She couldn’t bear the idea of not knowing what had become of Dottie. But she also couldn’t bear the idea of learning that she’d been murdered.
“Unfortunately, I can’t do anything more right now.” Rosamund got up from her chair. “I have to take Guinevere to the orthodontist. Time, tide, and braces wait for no man.”
“And I have to take Travis in for his shots,” Piper said.
“I can take the kids with me to see Lillian,” Kiersten offered.
“No. I’ll take them with me,” Piper volunteered. “We’ll call it career day at the veterinarian. You talk to Lillian and report back, okay?”
“All right.” Kiersten nodded. Clearly she was getting the better end of this deal. She shuddered at the idea of taking seven children and a puppyanywhere, much less to the vet.
“By the way, tomorrow might be rough,” Kiersten warned, unable to keep an ominous undertone from her voice.
“Because?” Rosamund asked expectantly.
“Because Valentina and Reggie are going to a line dancing convention.”
