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“The squad is there, ma’am,” the operator says.
And that’s when the professionals arrive with calm determination on their faces and I step out of the way. When they lift the trunk off Tish’s body, my knees collapse, and I drop to the floor.
I close my eyes, and everything is black.
CHAPTER 64
KATE
When I open my eyes, I’m on a bed, white curtains drawn around me. A nurse leans over me.
“Do you know where you are, Mrs.Nelson?” she asks.
A hospital would be my guess.
“You’re at Riverside Hospital. In the emergency room. How are you feeling?”
It’s all so shockingly clear in my mind. Tish’s fall, the angle of her neck. “I need to see my daughter.”
“We’ve called your daughter. Her flight turned around midair somehow. Looks like she’s here now.”
“Mom.” Ashlyn sobs as she runs to my side.
“Honey.” I pull her toward me.
She whispers, “I shouldn’t have left you there.”
“It was a great idea to take your flight as scheduled. I’m so proud of you.” I sit up in the bed, almost like nothing was wrong with me. “Has anyone told you anything about Tish’s condition?”
Ashlyn shakes her head. “No.”
All the time Tish has been in our lives, I’ve been waiting for the next terrible thing to happen. That’s all she has wrought. Horrible things. Sure, John and I had let our marriage take second place to the business.That made it easy for someone like her to sneak into the gap. But at first, I thought that was all she’d take. John. The love of my life. That was enough.
But once she had John, she moved on to taking EventCo. She tried to take my whole life.
The nurse pops her head in. “Do you need anything in here? The doctor should be by shortly.”
“We’re all set.” I smile.
“Maybe she’s dead,” Ashlyn says, and starts crying. I hug her tight. “I was so mad, Mom. I wasn’t thinking straight. I thought she was going to hurt you. I just reacted. It was an accident.”
“I know, I was just as angry.”
Ashlyn’s face is tear-streaked. She’s speaking too fast.
“Take a deep breath. Whatever happened to Tish is her own doing. All of it is.” I wrap my arm around Ashlyn. She’s trembling. “You have done nothing. Do you understand me clearly? The last time you saw her, she admitted to tampering with your car. You could have died. You were not at her house tonight. Got it?”
She starts to cry again, sputtering.
“Calm down. Listen to me. None of this is our fault. She killed your father. She confessed to me.”
“She killed Dad with that drink, right? I saw a pitcher of the same stuff on the kitchen counter tonight when I climbed into my room. She was going to try to kill you, too. I had to stop her.”
“Yes, you’re right. She used cherry pits. I didn’t know they were poisonous and undetectable,” I say.
“Mrs.Nelson?” A nurse approaches, and I wrap my arms around Ashlyn, protecting my daughter, who slumps, sobbing, on the bed.
“Yes,” I answer, because I am. Always will be.
