Read Online Half-Price Homicide by Elaine Viets - Free Book Online Page B

soon.”
    Silence.
    “We didn’t always get along, Mom, but I love you and want you to get well.”
    Helen’s mother didn’t answer.
    Dolores had loved Rob. She saw all of Helen’s faults, and none of Rob’s. Dolores had stayed in touch with her former son-in-law, giving Rob information he used against her own daughter.
    Kathy had supported Helen’s decision to divorce Rob. When Helen was on the run, her sister was the only person who knew how to reach her.
    During her divorce, Helen endured her mother’s harsh lectures.
    When the judge decreed Helen would lose half her home and her future earnings, she fled St. Louis. She called her mother occasionally. When the lectures started, Helen would break off the calls, claiming she couldn’t hear her mother through the cell phone static.
    Dolores pursued her daughter with hateful letters. “You have broken your promise and you will die,” she wrote. Her religious mania grew worse after her unhappy second marriage to Larry. Her parish priest rebuked her for lack of charity.
    As Dolores deteriorated mentally, Tom and Kathy considered placing her in a home. Dolores sneaked away, took a bus to Fort Lauderdale and showed up at Helen’s wedding at the Coronado. Her visit was an unwelcome surprise. Dolores told Helen—and the assembled guests—”I’d rather see you dead than burning in hell for divorcing your husband.” Those were her last words to her daughter.
    Helen used these one-sided conversations with Dolores to ease her pain. She repeated her mother’s arguments, trying to escape the stinging criticism.
    “I know you disapproved of my divorce, Mom,” she said. “You told me a wife had a duty to stay with her husband, no matter how unfaithful he was. But I’m not strong like you. I couldn’t stand living with a lie. I couldn’t forgive Rob.”
    More silence. To Helen, it seemed accusing.
    “You said it was my fault that Rob strayed, Mom, because I didn’t stay home and keep house like a proper wife. But we both had to work. We couldn’t afford to have me stay home.”
    Not if we wanted that cracker-box mansion your son-in-law loved so much, she thought. Helen bit back those bitter words.
    “I wouldn’t have been a good homemaker like you were, Mom. I was happier in an office.”
    She clamped down her lips so the next thoughts would not escape: You stayed home and Daddy cheated on you anyway, and the whole parish knew it. Especially after he had a heart attack in a no-tell motel during an illicit encounter with the head of the altar society.
    “You forgave Dad many times for his failings,” she said. “I hope you can forgive me. I’m sorry our last words together were—”
    Helen was relieved to hear a man clearing his throat. She turned to see Dr. Justin Lucre in the doorway, holding a chart. He was a fit forty, graying at the temples. Helen thought he could be in one of those old commercials that said, “Nine out of ten doctors recommend …”
    Dr. Lucre pulled out a stethoscope and began examining Dolores.
    “How is Mom?” Helen asked. “What were the results of the CT scan?”
    “Not good. Your mother’s brain is bleeding again, Helen. You and your mother’s husband decided that ‘comfort care only’ was the best course. The bleeding is growing. She may go quickly.”
    “Is she hurting?”
    “She’s not in pain,” Dr. Lucre said. “She’ll drift away. It’s good that you visit her, though I doubt if she knows you’re here.”
    “How much time does she have left?” Helen asked.
    “It’s difficult to predict. Maybe a day, maybe two or more.”
    “Is there any chance she’ll come to?” Helen asked.
    “I doubt it. Miracles have happened, but they’re unlikely. That’s why we call them miracles.”
    “Oh,” Helen said. She thought she’d been prepared for this, but the news felt like a blow.
    “You’ve gone out of your way to give her the best care,” Dr. Lucre said. “You’ve been a good daughter.”
    “A good