Read Online Spin a Wicked Web by Cricket McRae - Free Book Online Page A

bandanna out of a bucket
of water near her feet, used it to swab the back of her neck, and then
rubbed her forehead furiously, leaving behind a bright pink patch
of skin.
    "Is there anyone who can stay with you?" I asked, and took a
sip of tea. The stuff was strong enough to strip paint, and so cold
it made my teeth hurt. I rolled the sweating cup across my cheek.
    "I don't want anyone to. I just want to get through this mess."
She sat on a bench and waved to the space beside her. I joined her.
She grew still, looking at me. Really looking at me for the first time
since I'd interrupted her work. "Does Barr know you're here?"
    I shook my head. Well, he didn't, did he?
    "Do you know about the murder investigation?"
    I paused, and her gaze became suspicious. No way to lie here,
and probably no reason to, either. Thank God. I was a horrible
liar.
    "Oh, I know about it," I said. "For one thing, I found Ariel. And,
yes, Barr mentioned something about you being a suspect."
    For a split second she looked triumphant, before it quickly
faded to sadness underscored with a heavy dose of anger.
    "So did Ruth," I added.
    Chris looked at me curiously. "Is that why you're here?"
    "Did you kill Ariel?"
    "No!"
     
    "Okay then. I told you after the funeral that I'd lost my husband. I know how rough it is. But ... can I be frank?"
    "Please. I'm sick and tired of people tiptoeing around me."
    "My husband died of cancer, not in a sudden accident. He
wasn't having an affair. And I wasn't accused of killing his lover. So
in my book, this has got to be even harder on you than it was on
me. I thought you might want someone to talk to. Or cry on. Or
yell at."
    She stared at me, and for a moment I thought I'd gone too far.
Then a smile tugged at her lips.
    "I'm available. That's all," I said.
    "Noted," she said. "I think I'll have some tea after all."
    I poured frigid brown liquid out of her thermos into a plastic
cup and handed it to her.
    "Why do they think you did it?" I asked.
    Barr hadn't told me much, and I was curious. He was no dummy,
after all. Maybe she really had killed the girl. I eyed her bulging
biceps.
    She sighed. "You already know that Scott and Ariel were having
an affair."
    "How did the police find out?"
    "I told them."
    "You knew about it before the accident?"
    "Oh, yes. I knew. He knew I knew. She knew I knew. Everyone
concerned knew. Hell, the cops he worked with probably already
knew before I told them."
"
    I don't think so," I said. "Barr seemed pretty surprised."
    She stood and grabbed the tongs, used them to remove the flat
bar of metal from the forge. It glowed a high, bright yellow that was almost white at the tip. She lifted the hammer. Slam! I jumped
at the burst of sound.
     
    "But he didn't want to stop seeing her. He was going to leave
me." Fury rode her tone. She shifted the angle of the bar on the
anvil. Bang! I jumped again, even though I'd seen it coming.
    A trail of perspiration trickled down my side under my T-shirt,
and I leaned back, away from the heat. No wonder Barr and Robin
thought she had a good motive if she'd acted like this when they'd
talked to her. Naked anger rolled off her in waves.
    "I told them all of that," she said. "I wanted them to know what
kind of man they worked with. I wanted them to know he wasn't
as perfect as they seemed to think he was."
    She clenched her fists around hammer and tongs so hard they
turned white and began shaking. For the first time I felt a trill of
fear, and I shivered in spite of the heat.
    Then her eyes filled with tears. "I didn't even realize why they
were here. I thought it was a condolence call. I handed myself to
them on a platter." She was choking out the words now.
    She put the tools down with studied care, and I jumped up and
led her back to the bench. The sobs that followed sounded like they
were being ripped out of her chest against her will. I took a chance
and left her, running to the back door and into her