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Her face turned bitter.“I loved him and I thought he loved me. Until one day he abandoned us for some stupid bimbo who made his life a living hell. So when he came crawling back to us, I decided my mother had been pushed around enough, and now it was his turn to experience some of the pain he’d caused. I just wish I’d killed him, too. I could have made it look like a murder-suicide but I figured that was too good for him.”

“And what about Camilla? She didn’t deserve to die.”

“Oh, yes, she did. She broke up a good marriage, just so she could advance her career. She was the most horrible woman imaginable. And then when she finally got her big break she dumped my dad like yesterday’s trash. What a bitch.”

“I think you better come with me now. I’ll take you to the police station.”

“You should have seen the look on Camilla’s face when I opened the door. And then when I stabbed her she was so shocked she actually started squealing like a pig!”

“Let’s go,” said Odelia, grabbing Fae’s arm.

But the girl yanked herself free. She smiled sweetly.“I should never have hired you, should I? I thought I was being clever—no one would ever suspect me. Oh, that poor little girl whose daddy is in jail.” The smile suddenly disappeared, and Fae’s eyes turned vicious. “I always wanted to say this. Odelia Poole—you’re fired!” And beforeshe could stop her, she’d given Odelia a hard shove that propelled her backward down the stairs.

Chapter 37

For a moment she was flying through the air, and then she was tumbling, head over heels, the floor racing up to her before she smacked down on it with a painful thunk.

“That’s what you get for messing with me!” Fae yelled from the top of the stairs.

Odelia, who’d miraculously landed without great injury, groaned, and said, “You’ll never get away with this, Fae.”

“Oh, yes, I will. I already told my mom what I did and she’s taking us to a non-extradition country just in case.” She stepped over Odelia, who grabbed her leg.

Fae tried to kick free, but Odelia held on, and managed to drag the young woman down. She was screaming and fighting like a wildcat, but Odelia was bigger and stronger, and pinned her to the ground.

“Get off me, you stupid jerk!”

“Not a chance,” Odelia panted.

“Why couldn’t you break your neck, like that stupid reporter!”

Suddenly, just when she thought she wouldn’t be able to hold onto the squirming woman, the door suddenly flew open and her uncle burst through, followed by Chase and three more cops.

“How did you get here so quick?” asked Odelia, releasing Fae into Chase’s hands.

“We went over to her place to make the arrest,” said Alec. “Her mother told us she’d gone out. We figured she just might have come here to pay you a visit.”

“You’re hurt,” said Chase, crouching down with a look of concern on his face.

“Just a scratch,” she said, then, when she tried to get up, sank back down again. “Ouch.”

“Serves you right!” yelled Fae, but Chase made short shrift of the young woman, and outfitted her with a pair of handcuffs, then handed her over to his colleagues, who read her her rights and escorted her outside.

“Looks like I may have twisted my ankle going down,” said Odelia with a grimace.

“Oh, babe, why does this keep happening to you?”

“Because our Odelia is a born sleuth, that’s why,” said Uncle Alec. “I can’t believe you cracked this case, honey.”

“I had a stroke of luck,” she said modestly.

“More like a stroke of genius,” said Chase. He gently touched her ankle and she winced. “Let’s take you to the hospital,” he suggested.

“Oh, not again,” she said. “I’ll be fine. Just don’t let Fae get away.”

“She’s not going anywhere,” said Alec.

“She’s a nasty piece of work. You know that she actually took great delight in killing Camilla? She was practically glowing when she told me what she’d done. Proud, you know.”

“I could see it in the pictures,” said Alec. “There’s even a video. The woman is some kind of juvenile psychopath.”

“And to think I actually felt sorry for her. Actually thought she was pretty great.”

“She probably is, until you cross her. Then she turns vicious.”

The door swung open again, and Mom burst in, followed by Dad and Gran, and no less than seven cats.

Odelia laughed. The gang was all there.

Max hopped into her arms.“Are you all right?” he asked, his voice husky with worry.

“I’m fine, you guys. Just banged up a little bit.”

Dad knelt down next to her and did a cursory examination.“This is getting old,” he said sternly. “You need to take better care of yourself, young lady. I don’t want to have to keep finding you passed out on the floor of your own home.”

“Dad! You make it sound as if I’m some kind of lush!”

“You do need to be more careful, honey,” said her mother.

“I promise!”

For the sake of her newly arrived audience, she repeated, beat by beat, what had just transpired. They all followed the story with rapt attention, even the kittens.

And when she finished, Mom said,“I should never have called you about that book!”

Dad said, a catch in his voice,“You could have been killed!”