Page 81 of The Sleeping Girls
Whispers and stares circulated through the café as the table of gossipmongers watched the local news on the TV above the breakfast bar. Her interview with Angelica reporting Kelsey’s death and her request for information on Darnell replayed, the photo of Darnell flashing.
“Looks like you got out of the hospital okay,” Lola said, her tone sarcastic.
Ellie ignored her sarcasm. “Yes, I’m better.”
Lola handed Ellie her to-go order. “Hope you find those girls soon. The town’s in a panic again. There’s gossip that the high school is postponing Homecoming.”
“Trust me, Lola, barring the girls’ parents, no one wants those teens found more than I do.”
“Trust you?” Lola made a derisive sound, then rolled her eyes and moved on to another customer.
Ellie ignored the jab, and she and Derrick passed the table of gossipmongers as they headed back to the door. Meddlin’ Maude, the queen of the rumor mill, gave her a hateful look, her voice intentionally loud enough for Ellie to hear her conversation with Carol Sue, the local hairdresser at the Beauty Barn.
“Those girls were tramps,” Maude hissed. “Posting pictures of themselves half-naked on the internet. They were asking for it.”
“You know the one named Ruby, well her mama’s nothing but a common drunk and whore,” Carol Sue said. “Like mother, like daughter.”
Maude fanned her face with her napkin. “I heard they made a bet to see who could sleep with the most boys before Christmas.”
Ellie halted, rage searing a path from her throat to her stomach. “You nasty, clucking hens,” Ellie spat. “You haveno idea what you’re talking about. Those girls are exemplary, hardworking honor students and are talented and dedicated. Kelsey was working toward a music scholarship.” She leaned toward Maude, almost touching noses as she stared into her beady little eyes. Eyes that always seemed to see the bad in people.
“I know you hate me for your granddaughter’s death, Maude, and that’s fine, but Kelsey’s family deserves respect and our prayers right now, and so does Ruby and her mother.” She cut a look toward Carol Sue. “They did not post those pictures. They were victimized.” She straightened, her contempt almost rivaling what she felt for the killers she hunted. “Now shut your traps and stop spreading lies.”
Both women gasped in shock.
“Well, I never,” Maude mumbled.
“Oh, my word,” Carol Sue gasped.
Derrick nudged Ellie’s elbow. “Come on, Ellie. They’re not worth it.”
Ellie lifted her chin with a nod. “No, they’re not.”
Heated gazes scalded her back as she turned and strode to the door. Although, as she passed old Miss Eula Ann, the little old woman rumored to talk to the dead, she saw a smile twitch at her lips.
When they stepped outside, Derrick raised his hands and clapped. “I’m glad someone finally told off that old biddy.”
The women’s words taunted Ellie as she looked up at the gray sky. There was truth in what they’d said. She had let Kelsey and Ruby down.
And with another day dawning, would their killer take another?
NINETY
SUNNY GARDENS CEMETERY
His head throbbed like a mother.
Last night he’d driven by Bianca’s house and realized she was a rich girl and her family had a security gate and security system so there was no way he could take her from her house.
After that he’d spent two hours trying to devise a plan to get her alone without drawing suspicion.
So far he’d remained under the radar and that had to be maintained.
Before he went to work, he drove to the cemetery to see Anna Marie. He wanted to visit her daily but couldn’t chance anyone seeing him at the grave. Usually he came at night, but this morning he had the desperate urge to talk to her.
As he wound along the narrow drive, a ribbon of sunlight streaked the headstones as if to say God was watching over them. He passed a tent where gravediggers were working to prepare for a funeral and in the distance saw an older woman hobbling along carrying flowers for whoever she’d come to see.
He glanced at the fresh flowers on the passenger seat, flowers he’d plucked from his own yard. Anna Marie had loved sunflowers so he’d planted them in her honor.