1 Bless Her Dead Little Heart

by Miranda James

  Antonio seized her hands and held them. “Calm yourself, cara. Now that I have returned, you will be safe. I will not let anyone harm you.” He pulled a now-willing Rosabelle into his arms, and she rested her head on his shoulder. “Signorina An’gel tells me that a capable person is investigating and will soon know who did this terrible thing.”

  “So An’gel says,” Rosabelle said as she lifted her head. “I have my doubts. But An’gel knows the woman, and An’gel is shrewd, if nothing else. You must stay by my side, Antonio. Now that you are here, I will be able to rest.” She sighed. “I know I look haggard and careworn because I have lost so much sleep.”

  Rosabelle was even more shameless than Dickce remembered. Men could be such fools at times.

  “You are as lovely as ever, cara mia,” Antonio said. He kissed her cheek. “Do not tell me such silly things.”

  His mouth moved to hers, and Dickce looked away. Eavesdropping was one thing, but she drew the line at watching them necking.

  After a moment, the embrace evidently ended. Rosabelle laughed in a way that Dickce figured was intended to be seductive. “Tell me more about your business with the lawyers. Did you talk to them about everything you promised me?”

  Dickce peeked into the room again. Rosabelle had a stern expression, and Antonio was looking away from her.

  “Yes, cara, I did talk to them, but it is not so easy, you understand, to change the will. I must think of Benedetto. He is my son.”

  “So you say.” Rosabelle tossed her head.

  A voice whispered somewhere near Dickce’s ear. “What are you doing?”

  Startled, Dickce drew back from the doorway to see An’gel, hands on hips, glaring at her. Dickce motioned for An’gel to follow her as she moved across the hall to stand in front of the library door. She could hear the murmur from the television set through the partially open door. She pulled it gently shut. No need to disturb Wade and Junior.

  “What do you think I was doing?” she said crossly. “I was spying on Rosabelle and Antonio. You picked a fine time to interrupt me. They were talking about Antonio’s will.”

  “I don’t care what they were talking about, Dickce. Your behavior is outrageous,” An’gel said. “What if they had caught you? Think how embarrassing that would be.”

  “Rosabelle loves an audience, you know that.” Dickce snickered. “It was quite a performance, let me tell you.” She did feel a tad guilty over her violation of the rules of hospitality, but she wasn’t about to admit it to her sister.

  “What goes on between Rosabelle and her husband is no business of ours,” An’gel said.

  “Even if it’s pertinent to these attempts on Rosabelle’s life?”

  An’gel stared at her for a moment, and Dickce could tell she had hooked her fish. “Pertinent how?” An’gel said.

  “If I understood everything correctly,” Dickce said, “Rosabelle evidently gave Antonio a lot of money. His affairs were in a mess, and he had to have the lawyers in Italy get it all sorted out, which they did. He now has control of his inheritance, as he called it. A palazzo in Venice, a factory in Milan, buildings in Rome, and a country estate. I think he might even have tried to change his will to include Rosabelle—but that’s where you interrupted me.”

  “I don’t see how it’s all that pertinent,” An’gel said after a few moments’ thought. “Let’s say that Antonio is worth millions, and he includes Rosabelle in his will. He would have to die before her for her to inherit any of it. So why would someone try to kill her before she had a chance to inherit from him? Seems to me he would be the first target.”

  “You saw how Wade and Maudine reacted to him,” Dickce said. “They apparently think he’s a gold digger with no money of his own. Once they find out he really is rich, they will feel differently, you can bet on that.”

  “I wonder if Antonio is in Rosabelle’s will,” An’gel said. “Oh, what’s the use of all this speculation? I don’t think any of this is helpful.”

  “There’s a bit more that you haven’t heard yet,” Dickce said. “I’m not sure if it’s relevant, but you might as well hear it anyway.” She gave her sister a summary of the phone conversation she had overheard.

  “You’re sure about the gender of the person on the other end?” An’gel asked.

  “He was talking fast,” Dickce said, “but I’m sure I heard it correctly.”

  “He was talking to his son, surely,” An’gel said. “But the part about a divorce is certainly interesting. What do you want to bet he latched on to Rosabelle and her money so he could afford to pay the lawyers in Italy to get his inheritance back? Now that he has, he may be planning to divorce her.”

  Dickce shrugged. “That’s what it sounds like to me.”

  “He’s slick, I’ll give him that.” An’gel sniffed. “He didn’t fool me for a minute, though.”

  “No, of course not,” Dickce said, trying hard not to laugh. They had both been charmed by the man at first, no matter what An’gel was claiming now.

  Footsteps on marble sounded above them, and Dickce looked up to see Juanita descending the stairs, plates in hand. Dickce started forward to meet her.

  “Let me take those,” she said when Juanita reached the bottom.

  “I don’t mind taking them to the kitchen,” Juanita said. “I’m going that way anyway. I thought I might have a bit more lunch.”

  “Please help yourself,” An’gel said. “Thank you for taking care of all that.”

  Juanita smiled as she headed down the hall toward the kitchen.

  “I think they’ve had enough time alone,” An’gel said. “Come on, let’s go talk to the happy couple.”

  Dickce wondered what her sister had in mind. She shrugged and followed An’gel.

  They met Rosabelle and Antonio, arm in arm, coming out of the parlor. “There you are,” Rosabelle said with a slight smile. “I was just coming to find you. Would you be a dear and tell everyone that Antonio and I have news we would like to share with them?”

  Without waiting for a response, she turned and walked back into the parlor, taking Antonio with her.

  CHAPTER 26

  An’gel stared after Rosabelle. “The nerve of that woman.”

  “You mean the Contessa di San Lorenzo?” Dickce laughed. “She’ll be worse than ever now. I’ll pass the message to Wade and Junior”—she nodded toward the library—“and you can tell Juanita. Let her go upstairs and spread the news there.”

  “Good idea,” An’gel said. She wasn’t about to traipse up and down the stairs at some whim of Rosabelle’s.

  She found Juanita in the kitchen chatting with Clementine while the housekeeper supervised her granddaughter and Benjy. Antoinette was snapping green beans, and Benjy was peeling potatoes. They sat at opposite ends of the kitchen table, and Diesel went back and forth between them, chirping and tapping their legs with his paws. An’gel was glad to see that apparently neither one of them was giving in to his pleas for a taste of their efforts. She was sure he had already gained at least a pound from all the tidbits she and Dickce had given him over and above his regular diet. Charlie would probably fuss at them when he returned to find his large cat even larger.

  “Juanita, sorry to bother you,” An’gel said, “but your grandmother would like to see all of you in the parlor. Would you mind letting your mother and your aunt know?”

  “Sure,” Juanita said. “Did Grandmother say what this is all about?”

  “No,” An’gel replied. “She is with her husband, however.”

  Juanita looked thoughtful. “I wonder if they’ve made up.” She laughed. “With my grandmother, you never can tell. I’ll go fetch Mother and Aunt Maudine.” She turned to Clementine. “Thank you for your advice on stains. Lipstick is such a pain to get out.”

  “You’re surely welcome,” Clementine said.

  Benjy brought his bo
wl of peeled potatoes to the housekeeper. “Are you sure that will be enough? I don’t mind peeling more.”

  Clementine took the bowl and set it in the sink. “No, honey, that’s plenty. Thank you for your kind assistance.”

  “Glad to help.” Benjy turned to An’gel. “Do you think she means for me to come? To the parlor, I mean, since I’m not really family.”

  An’gel frowned. “I’m not sure. Since I don’t know what she plans to say, I have no idea whether it will affect you at all. You might as well be there, though.”

  “Okay, then,” Benjy said. “I need to talk to Miss Dickce about something anyway.”

  An’gel wondered what that could be but she didn’t pry. Her sister seemed to have established a rapport with the boy, and she saw no need to interfere. At least, not yet. She hoped Dickce wouldn’t get too attached to him, because he would be on his way back to California soon. Along with the rest of them, An’gel hoped. She couldn’t wait for the house to be empty of guests.

  Benjy left for the parlor, and An’gel checked with Clementine to be sure that preparations for the evening meal were well in hand.

  “Stop worrying,” Clementine told her. “We’re doing fine in here. You go on back to your guests.”

  An’gel would far rather have stayed in the kitchen, but duty called. Rosabelle hadn’t said she and Dickce weren’t included, so she might as well go herself. She and Dickce had a right to know what was going on in their own house.

  When An’gel walked into the parlor, she saw that everyone was present, including her sister. Rosabelle and Antonio stood before the fireplace, with children and grandchildren occupying the sofas. Dickce and Benjy had claimed two of the nearby chairs, and An’gel took the third.

  Rosabelle moved closer to Antonio and slipped her right hand into the crook of his arm. They smiled at each other.

  “I have the most wonderful news to share with you,” Rosabelle said. “My darling Antonio and I have reconciled.”

  “Carissima,” Antonio murmured, his eyes fixed on his wife’s face. “This is the happiest of days.”

  An’gel was surprised that neither Maudine nor Wade spoke up after this overly sweet display, given the loathing they had evinced toward Antonio. She wondered what kept them silent.

  “Yes, it is, my darling,” Rosabelle cooed back at him. She faced her family again. “With my generous financial support, Antonio has been in Italy, working with his lawyers to regain control of his inheritance and his business interests. I am so pleased to hear that he has been successful.”

  “I don’t believe it,” Maudine said.

  “You mean he really does have money after all?” Wade sounded bemused.

  “He certainly does, oodles and oodles,” Rosabelle said. “You can no longer insult me or my husband with your vulgar displays. I cannot believe the word gigolo ever passed your lips.”

  “As I recall, you didn’t believe him yourself,” Maudine said. “In fact, you told us you were going to divorce him right after he left you. To go to Italy, apparently.”

  An’gel thought Maudine still sounded highly skeptical. An’gel had to admit that she was a bit skeptical herself, though she had no sound reason for doubting Antonio’s claims to wealth.

  “Is that it then? That’s the big announcement? That Antonio is loaded after all?” Wade leaned forward. “If that’s the case, then you can turn loose some of the money from my father’s estate that should be coming to me. Right now I don’t even have enough money to bury my wife properly.”

  “Yes,” Maudine said. “Surely you can afford to be generous now, Mother.”

  “I have been far too generous already.” Rosabelle tossed her head. “You’ve been living in my house, at my expense, for several years now. You could have gone out and gotten a job at any time if you weren’t happy with your allowance under the terms of your fathers’ wills. Nothing was stopping you.” She paused to sneer. “Nothing except bone idleness.”

  “Rosabella, my dear, do not allow them to tarnish our happiness in this way,” Antonio said in a soothing tone. “You must not upset yourself.”

  “You are right, darling Antonio,” Rosabelle said. “You will all soon have the house to yourselves anyway. You can do what you like. I am moving to Italy to live there with my husband. We plan to leave as soon as all the arrangements can be made.”

  “Are you out of your freakin’ mind?” Wade jumped up from the sofa. “You can’t do that.”

  An’gel was puzzled. Why would it matter to her children if Rosabelle wanted to live in Italy? From what Rosabelle had told her, the house would belong to Wade eventually, so surely they would all be able to stay in it, even if Rosabelle didn’t live there.

  “We can’t afford the taxes and the upkeep on that house without you living there,” Wade said. “You know perfectly well our incomes from the trusts aren’t large enough.”

  “That’s all your father’s fault,” Maudine said, pointing a finger at her half brother. “It was his stupid will that created this mess. He should have tied part of the trust income to the house itself.”

  An’gel figured out the situation. Rosabelle had been paying the taxes, upkeep, and general expenses for the house out of her income from the trust set up by her second husband, Wade’s father. If Rosabelle wasn’t living in the house, she no longer had to spend her income that way. It wasn’t tied to her residence in the house.

  Now she could understand why Wade and Maudine were so upset. When Rosabelle went to live in Italy, her income went with her. Wade and his half sisters would have to pay for everything themselves. An’gel had no idea as to the extent of their incomes from their trusts, but surely if they combined their money, they could afford to stay in the house.

  Rosabelle was well within her rights to move to Italy with her husband. An’gel frankly had little sympathy for her children, because it sounded like they had been sponging off their mother for years.

  “Don’t blame Wade’s father for this,” Rosabelle said, eyes flashing. “It’s not his fault that Wade throws away money at the racetrack like he was printing it in the basement. I’ve bailed him out for the last time. Maudine, you can sell that ridiculous collection of yours. Goodness knows you’ve spent an untold fortune on those stupid Barbie dolls. I get the creeps every time I go in your room. A woman your age still playing with dolls. It’s obscene.” She paused for a quick breath. “Bernice is the only one of you who has any sense where money is concerned. She at least managed to put her daughter through nursing school. I was the one who paid for your son to go to college, and it only took him seven years.”

  Rosabelle was panting by the time she finished her tirade. Her family appeared thoroughly cowed now, An’gel thought. Good for Rosabelle. It was way past time they all grew up and took responsibility for themselves. She realized Rosabelle herself had been at fault for letting them mooch off her for so long, but that was no excuse for their collective lack of backbone.

  “Come, my darling,” Antonio said, his expression the epitome of loving concern. “Let us retire so that you may rest. We have much to discuss in private, do we not?” He patted the hand still tucked in the crook of his arm.

  Rosabelle nodded. Juanita got up from the sofa and approached her grandmother. “I think it’s wonderful. I’m sure you’ll love Italy. Will you allow me to visit once you’re settled?”

  “Of course,” Rosabelle said. “But you’ll have to buy the plane ticket yourself.”

  “Naturally, Grandmother, I wouldn’t expect you to pay for it,” Juanita said.

  “Come along, Antonio,” Rosabelle said, turning away from her granddaughter. “I would like to go to my room.”

  Her family remained silent until she left. Then a heated discussion broke out with talk of lawyers and injunctions and insanity hearings. Wade and Maudine talked over each other with their ideas, while Junior and Juanita sat and listene
d. Bernice wrung her hands and rocked back and forth.

  An’gel motioned for Dickce and Benjy to follow her out of the room. In the hall she turned to them and said, “We might as well leave them to it. I have no desire to hear all of that nonsense.”

  “Me either,” Benjy said. “They’re disgusting, worse than a pack of hyenas.”

  An’gel couldn’t help but notice that he looked miserable. Dickce must have noticed, too, because she put her arm around the boy. “Come along with me,” Dickce said. “Let’s go to the kitchen and get something to drink. I don’t know about you, but I could use some caffeine right about now.”

  Benjy went willingly with Dickce. An’gel remained where she was and watched them until they disappeared into the kitchen. She wanted to talk to Dickce about the appalling idea that had occurred to her, but now obviously wasn’t the time. Her sister was more concerned with Benjy.

  An’gel walked into the library and sat at the desk. She pulled the phone over and punched in the number for the sheriff’s department. Kanesha needed to know about this right away. For one thing, An’gel was sure the chief deputy wouldn’t allow Rosabelle to swan off to Italy with her husband until the investigation was complete.

  Far more worrisome was the realization that Rosabelle had now upped the ante for her own murder.

  CHAPTER 27

  Dickce suggested that they take their ice-cold cans of soda to the garage apartment, and Benjy agreed. She had watched him during Rosabelle’s big announcement and its aftermath, and she could tell that he was worried. She suspected she knew the reason for some of his concerns, and she had an idea about how to resolve them. She hadn’t consulted An’gel yet, but she didn’t think her sister would have serious objections. Besides, Benjy might not like her idea at all.

  She waited until they were upstairs and seated before she said, “I have good news about our two four-legged friends that will make you feel better.”