Page 101 of The Night the Lights Went Out
“Actually, it should do the opposite—make you look more like you’re willing to talk with the police, and it will look good to the judge setting your bail. I’ll be with you the entire time. They’re not allowed to talk to you without me.”
She glanced back at Sugar, remembering what she’d said about being scared. “All right,” she said, her voice sounding like it belonged to someone else.
“You’re at home?” Cynthia asked again, as if Merilee might have already started running.
“Yes. I’m here.”
“Okay. Stay put. I’ll be there in about twenty minutes—maybe a little more with this weather.”
Merilee clicked the “end” button without saying good-bye, noticing the binoculars hung around her neck. She touched them, hoping she could feel the magic powers Colin was convinced they had, but felt only cold, damp metal instead.
She wasn’t scared. She was petrified. Petrified of being sent to jail and never seeing her children again.Remember that feeling, because you’re going to need it.
She turned around to find Sugar watching her closely. “Are you all right?”
She shook her head slowly. “My attorney is on her way to take me to the police station to turn myself in.”
Sugar raised what was left of her eyebrows. “And is that what you’re going to do?”
Merilee met Sugar’s gaze, feeling the weight of the binoculars around her neck. “I don’t know. I’m pretty much out of options, but before I go anywhere I need to talk with Heather first. I’m going to ask her point-blank why she killed Dan. And why she’s trying to pin it on me. I don’t really expect her to answer, but I’ve got to try.”
“Will you be armed?”
“Of course not. I have no idea how to use a gun anyway.”
“That’s a shame. Because I have a .380 that’s small and easy to shoot and pretty accurate if you’re not too far away.”
Merilee would have laughed if Sugar hadn’t looked so serious. And if Merilee thought she could remember how. “I know this is a bad idea, but please don’t try to stop me. I can’t really see that I have anything left to lose.”
Sugar frowned. “Does your attorney know you’re doing this?”
“No, and I’m pretty sure she wouldn’t approve.”
“Probably not,” Sugar said. “And I agree that this is probably a bad idea, but at least you’re doing something. Too many people sit around with an open mouth waiting for a roasted chicken to fly in. I never thought you were one of those people.”
Merilee frowned, then headed inside to grab her purse and her raincoat, carefully placing Lily’s pen on her nightstand before returning to Sugar. “I could drive you home if you’d like. It’s raining pretty hard.”
As if to punctuate her words, a loud rumble of thunder shook the sky.
“I’ll stay here and listen to Bob Van Dillen as I clean up the breakfast dishes and wait for your attorney to tell her where you’ve gone. How long do you want me to delay her? Just don’t make it too long in case Heather does something else.”
Merilee gave her a grudging smile. “As long as you can. I’ve got a lot to say to Heather. And please don’t worry. She’s got staff, and I doubt she’ll do anything to me where there are witnesses.”
• • •
The guard at the gate of Heather’s neighborhood smiled in vague recognition, realizing he should know her yet too embarrassed to ask her for her name, and let her through with a wave. Merilee had prepared for several scenarios to get her through the gate, including begging, so she was pleasantly surprised it had been that easy.
She remembered the first time she’d driven to the Blackfords’ house in the rain, the night she’d thought the meeting was there and not at the clubhouse. Dan had been there, and she’d seen his aloneness and, in retrospect, she realized, his unhappiness. She wished she could go back in time and tell him to leave then. To pack up and go somewhere, anywhere away from Heather. Maybe then he’d still be alive. Except this was real life, and there weren’t any do-overs. A lot of people lived their lives as if there were, but Merilee had never been one of them. And neither had Dan.
She parked the car and turned off the engine, stopping her windshield wipers so that her view of the front door was quickly obscured with the heavy sheets of rain. This was a pointless exercise and she knew it. It was ill-advised and not likely to help her case. She’d simply run out of options.
Without bothering to put her rain hood over her head, she left the car and walked calmly to the front door. It was only as she rang the doorbell that she realized she was still wearing Colin’s binoculars. They gave her courage somehow. Maybe they reminded her of Jimmy, or even of the magical properties Colin had given them. Either way, they gave her the strength to remain where she was instead of bolting back to her car.
She heard the barking of the dog before footsteps on the marble. Glancing through the wavy lead glass, she saw Puddles bounding toward her, scratching at the glass. The sting of tears pricked the back of her eyes as she remembered the frightened barking from the night Dan died, the panicked look Puddles had given her as he’d led the way to his owner’s inert form in the water. She hadn’t been raised with dogs, but she’d seen his devotion and knew he grieved.
Claire must not have recognized her at first because she opened the door, and when she tried to push it closed again, Puddles had already leaped out and had his front paws on Merilee’s chest in an attempt to lick her face. He was yelping ecstatically, greeting an old friend.
She scratched the dog behind the ears and kissed him on the top of his head before turning to a worried-looking Claire. “I’m here to see Heather.”
