Read A.W. Hartoin - Mercy Watts 04 - Drop Dead Red for Free Online

to ask, exactly way Dad told me to ask them. Blankenship admitted nothing about Donatella. The only thing I was sure of, was that being alive was a grave disappointment to him. In a weird way, I started to warm up to the psycho. I’d expected him to lie, blame the victims, and scream obscenities. But there was none of that. I asked questions. He answered. Short and to the point. He had no interest in me. His eyes didn’t roam over my chest, and he didn’t throw out the Marilyn comparison. It was like talking to a dead person, whose body just doesn’t know it yet.  
    “Is that it?” he asked.  
    “Not quite,” I said. “Your parents are here and they asked me to tell you that.”  
    His face froze and his head dropped back to his chest. We stayed like that, me watching and his head down, for at least a minute. I couldn’t tell if he was having an emotional reaction to his parents or what. He looked dead. Maybe it was a good time to start again if he was emotional.
    “Who was your partner?” I asked.  
    “I didn’t need a partner.” Blankenship didn’t look up.  
    Need. Need was interesting. And it was important to him. So what did he have that he didn’t need?
    “Not to do what you did, obviously. But there was someone.”  
    The door opened and Shelley came in. “Time’s up.”  
    Under any other circumstances, I would’ve begged for more time. Maybe I could get him to look up, maybe I could see the answer in his eyes. But that was not happening. Shelley took me by the arm and marched me to the door I’d come in earlier. Another guard opened it and Shelley ushered me through. At the last second, I looked back at Blankenship and caught him gazing at me with a glint in his eye. A tiny smile curved the edge of his lips. When our eyes met, both vanished instantly. Then I was out the door and it bolted automatically behind me.  
    “Okay?” asked Shelley.  
    I nodded.  
    “So not okay.”  
    “I don’t know what I am right now.”  
    “He got to you.”  
    “No, he didn’t,” I said, walking back down the hall beside her.  
    She shook her head. “Don’t come back. Not even if Tommy wants you to. Don’t do it.”  
    The leaving process was much faster than the entering. I got my stuff back and was taken out through a different set of doors, so I didn’t see Blankenship’s parents again. That was a relief. I don’t know what I would’ve said to them.  
    Mr. Cleves put me in my truck and I drove through the two gates and turned onto the narrow road that led to the prison. When I was out of sight of the guards’ shack, I pulled over and dialed Dad.  
    “There was a partner, but he’s never going to tell us who.”  
    “How do you know?” asked Dad.  
    “I just know.”  
    “That’s my girl.”

Chapter Four

    THE DOOR WHIPPED open before my knuckles touched the wood. Aunt Miriam glared at me and she had her cane in hand, ready to strike.  
    “You’re late,” she said.  
    “I’m not late. It’s five til,” I said a little more sharply than I intended.  
    “Did you bring wine?”  
    I suppressed a smile. “Was I supposed to bring wine?”  
    “You are a guest. You are supposed to bring wine or a hostess gift,” Aunt Miriam’s freckled cheeks flamed pink.  
    “Do people still do that? Wasn’t that over in 1963?” I held up my purse. “I have orange Tic Tacs and a used tissue.”  
    She slammed the door the way a silver screen diva would. Think Lauren Bacall, only meaner. I laughed a little, and it was tempting to walk away, but what would I tell Mom? In my family, leaving after Aunt Miriam slams the door in your face means that you didn’t try hard enough. I did not want to try harder. I wanted to go home and sleep before my shift, but that definitely wasn’t happening. Aunt Miriam would call Mom. Mom would call me. Dad would call me. Aunt Tenne would call me. There would be a whole lot of calling and no sleeping.  
    I sighed and picked up the wine