Dead Ever After

shone like a showroom kitchen and smelled like pine-scented cleaner. That was a big improvement, An informed me. “My whole family hunts, and I know nothing smells up a place more than blood,” she said.
    “Thank you, An,” I said. “And thanks, almost-sister-in-law. I sure appreciate you two doing this for me.”
    “No problem,” An said.
    “Just don’t let it happen again. This is the one and only time I’m scrubbing blood out of your kitchen,” Michele said. She was smiling. But she meant it.
    “Oh, I can promise it will be,” I said. “I’ll call someone else next time.” They laughed, and I smiled back. Ha effing ha.
    An gathered up her cleaning supplies in a big red bucket.
    “I’ll give you some Pine-Sol for your birthday, An,” I said.
    “You betcha. There’s nothing like it.” She looked around at the sparkling surfaces with some satisfaction. “My daddy the preacher always said, ‘By your works shall they know thee.’ ”
    “Then you’re an industrious and generous woman,” I said, and she beamed. I hugged them both in a lopsided way. Before they left, Michele asked me if I wanted her to put the casserole in the microwave ready for me to heat for supper. “It might be too much for you to handle,” she said. She was determined to feed me.
    “I’m sure I can do it later,” I said, and she had to be content with that. The house felt pleasantly peaceful after they’d left, until I drifted out from under the painkillers long enough to wonder where Mr. C and Diantha were. I hoped they were okay. And since it seemed apparent that soulless people could come through the wards, I got out my critter rifle. The shotgun would have been more effective, but I simply couldn’t handle it in my weakened state. If Copley Carmichael came around to finish what his minion had started, I had to be armed and ready. I locked the house up tight, closed the curtains in the living room so he couldn’t tell where I was, and tried to read. Finally, I gave it up. I watched something totally brainless on TV. Sadly, that wasn’t hard to find.
    I kept my cell phone by me, and I got a call from Kennedy Keyes. She was as happy as I’d ever heard her. “Me and Danny are going to rent one of Sam’s little houses,” she said. “Across from the duplexes. He said you’d know where.”
    “Sure,” I said. “When are you moving in?”
    “Right now!” She laughed. “Danny and one of his buddies from the lumberyard are carrying in the bed right at this moment!”
    “Kennedy, that’s wonderful. I hope you’ll be real happy.”
    She talked for a while, giddy with her new situation. I had no idea if their love for each other would last, but I was glad they were giving it a chance, despite the very obvious differences in their upbringings. Kennedy’s family, as she’d described them to me, had been determined social climbers, wondering where their next step upward would take them. Danny’s family had worried more about their next meal.
    “Good luck to both of you, and I’ll get you a housewarming present,” I said, when Kennedy began to wind down.
    About an hour later, I heard a car park in the gravel area by the front door. After the engine cut off, footsteps and a gentle knock told me my caller had decided to carry through with the visit, though I was detecting a lot of hesitation.
    I picked up the rifle. It was going to be hell to get a good shot with my weak shoulder, and it was going to be painful. “Who is it?” I called.
    “Halleigh.”
    “You alone?” I knew she was, but with undetectable people around, I had to check. Her thoughts would tell me if someone was forcing her to knock on the door.
    “I am. I don’t blame you if you don’t want to open up,” she said.
    I opened the door. Halleigh Bellefleur was younger than me, a nice-looking brown-haired schoolteacher who was really, really pregnant. Tara had not fared as well when she was expecting the twins; Halleigh was truly blooming.
    “Come in,” I said. “Does Andy know you’re here?”
    “I don’t keep secrets from my husband,” she said, and she came up to me and hugged me very gently. “Andy’s not too happy right now, but that’s too bad. I don’t believe you killed that woman. And I’m really sorry that man went crazy and shot you. I know your friend must feel horrible, the one whose dad is missing. This guy worked for her dad?”
    So we sat for a moment and talked a little, and then Halleigh stood to go. I