Divine Evil

He leaned across, unlocked the glove compartment, and took out a gun. “Oh, my God.”
    “Don't get out of the car.”
    He left her, moving quickly, quietly. She understoodexactly what it meant to have your heart in your throat. She couldn't swallow, could barely breathe as she watched him approach the dark car.
    He glanced at the plates and memorized the number. He could see figures inside the car and movement. Just as he reached the door, there was a woman's high-pitched scream. He wrenched open the door and found himself pointing his .38 at a man's naked ass.
    What was taking so long? Clare wondered. Why was he just standing there? Orders or no orders, she had a hand on the door handle, ready to spring out to his aid. But he had turned away from the parked car and seemed to be talking to a tree. She was nearly faint with relief when Cam started back.
    “What happened? What did you do?”
    Cam put his head down on the steering wheel. “I just broke up, at gunpoint, the copulation of Arnie Knight and Bonny Sue Meese.”
    “You—oh, God.” With her hands still pressed to her mouth, Clare began to laugh. “Oh, God. Oh, God.”
    “You're telling me.” With as much dignity as he could muster, Cam started the car and headed for home.
    “Were they just fooling around or really, you know?”
    “You know,” he muttered. “You could call it coppus interruptus.”
    “Coppus. I like that.” She threw her head back, then instantly sat up again. “Did you say Bonny Sue Meese? But she's married to Bob.”
    “No kidding?”
    “Well, that sucks.”
    “I can now guarantee that she does.”
    “That's disgusting, Rafferty Bob doesn't deserve to have his wife out in some other man's car at two o'clock in the morning.”
    “Adultery isn't against the law. That makes it their business, Slim.”
    “I wish I didn't know.”
    “Believe me, seeing it is a lot worse than just hearing about it. I'm never going to be able to look Arnie in the face again without seeing …” He began to laugh, saw Clare's expression and choked it off. “Sorry.”
    “I happen to think it's sad. I talked to Bonny just the other day, and she was showing off pictures of her children and talking about drapery fabric. I don't like knowing that all that domestic bliss was just a front so she can sneak out and screw around with Arnie. I thought I knew her.”
    “People aren't always what they seem. That's just exactly what I'm having to deal with. Besides, I probably just scared the fidelity back into Bonny Sue.”
    “Once you cheat, you can't take it back.” She rolled her eyes. “Christ, I sound self-righteous. A few weeks in this town and I start thinking everything should be a Norman Rockwell painting. I guess I wish it could be.”
    “Me, too.” He slipped an arm around her. “Maybe, with a little luck, we'll come close.”

Chapter 23
    C LARE MADE THE TRIP to the hospital at least three times a week. Usually she found Lisa's brother, one of her parents, or a friend sitting with her. But the last person she'd expected to find stuffed into the chair beside the bed was Min Atherton.
    “Clare.” Lisa smiled. Her injured eye was unbandaged now, and though it was puffy and red, there was no permanent damage. Her leg was still propped in the mechanical cast, with the second surgery scheduled for the second week in June.
    “Hello, Lisa. Mrs. Atherton.”
    “Nice to see you, Clare.” But Min looked disapprovingly at Clare's choice of jeans for a hospital visit.
    “Mrs. Atherton came by to deliver some flowers from the Ladies Club.” Lisa gestured to a copper pot filled with spring blooms. “Aren't they lovely?”
    “Yes, they are.”
    “The Ladies Club of Emmitsboro wanted to show Lisa that the town cares.” Min preened. The flowers might not have been her idea, but she had fought tooth and nail forthe right to deliver them. “Why, we're all just sick about what happened. Clare will tell you that we're a quiet town with traditional values and decent morals. We want to keep it that way.”
    “Everyone's been so kind to me.” Lisa winced as she moved, and Clare walked over quickly to rearrange the pillows. “Your Dr. Crampton drops by to see how I am and just to talk. One of my nurses is from Emmitsboro, and she comes in every day—even on her day off.”
    “That would be Trudy Wilson,” Min said, nodding.
    “Yes, Trudy. And of course, there's Clare.” She reached out for Clare's hand. “Someone from the market sent me a