Love Can Be Murder

and everyone would say she was a murderer and Dee would have her cremated so she wouldn't have to bother with tending a grave.
    The pain grew so intense her stomach heaved. Bright lights exploded behind her eyes. Someone grabbed her, but it was Carl, and he had his hands around her neck, squeezing the life out of her. She gasped for breath and clawed the air. God, what a waste her entire life had been. No one would even miss her.

Chapter Twenty-two

    "SHE’LL BE FINE," Capistrano said for the tenth time.
    Roxann threw back the last mouthful of her hospital-vending-machine coffee. The emergency waiting room was packed with old people and mothers bouncing crying babies, which was why Jaffey and Warner had vamoosed two hours ago after giving orders for Angora to come back as soon as she was physically able. Meanwhile, she and Capistrano were holed up on a thinly padded bench in a corner. "I hope so."
    "Is there a history of heart disease in your family?"
    "No." She tossed the cup into an overflowing trash can sitting at her knee. "Just schizophrenia."
    He smiled, but when she didn't smile back, he sobered. "Seriously?"
    She nodded. "My dad told me the other day that our great-aunt was committed to an asylum after she pushed someone out of a window."
    "Did the person die?"
    "Yes."
    He leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees. "So what triggered that revelation?"
    "I asked him."
    "Why?"
    "Because Nell told me that Angora was a suspect in a hit-and-run that occurred when we were students here."
    "Who was the victim?"
    "A girl named Tammy Paulen. She was a sorority sister of Angora's."
    "Why was she considered a suspect?"
    "Because she and the girl didn't get along. Apparently Tammy was holding something over Angora's head."
    "Do you know what it was?"
    She didn't look at him. "Yes. But I can't say."
    "Was it enough for her to want to kill the girl over?"
    "Of course not."
    "But you think she might have?"
    Roxann leaned back against the wall. "I don't know. It's hard to explain—Angora has always lived in a bit of a fantasy world. She would make up stories to convince people—and maybe herself—that her life was exciting."
    "What kinds of stories?"
    "Oh, the places she'd been and the people she'd met. It was funny because Angora would lie about little things that didn't matter."
    "I guess they mattered to her."
    She nodded. "Angora was a small-town beauty queen and carried herself as if she were better than everyone else. If truth be told, though, she was one of the most insecure people I ever met."
    "But capable of running down a girl who was tormenting her?"
    She sighed. "Maybe. Angora has a way of blocking out things—I guess that's her coping mechanism. You talked to her mother, I'm sure you can imagine what her childhood was like."
    He nodded.
    "Anyway, I remember the night we went to Tammy's memorial service. Everyone was upset, but Angora was inconsolable. We were living together in a dorm at the time, and I was worried about her state of mind."
    "Did she ever talk about the accident?"
    "Not then. I didn't know the Paulen girl was hassling her. But the night we spent at my father's she made some curious comments about the incident, and the other day she told me that Tammy knew she was a virgin and wanted to give Angora to her brother as a birthday gift."
    He grimaced.
    "Sick, huh? Anyway, then Angora said something about Tammy 'getting hers,' and she had this strange, faraway expression. She just zones out sometimes."
    "So that was what you were holding back at the station?"
    "You could tell?"
    "I knew something was bothering you. What was your cousin's relationship with Seger?"
    She closed her eyes briefly— was, as in past tense. "She was infatuated with him, like everyone else, although I didn't realize it. After being jilted at the altar, she was hell-bent on losing her virginity. I guess she picked Carl."
    He lifted his eyebrow. "She's a virgin?"
    A tiny sliver of jealousy cut through her at the tone of his voice. She remembered the way he'd looked at Angora. "Yes."
    He pursed his mouth. "Does that particular characteristic run in the family, too?"
    "You are so out of line."
    One side of his mouth climbed. "Oh, so Miss Principled and Uptight is human, after all."
    Roxann spoke through clenched teeth. "Just when I think you might be tolerable, you blow it by opening your mouth."
    "I have to grow on a person."
    "Like fungus?" She stood and stalked over to the receptionist's desk. "Can you give me an