Love Can Be Murder

innocent?"
    Roxann's heart pumped harder.
    "It took me a while," Nell admitted. "But I started thinking about what Tammy had told me—that it had something to do with a blond wig. It suddenly dawned on me while I was at my sister's house. I checked, and it all fit."
    The exit door swung open and Detective Jaffey appeared with two uniformed officers, weapons drawn.
    "It's okay," Capistrano called. "Dr. Oney isn't going to cause any more trouble." Then he looked back to her. "Are you?"
    She shook her head and succumbed to another coughing spasm until blood appeared in her mouth. "I'm dying," she said to Roxann, with tears in her eyes.
    "What?"
    "Lung cancer. Doctors say I have about three months left to live."
    Roxann broke away from Capistrano's restraining arm and went to her. They hugged for several long minutes, and Roxann pretended Nell was the woman they both wanted her to be. Jaffey walked up. "We'll take it from here."
    She watched them lead Nell away, the woman's walk little more than a shuffle. Roxann slid down the wall and sat on the floor, weak and spent after the day's revelations. Capistrano was talking to Jaffey, filling him in on the high points of Nell's confession. Then he spoke to someone over the two-way radio, and walked over to sit down by her.
    "Your cousin is going to make it."
    She closed her eyes and breathed a prayer of thanks. "Is this nightmare finally over?"
    He pursed his mouth and nodded. "Unless you have a confession to make?"
    He was referring to the secret Nell hinted at. "Nope. I'm done for the day." She pushed herself up and he followed. "I don't know how to thank you," she murmured.
    "Yes, you do," he said, his brown eyes serious.
    But her head was too full to deal with yet another demand. "Sorry, Detective. That's not on the table." Then she walked toward the exit sign.

Chapter Thirty-six

    "WE COULD POSTPONE the trip back for another day if you don't feel up to it," Roxann said, pushing the wheelchair down the hall.
    Angora craned her head around. "I'm feeling fine. I just want to get out of here and on the road." She wore the crown Roxann had given her, and a blue pashmina shawl around her shoulders. She looked like a celebrity leaving the hospital, and indeed, she had become somewhat of a town icon since news of Dr. Oney's treachery had broken.
    Everyone at the nurses' station waved. "Goodbye, Angora."
    "Goodbye," she sang, waving at her adoring audience. "Thank you, everyone. Thank you."
    Roxann wheeled her to the side entrance where a refurbished Goldie awaited them. And Mike Brown. He was dressed in work clothes, including a John Deere ball cap, but he looked fresh-scrubbed. He smiled at Angora and juggled the items he was holding to take off his hat when they came closer. Without preamble, he thrust a wildflower bouquet into her hands.
    "Picked them myself this morning," he said, fiddling with his hat and the large brown paper bundle he held. "When I came back from milking."
    "Milking what?" Angora asked, then buried her nose in the flowers.
    "Cows," he said, pushing up his glasses. "And a couple of goats."
    "I didn't know you could milk goats."
    "Oh, sure," he said solemnly. Then he thumped the bundle he held—it sounded solid. "And I brought you a ham."
    Angora's eyes bulged. "A ham?"
    Roxann was pretty impressed herself. The man was scoring big with pork.
    "I'll put it in the van for you," he offered.
    Roxann slid back the van door and he deposited the ham on the floorboard behind the bench seat where she'd made a bed for Angora. New seat covers hid the damage of Frank Cape's knife—or Nell's. She wasn't sure who had done what anymore. Had Elise broken in to the duplex and left the message on the computer at Nell's instruction? But Nell hadn't known about the secret at the time, so was the word fake an accidental word choice that just happened to push Roxann's buttons? Was her guilt that deep?
    So it seemed.
    Mike helped Angora out of the wheelchair and practically lifted her into the van, then settled her onto the seat and tucked in covers all around. "You look like a queen," he said a little breathlessly, and Roxann realized that the man had a huge crush on her cousin.
    Angora beamed. "Thank you, Mike."
    "I'm sorry that Dr. Oney used me to get to you."
    He spoke so quickly that it must have been weighing on his mind for some time.
    "You couldn't have known," Angora said, touching his arm. "It's not your fault."
    "Still, I'm going to stick to farming from now