Cold feet(76)
Author: Brenda Novak

Simple things, but Ellis Purcell had been a simple man. He’d never asked for thanks or a great deal of attention. Not in life, not in her dreams. He was just there. And he was the man she’d always known–not a perfect man, but an innocent man, and a father who’d loved her.

Then her dream changed. Her father was walking toward her across the grass and she was going to meet him. He looked just as he had before he died, with his barrel chest and thick shoulders, salt-and-pepper flattop, calm brown eyes. He didn’t wave or speak. But a lump grew in her throat as she reached him and put her arms around his neck. "I love you, Daddy," she murmured, and woke to find that she was crying.

"TAMARA WANTS TO TALK to you, too," Justine said. "Tamara, pick up the other line."

Caleb tossed the towel he’d been using to dry dishes across the kitchen to land on Madison’s counter, and rolled his eyes. He didn’t want to repeat everything he’d just told his mother, but his family was understandably shocked at the truth about Holly. He was shocked. There were moments when he still couldn’t believe that the woman he’d lived with on and off for seven years had tried to kill Madison and Brianna, had succeeded in killing Susan, and had taken the lives of at least twelve others.

"My God, Caleb. What’s happened is so unreal," Tamara said. "Poor Susan."

Caleb thought of Susan lying in the morgue. He’d been completely convinced by Holly’s grief that day they’d identified the body. Her sadness had been so palpable, so real. Obviously she hadn’t been grieving for the reasons he’d assumed.

"I should’ve known somehow," he said, finally speaking his thoughts aloud.

"Caleb, quit beating yourself up," Tamara said. "How could you have known? You never saw any proof of it, did you?"

"That depends on what you mean by proof. She was off balance. We all knew that. She was manipulative, obsessive."

"So? You were trained since you were small to shield and protect women. Of course you wouldn’t even think of suspecting her. Lots of people are off balance, manipulative, obsessive, even certifiably insane, yet they don’t become serial killers."

"She loved you, Caleb," his mother added, on the extension. "Make no mistake about that. I’ve never seen a woman so head over heels."

"Maybe she ingratiated herself with you because you were working on the case," Tamara said, "but it quickly turned into more than that."

No kidding, Caleb thought. Almost as soon as he and Holly had started dating, he’d tried to break if off and hadn’t been able to.

"You were particularly susceptible to a needy woman like her," his mother said. "You’ve always been drawn to people you think you can help, and you tried to help her. Only she was too broken. I feel almost as sorry for her as I do for the people whose lives she destroyed. What would make a woman do what she’s done?"

"Who can say?" he said. "I know she blames other women for almost every problem she’s had in her life–her adoption, her unhappy childhood, her sister always stealing the limelight. She’s always hated other women, distrusted them. But I never guessed that what she felt would be enough to turn her into a homicidal maniac."

"Caleb, at what point does any man look at his wife and wonder if she could be a cold-blooded killer?" Tamara asked. "No one is all good or all bad. We don’t walk around with signs posted on our foreheads that label us good or evil, because we’re all a mix to one degree or another. And Holly was so adept at pretending to be something she wasn’t. Which is why I never liked her."

Cognitively, Caleb knew women were capable of violence. He’d done that book on Aileen Wuornos. But he’d also written a few other books about women who’d killed for more immediate reasons–because they’d been severely abused or stood to benefit financially. A violent woman who killed for power and control had never been part of his personal reality. And when he researched the crimes he wrote about, he was always dealing with a perpetrator who was a stranger to him, someone else’s father, brother, cousin.

"What’s going to happen to her now?" his mother asked.

"She’ll go to prison."

"You’re sure?"

He thought of the halter top in Holly’s bedroom, the DNA evidence that should be forthcoming, and the tire imprint. Gibbons had called to tell him it matched an old Chevy belonging to Holly’s neighbor. Evidently, she’d borrowed his truck when she’d dumped Susan’s body. "There’s plenty of evidence, so much that she knows she doesn’t have a chance of fighting. Gibbons told me she confessed."

Madison’s telephone beeped. Caleb glanced at the caller ID to see that her own mother was calling.

"I’ve got to go," he said.

"Does this mean you won’t be baby-sitting for me this weekend?" Tamara asked.

Caleb smiled because he could tell she was joking, trying to lighten the mood. "Do you think you can get Mac to stay off the phone long enough to make leaving with him worthwhile?"

"He’s promised to give up his cell phone for the whole weekend. We had a big fight yesterday. I threatened to leave him, and he swears he’s going to do better."

"I like the doing better part. If he’ll leave his phone at home, I’ll gladly baby-sit. See you later," he said, and switched to the other line.

"How’s Madison doing?" Annette Purcell asked.

Caleb went to the window and gazed out at Johnny in the yard. Caleb had promised Madison’s brother forty dollars if he’d mow the lawn and trim the bushes. Caleb thought it might help keep his mind off his crack addiction and, for the moment, it seemed to be working. "She’s still sleeping, but the doctor checked her just before we left the hospital and said she’ll be fine. How’s Brianna?"

"She’s happy here. We just bought a new coloring book and some washable markers. Later we’re going to look at some pictures of Grandpa."

Caleb could hear the pride in Annette’s voice when she spoke of Ellis. She’d loved him and stuck by him through the whole thing. Her loyalty was impressive. It was tragic that Ellis had killed himself before this day could come. In a way, he was another of Holly’s victims.

"I’m sorry about all you’ve gone through, Annette," he said. "And for my role in it." When they’d spoken at the hospital earlier, he’d told her who he was. She’d been upset at first, but she was too relieved to have Ellis’s name cleared to hold it against him.

She was silent for a few seconds. "Everything’s going to be fine now."

"I really thought it was Ellis," he said. "I came back here determined to finally prove myself right, and I nearly got your daughter and granddaughter killed."