Killer Tied by Lesley A. Diehl

Author:Lesley A. Diehl
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: humor, native american, florida, indian, miccosukee, consignment store, rural florida
Publisher: camelpress

Grandy met me at the door, and the look on her face said that while I was tossing up last night’s dinner in the airport restroom, Nappi had been telling her more than I wanted him to.

“Max is out on the lake, fishing,” she said. “We have the house to ourselves. I’ll make you some toast.”

“I’m more thirsty than hungry,” I said.

“There’s ginger ale in the cupboard. That will settle your stomach.”

Toast and ginger ale—it was what Grandy gave me as a kid when I was sick.

“Nappi told you everything, didn’t he?” I asked, following her into the kitchen.

She nodded. “He knows it’s not true, so he thought I should be prepared for what you were struggling with, how upsetting this is for you.”

I took a sip of the ginger ale she handed me, discovering I was more exhausted now than I was angry. I tried replaying the Selma tape in my head, to recover the sense of outrage I had at what Grandy had done to me, but Selma’s words faded behind the need not to accuse Grandy. I wanted her to make things okay again. And I knew if anyone could right my world once more, it was Grandy. She proved it by moving toward me and putting her arms around me, hugging me into her roundness. Her words surprised me.

“I’m the grandmother to a private detective who is new to the profession. You’d think I could give her a little help, but I let the opportunity to do my own homework slip by. I should have talked with you when I first saw Eleanor.”

“What do you mean?”

“When Eleanor walked into the shop looking so like you and telling her strange story about the two of you having the same mother, I thought of my sister Irene. I dismissed that idea because I was so sure that we would locate Eleanor’s mother and this whole crazy thing would be resolved. I could have made one call and saved you a lot of pain.” Grandy stepped out of the embrace and held me at arm’s length. “You look exhausted. You’d better sit down. This story may take a while.”

I sank onto one end of the couch while Grandy took the other end.

“I have one sister, as you know, Eve. She had a child around the same time I gave birth to your mother, but Irene was unmarried. The baby was born prematurely and had difficulties breathing and other issues common to preemies. Irene named the girl Brenda, and she grew into a beautiful child, happy and healthy. Brenda and your mother used to play together.”

“I remember Mom talking about Aunt Brenda, but I don’t remember much about her.” My mind began to jump ahead in Grandy’s story. “Aunt Brenda and Mom were the same age. Are you telling me Aunt Brenda was Eleanor’s mother, and that she impersonated my mother?”

Grandy reached out and touched my arm. “I wish it was that simple, Eve, but there’s more, much more to this story.

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