Appalachian Prey. Debbie Herbert

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       Chapter Three

      This was going to kill Darla.

      She’d put off bringing up the matter of the missing money, imagining Darla’s furious reaction at the news. For the past couple of days, she’d stayed tied up with all the paperwork concerning the robbery and fixing up Dad’s old place. Darla was much too busy to be bothered. Okay, that wasn’t entirely true or fair—she’d been avoiding this scene with her sister.

      Tired as she was from the drama and all her duties, Lilah couldn’t up and leave the mountain without letting her sister know the money was gone. She sped down Dark Corners Road to the homestead where Darla, Ed and their three children lived. Her sister would be devastated about the stolen money. If only she’d just let her have it that morning like Darla had begged. And she could kiss goodbye that sisterly chat she’d planned on. After the news, Darla would be in no mood to offer advice and comfort over the matter that had weighed on Lilah for weeks. It wasn’t like there’d been much chance of Darla being supportive, anyway, if she was being honest with herself.

      At the last sharp bend before hitting town, she pulled into Darla and Ed’s gravel driveway. An unfamiliar red pickup truck was parked near the side porch. Maybe Ed had traded in his old clunker. She picked her way through a barrage of mangy dogs and mewling cats that barked or hissed their displeasure at the invasion of their territory.

      Old toys and broken furniture almost barricaded the doorway, and she impatiently scooted a rusted table out of her path. Through the screen door she heard Darla talking on the phone.

      “Yes, I’ll hold. But only for a minute. Longer than that and I’ll take my business elsewhere,” Darla huffed.

      Lilah pushed open the door and entered the kitchen where her sister held a tape measure stretched across the lower cabinets. “You back, sir? I want mahogany,” Darla said. “Only the best. And I want it pronto.”

      Lilah blinked. Wow. This was a change. Ed must have been working overtime.

      Darla retracted the tape and scribbled on a scrap sheet of paper, her face puckered in concentration.

      “New cabinets, huh? Nice.”

      Her sister snapped her head up, pencil poised. “What are you doing here?”

      Not the welcome she’d expected. But then, she and Darla had never been particularly close. The ten-year age difference was large enough so that shortly after their parents’ divorce, a pregnant Darla had married Ed while Lilah had moved over a hundred miles away with their mother.

      “Well, I’m leaving, and I thought I’d say goodbye first.”

      Darla colored slightly. “Right. Sorry I couldn’t help out more with the estate stuff. Ed Junior’s been down with a tummy ache.”

      “No problem.” Lilah shrugged and waited awkwardly.

      “I’ll just, uh, get off the phone. Want something to drink?”

      “Water, thanks.” Lilah plopped down on a chair in the den.

      The TV blared, although no one was watching it. Where were her nephews?

      Darla returned from the kitchen and tossed her a water bottle. “Where are the kids?” Lilah asked.

      “I started them in daycare yesterday. I needed more peace and quiet ’round here.” She shuddered. “I’m still recovering from that intruder scare.”

      “Me, too,” Lilah admitted. “I meant it when I said I’m not staying. I’ll come back when there’s papers that need to be signed when the cabin sells, and for the meeting next week in the probate office.”

      Darla tossed back her hair. “Both stupid formalities. That cabin’s not worth much, and I doubt Dad had more than a few hundred dollars in the bank. A complete waste of time.”

      “But he had thirty thousand dollars lying around the house,” she pointed out.

      “Dad didn’t trust banks. Besides, I bet he was just holding that money for someone.”

      Lilah suppressed a shudder. If that was true, was that why the intruder had been СКАЧАТЬ