Amnesia Read Online Free PDF Page A

to toe. “What about Lulu, did she want more than you were willing to give?”
    Quinn shook his head. “Not that I know of. She drove up to Nashville and spent a couple of days with me about six weeks ago. I hadn’t seen her since. She called this afternoon to congratulate me on winning the McBryar case and invited me to Memphis for a personal celebration.”
    “What about other boyfriends? Do you know if she was seeing someone else—someone who might have been the jealous type?”
    “We didn’t discuss other lovers when we were together.”
    “I sure hope she had a jealous boyfriend. That would at least take some of the focus off you.”
    “Look, honey, we can talk particulars later. I’d like to get out of here. Tonight.”
    “That can be arranged. If they want to ask you more questions, we can come back in the morning. This early in the investigation, they apparently don’t have any reason to hold you.” Kendall slipped her arm through his. “Do you have a place to stay tonight?”
    “I’ll check into the Peabody or—”
    “You’ll stay with me.”
    Quinn gave her an inquisitive look. The last he’d heard, Kendall had gotten married about four years ago.
    “We’re separated,” she said as if reading his mind. “The divorce will be final next month.”
    “Sorry it didn’t work out.”
    “Yeah, me, too.” She shrugged. “He was a nice man. Widower. A couple of teenage kids. I thought it was what I wanted, but it wasn’t. I should have stuck to my own kind.”
    “And that would be?”
    “No-good heartbreakers like you, Quinn.”
    * * *
    “Annabelle?” Wythe Vanderley’s voice vibrated with anticipation. “Hiram said you wanted to see me immediately. Dare I hope you’ve changed your mind about—”
    Annabelle whirled around and glared at her loathsome cousin. “For God’s sake, don’t say anything else.”
    He stared at her, speculation in his gaze. “You’ve been crying. What’s wrong?”
    When he approached her, she held up a restraining hand. He stopped immediately.
    “Sheriff Brody just left. He came personally to deliver some bad news…about”—she swallowed fresh tears—“about Lulu.”
    Wythe’s face turned pale. “What’s happened? Has she been in a car wreck? Damn, how many times have I warned her not to drive so fast.”
    “It wasn’t a car wreck.”
    “What is it? What? Is she in the hospital? Do we need to—”
    “Lulu was murdered,” Annabelle forced the words, hating the very sound of them. Saying them aloud made the unbearable truth more real.
    “Murdered?” Wythe shook his head. “No, that’s not possible. Who’d want to hurt Lulu? Everybody loved her. You know that.” Pale and trembling like a leaf in the wind, Wythe stared at Annabelle, a dazed look in his eyes.
    “Pull yourself together. Right now. I can’t have you falling apart. I need you to help me tell Uncle Louis.”
    “Daddy? Oh, Lord, this will kill him.”
    “What I want you to do is telephone Dr. Martin and tell him what’s happened. Ask him to come over to the house immediately,” Annabelle said. “I have duties to attend to, but as soon as Dr. Martin arrives, the three of us will take Uncle Louis aside and tell him.”
    “You know I was never jealous of her.” Wythe smiled, theexpression on his face pathetic. “I was fifteen when she came along and I should have hated her, but I didn’t. I adored the little puss from the first moment I saw her. Even knowing Daddy loved her far more than he ever did me didn’t change the way I felt about her.”
    Annabelle did not want to hear this. Not now. Not ever. She had no time—and no stomach—for any of Wythe’s confessions. And she felt he was on the verge of one.
    “Use the phone in here to call Dr. Martin.” As Annabelle walked past her cousin on her way to the door, she paused momentarily and offered him a sympathetic glance. The caring, nurturing part of her wanted to reach out and hug him, offer him comfort. But she