Citizen Insane (A Barbara Marr Murder Mystery #2) Read Online Free PDF Page B

night in a restaurant getting all cozy with a blonde.”
    “Shouldn’t you be asking him this question? Remember that talk we had about putting me in the middle? I’m just the roommate.”
    We did make that agreement. It worked for more reasons than one. Like the fact that even after many, many years, Colt still carried a strongly lit torch for me. “You’re right. I’m sorry.”
    Roz was waiting for us at the end of my driveway. “Is your mother still in the house?”
    Colt looked frantically at the Mini Cooper he had parked behind. “That your mother’s car? I’m getting outa Dodge. Listen, I just came to tell you that I reserved an hour at the indoor range—Straight Shooters Gun Shop in Manassas. Day after tomorrow, one o’clock. Can you do that?” He was running backwards, jangling his keys.
    “Chicken.”
    “I admit it.” He flapped his arms to imitate a freaky foul. “One o’clock?”
    “Sure.”
    “Meet you there—call me if you need directions.” He was in his car and gone faster than Smokey chasing The Bandit.
    “Does your mother scare everyone?” Roz asked.
    “No. Only my friends.” The twitch was growing in intensity. I pressed a finger on the corner of my eye to stop it.
    “You don’t look good. Is everything okay?”
    “I’ve been better. This throbbing headache snuck up on me about two minutes ago and it feels like there’s a Mexican jumping bean under my eyelid.”
    “Let me get the girls for you—I’ll send them up to the house. You go in and relax.
    “My mother is in there. How can I relax with her around?”
    Roz cut her eyes toward the top of the driveway. “Look, she’s leaving now.”
    She was right. My mother was cramming into her spit-fire red Mini Cooper. Miraculously, she actually managed to fit her hulking frame into that tiny box. I suspected her knees knocked her chin every time she shifted gears.
    “Good,” I agreed. “You’re right. I think I’ll go lie down. Thanks.”
    “You’ll pay me back tonight by going to that PTA meeting,” Roz grinned. “I’ll pick you up at seven forty-five.”
    My mother backed down the driveway and stopped to talk. Her window was rolled down and her sunroof opened wide. “Sweetheart. You look terrible.”
    “Thanks, Mom.”
    “Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but Howard called while you were out. He said to tell you he can’t stop by tonight. Something about working late.” She had that you’re-married-to-such-a-loser look on her face.
    I sighed. “Why am I not surprised?”
    “Can I give you the name and number of that single fella? He’d be a real catch.”
    “Fella? No one says ‘fella’ anymore Mom.”
    “You’re avoiding my question.”
    With the nervous tick kicking in at full speed, I avoided her question real good by walking away, stomping into my house, flopping onto my lonely marital bed and letting out the bawl of the century.
     

     
    Callie was a gem and cooked dinner for Amber and Bethany while I wallowed in my self-pity pit. By seven o’clock, I was on the phone with Roz trying to wheedle my way out of the PTA commitment. She’d have none of it, arguing that I should get out of the house, rather than sitting and moping about Howard. She also thought I’d get a good laugh or two from the dramatic antics and fireworks that would be unleashed in the wake of her announcement. Deciding she was probably more right than wrong, I gave Callie her babysitting instructions and stood waiting in the driveway at 6:45. Roz arrived promptly, as usual.
    By 8:00 we were seated in the cushy green chairs of the Tulip Tree Elementary School library. Roz set up camp at the head of a long table and worked with exaggerated concentration on a stack of paperwork in front of her, reading, paperclipping, reading, paperclipping. I knew she was engaging herself in busy work, nervous to start the meeting and the deal with the uproar that would follow her bad news. I purposely sat several chairs away, just in