Sunrise in a Garden of Love & Evil Read Online Free PDF Page A

even an inch to harassment, but she couldn't let that cop get any more involved.
    "Of course, angel. Here come the men. Don't hyperventilate, now. Maybe you could come and stay with us, too."
    Ophelia glowered in response.
    "That's an excellent idea," Gideon agreed as he came up, Donnie Donaldson following eagerly. The detective's eyes strayed over Ophelia and lingered on her breasts, then moved to Violet with scarcely a flicker. "Especially considering the dead cat."
    "Jerk," Ophelia said under her breath.
    "What?" Violet cried, slopping tea. "What dead cat? Not Psyche ?"
    "No, no, Psyche's fine. You're upsetting my sister for no reason," Ophelia growled through her teeth. "Not to mention my niece."
    "Not at all," Gideon said, gaze back on Ophelia's breasts before coolly capturing her eyes. "They have every reason to be concerned about you, Ms. Beliveau." As if she were a mental case. Which was probably true, since she wanted to slug him and then fuck him into submission. But that was just her vamp gene speaking.
    His phone rang and he flipped it open. "Yeah, Art, what is it now?" He retreated down the drive.
    "Ophelia." Violet's voice had an edge to it now. "Tell me!"
    "I'll frigging tell you later," Ophelia growled. "Better yet, ask Donnie. Zelda, pour Donnie some tea." She grabbed a Coke and popped it open, scowling in Gideon's direction. "Donnie, what did the cop ask you?"
    Her neighbor dragged his eyes away from Violet long enough to take a glass. "Thanks, Zelda girl. Whether I saw anything, whether I thought Willy might have done it...That sort of thing."
    "Of course he could have done it," Violet said. "He's been hitting on Ophelia forever."
    "I told him that. Willy's a hot-tempered guy, too. But I got home just before Ophelia, so I didn't see nothing." He raised his chin toward a narrow driveway that disappeared into deep woods across the road. "He asked me who lives over yonder, and I told him Plato can't see nothing from his house, and he works evenings, so he's asleep all day."
    Violet put an arm through Donnie's and steered him onto the lawn. "Tell me all about it..." Smitten as always, Donnie let out a long ecstatic breath as they strolled away.
    Zelda's eyes held a touch of moisture. "Am I allowed to give the cop some tea?"
    "Oh, sweetie ," Ophelia said. "Of course you are. Just because I'm pissed off with him doesn't mean you have to be rude." She put an arm around Zelda's bony shoulders and squeezed. "I'm being such a bitch, aren't I?" This was what fear did: screwed up everything, even the relationships with people you loved. "I can't think of a better way to get rid of him. I'm sorry about Joanna Wyler, too."
    "No skin off my back," Zelda said. "I'll be nice to her. She'll get over being such a dope."
    "You are really amazing," Ophelia said. "But don't be surprised if she's not nice back to you. Last week Wyler told me never to speak to his kids again. He wouldn't say why." She hunched her shoulders. "He and Lisa used to ask me to watch them sometimes. I don't know what's got into that family all of a sudden. This whole thing really stinks."
    "Art, baby, no one's going to take her children away!"
    Ophelia's heart clenched as Gideon's voice sounded clearly up the driveway. "Thanks for serving the drinks, sweetie," she told Zelda as the detective meandered back toward them, still talking. "I'd better get some work done."
    She slopped through the mud into her ravaged garden and tossed a few woody turnip plants to the side, then worked her way along the flattened mounds row by row as Gideon spoke and listened and belittled his sister's concerns. Ophelia came to the marijuana just as the detective hung up, and she pulled back and gaped at the disgruntled little plants that she had certainly not put there. "Where the hell did these come from?" she muttered.
    Gideon was suddenly beside her. "Your neighbor lady pointed them out to me." He ripped one from the mud and tossed it aside, sounding way too amused. "Of