Killing Weeds (19 page)

“But not the leaves. Those we need.”

Peggy drank the tea, letting the leaves fall to the bottom of the cup. She kept hoping her friends would accept Steve. They might be crazy, but they meant a lot to her.

“Okay. Now what?” she asked Sofia.

“Let me see!” Sofia quickly pulled the cup toward her. “Oh! That’s
interesting
. I should have known. That’s not good. I’m not sure what that means.”

Peggy looked into the cup too. “What do you see?”

“I see an adventure. You won’t be alone on this adventure.” Sofia looked up at her. “I see a man—close but not a lover—probably your son. I see danger. It involves water. Stay away from water.”

“Any water?” Peggy asked.

“Not certain. Maybe. Probably large bodies of water. Don’t take any boat trips.”

“Okay. Not a problem.”

“There is good in your life. More good is coming. You have to be aware of it. You don’t want it to pass you by.” Sofia smiled at her.

“Thank you. That was lovely. I’ve never had my tea leaves read before.”

“It was nothing. My mother always read the tea leaves. She passed on her gift to me.” Sofia took the cup and started back inside. “Don’t forget—this involves your son and water. Be
very
careful!”

Wild Grape

Wild grapevines have either male or female flowers on each plant and require cross-pollination to produce grapes. Domestic vines have both male and female flowers on each plant and are self-fruiting.

Chapter Twenty-seven

With Sofia’s dramatic dark eyes and ominous voice behind her, Peggy gathered her things and went back across the courtyard. It felt good knowing that she was almost at the end of this hard path she’d been going down. Soon the shop would be open again, and her life would be back to normal.

She went out the back door, locking it behind her. The real estate management company would let the alarm system techs in to repair the alarm. She’d be notified once that was complete.

Sam pulled up in The Potting Shed truck and got out with a big grin on his face. “I think we actually made more money piecing out all the plants I’d purchased for Mary Hood. I’m in a mood to celebrate. How about you?”

He lifted her off her feet and swung her around a few times. Peggy slapped at his hands.

“What in the world was that for?” she asked when she was back on the ground.

“I’m happy. Things are looking up. I think that’s enough reason to be excited, don’t you?”

“I suppose you’re right.” She adjusted her top and pants. “The insurance company and alarm service have come and gone. I think we’re going to be back in business by later today.”

He put out his hands toward her again. Peggy backed away.

“Oh, come on. Things are good with work now and Tucker. Things are good with you and Steve. What more do you want?”

A thin, petite woman came around the corner of old brick building, glancing around the parking lot as though she were lost. It was the woman from Stewart’s Furs, ill-treated assistant.

Peggy smiled at her. “Hello. I remember you from the fur shop. Can I help you?”

Sam stepped in front of her. “I remember you too—Mary Hood—or whatever your real name is. What do you want?”

“What?” Peggy asked. “Sam? What are you saying? You know this woman?”

“Yes. She had me buy all the plants and pretended to be the woman who lived in the house. She might be Paul’s client too. Call the police, Peggy.”

“Let’s be reasonable,” Peggy insisted, staring at the other woman. “What’s your name? What can we do for you?”

“Don’t pretend like you don’t know why I’m here, Dr. Lee. I want what I’ve always wanted, what I deserve. Revenge.” She smiled and pulled out a pistol. “Let’s go for a ride.”

The woman had Sam smash their cell phones and throw their IDs in the trashcan near the stairs. Peggy got behind the wheel of the truck on her command.

She felt like this was a good thing. She’d have a chance to talk to whoever this young woman was and find out what she was trying to prove. Who in the world was she anyway? Why would she want to hurt any of them?

Peggy could tell that Sam had similar ideas in mind. She knew him well enough to guess what he was thinking. He was almost twice the woman’s size. He could have easily picked her up and kept her from hurting anyone—except for the gun.

“You get in too, big guy.” She gestured with the weapon. “Peggy and I need some company.”

Sam agreed, climbing into the truck after Peggy and the woman with the gun. They fit snugly together in the cab. From the mid-seat position, she could easily shoot Peggy or Sam. It was obviously strategic.

And if this was the woman who had masterminded everything that had happened to them, it was no surprise.

Even though Peggy wasn’t happy that Sam was with her for this, she was also thankful that she wasn’t alone. They stood a better chance against the woman with both of them there, if they had to overpower her. She was bound to make a mistake. Or perhaps one of them could talk her out of whatever she had planned.

“Who are you?” she asked the younger woman.

She definitely wasn’t Ruth Sargent—yet thinking about Ruth made her see a faint resemblance to her former friend that she hadn’t noticed in the fur shop. It was probably the new arrogance as she faced them.

In the fur shop, she’d seemed demur and shy. Now, Peggy realized, she was probably just hiding her face.

And it could explain how the idea of using the mink coat to kill her victim might have come about.

 “I’m Diane Bartlett. I think you knew my mother, Ruth Sargent. The two of you were besties for many years, until you betrayed her.” The tone and gaze were unrelenting.

“I didn’t betray Ruth,” Peggy argued. “She betrayed herself when she killed those two people. She lost herself somewhere. It had nothing to do with me.”

“Right.” Diane nodded. “Everyone is innocent when it comes to paying for their sins. I know what you did. Stop talking and drive.”

“Where to?” Peggy asked. “What are you trying to prove now?”

“I’m trying to prove that everyone deserves their revenge—even my mother. She nudged the barrel of the gun into Peggy’s side. “Drive!”

“Ruth never married,” Peggy persisted, trying to confuse or break Diane’s stubborn ideas of revenge down. “She never had children. Who are you really?”

“I’m only gonna explain this to you once, old lady.” Diane held the gun to Peggy’s head. “She did have a child. Me. True, she never married my father, and she gave me up for adoption. She had to forget about me because of what you put her through. But I never stopped looking for her. I finally found her after the murder trial. I visited her in prison. She and I were very close before she was killed.”

Peggy thought about the names on the prison visiting list. Diane was probably on the list but no one would have suspected that the woman visiting Ruth was her daughter.

“Nice and easy now,” Diane said, telling Peggy to turn out of the parking lot. “We’re headed out of Charlotte, down Independence Boulevard to Albemarle Road. Nothing funny or blondie gets a new part in his hair.”

She smoothed her hand over Sam’s tanned arm. “And that would be a shame to waste such prime grade manhood.”

“I had nothing to do with Ruth’s death.” Peggy persisted in keeping the conversation going as she inched out into the road. She glanced in the rearview mirror, hoping for once that a police car was following them. No such luck.

Was there anything she could do to attract attention? She frowned, thinking of all the tales she’d heard through the years from John and Paul about reasons they had stopped drivers even though they weren’t speeding.

Broken taillights. Partially open trunks. Erratic driving. They all came to mind, but it was too late to break a taillight. She didn’t have a trunk, and Diane would probably notice erratic driving.

Sam was eyeing the gun. Peggy knew he was probably plotting what he could do to get control of the gun without one of them getting hurt. It wasn’t going to be easy with the weapon held at the ready in Diane’s hands.  He’d never be able to get out fast enough to avoid getting shot either.

“You had everything to do with it. She told me what you did. No one even suspected her of killing those people until you had to tell the police.”

“Your mother was a killer too. I guess it runs in the family,” Sam said.

“Shut up. What do you know about it? You and your brother have led such sheltered lives.”

Sam raised his brows but didn’t enlighten her that he didn’t have a brother.

Peggy knew right away that she thought Sam was her son too. She’d been speaking about Paul.

Maybe he should. Maybe Diane would let him go if she knew they weren’t related.

“He’s not my son,” she said flatly, swerving a time or two into the center lane and back to the edge of the crowded road in what she hoped was an erratic fashion.

“Right.” Diane laughed. “He looks more like you than Paul does. Just drive. He’s coming with us.”

“What can I do about what happened to Ruth now?” Peggy demanded. “Where are we going? What will this prove?”

“We’re going to my mother’s house on Lake Tillery. You’ve been there a few times. You know the way. There’s something I want to show you and Sam.” Diane smiled at him. “I’m just sorry Paul isn’t here too.”

Sam shrugged.

Peggy knew he wouldn’t tell Diane the truth now. It probably didn’t matter anyway.  

“It’s a long way to Lake Tillery from Charlotte,” Peggy said. “Why waste your time? If you want to kill us, you might as well do it here. Your mother would never have gone along with these theatrics. I guess you’re not much like her after all, except the killing part.”

Diane waved the gun at Peggy. “Because this is
my
plan, not yours. Shut up and drive. You never really knew my mother at all. Not like I knew her. Those murders she committed that you turned her in for—they weren’t the first. She laughed when we talked, thinking about how stupid you were.”

Peggy considered that Diane was insane. She didn’t believe that Ruth had murdered other people. Her crime was one of passion. Those were very rarely duplicated. Diane saw what she’d wanted to see in her mother. Those ideas had made excuses for her actions.

It was an hour-long drive from Charlotte to Ruth’s house on Lake Tillery.

Peggy kept driving in a crisscross pattern from the middle of the road to the edge. More than once, a horn blared at her, but Diane didn’t notice. She seemed intent on their destination and what she had planned for them.

They passed several CMPD cars before they’d left Charlotte, but they didn’t notice Peggy’s driving either, or didn’t seem to think it was strange anyway. She realized that once they left the city, it would be harder to get away or find a police officer who might question her driving.

Peggy tried to think of a way that she could crash the truck into a light pole or a tree and manage to get out without being too badly injured or shot. It seemed impossible since she had to account for Sam too. Even if the airbags protected them from the collision, Diane was bound to shoot one or both of them.

“I think we need gas before we get out of the city,” Sam said. “There aren’t many gas stations out there.”

Diane peeked at the gas gauge. “Nice try, handsome, but I’m not stupid. The tank looks full to me. Want to try telling me that it doesn’t work right?”

Sam didn’t say anything.

Peggy counselled herself to be patient. There would be a moment that they’d get their chance—but probably not until they got to the house.

The scenery changed dramatically from Charlotte to the Uwharrie Mountain region. Houses were further between, set on large tracts of land. The tall buildings in the city gave way to acres of fields turning green with soybeans, corn, and hay. Houses were less expensive and modern. Many were farming or mill houses built fifty years before.

Traffic thinned out, but got slower as they followed large farm equipment down the roads and saw even more equipment in the fields that were being worked. Trees and sky were predominant and then the rivers that had been tapped for hydroelectric.

Small towns had been emptied and flooded years before to create manmade lakes that were governed by large dams owned by the power companies. The rivers in the area had been tamed for their use, as was common in all the rural areas of North Carolina. Power had brought progress to the rural areas.

It had been years since Peggy had visited Ruth’s house on the lake. They’d spent many enjoyable afternoons sitting on her porch and watching the boats go by. Both of them had high pressure jobs that hadn’t left much time for relaxation. A few glasses of wine from local vineyards, and an afternoon spent in the sun with a good friend, had helped.

Peggy had never understood what really happened to Ruth.

It was as though she’d de-railed and then set out on a murderous spree to kill her lover and his wife. She’d been a decent, hardworking woman all her life, despite what Diane believed.

Then suddenly, she’d lost it. There were no warning signs that she’d use her skills in underwater forensics to cover her grisly trail of death. Just as there were no warnings that she’d impart her knowledge to the daughter she’d never acknowledged, even to Peggy.

How hard that must have been for Ruth to listen to Peggy talking about Paul and his childish antics when she had a daughter of her own that she’d given up?

Maybe if Ruth had told her about Diane, things might have been different. Perhaps the new relationship she’d been willing to kill for had been more than just a fling to Ruth. Maybe she’d thought of it as her last chance for a family.

“Turn here.” Diane waved the gun toward the narrow, gravel drive that suddenly came up on the right.

Peggy turned sharply, going carefully down the overgrown path to Ruth’s house. She’d hoped the abrupt turn might knock Diane off balance, but she took it in stride. Nothing seemed to be able to unnerve her or sway her from her plan.

Ruth had wanted to keep this place rustic, as opposed to her very modern apartment in the city. She’d opted not to cut a lot of trees and to keep the landscaping as close to natural as the way she found it.