“There’s a Catholic church in Asheville.”
I wondered what else she knew about me. I wondered what Marino had told her.
“I wanted to pay my respects to your daughter,” I said, looking directly into her eyes.
“Well, now, isn’t that sweet.” Still smiling, she did not avert her gaze.
“Actually, it’s good we just happened to run into each other,” I said.
“} need to ask you some questions. Perhaps it would be convenient if I did that now?”
“Here?”
“I would prefer your house.”
“I was going to have BLTS for lunch. I just didn’t feel like making a big Sunday dinner, and Pete’s trying to cut back.”
“I’m not interested in eating.” I made very little effort to disguise my feelings. My heart was as hard as the expression on my face. She had tried to kill me. She had almost killed my niece.
“Then I guess I’ll meet you there.”
“I would appreciate a ride. I don’t have a car.”
I wanted to see her car. I had to see it.
“Mine’s in the shop.”
“That’s unusual. It’s quite new, as I recall.” If my eyes had been lasers, they would have burned holes in her by now.
“I’m afraid I got a lemon and had to leave it at a dealership out of state. The thing conked out on me during a trip. I rode with a neighbor, but you’re welcome to ride with us. She’s waiting in her car.”
I followed her down field stone steps and along a sidewalk to more steps. There were a few cars still parked along the street and one or two pulling away. Her neighbor was an elderly woman wearing a pink pillbox hat and a hearing aid. She was behind the wheel of an old white Buick, the heater blasting and gospel music on. Mrs. Steiner offered me the front seat and I refused. I did not want her behind my back. I wanted to see everything she did at all times, and I wished I had my. 38. But it had not seemed right to take a gun to church, and it had not occurred to me that any of this would happen.
Mrs. Steiner and her neighbor chatted in the front seat and I was silent in the back. The trip lasted but a few minutes; then we were at the Steiner house, and I noted that Marino’s car was in the same spot where it had been parked last night when Wesley and I had slowly driven past. I could not imagine what it would be like to see Marino.
I had no idea what I would say or what his demeanor toward me would be. Mrs. Steiner opened her front door. We went in, and I noticed Marino’s motel room and car keys on a Norman Rockwell plate on the foyer table.
“Where’s Captain Marino?” I asked.
“Upstairs, asleep.” She pulled off her gloves.
“He wasn’t feeling well last night. You know, there’s a bug going around.” She unbuttoned her coat and lightly shook her shoulders to get out of it. She glanced away as she took it off as if she were accustomed to giving anybody interested an opportunity to look at breasts no matronly clothing could hide. The language of her body was seductive, and it was speaking for my benefit now. She was teasing me, but not for the same reasons she might tease a man. Denesa Steiner was flaunting herself. She was very competitive with women and this told me even more about what her relationship with Emily had been like.
“Maybe I should check on him,” I said.
“Pete just needs to sleep. I’ll take him up some hot tea and be right with you. Why don’t you make yourself comfortable in the living room? Would you like coffee or tea? ”
“Nothing, thank you,” I said, and the silence in the house disturbed me.
As soon as I heard her go upstairs, I looked around. I went back into the foyer, slipped Marino’s car keys in my pocket, and walked into the kitchen. To the left of the sink was a door leading outside. Opposite it was another one locked with a slide bolt. I slid back the bolt and turned the knob.