Page 11 of Forever Dead

“I can get up.”

“I know you can,” Jessie said.

Selena started to push herself upright anyway.

Jessie pointed at her. “Sit. I don’t want to be blamed by the FBI for their best getting another injury.”

“You’re enjoying this.”

“A little.”

Selena let herself sink back. “I’ll be fine. See you in a few days.”

Jessie slung the tote over her shoulder. “Call me if you need anything.”

“I will if I need you.”

“I mean it.”

Selena smiled. “All right. Go do yoga.”

Jessie opened the door. Cool October air slipped into the room.

“See you.”

“See you.”

The door closed, and silence returned.

Selena let her head rest against the chair. The television continued showing a morning news program with the sound off. Two presenters sat behind a desk smiling at something she could not hear. The cards on the dresser remained neatly arranged. Her cane leaned within reach. The rubber hand grip waited beside the magazines.

Everything she needed for another day of recovery.

Shower. Walk. Exercises. Television. Maybe a book. Then Eric’s terrible movie and whatever amount of whiskey he decided she was allowed to pour for herself, considering she was still on some meds.

She had spent years wishing for more time. Now she had so much of it she wanted to scream.

Her gaze moved to the window. Leaves tumbled across the motel parking lot and gathered against the curb.

“Come on,” she murmured. “Something happen.”

The thought amused her for half a second.

Anything.

Even a murder.

Selena almost laughed at herself.

Then the room seemed to darken slightly, as though a cloud had crossed the sun beyond the window.

The smile left her.

CHAPTER TWO

By the time Connor turned onto Eleanor Marsh’s road, two patrol cars were already parked at the mouth of the driveway. The farmhouse stood beyond them in a pocket of pale October sun, its white siding bright against the trees. From the road, nothing about the place suggested violence. A few leaves moved across the yard. The barn door shifted in the wind. Somewhere beyond the house, cattle called from another field.

Deputy Arnold Shaw raised a hand as Connor pulled in. Deputy Chuck Danners stood beside him with both palms braced on the hood of his cruiser.