Page 80 of To Die For

“Maybe, since she didn’t get caught, she figures she can do it and get away with it.”

“Have you thought about your dates for this past year or so?” I asked. “Were any of them brunette?”

“Yeah, sure, but I’m telling you, there was nothing serious going on.”

“Haul ’em all in and question them anyway,” I said in exasperation. This had to be personal, because I hadn’t done any of the other things that provide the usual motives for murder.

“How about the guys you’ve dated? Maybe one of them had an ex who was crazy about him—’crazy’ being the important word here—and got a real hate going for you when her guy started dating you.”

“That’s possible, I suppose.” I mulled it over. “I don’t remember anyone mentioning a crazy ex-girlfriend, though. No one said anything about being stalked, and this type of person would be a stalker, right?”

“Maybe, maybe not. We have to look at everything now, so I’ll need a list of everyone you’ve dated in the past couple of years.”

“Okay. Let’s start with you.” I smiled sweetly at him. “Let’s check out your girlfriends.”

You can see we weren’t going anywhere with that subject, so we abandoned it while we ate supper and cleaned up the dishes afterward. Then Wyatt shoved his recliner back in front of the television and settled in it with the newspaper, happy as a clam. I stood in front of him and glowered until he finally put the paper down and said, “What?”

“I’m bored. I haven’t left this house in two days.”

“That’s because you’re smart. Someone is trying to kill you, so you should stay where you can’t be seen.”

Did he thinkthatwas going to deflect me? “I could have gone somewhere today, to other towns, but I thought you would worry if I went out by myself.”

He gave a brief nod. “You’re right.”

“You’re here now.”

He sighed. “All right. What do you want to do?”

“I don’t know. Something.”

“That narrows it down. How about a movie? We can make the nine o’clock showing in Henderson. That’ll count as a date, right?”

“Right.” Henderson was a town about thirty miles away. It was almost seven now, so I went upstairs to get ready. The bruising on my face was already turning yellowish, thanks to Mom, and I used enough concealer to hide most of it. Then I dressed in long pants and a short-sleeved blouse, and tied the ends of the blouse at my waist. I brushed my hair, put on earrings, and I was set.

Wyatt, of course, was still reading the newspaper. And he was still half-naked.

“I’m ready,” I announced.

He glanced at his wristwatch. “We have plenty of time.” He went back to reading.

I found my list and addedinattentive.You’d think he’d have wanted to make a better impression on our first date in two years. See, I knew sleeping with him so soon had been a big mistake. Already he was taking me for granted.

“I think I’ll move into one of the other bedrooms,” I mused aloud.

“Jesus. Okay. We’ll leave.” He dropped the paper to the floor and took the stairs two at a time.

I picked up the paper and sat down in his recliner. I’d already read it, of course, but I had no idea what movies were currently out. The listings were for our town, but I figured Henderson would have the same ones.

I was in the mood to laugh, and there was a new romantic comedy out that looked both cute and sexy. Wyatt came down the stairs, buttoning a white shirt. He stopped and unzipped, then tucked in his shirttail and zipped back up. “What do you want to see?” he asked.

“Prenup.It looks funny.”

He groaned. “I’m not going to see a chick flick.”

“Well, what do you want to see?”

“That one about the mob after the survivalist guy looks good.”

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