Page 135 of Forever Dead

“So do I. Leave it tonight. And don’t ruin your Halloween tomorrow with arguments over me.”

Robert finally sat. Frustration remained in the set of his shoulders.

“She’s angry,” Selena said. “There’s a lot behind it.”

“There’s a lot behind your side, too.”

“I’m not saying there isn’t.”

“Then why does she get to drive away?”

Selena did not answer.

Selena thought about what Robert had said earlier. While she had withdrawn from the family during their mother’s illness, Diane had helped with meals, cleaning and appointments. Selena had resented her sister’s habit of taking charge without considering how much responsibility had fallen to her.

It didn’t make watching Diane drive away hurt any less.

“Don’t call her for me,” Selena said. “I’ll talk to her myself.”

Robert sat back. “When?”

“I don’t know yet. But she deserves to hear it from me.”

He nodded, although he still seemed unhappy.

Outside, daylight was beginning to fade. The pumpkins on the porch glowed more brightly now, their carved mouths becoming clearer against the gathering dusk. A breeze turned the plastic witch slowly on its line.

Robert followed Selena’s attention toward the decorations.

“I hope we get plenty of trick-or-treaters tomorrow night.”

Selena looked at him.

“Be good to have kids running around the place,” he continued. “People laughing. Something normal.”

“You’ve certainly bought enough candy.”

“I’m not running out again.”

A faint smile crossed Selena’s mouth.

Halloween had once been simple. Costumes. Pumpkins. Her mother roasting the seeds while Robert turned the front garden into a hazard for passing children. Diane complaining that Selena had taken more chocolate than her and then stealing some back when she thought nobody was watching.

Tomorrow evening, children would still knock on doors.

Porch lights would come on. Parents would wait at garden gates. Children would pass strangers in scary masks and costumes without giving them a second thought.

Eleanor Marsh would not answer her door.

Patricia Vanes would never answer another.

Somewhere beyond Robert’s warm living room, the person who had killed them was still free.

Selena watched the plastic witch turn on its line.

If the fragments beneath Eleanor’s and Patricia’s fingernails had come from a mask, tomorrow night would give its wearer a crowd to disappear into.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN