Poisoned Petals

Was Abekeni involved with Luther’s death? Maybe Holles wasn’t the only one who wanted to be head of Feed America. And maybe Abekeni was willing to do whatever it took to make it happen.

Whoa! Peggy took a deep breath. Before she accused anyone else of being responsible for what happened to Luther, she needed some hard proof. She’d already made a mess of things with Holles. She didn’t want to make that mistake with Rosie’s son.

But how could she pull the truth together from the strings of possibilities and suggestions?

Naomi might be a weak link in the chain. She was the only link Peggy had right now. She was going to have to question the girl. Maybe if she could get Naomi off balance enough, she could find out what she needed to know. Or find out if she’d managed to misplace her suspicion again.

Peggy followed Naomi up to her bedroom, glancing from side to side down the hall to make sure no one was around. The house was quiet except for the whisper of the TV downstairs. Shakespeare sighed when he saw she wasn’t going to her bedroom and dropped down in front of the door.

Knocking quietly, hoping not to disturb anyone who could ruin her plan, Peggy waited impatiently for the girl to come to the door.

“Yes?” Naomi opened the door a crack and looked out. “Oh, Peggy!” She opened the door wider and smiled. “I didn’t know it was you.”

Peggy hurried into the room. “Please close the door.”

Naomi raised her eyebrows but still didn’t suspect anything, closing the door and sitting on the bed. “Is something wrong?”

“I know about you and Abekeni.”

“Know about us?” The girl knotted her hands together. “What do you mean?”

“I heard you downstairs.”

“Oh! That.” Naomi got up and paced the floor, glancing at the phone like she’d like to call her lover for support. “We weren’t exactly keeping it a secret. He thought it might be a bad time to spring it on his mother.”

“How did you meet him?”

“We met about three months ago. He was part of a group who came to the church. We liked each other right away. We’ve been seeing each other ever since.”

Peggy digested the information. They met at about the same time all of this started. That couldn’t be a coincidence. “And then he told you he was there to meet Luther.”

Naomi began to look very uneasy. “I don’t know what you mean. I’d like to go to bed now, if you don’t mind.”

“He came to the church to get information about Luther.

He’d just found out that his father was the head of Feed America and thought there might be some money in it for him. He met you and used you to get what he needed.”

“What?” Naomi jumped to her feet. “No! He really liked me. He didn’t know about Reverend Appleby until I told him. You’re way off base.”

Peggy realized she was right on target. “He used you to get information about Luther so he could kill him when he realized he was going to get the group after Darmus left.”

“No!”

“You were the one who told him Luther was asthmatic and had been ill. He used that information to kill him!”

“No, you’re wrong! Abekeni wouldn’t have hurt Reverend Appleby. It was an accident.”

“Is that what he told you?” Peggy shook her head. “That’s why he wanted you to stay in Albemarle. He didn’t want you here in Charlotte, did he?”

“He wanted me here. He was afraid people would get the wrong idea, like you just did, if they saw us together.”

Peggy was afraid she might have pushed her suppositions too far. Naomi looked a little less fearful, her voice stronger and more confident. She had to think of something else. She thought about what they’d said downstairs. “And it will all be over tomorrow.”

Naomi’s eyes narrowed. “What have you heard?”

“The truth. The police know all about it. They’re just waiting for Abekeni to make his move.”

“No!”

Peggy decided to push Naomi far enough to learn the truth. “I spoke with Darmus today. He admitted to killing Luther and stealing the money from Feed America to save Abekeni,” she lied. “He didn’t want to see his son go to jail after neglecting him for so many years.”

The young woman covered her face with her hands and started sobbing. “I didn’t mean to hurt anyone. I love Abekeni. When he told me about his father, I wanted to help. It was just some money. They had plenty. We were going to take some and go away together. I didn’t know anyone was going to get hurt.”

16

Lotus

Botanical: Nymphaea lotus