Ultimate Dilemma (Justice Again Book 2) by M Comley (best books under 200 pages txt) 📕

this woman’s world was about to be changed in an instant, and here she was, none the wiser, trying to do her best to look after her family’s needs.

Adele put the knife down and pushed the carrots to the side. “Okay, you’ve got it.”

Katy peered over her shoulder at the children and lowered her voice. “Perhaps it would be better if the children left the room, Mrs Peters.”

“What? No, you can’t ask me to tell them to leave. Just get on with it. You’ve disrupted our evening enough as it is. Say what you have to say and be on your way.”

Katy stared at her in disbelief, fearing she’d handled this all wrong. She clasped her hands together and placed them on the worktop. “Okay, it is with regret that we have to share the news that your husband’s body was found half…” She didn’t get any further because Mrs Peters fainted.

Katy and Charlie leapt off their stools to tend to the woman. The kids all started either shouting or screaming. The older girl, who had opened the door to them, rushed to her mother’s aid and fell to her knees.

“Mummy, please, Mummy, wake up.” She looked up, glared at Katy and shouted, “Why are you telling such lies? Our dad, where is he?”

Katy kneeled beside her and reached out two fingers to feel her mother’s neck for a pulse. It was thumping well, which came as a relief. “What’s your name?”

“Trina. Please, you have to help her. Is it true?” Her eyes widened and glistened with unshed tears.

“One thing at a time. Why don’t you help me to make your mother more comfortable?”

“How? Oh God, I can’t deal with this shi… Jacob, get the others upstairs. We’ll see to Mum, don’t worry, she’s going to be fine.”

Katy smiled at the teenager and nodded. “Yes, she will.”

One of the older boys rounded up his siblings and marched them out of the room and up the stairs.

“Charlie, help me lift her onto the sofa.”

Together, they hoisted the woman off the floor and crossed the room, depositing her on the sofa where Trina positioned a furry cushion under her head.

Trina then ran back to the kitchen area and filled a glass with water. She returned and placed it on the coffee table and stared down at her mother. The tears fell. Charlie tried to comfort the poor girl with an arm around her shoulder, but she was having none of it and shrugged her off.

“Why isn’t she coming around yet? How long does it take?”

“As long as the body needs to take to recover from the shock. I’m sorry you had to witness this,” Katy replied, a burning sensation heating her chest.

“What if she dies as well?”

The words gave Katy a sucker punch to her solar plexus. She shook her head. “We mustn’t think like that. Let’s try and bring her around. I don’t suppose you have any smelling salts here?”

“What’s that?” Trina asked, her innocence coming to the fore.

“Never mind.”

“Will vinegar do the trick?” Charlie asked.

“It might do. Look in the cupboards, Charlie.” Katy pointed back into the kitchen.

“No, there, on the dining table. Dad has it on his meals every night,” Trina told them.

Katy smiled at Trina, and Charlie went to collect the bottle. She handed it to Katy who removed the top and wafted it under Mrs Peters’ nose.

“What’s your mother’s name, Trina?”

“Adele.”

Katy kicked herself, she knew that, Charlie had told her that much back at the crime scene after she’d spoken to the neighbour. She’d merely forgotten when all the drama had kicked off. “Adele, can you hear me?”

Nothing. The woman’s eyes didn’t flutter at all. No movement in any of her limbs either.

Katy tilted the bottle onto her fingers and dabbed the vinegar under Adele’s nose. Then she shook the woman’s shoulder gently and called her name over and over.

Finally, after a few minutes of trying, Adele’s eyes opened a touch. Trina flew into her mother’s arms and broke down.

“Mum, Mum, we thought we’d lost you.”

“Hush now, child. Give me some room to breathe. I’m all right.”

Trina kissed her mother on the cheek and took a few steps back.

“How are you?” Katy handed Adele the glass of water.

Adele slowly sat up and took a sip from the glass. “Tell me what happened to him, to my Dale.”

Katy turned to look at Trina. “Maybe you should go check on your brothers and sisters.”

“Mum? Should I leave you?”

“Yes, love. I’ll be all right in a second or two.” Adele swung her legs off the sofa and onto the floor and took a larger sip of water.

The three of them watched Trina stomp out of the kitchen and listened to her thunder up the stairs to the room above to be with the rest of the children.

Katy smiled at the woman. “I’m so sorry to cause you so much stress. It’s never easy giving someone this kind of news.”

“I’ve never fainted before. The shock was too much.” She held up her wrist and studied her gold watch. “He should have been home long ago. I didn’t realise it was so late. I’ve only been home an hour myself. By the time I sorted the kids out with their homework—a couple of them had a few problems with their maths—it was time to start on dinner. I haven’t even bothered looking at the clock since I got home.”

“You lead a busy life, it’s understandable. What job do you do?”

“I’m a secretary at the university where my husband works. Saying that, our paths rarely cross during the day. He’s busy giving lectures, and I’m situated in an office at the other end of the complex. That’s by the by. What happened? Was it an accident?”

Katy shook her head. “I’m sorry to have to tell you that we believe your husband was murdered.”

Adele held her gaze, and her mouth dropped open. She shook her head as if to recover from the shock. “My God, no, not Dale. Do you know who? Where did