Evil Never Dies (The Lizzy Gardner Series Book 6) by T.R. Ragan Page B

slender but with curves—you know what I mean?”
    Lizzy nodded.
    “But me—well, take a look at me—I’ve got a lot of meat on these bones and being five feet, three inches, nobody ever accused me of being tall.”
    She laughed, but Lizzy could see that her heart wasn’t in it. Although she talked as if her sister was still alive, the probability of that being the case was growing slimmer every day.
    “Not only is Miriam beautiful,” Tammy said, “she was always the brightest student in school.” She sighed. “I’d be lying if I said I was never jealous of Miriam, because I was. And if her own sister is sometimes jealous, think how many girls in high school were. I used to joke and call my sister ‘poor beautiful Miriam.’ ”
    Tammy’s son brought over a toy, and, without missing a beat, she connected a plastic robot arm and leg and then handed it back to him. “There you go,” she said. “Momma loves you.” The kid ran back to his pile of toys in the middle of the apartment.
    “Do you know how Miriam met Wayne Bennett?” Lizzy asked.
    “Yeah. I do.” She pointed to her chest. “It was me .” She fiddled with her tight black curls. “After I heard that a girl I knew was handpicked by Wayne Bennett to be in his program, I called his office. I was outraged that my sister wasn’t chosen, and that’s when I found out that Miriam had never even applied.” She shook her head. “Why didn’t I just leave well enough alone?”
    “We would all make different decisions and choices if we could see into the future.”
    “Yeah, well, how many people make choices that put a loved one’s life in danger?”
    Lizzy lifted a shoulder and left it at that.
    “Anyhow, I talked Miriam into applying, and, of course, she got into the program. If she wasn’t so damned beautiful, Wayne Bennett probably never would have paid her any mind. But as it was, he took an immediate interest in my sister and that was that.”
    “Did she complain about him?” Lizzy asked.
    “No. It was way worse than that. Poor beautiful Miriam fell in love with Wayne Bennett.”
    “Really?”
    “Yep. It took Miriam about twenty-four hours to fall for the guy. As if she knows what love is, right? She’s eighteen. He’s way too old for her. I just figured it was a harmless infatuation. Think about it,” Tammy said, leaning forward, her voice lowering. “Tall, handsome, distinguished, smart, and compassionate. A well-respected man looked up to in the community, a man who wasn’t satisfied with making millions of dollars but who claimed to have a burning need to help others.” Tammy moaned in disgust. “If my sister had made a list describing her perfect mate, Wayne Bennett would have fallen at the top of the list.”
    They both watched Tammy’s son run around the apartment making airplane noises, his wooden airplane rising to the floor and then back to the sky, around and around. The kid stopped in front of Lizzy, his airplane held frozen in holding mode. “Are you gonna find Aunt Miriam?”
    “I don’t know,” Lizzy said. “I sure hope so.”
    The little boy took off again. When he was out of earshot, Lizzy said, “In your opinion, is it possible Miriam and Mr. Bennett formed an intimate relationship?”
    “Not only is it possible—it happened. Our father is an asshole, so Miriam moved in with me. She’s been living here with my boy and me for a while now. After she met Mr. Bennett, I would get daily updates. If he so much as looked at her, I heard about it. The first time he took her to dinner, I thought her head would explode from excitement alone.”
    “Did she know he was married?”
    “She’s a smart girl, remember? Of course she did.”
    “So she must have known it wouldn’t last forever.”
    “She was book smart, I guess, not exactly relationship smart. Like a lot of mistresses out there, Miriam thought she was special.”
    “So what do you think happened? Do you think he told her it was over and she left