Sweet and Deadly by Charlaine Harris Page A

can accept the fact that she was a blackmailer, without being awfully surprised, Catherine reflected.
    The swinging door rocked back and forth as Salton Sims, the Gazette ’s press operator, came through. Salton approached everything at an angle, so until the moment he ended up at the side of her desk, Catherine had hopes she would be bypassed. Salton had appeared to be heading toward the filing cabinets.
    â€œI missed seeing you when you was in the back,” he said cheerfully.
    Catherine’s heart sank. No escape. Salton was known and dreaded throughout the county for his complete tactlessness and his equally complete determination to have his say.
    â€œBet that ole Leona Gaites was a sight with her head bashed in,” Salton began. “Bloody, huh?”
    Catherine cast around for help, but Tom was still away at the courthouse.
    â€œYes, Salton, she sure was, and I’d just as soon not discuss it, if you don’t mind,” Catherine said hopefully.
    Salton stuck his hands in the pockets of his grease-soaked jump suit and grinned at Catherine.
    â€œWell, you know what I say?” he asked her.
    â€œI’ll bet you’re going to tell me.”
    â€œDamn right! No one can call me two-faced.”
    Boy, that’s the truth, she thought.
    â€œI say,” he continued, “that it’s a good thing.”
    â€œSalton!” She shouldn’t have been shocked, but she was. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Leila come into the room and begin filing at the bank of cabinets. Maybe Leila’s presence would inhibit Salton, who thought all females under twenty were sacred. But no such luck.
    â€œNo, Catherine, you just think about it. It was a good thing. Leona was a godless woman.”
    â€œGodless?” repeated Catherine weakly. How long has it been since I heard anyone called that? She wondered. Only Salton would use that adjective.
    â€œSure, sure. I know for a fact, from a lady I won’t name, that she killed babies.”
    Catherine finally understood what Leona had used some of Dr. Linton’s equipment for. She glanced at Leila desperately and saw that Leila was shaken to the bone, staring in horror at Salton’s broad face.
    â€œI guess you mean that she performed abortions,” Catherine said slowly.
    â€œThat’s what a lady told me,” Salton said with satisfaction.
    â€œBut they’re legal,” Catherine protested. “You can get them thirty miles away in Memphis.” Were they legal in Mississippi? She couldn’t remember.
    â€œToo many people from here go to Memphis every day,” Salton rebutted. “Any kid from here who went to Memphis for a thing like that would be caught in a minute. And what teenager could leave here for two days to go to Jackson, without their parents finding out what for and why?”
    â€œTrue,” Catherine admitted.
    â€œWell, back to that cursed old press,” Salton said happily, and wandered swiftly through the door, by some trick appearing until the last minute to be on a collision course with the wall.
    Abortions. Wonderful. Abortion and blackmail payments: what a legacy I’ve inherited! That’s where those medical instruments went: Leona was supplementing her Social Security.
    Catherine caught herself bundling all her hair together and holding it on top of her head, a nervous habit she thought she had discarded with college exams. But she remained like that, both elbows out in the air, until she caught sight of Leila, whom she had completely forgotten.
    Leila seemed equally oblivious of Catherine. She was still looking at the swinging door through which Salton had passed, her face so miserable that Catherine felt obliged to ask her if she was feeling sick.
    â€œListen,” said Leila urgently, then stopped to look back through the archway that led into the reception area. There was no one there, but Leila came and sat close to Catherine’s desk. The girl was