Vicious by Debra Webb

Accomplishing the job was a little awkward, but she managed. Then she washed her hands and waited.
    Three minutes felt like a lifetime sprawling before her.
    She bent down and fished her cell from her bag. She might as well do something while she waited. Thumbing through her contact list, she paused on Buddy Corlew’s name and gave him a tap. During the three rings that followed, she shoved the test boxes and pamphlets back into the bag. That reminded her, she’d hidden the first test she’d used in the toilet tank. She should dispose of it, too.
    As she reached for the tank lid Corlew croaked a hello. “What’s wrong with you?” she asked. He sounded sick or like he had a hellacious hangover.
    “Flu or some such nonsense.” He coughed. “What’s up, kid?”
    As she stood there holding the evidence of her latest secret, she had a moment of déjà vu. She’d called Corlew yesterday morning just before she’d had to make that unexpected trip to Tennessee. She wondered why it was that her first instinct was to call him. Definitely not because she trusted him… not by a long shot. Maybe because they’d known each other since grade school and he was from the same neighborhood as her. As kids they had lived a world away from Mountain Brook and Dan’s crowd.
    “Did you go to the doctor?” She sank onto the toilet seat. If Corlew was sick, he probably hadn’t been able to look into that other business she didn’t want to talk about.
    “Vanessa took care of me.”
    Another coughing jag echoed in Jess’s ear. She made a face. He sounded terrible! “Who’s Vanessa?”
    “Quincy. We went to school with her. She’s a doctor.”
    Oh yes. Jess remembered her. “The girl who stole my pink purse in sixth grade.” The one her mother had given her for her tenth birthday. “The same girl who poured paint in my hair before the sophomore dance!” The freshman class had been tasked with painting a backdrop for the dance. The guy Vanessa liked had asked Jess to be his date. Vanessa had not been amused. Jess couldn’t believe that pesky girl was a doctor.
    “That’s the one. As a matter of fact, she asked me about you.”
    Jess peered at the test result windows. She frowned, wished they would hurry. “Why would she ask about me?”
    “She wondered if you were married and had any kids. Pediatrics is her specialty.”
    Twisting away from the incriminating evidence, Jess made a sound of disbelief. “Did you tell her no on both counts and that my career has kept me busy?” But that was all about to change. Jess chewed her lip. “Does she have any?”
    His laughter turned into another coughing jag. “I told her all about you and, yes, she has four kids.”
    Jess’s jaw dropped. “She’s a doctor and she has four kids?”
    “Yep.”
    If Jess was lucky he didn’t hear her scoffing sound. “More power to her.” Her frown deepened. “Why in the world did you call a pediatrician?”
    “She’s the only doc I know who makes house calls.”
    “For you maybe.” Every female in school had been enamored with Buddy Corlew. Except Jess. She had been in love with Dan. Most of the time. She and Buddy had their moments. But nothing ever came of a single one. Thank heavens.
    “What’s up, Jess? I know you didn’t just call to see if I was still breathing.”
    She stood, put her hand on her hip. “If you’re trying to make me feel guilty for not rushing over with chicken soup you can forget about it, Buddy Corlew.”
    “A guy can hope.”
    Jess rolled her eyes. Why the heck had she called him? Oh yeah. Stop skating around the issue. “I guess since you’re sick you haven’t had a chance to look into the accident that killed my parents?”
    “I started some preliminary searches,” he said, surprising her. “But it’ll take some time, Jessie Lee. You only asked me to do this yesterday, you know.”
    The past twenty-four hours felt like half a lifetime. She understood what she was asking him to do would take some