Convicted Read online

  "Al, stop it right now," Lisa snapped. She jerked the pie plate away from her sister and tossed it in the sink, not caring if it broke. "I'm not in the mood!"

  "I came home and you weren't here," Allegra cried through her mouthful of food.

  Lisa pointed to the notepad by the yellow wall phone. "I left you a note."

  Her sister swiped her mouth with the back of her hand and got up from the table. As she pulled open the refrigerator door, Lisa saw Allegra wore a short, leather skirt. No stockings. Her feet were bare with expertly painted crimson toenails. Allegra yanked the carton of milk from the door and began gulping the contents. Milk splattered on her and on the floor.

  "Enough!" As Lisa snatched the carton from her sister, she slid a little in the puddle. She shoved the carton back in the fridge. "Go to bed, Allegra!"

  "You weren't here when I got home," Allegra said. "And...the...house...was...dark!"

  Lisa felt like crying. She took her sister by the arm and pushed her down into her chair. "I left the light on in here for you. I left you a note. And don't tell me you waited for me here, Allegra, because I can tell by the way you're dressed that you went out anyway."

  A sly smile painted itself across Allegra's face. "You missed a really great time, Lisa."

  "Clean yourself up, and clean this place up," Lisa said coldly. "I mean it, Allegra."

  Allegra whined, a nasty, creeping noise that rose the hair on Lisa's neck. "Why didn't you wait for me, Lisa?"

  "I didn't want to go out to some bar and watch you get drunk and flirt," Lisa said bluntly.

  Allegra frowned. "You could've asked me out to dinner, too. You just didn't want to be with me."

  That was true, but Lisa knew better than to say so. "Go to bed."

  Allegra surveyed the mess in front of her. "Oh, God, I ate all this? I ate all this? I ate all this?"

  Lisa watched her sister's throat work, and disgust rose in her. "Dammit, Allegra, if you're going to puke, do it in the bathroom!"

  Allegra slammed the table with her hand, making the ashtray jump. "Why are you always so mean to me?"

  Lisa began to count to ten inside her head. She could have turned and walked away up the stairs to her bedroom, but that would not have stopped Allegra's outburst. Now she counted. She continued on to twenty before she felt calm enough to reply.

  "You are my sister and I love you," she said. "But we've been over this and over this, Allegra. I have a life. I have to have a life, Al!"

  Allegra's look of scorn cut Lisa so deeply she felt like she might be the one to get sick. "With Terry? Oh, please. I've seen you get more excited about a new pair of shoes."

  Her sister hit close to the mark, but Lisa wasn't about to admit it. "What do you have against Terry?"

  "You deserve better," Allegra muttered. She lit another cigarette, but as usual, didn't smoke it. Allegra never smoked them, just burned them.

  Lisa had heard that before. "That's for me to decide."

  "I'm going to bed," Allegra said, as though Lisa's comment wasn't worth answering.

  Even though that was all Lisa wanted--to sink into her bed and go to sleep--Allegra's casual response infuriated her. "I'm not cleaning up your mess this time. You made it. You clean it."

  Allegra looked stunned. Then her eyes narrowed. "I'll do it tomorrow."

  Lisa knew her sister well enough to know that wouldn't happen. The mess on the table and sink would begin to draw flies before Allegra would take care of it. "Do it now."

  "You can't tell me what to do," Allegra said.

  Lisa squared her shoulders. "You spoiled, little brat. I'm tired of cleaning up after you! When you moved in here, we agreed you'd do your share. I expect you to start doing it!"

  It was like watching a movie in fast forward. One minute Allegra was scowling, her face dark with fury, and in the next second she was wreathed in smiles. "Sure. Okay. You're right."

  Lisa, who'd been prepared to go to battle, felt herself deflate in the face of Allegra's sudden good humor. "Thank you."

  "Boy," Allegra joked as she began clearing the trash from the table. "Getting knocked on your ass really put you in a bad mood."

  It wasn't until she was slipping into her cozy sheets that Lisa realized something strange. How had Allegra known about the mugging? Lisa hadn't told her.

  * * * *

  Deacon had every intention of quitting Monday morning. He went to Doug Shadd's office, knocked on the door, and went inside when Doug invited him to. He even opened his mouth to explain he appreciated the job offer, but he'd be unable to continue.

  Twenty minutes later, he left Doug's office with a thick file of notes, site photos and budget requirements for a new town project. As he walked down the hall toward the doors leading outside to the greenhouse, he couldn't help smiling ruefully. Now he knew where Lisa got her stubborn will.

  Doug hadn't given him a minute to list his reasons for quitting. In a way, Deacon was glad for the older man's take-charge attitude. Without this job, he'd never be able to move back out on his own. He didn't want to work at the Evergreen forever.

  Leaving St. Mary's wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. He'd done it before during his brief stint in college and for internships at some of the larger horticultural facilities in the state. Hershey, with its chocolate-scented air and bushes shaped to spell the name of the factory, had been nice. So had working in Lancaster for Longwood Gardens. He'd particularly enjoyed the water gardens there.

  But nothing beat coming back home to the mountains.

  Allegra waited for him outside his office door. Today, instead of black leather, she wore a blue-and-white checked dress that looked like it came straight out of a 1950's tv sitcom. She even had a string of pearls looped around her neck. The dress might be a vintage resale shop find, but those pearls weren't costume jewelry. Allegra toyed with the strand as though enticing him to comment on the necklace's beauty. Deacon didn't.

  "Good morning, Allegra," he said politely, and tried to brush past her into the office.

  "So, you and Lisa are going to be working on the new Memorial Park children's garden. Should be fun." Allegra leaned back against the doorframe, blocking his entrance.

  Lisa? Deacon's smile turned to a frown as he thought of Doug's good-natured insistence he take this particular project. He hadn't mentioned Lisa when giving it to Deacon.

  As if sensing his distress, Allegra gave him a commiserating smile. "It won't be that bad."

  She was up to something. He just didn't know what. "Why would it be bad?"

  Allegra's look was knowing. "Don't play dumb with me, Deacon. Or maybe you're not playing."

  He ignored her jibe about his intelligence. "I need to get into my office."

  "I'm just surprised you can stand to look at her after what she did to you," Allegra said blithely, as though she hadn't heard him. "I'd never send my boyfriend to jail. My sister's just too honest for her own good. She always has to do what she thinks is...right."

  "I know."

  What should have been a compliment became an insult with Allegra's sneer. She shook her head, as though she just couldn't believe Lisa's stupidity. Deacon physically pushed past her, and Allegra laughed as she stepped out of his way.

  After he shut the door, Deacon thought about Allegra's words. Lisa had to do what she thought was right. It was something he admired about her, something he liked. Until, of course, her honest nature had sent him to jail.

  But could he blame her? He'd seen the surveillance tapes. If he hadn't known he was in the bathroom while the real criminal stole his helmet and committed the crime, Deacon would have thought himself guilty, too. There was no denying the similarity in build, dress and demeanor between him and the real perp--not to mention the guy was wearing his cycle helmet. Deacon knew Lisa really believed him to be the man on the tapes who helped himself to the cash register. What he didn't understand was how she could have believed her eyes and not her heart?

  There was no use dwelling on the pa