18

Boyett Farm

Good Hollow Road, Fayetteville, 11:00 a.m.

Vera stood in the middle of her father s bedroom. She wasn t looking forward to this. But it had to be done before any sort of official search-which was no doubt coming.

As soon as Luna had left for work that morning, Vera had started going through the house. With last night s shopping foray, there had been no time until now. But she d made great headway this morning. She d started in the living room and then moved on to the kitchen. Then the dining room and the library. Even the laundry room and powder room. The downstairs hadn t been so difficult.

On the other hand, upstairs hadn t been nearly as simple. Vera had gone through Luna s room first. She came home for lunch often, and the last thing Vera wanted was to be caught rifling through her things. Luna had kept a number of items that belonged to her mother. Mostly little things, like jewelry and trinkets. Like a child in a woman s body, Sheree had been a fan of shiny things. Vera scolded herself for being so unkind, but the woman had made their lives miserable.

Thankfully it hadn t lasted long.

No one should ever be grateful about another person s death . . . except she and Eve couldn t help being thankful for the reprieve. Being responsible for Sheree s death had never been their intent . . . the same way killing the Wicked Witch of the West hadn t been Dorothy s.

Vera shook off the weird metaphor.

The new dress Luna had chosen last evening for the upcoming memorial still hung in the plastic the store clerk had pulled over the hanger. It was a conservative black dress that fit Luna beautifully. She insisted that Vera choose something as well. Since Vera hadn t come prepared to attend a memorial service, she grabbed a black sheath and a pair of matching heels. She felt bad that Eve wasn t with them, so she bought her a little black dress as well.

She doubted Eve would appreciate the effort, but it made Vera feel better. Sometimes you did things for others just to boost your own self-esteem.

Speaking of Eve, her room had been relatively easy. She wasn t a clotheshorse or a collector of things. Her room was sparsely furnished. Oddly so. And dark. Vera couldn t remember her sister being brooding when they were kids. But then, people changed. Especially after major trauma.

She thought of Bent and decided that maybe she hadn t handled things quite so well after all. But she had survived with somewhat fewer scars than Eve.

The longer she stood here in her father s room and put off what she needed to do, the longer it would take. She surveyed the space. Might as well get this over with.

Vera started with the bedside tables. Luna had ensured that everything-except those items she had taken to Hillside for him-had stayed just as it was. Luna or Eve had placed the framed photo of Vera s and Eve s mother next to the one of Sheree on the table on their father s side of the bed. Or maybe he d put it there himself at some point. Honestly, Vera couldn t recall him speaking of her mother those last two years she was at home before she went off to college. The first year because he d been totally enthralled with Sheree and the second because he d been far too devastated about her behavior and then her disappearance. After that, Sheree and Luna were all he had talked about.

Vera shook her head at the letters in the drawer of her father s bedside table. He d written letters to Sheree after she was gone. Eve read them back then, which only made her feel worse. Vera tossed the faded envelopes aside. The whole thing had disgusted her. Maybe she d never been so madly in love with someone to understand how emotion would run a person into the ground. Her father had lost his ability to reason . . . to function. Not so great for his children.

Eve was likely the only reason Luna had turned out okay.

Vera hadn t been around. But she had helped from afar.

She thought of the times Luna had come to spend a couple of weeks with her during the summer. She d been so in awe of Vera s life and work.

Nothing to be inspired by now, she muttered as she moved on to the bedside table her mother had used before Sheree.

Everything inside was Sheree s. Glittering barrettes for her hair. Three kinds of lip gloss. An eye mask for sleeping undisturbed by light. A perfume bottle. Vera frowned. She d always hated the stout smell of Sheree s perfume.

She moved on to the dresser. Nothing but the usual in those drawers. Underthings and socks. Scarves. Gloves. Belts. The closet offered nothing exciting either. Some of their father s clothes. Some of Sheree s. Way in the back, beyond their father s stuff, were some of Evelyn s things. Vera smiled as she dragged her fingers over the one elegant dress her mother had owned. It was silk. A rose color that had looked so beautiful with her blonde hair and blue eyes. Vera had only ever seen her wear it once. To a friend s wedding. Vera remembered she and Eve had worn floral print dresses with a hint of that same rose scattered through the pattern. Numerous people had mentioned how beautiful they looked.

Vera shook off the bittersweet memories and continued her search of the room. So far there was nothing of interest. Just to be sure, she checked under the bed and the dresser. Beneath the side tables and under the mattress. If there had been anything here related to Sheree and whatever she was doing just before she vanished, Vera couldn t find it. Nothing about the other victims in the cave. Not that she really thought there would be.

The three- or four-year-old set of remains had kept Vera awake most of the night.

Who was he, and how the hell had he ended up in their cave? It made no sense at all. But the truth was that her father had been fully capable of being out and about until just over two years ago. Was it possible he d had an encounter with this person and the incident ended in murder? Possibly.

But why? Vera just couldn t get right with any sort of motive.

She dismissed the idea and moved on in her search. Nothing relevant in the upstairs bathroom. Finally she did a walk-through of her own room. She hadn t left much when she headed off to college. Clothes from her high school years and a journal from when she was twelve. Her cell vibrated in her hip pocket. She checked the screen. Eve. Vera braced for more trouble.

Vera accepted the call. Hey.

We need to talk. Now. In person.

Definitely bad news.

Where are you? Vera walked out of her room and headed for the stairs.

Rose Hill. Meet me at Mama s grave. We ll have privacy there.

Coming now, Vera promised.

Rose Hill Cemetery

Washington Street, Fayetteville, 11:40 a.m.

Eve had said to come right away . . . that she would be waiting. Twelve minutes after Vera arrived, her sister still wasn t there. Damn it. The funeral home wasn t that far away. She glanced across the headstones toward Morgan Avenue and then College Street. She and her sister always parked on the Washington side of the cemetery.

Finally Vera spotted her sister walking down the hill. Vera sat down on the bench she d added-thankfully next to her mother s grave, since Luna had decided Sheree would be interred on the other side of their father.

I thought you were coming right over, Vera said when Eve was in earshot.

She shook her head. I forgot I didn t have a car. I had to find someone who could bring me.

Vera made a face. When are you getting your car back? We could order you a rental. No one hated waiting more than Vera. It was a serious pet peeve.

Eve sat down beside her. I ll have it on Friday. No big deal.

So what s happened now? Vera wasn t looking forward to the news. Wouldn t be good. Eve s voice had told her that when she called.

Bent was at the AA meeting this morning.

You said he comes sometimes. Vera didn t see the reason for this impromptu meeting in that statement. Sadly, she suspected the shoe just hadn t dropped yet.

Yeah, but today he wanted to talk about back when Sheree disappeared and how Daddy acted. He wanted to know what happened with Mr. Garner and with Taylor, the nurse. It s like he s pushing the idea of pinning this on Daddy.

The spouses are always considered first, Vera explained. His scrutiny of Daddy is not unusual. Didn t we talk about this already? He asked me basically the same questions.

Yeah, yeah. Eve waved off the reminder. It s the other part that worries me.

Dread settled in Vera s gut. What other part? If you re referring to the three sets of remains besides Sheree s, I ve been thinking that those might actually help our situation. She could hope. Jesus, what was she saying? Three other people had been murdered and placed in that cave. Being grateful for the news was . . . not right somehow.

Eve hesitated a moment before launching into her explanation. He said the preliminary examination showed multiple fractures to Sheree s skull.

Why hadn t he told Vera this? Worry tightened its way through her chest. Based on what happened, I don t see how that s possible. I mean, obviously she died of head trauma, which would likely result in a skull fracture. You said her head hit the sink, but how would that have created multiple fractures?

Eve shrugged. How do I know? Luna was screaming. Sheree was trying to shove her head under the bathwater. I just understood in that moment that I had to stop her. So yeah, her head hit the sink. Her face twisted in confusion. But then we did drop her a couple of times going down the stairs. And we tossed her into that trailer pretty hard. Wouldn t that do it?

Vera chewed her lip. Her sister had a point. I suppose it s possible.

She tried to recall more precisely the details of those moments when they were grunting and hefting Sheree s lifeless body. She d felt like a ton of bricks. They had dropped her at least once. Vera shook off the memory of how they d swung her back and forth for a moment, then pitched her into the trailer. It was the only way they could get her in there. At least in their adolescent minds.

Still, the news was troubling. Sweat beaded on Vera s skin as her gut turned and twisted with the need to vomit. It was conceivable that Sheree s head had hit the stair tread or the metal rails on the trailer hard enough to cause a fracture. They hadn t exactly been thinking about protecting her from further injury. She was dead, for God s sake.

So we don t worry about this, Eve said, her expression hopeful.

Right. We just stay calm and wait for the final autopsy report, Vera agreed. We ll know more about the type and pattern of fractures then. There is nothing to be gained by borrowing trouble at this point.

Frankly, Sheree s injuries might end up being the least of their worries.

Okay, Eve said, sounding only marginally relieved. I ll try not to worry about it.

There s something else I learned late yesterday, but since I didn t see you last night, I wasn t able to share the details.

Eve made a face. Why? All you had to do was call.

I wanted to do it in person. Remember what I said about phone calls.

Eve made a frustrated sound. Yeah. Yeah. I meant you could have called for a meeting.

I was just too exhausted after going to the mall with Luna. Vera had needed to be more rested and alert for this-to analyze her sister s reaction to the latest news.

Guilt heaped onto her shoulders for allowing the notion of distrust to linger.

The other remains-except for the male vic-were posed the same as Sheree. But the really bizarre part is that all three had a silver cross necklace-the exact same type. If there was one with the male victim, they haven t found it.

Eve blinked, once, twice. Are you serious?

As a heart attack.

Her sister made one of those groans of disbelief. How did that happen?

I don t know. The resigned admission sent more of that ice forming in Vera s veins.

Then somebody does know what we did, Eve suggested, obviously referring to the text messages they had received. They know, and maybe they think we copied what they did. Now that the police are involved, they re trying to scare us or maybe pin their shit on us.

Vera looked away. Felt sick with the notion that her sister could possibly be correct in her assumption. The question is Who knew about the cave?

I did not tell anyone, Eve snapped, and even if I had when I was on a binge, that would have been years ago. Besides two of the victims were there before we . . .

Her words trailed off. Obviously, she d just had the same thought as Vera. No matter how they looked at it, this appeared more and more like their father was involved . . . or, at the very least, someone he knew.

Jesus Christ.

Okay -Vera drew in a big breath- no matter what we think we know, we need to confirm the details we re certain about. For that matter, the victims who were killed before Sheree may not have been put in the cave until after we put her there. The idea gained momentum as Vera talked. We won t know for sure on that until the remains and everything around them have been analyzed. The approximate time of death doesn t necessarily mean the cave was their first resting place. Considering the extended time involved, the results could be inconclusive, and we might never know when or how they ended up in the cave.

Eve shook her head. I m confused. What do you mean we have to confirm the details we re certain about?

We need to recall every single thing we saw that day. Only what we saw with our own eyes is certain. Vera allowed the memories to flash through her brain. Maybe we saw something in that cave the day we put Sheree there that might make a difference in regard to the other victims.

Eve nodded slowly. When you really think about it, this could be good, right? The extra victims, I mean. Bent could determine that the same person killed them all. If that person is no longer alive or around . . . then we wouldn t have to worry anymore.

Vera couldn t deny having had the same thought. Maybe. At this point, I m not sure of anything. And there is the man who was murdered more recently. She stood. Come on, I should let you get back to the funeral home. She cast a final look at their mother s grave. Their lives would have been so different if she hadn t died.

Vera almost laughed at herself for indulging in that fantasy. Her grandmother always said that if a frog had wings, it wouldn t bump its butt when it hopped.

She and Eve didn t talk as they wove their way through the cemetery. What was there to say? There was a big chance they were in serious trouble here, but it wasn t as bad as it could be. Based on Vera s experience, it would be difficult to pin Sheree s death on them-on anyone for that matter. Even if some evidence was found on or near her remains that implicated Eve or Vera, they had lived in the same house with the woman. Most things could be explained away.

The thing that worried Vera was the other victims. How had those happened? Who in this little town had killed three people without anyone noticing their disappearances? The only reasonable explanation was that the victims were not from the area. The biggest mystery was the identity of the person who knew about the cave. The answer to that one was what they needed.

Has anyone around the county gone missing and the case remains unsolved? she asked, more a thought spoken. Bent was likely looking into this already.

Eve slowed to a stop next to a tall headstone, seemed to consider the question. People have gone missing for sure, but I can t recall anyone specifically who was never found like Sheree. Not around here anyway. It would have been on the news and in the papers.

They moved toward the street once more. If Vera had been at the top of her game, she and Bent would have talked about this already. Damn it.

Eve suddenly stopped again.

Vera almost bumped into her. She started to ask what was wrong, but then she saw the trouble. Someone had written words on the driver s side window of her SUV.

I know what you did.

Before Vera could move closer and touch the letters, her cell vibrated. She ignored it and continued toward her car. The vibrating stopped but then immediately started again. This time she dragged out her phone and checked the screen. Could be Bent with more news.

Luna.

Vera accepted the call. Hey, Lu. What s up?

Eve turned and stared at her, waiting for whatever was coming next. At this point they were both gun shy. Every call was like a warning blast.

You need to find Eve, Luna said sounding frantic, and come home. Right now.

Vera looked to Eve. We ll be right there.