36
Stone Bridge Memorial Park
Thornton Taylor Parkway, Fayetteville, 6:20 p.m.
Vera parked in the lot and walked down to the spot by the water she and Eve had loved most. The park wasn t so large, but it was interesting. With a trail that meandered along the water and a gazebo hidden in the trees. Ducks waddled along, heading for the water. It was peaceful and somewhat secluded, no matter that it was actually in the middle of their little town.
Within two or three minutes of Vera s arrival, Eve showed up. Vera had already taken a seat on her favorite boulder. More of the big rocks were scattered about in the park and along the river. Eve settled on the one she had favored as a child. Funny how some things you just never forgot.
This must be bad, Eve suggested.
Depends on how you define bad . If being questioned by the FBI fits your definition for bad , then, yeah, it s bad.
Eve s eyes widened a little. Her body eased back a fraction, as if drawing away from the danger. How did it go? She shook her head. I mean, have they figured anything out?
For a few seconds Vera thought about how to answer that question. Too early to tell. As much as she wanted to, Vera couldn t put off the other. I need some answers from you, Eve. I need the whole truth about everything, and I need it now.
I know. Eve bowed her head for a moment, toed the grass. Fire away.
Fire away? Vera made a face. What the hell? Where was the insistence that she d told Vera everything already? The roll of her eyes and remark about having been over this territory before? Since her sister stared expectantly at her, Vera opted to let it go and press on.
Let s start with the easiest question first, she suggested. Was the dead guy in our cave Suri s microbiology instructor?
Eve sighed. I was hoping they wouldn t figure out that part.
They didn t, Vera said. I did.
Eve stiffened visibly. Did you tell Bent?
Of all the things she could have asked. No, not yet.
She relaxed. Good.
Good? Vera wanted to shake her. But she needed her to keep talking. Next question: Did you not notice the two other sets of remains in there when you helped your friend dispose of her dead teacher? Vera took a second, steadied the emotions raging inside her. And why in the world did Suri kill him?
She didn t. Eve bit her lower lip.
Vera froze. Oh hell. You killed him?
He was a really bad guy, Vee. I wouldn t have-
Holy shit! What re you now? Dexter?
Jesus Christ. Just when she thought things couldn t get worse. Her sister had killed a man and hid him in the cave on their property! Almost worse, rather than explain how such a tragic event had been some sort of accident, she offered why he deserved to die.
How the hell did this happen? Vera demanded.
When Suri was his student, he raped her.
Some of Vera s anger bled away. I m really sorry to hear that, Eve, but still. Did you have to kill him? Her voice rose with each word.
I know. Eve looked away. We were in Huntsville at the mall. We ran into him, and he was oh so talky, talky. Telling Suri how proud he was that she d done so well for herself. He said he d kept up with her all these years. Suri said almost nothing, and when he finally moved on, she rushed to the bathroom and vomited. It took me awhile, but I dragged the story out of her.
Why didn t she go to the police when the rape happened?
Because he warned that if she told anyone, she would fail his class, and he d turn it around as if she pursued him. She was young and afraid, Eve explained, her face urging her sister to understand.
Apparently the young woman at the college had been right about the professor having a god complex.
Too many women had been scared away from going to the police with tactics like the one Eve s friend had experienced. I m with you so far, but how did running into him again lead to murder?
He started coming around. She would go to dinner here in town and see him there. At the Walmart . . . at the grocery store. Suddenly he was here all the time like he was stalking her.
Vera didn t want to doubt the story, but that would have meant the guy was pretty stupid. Or a serial rapist with obsession issues . . . as well as a god complex. Damn.
While all this was going on, Eve said, I did a little research on the guy. I found out there were rumors he d had relationships with other students. I tracked down one woman, and she had basically the same experience as Suri. He raped her. But she wouldn t go to the police then, and she wouldn t when I begged her to. She was too afraid of the arrogant prick.
Vera hated men like the bastard Eve was describing. You know you could have called me.
I was going to call you, Eve agreed. But then he showed up at Suri s place.
Where she lives now?
Eve nodded. It s on the edge of town, that little house she inherited from her grandmother. You remember, the school bus used to stop there for her brother.
Vera did remember. She d driven by there looking for Eve just a couple of hours ago. Secluded for sure. So he found out where she lived, Vera suggested. Caught her there where no one was likely to see him. She hated the idea of where this was going.
His only mistake was in not realizing I was there too, Eve explained. It was a Saturday, and I d come home with Suri that Friday and spent the night. My car wasn t there, so he had no idea she had company. He intended to rape her again, Vee. He was already tearing off her clothes and shoving her around when I intervened.
Vera closed her eyes. Shook her head. What did you do?
I hit him in the head with a cast-iron skillet.
Damn. It would have taken one hell of a lick to end his life.
Eve stared at the ground a moment. I may have hit him a couple more times when he staggered away from her and at me. She stared at her hands. I hit him until he stopped moving.
Vera reached out and took her hands. I probably would have done the same thing. Maybe not the repeated-blows part, but the sister side of her got it.
Eve s gaze collided with hers. I m sorry, Vee. I should have told you, but I hoped they wouldn t find that part of the cave.
How did you know about that part? Did you go back there after . . . Sheree? You must have seen the other piles of rocks.
Eve nodded. I went back a few times. And, yes, I knew about the others.
Vera scrubbed at the tension throbbing in her temples. Why in the world would you go back? She had known this was coming, and still it threw her. Why didn t you tell me about the others?
First off, you know how I feel about the dead. They had no one to visit them. So I did. I knew the others were there from the beginning, but I couldn t tell you.
Vera stood. Paced back and forth next to the water, wished she could jump in and swim away. But she wouldn t get far . . . that was the problem in her life. However she tried, she could never get away clean.
She stalled, glared at her sister. Just tell me Daddy didn t kill those women. She looked away. I know in my heart -she stared at her sister once more- that Mama couldn t have done it. Vera wilted back onto her rock.
I honestly don t know who killed them, but it was Mama who hid them there.
No. Anger flashed. I don t believe you. Just as suddenly Vera s insides went ice cold. No. No. No. Her mother would never have hurt another human. This was wrong. A lie. Eve had to have misunderstood whatever she saw or heard. Or made it up, damn it.
It s true, Eve said, her voice small but firm.
Mama would not have killed anyone, Vera argued, angry again.
I wouldn t have killed anyone either, Eve argued. But it happened.
Frankly, Vera snapped, I can see you killing someone before Mama.
Eve made a pained face. Really? Thanks.
Vera ordered the intensifying emotions to calm. She had to think . . . rationally. Just tell me what you saw or heard that makes you believe Mama had something to do with those remains. Not possible. No way.
I only saw them hiding the first body.
Them? Vera thought of the things their father had said this morning when he thought she was Evelyn. Strangely enough, his words were beginning to make sense. And it made Vera sick.
Two of her friends helped put the bodies there. Eve s expression shifted to one of deep concentration. Or maybe she helped them. I can t be sure. And I only saw them doing the first one. I wasn t home when the second one happened. She bit her lips together for a moment. I didn t tell you, because Mama told me I could never tell anyone. That it had to be our secret. Hers and mine.
Vera could imagine how that would have made Eve feel special. She had always needed just a little bit more. Maybe because of being so much younger than Vera. Still, what she was saying . . . she had to be wrong. Let s put the absolute impossibility of what you re saying aside for a moment-
I m sorry, Eve said. I know this is hard, but it s true.
I can t . . . Vera shook her head, crossed her arms over her chest. I can t accept what you re suggesting.
See, Eve fired back, this is exactly why I couldn t tell you even after Bent found them. I knew you wouldn t believe me. The stark pain in her eyes warned she was being honest . . . at least on some level. And I m not suggesting. This is the truth, Vee.
All right. Vera took a breath, gathered her spiraling thoughts as best she could. How did you learn about any of this?
I followed them to the cave that first time.
So you know who the friends were? Vera felt confident of their identities-which oddly made her immensely happy, in spite of all the rest. She couldn t wait to wield this information over that pompous ass, Florence Higdon. Her hopes faded. Unless Higdon had only been helping their mother with what she had done. Shit! Shit! Shit!
Florence Higdon and Beatrice Fraley.
Beatrice was like their mother: she would never purposely hurt anyone. Florence had to be the one who murdered those women. A bitter taste rose in Vera s throat. This wasn t as simple as that. Very little ever was. She, of all people, understood that sometimes a person did things they wouldn t generally do.
Were they aware you knew? Vera couldn t see that scenario . . . otherwise one or both would surely have spilled the story by now. Then again, the idea could explain the scenario the two had shared with Walt when Sheree disappeared. Make the sisters look guilty in the event Eve ever dared tell anyone. It would be Eve s words against those of pillars of the community.
No. Mama said they couldn t know. No one could.
The bottom line is you can t be certain who killed those women? Vera s gut twisted into a few thousand more knots.
I can t, Eve admitted. But I know Mama felt bad for the women. We went there sometimes and left flowers and prayed for them. The last time we went, just before she died, Mama put cross necklaces on their graves.
Vera cleared her head and struggled to get the rest of the details straight. How did Sheree get one of those?
I put it there. Like Mama, I felt bad for her.
Vera squared her shoulders and forced all the emotions aside. Okay. Let s go back to the beginning and make sure I have the details right. When was the first woman put in the cave, and how did you see it?
Eve cleared her throat. It was the day you went to Lake Winnie with your friend-the year before Mama died. She waited a moment for Vera to find that place in her memory, then she continued. Florence and Beatrice came over, and Mama said there was something they had to do. I was to stay in the house. But I watched from the window. They had something in Daddy s wheelbarrow. When they pushed it toward the barn, I sneaked out and followed them. I thought maybe it was a new mystery night set up. You remember those?
Vera nodded. How could she forget? Those were some of her fondest memories.
Anyway, Eve went on, they went all the way to the cave. While they were getting her inside, Mama heard me in the bushes. I gasped or something. Later she took me to the cave and showed me, because she knew I would look anyway.
Vera s heart sank lower with every word. When her sister at last stopped talking, Vera took a breath, only then realizing she d been holding it.
Mama never told you who killed them? You didn t see how the body arrived at our house?
Eve shook her head. No, and I never asked. I m not sure I fully understood the bigger picture at the time.
Of course she hadn t-she was what? Nine years old? Vera steadied herself and took stock of their options. We have to find the answer to that question before we take this to Bent.
There s more.
Vera s gaze locked with her sister s. Her heart squeezed and then started thumping wildly again. What?
You said you wanted the whole truth.
Vera nodded; her throat closed.
When Sheree died, Eve said quietly, it wasn t just Luna s crying that woke me up. It was Sheree and Daddy arguing.
And there it was. Vera s absolute last hope evaporated. He killed her in a jealous rage? Jesus, had he killed Rimmey, too, as the FBI suggested? How could she not have picked up on any of this?
No. Listen. I heard Luna screaming, just like I told you, so I climbed out of bed and went to see what was happening, Eve went on. I heard him say, What were you thinking? And Sheree said, I never wanted that damned baby. Daddy warned that if she ever laid another hand on Luna, he would go to the police. He told her to leave. Eve rolled her eyes. The idiot said she wasn t leaving without a little incentive.
Vera gritted her teeth. That sounded exactly like something the bitch would have said. How in the hell had their daddy ever gotten himself tied up with that woman? Vera instantly felt contrite. Without Sheree there would have been no Luna.
Luna kept screaming, and Sheree was telling him to shut her up. It was awful. Eve shuddered visibly. Sheree must have reached for Luna, because he said she better never touch her again, and then she went batshit crazy. I got to the bathroom door just in time to see her charge Daddy. Luna was in his arms. He shoved Sheree back, and that s when she fell and hit her head on the toilet.
The imagery made Vera feel even sicker, but she had to hear the rest of this ever-worsening nightmare.
I asked what was going on, and Sheree scrambled up and charged at me. Daddy grabbed her by the arm and pulled her off me and shoved her away. She flew backward, hit her head on the sink on the way down. I think she hit a lot harder that time, because she didn t get up.
When Eve didn t speak again for a minute, Vera prompted, What happened then?
Eve took a breath. Daddy handed the baby to me. She was soaking wet with her clothes and diaper on. He said Sheree was trying to drown her. She had called him at work and said she couldn t take her crying anymore. That s why he came home. He had a flat tire on his truck, so he had to borrow a car. Vee, he showed up in the nick of time, or Luna would be dead. I don t think I could have stopped Sheree, even if I d woken up in time and heard her in there. I d never seen her act that crazy. She must have been on something.
Vera cringed at the idea of how the whole thing could have played out. What did you and Daddy do after it was clear Sheree was dead?
He cried. He kept saying who would take care of his girls if he went to prison. I told him to leave, and I d pretend I did it and that you would help me figure it out. It took me a minute, but I finally convinced him. Eve s expression turned confused. The funny thing is, it was like he didn t remember it happening. Later . . . I mean. She rubbed at her forehead, as if the memory puzzled her. Like after he reported her missing, I waited until you were in the other room with Luna and told him not to worry, that we had taken care of everything. He acted like he had no clue what I meant.
Sometimes people block that sort of trauma. Vera reviewed the facts. Obviously what happened with Sheree was sad and unfortunate, but it wasn t murder. Their father had been protecting Luna and then Eve. Manslaughter . . . maybe. The rub lay with their mother and the other two female victims. This was the part that pained Vera the most. According to the PI, Teresa Russ, one of the women Mama helped bury was having an affair with someone here. Someone wealthy and important.
Eve suddenly realized what she meant. No way was it Daddy. He adored Mama. No way. I know he screwed up with Sheree, but that was different. He wasn t himself. Mama was dying, and he was out of his mind.
You re right, Vera admitted. Not that there was ever any excuse. That leaves either Charles Higdon or Walt Fraley-considering their wives were the others involved in the cover-up. Which would mean Mama was only helping a friend hide what she or he had done.
The scenario went along with the things her father had said. The longer Vera thought about it, the more momentum the idea gained. Maybe only because she wanted so badly for it to be anyone but her father, preferably Higdon.
I know Mama felt sorry for both those women, Eve noted. She said that no one deserved to die that way. A frown tugged at her face. You think she would have felt that way if one or both were involved with Daddy?
Probably not, Vera said, working hard to think logically, but the sympathy you thought she felt may have been regret for what he did and how it prompted her to do what she did. Her chest constricted, and a deep breath just wouldn t come. Then she remembered another aspect of that time period. The second set of remains would have been placed in the cave around the time Mama got sick.
That s right, Eve confirmed. I didn t even think about the cave until way later.
Right, Vera said, her thoughts zeroing in on the one detail that might prove a saving grace. I can t pinpoint a particular memory of anything happening between Mama and her friends, but I also can t remember either one coming around after her diagnosis. No visits or calls to see how she was doing. No casseroles. I considered this before, but now that I know the rest, it might mean more than I first thought.
Oh my God, Eve said, her face lighting up. You re right. Those two never came to see her after she got sick. Not once. Wait . . . She put her hand to her mouth before going on. Mama was mad after the second woman was put in the cave. Really mad. I m pretty sure that s when her friends stopped coming around. Mama said something like once was a mistake, but purposely doing it again was unforgiveable.
Anticipation zinging, Vera tried to think if she d seen Beatrice or Florence at the funeral. She couldn t remember. She d been far too devastated. Surely they had come. Their absence would have been noticed by the whole community, not to mention their husbands. It would have been scandalous not to show up.
A strategy fell immediately into place. We have to figure this out before we tell a soul, Vera warned. If Mama didn t kill those two, and we know she couldn t have, then Florence or Beatrice did. Or maybe one of their husbands.
Eve didn t appear so excited about the idea. Are you sure we shouldn t just tell Bent? This sounds like we might be getting into a hornet s nest.
Vera resisted the impulse to tell her sister this was already a hell of a hornet s nest. Instead, she went with her gut on what the next step should be. Hoped it was the right one. First, she had to convince her sister. There s not a lot the law can do to Daddy, no matter the outcome of any charges against him for what happened to Sheree. The same goes for Mama. The only damage would be to their memories. Vera pinned her sister with a look. But you and Suri . . . and Gates-that s a different story. No matter that it s a fairly clear case of self-defense, your world would be turned upside down, as would Suri s. If none of the others he hurt testified, it would be a difficult case to prove.
Eve s face clouded with defeat. I m sorry, Vee. We handled it all wrong.
Vera understood. These kinds of tragedies rarely occurred when people were thinking straight. Let s see what our options are and then decide about going to Bent.
Eve visibly steadied herself. How do we determine what our options are?
A tiny smile tugged at Vera s lips. Oh, she knew exactly where to start that process.
She d already tested the waters-the weakest link . . . where else?