South River Incident (11 page)

“Why?” I asked. I leered at
Cole and smiled sweetly at my sister. I wanted to choke them both. This was not
right... any fool could see that. But I couldn’t be mad at Claire. She was just
a babe in the woods. She was too dumb to see what was happening and too
heartbroken over that stupid Carl to know the difference. I
blamed Cole.
His head was so far up his butt that he didn’t know what time of day it was. If
he thought for one minute that I bought that ridiculous story about keeping his
distance during this investigation, he had another thought coming. He was
nothing short of a weasel. I was finished with him. But oh, how he still made
me yearn for his touch... his kiss.

I made myself snap out of
it. I had too much pride to get immersed in his games. I wanted a real life,
and I could see that wasn’t going to happen with him. He was not able to deal
with a person like me. He needed someone different... someone who would give
him more than I could, or would. Claire was the perfect choice. She was exactly
what he needed. They would make a fine couple. A weight had been lifted from my
shoulders the instant I seriously thought about the two of them together.
Suddenly, I was no longer jealous. But in the back of my mind, I remembered the
anger that had surfaced when Cole accused me of seeing someone else. That side
of him was not pleasant. It was scary. Since that scene, I had a lingering
question in the back of my head. Does he have abusive tendencies? Has he ever
hit a woman? I couldn’t imagine Cole doing something so horrible. I put the
whole thing out of my head.

Claire reached up on her
tiptoes and gave Billy a big hug. “I’m glad you’re here. Mom promises a
wonderful dinner and a few surprises. This ought to be interesting.”

Cole brought up the rear.

“Happy Thanksgiving!” Mom
greeted us. “I’ve fixed everything you could possibly want to eat. Come on in
and take off your coats.”

She was clad in her
favorite apron for the occasion—a colorful fall picture of a turkey standing in
a barnyard with its feathers spread. The house was decorated with the colors of
the season: yellow, orange, tan and brown. Mom always has been one for
celebrating the moment. Around our house, holidays were a time of joy, family
unity, and massive appreciation. It didn’t matter if it was Christmas,
Thanksgiving, a birthday, or the Fourth of July, everybody got together and
celebrated their appreciation of life. I credit Mom for making sure we all
lived up to this arrangement, and now even with Dad gone, she was still keeping
us together.

We gathered together in the
dining room and kitchen area. Claire was busy getting Benny and Carrie situated
in their seats. Carrie had almost outgrown her high chair while her brother,
Benny, had progressed to a real person’s chair.  Kids—they grow up so fast.
Cole carried food to the table, and Billy made himself useful by stoking the
fire in the fireplace. I stood next to Mom, dishing out hot peas into a Pyrex
dish, wondering what she had in store for us. It was her way. She loved
surprises.

“It’s time to eat,” Mom
announced.

Everybody sat down.

Mom put her elbows on the
table, pressed her hands together and said, “Oh, Lord, let us be blessed for
what we are about to receive. Amen.”

Forks and spoons rattled as
we filled our plates with the tantalizing food. Mom had outdone herself. The
food was magnificent. The turkey was done to perfection, and the ham was sweet
and tasty. The table overflowed with vegetables, rolls, and casserole dishes
that made you want to eat everything in sight. Desserts lined the kitchen
counter.

“This is wonderful,” Billy
raved, shoving spoonful after spoonful into his mouth. “I love this stuffing.”

I chuckled out loud and
said, “Oh, Billy, you love food, period.”

“That’s right, I do.” He
stuffed another chunk of ham into his mouth. “A woman who can cook like this is
to be cherished.” He raised his glass of wine. “Here’s a toast to you, Minnie,
for bringing us all together. You are truly a work of art. I salute you!”

“Here, here!” I clicked
Billy’s glass, and then turned to Mom. “Thank you for being the wonderful
person that you are. I love you.”

“We all love you,” Billy
added.

Mom had a tear in her eye
as she raised her head to look at us. “Thank you. Y’all are so sweet.” She
placed the linen napkin she was holding in her lap. “I have a few things to
say.”

The room fell silent.

Athena and Thor, who had
been licking our ankles and drooling all over our clothes, meandered over to
the fireplace and stretched out on the floor. Their boredom showed.

“Jack and Dennis couldn’t
make it for Thanksgiving because Dennis has a virus. He’s very sick. They both
send their blessings and said they would see us at Christmas. They wish us the
best.”

I felt a little sick to my
stomach. I looked around the table to check the reaction on everyone’s face and
then locked eyes with Billy. He knew exactly what was going through my mind.

“What kind of virus?” I
asked.

“Just some kind of bug,”
Mom replied, not batting an eyelid. “It’s not AIDS, if that’s what you’re
worried about.”

“Well, I’ll be dammed!”

“You most certainly will if
you keep using that kind of language at my table, Missy.”

“I’m sorry, Mom. You caught
me off guard. I didn’t think you knew anything about AIDS.”

“Oh, I know a lot. You
might be surprised young lady. For instance, I know there’s some weird things
going on with everyone at this table, but for now we’re going to let it rest. I
need to talk about money.”

Money was not a subject we
had broached. I was doing all right, Claire received plenty from Carl, and we
all knew Dad had taken care of Mom in his will. Was she getting ready to reveal
that she was broke? I couldn’t believe that was what she was about to tell us.

“As you well know, your
father was a very conservative man. He planned everything out right down to the
smallest detail. In the many years he spent in the Navy, he saved and invested
just about every extra dime he ever made. He wanted to see to it that we were
provided for when he died. We’ve lived a good life thanks to him. Now it’s time
to give you what he wanted you to have.” She reached into her apron pocket and
removed three envelopes. She gave one to me and one to Claire. The third one which
was obviously meant for Jack, she lay on the table. “It’s a share of the money
we put away over the years.”

I was stunned. I knew Dad
had always talked about his plan for our future, but parents do stuff like
that. They make plans, but most of the time, it never worked out the way they
wanted it to. I was floored when I opened the envelope. I looked at Claire and
gasped.

“Mom,” I said, holding the
check in my hands. “This isn’t right. I can’t take this. It’s your money and
you should have it.”

“Honey,” she said, “this is
what your father wanted. It’s your money. It’s what he worked for his whole
life. One day when the time was right, we were going to give it to you, but we
never got around to it. I want you to take this money and use it wisely.”

I handed the check to
Billy.

He took one look at it and
replied, “This check is for thirty-five thousand dollars! `Ge ya
,
will
you marry me?” He leaned over and waved the check in my face. “You know, I
always did find you attractive!”

“Get a life!” I hissed,
smiled, and then kissed him on the cheek.

A shocked look came over
Cole’s face.

I had forgotten all about
the fact that he and I were supposed to be boyfriend and girlfriend, and the
kiss I gave Billy proved it. It surely didn’t go unnoticed by Claire or Mom.

“If this is what you and
Dad wanted, then so be it. Thank you very much.” I folded the check and stuffed
it in my pocket.

The next hour was filled
with food and pleasant conversation, until Cole got a call on his cell phone.

“I’m sorry. I have to
leave. Roy Keen has been murdered.”

“Isn’t that the husband of
the dead woman who was in my backyard?” Mom asked.

“Yes, I’m afraid it is.”

Billy and I stared at each
other.

“Cole,” Billy said. He
stood and took him by the arm. “I think Jesse and I need to tell you something
before you leave.”

I got up from the table and
excused myself.

“We were at
Roy
’s house
before we came here. He had been shot, and died a few minutes after we got
there.”

“What!”
Cole
screamed. “I don’t want to hear it! Jesse, tell me it’s not true! What else
have you been involved in that I need to know about?”

“I’m sorry, Cole.”

“Why didn’t you report it
to the police?”

“That’s what we’re doing,”
I hissed. “We’re telling you.”

“What on earth were you
doing at his house?” he yelled at me. “Have you lost your mind? Don’t you
realize you’re a suspect in one murder? Are you trying for two? The only reason
you haven’t been arrested yet is because Sheriff Hudson doesn’t think you’re
guilty. He’s been holding off because Roy Keen was at the top of the list,
until now. I have a feeling that’s about to change.”

Mom walked up to Cole and
said, “That man called here early this morning looking for Jesse. That’s
probably why they went to see him.”

Cole seemed to calm down a
little. “What did he want with Jesse?”

“He just said he had to
talk to her,” Mom replied. “He sounded angry, Cole. He scared me, and I was
afraid for Jesse. I called her immediately. When I couldn’t reach her, I called
Billy. They were together.”

The look on Cole’s face was
one of revelation. It was as if a light had just clicked on over his head and
he realized that his suspicions of Billy and me were true.

I didn’t make excuses, nor
did I try to explain why Billy and I were together at that time of morning. It
was none of his business.

“It’s like this,” Billy
said. “Jesse and I got there about
ten
o’clock
. The front door was open. We
heard a moan so we went in. Roy Keen lay on the floor bleeding. Two minutes
later, he was dead. We panicked and left. I know we should have reported it,
but all we wanted to do was get out of there. He was dead.”

“You fled the scene of a
crime!” Cole jabbed his finger into Billy’s chest. “How stupid can you be? This
is capital murder we’re talking about, pal. Don’t you realize that? Mary Keen
was killed during the commission of a felony. With
Roy
being
murdered, you can bet the bank they’re going to tie these two together. You
tell me that not only were you there, but you fled the scene. I don’t believe
it!”

I was furious. I jumped
right in Cole’s face. “First off, Billy’s not stupid, and second, I don’t like
your tone of voice. How were we to know that somebody had just put a bullet in
his chest? He called here and scared my mama. Do you think I was just going to
let it slide?”

Mom stepped between us and
said, “All right, everybody calm down and let’s figure out what to do next.”

“There’s only one thing to
do,” Cole pointed to Billy and me. “You two have to come in and make a
statement. Tell the police everything that happened and pray that they believe
your story. I can’t promise you anything. My boss is a tough man to deal with
when it comes to this sort of thing. He has a tendency to frown on murder,
especially when it happens to one of his own. I know
Roy
had gone
sour, but he was a cop once.”

I rolled my eyes and let
out a forced breath. “This is crazy.” I threw my hands up in the air and turned
to walk away. “I’m not doing squat. If they want me, they can come and get me.”

“Hold on a minute, Jesse.”
Billy reached to touch my arm. “Cole might be right. We have to go make a
statement. If we don’t, we’ll look guilty.”

“I have news for you, pal,
we already look guilty. This is just going to tighten the noose.”

“Jesse, do what Cole says,”
Mom said. “He knows what’s best.”

“He might know what’s
legal, but I’m not so sure he knows what’s best. Just because he’s a cop, it
doesn’t mean he has all the answers.”

“I’m not saying he does,
either,” Mom replied. “I think he’s the best thing you have going for you right
now. Maybe he can sway the sheriff, maybe he can’t. But that doesn’t change the
fact that you have to go to the police. You can’t just sweep it under the rug
like you used to do when I would ask you to clean your room. Do you remember? I
knew you were sweeping trash under your rug, and I would always go in and clean
it up. I can’t do that this time. You have to clean up your own mess.”

“You never forget a thing,
do you?”

“No, I don’t. It’s my job
to remember everything you ever did.”

I finally came to the
realization that Mom was right, and I was wrong. We had to do something. I just
wasn’t sure what, and I didn’t like the idea of going into the lion’s den
again. I’ve been there too many times in the last six months. I was afraid that
if I went in again, I would be chewed up and spit out like a bad piece of meat.
I apologized to Mom for ruining her Thanksgiving meal, and for giving her
something else to worry about.