Page 8
“Don’t worry about my sister. We have family on the East Coast. She’ll be safe.” I shouldn’t have told her even that much. I don’t want Jezzie to have any reminders of this place and that includes Ruth.
“What about you?” she asks.
“What about me?”
“Where will?—”
“Don’t,” I cut her off. “I appreciate what you did for me when I was a kid and I hope you didn’t suffer for it, but we part ways here.” I nod to the box. “There should be enough to keep you and your son comfortable while you figure things out.”
“He’s your?—”
“Keep him safe. Don’t let anyone put their hands on him.”
“What am I supposed to tell people?”
“About what?” I spread my hands wide. “Say your husband ran off and left you. Just another deadbeat dad. No one should ask. You’ll be far away where no one even knows you.”
She opens her mouth again. Maybe to argue or say thank you. Whatever it is, I don’t let her get out the words.
“Go. Hurry.”
Ruth swallows hard, then holds out her hand for Cain. “Let’s go pack our things.”
Fuck, I’d hoped she was already packed. I can’t shake this sense of urgency. The need to get my sister as far away from this place as possible as soon as I can.
There’s also the issue of the body melting out in the barn I don’t want anyone to find accidentally.
Once they’re gone, I return to the vault, searching for anything that might be important.
The items I’m planning to take, I gather into piles on one side.
I find another box stuffed with even more cash.
Smaller bills this time. I set half aside for Ruth.
It won’t make up for snapping at her but it’s all I’ve got.
“Jensen?” Ruth’s soft voice pulls me out of the vault. “We’re ready.”
She pushes the office door open wide. Jezzie and Cain are both with her. Red blurs around the edges of my vision. I wanted Jezzie to stay upstairs. If Ruth thinks she’s taking my sister anywhere she’s out of her fucking?—
“Jensen?” Jezzie breaks away from them and slowly approaches.
Her hair’s still damp, hanging in loose, stringy, uneven strands around her shoulders.
She’s changed into what’s probably her “church” dress.
An ankle-length, shapeless white dress with a brown floral pattern.
We’ll have to stop and buy her new clothes along the way.
Where the fuck am I supposed to go shopping for a teenage girl?
“It’s really you?” Jezzie bursts into tears as she wraps her arms around me and squeezes tight.
Her whole body shakes with the force of the hug.
“He…he said you were dead.” She hiccups a breath.
“He told all of us the Lord struck you down for your wickedness.” Her fingers clutch tighter at my back.
“I missed you so much. I used to pray every night you were out there and you’d come back for me. ”
Those final words almost break me. I’d done the same thing after my brothers disappeared. Tears burn my eyes, and I curl my arms around her. I should’ve come for her sooner. I knew how twisted my father was.
“I’m here.” I swallow hard. “I didn’t know. I thought you were…safe.”
“Ruth said we’re leaving?” She pulls back and stares up at me with hopeful eyes.
“Yes. You’re coming with me.”
She hugs me again. “Praise be.”
Well, at least I won’t have to drag her away kicking and screaming.
Outside an engine roars and gravel crunches under tires. Fuck . Did one of them come back? Or did they go to the cops after all?
Not sure what I’ll be dealing with, I return to the vault and grab a shotgun. It’s already loaded and ready to go.
Ruth frowns but doesn’t seem surprised by the gun. “Who is it?”
“No idea.” I nod to the chair in the corner. “Stay here.”
I hurry through the house, all of my attention focused on the front door.
The engine cuts off. I throw the door open and tighten my grip on the gun, keeping it pointed at the ground.
I recognize the battered blue Ford truck immediately. “What the fuck?” I mutter, hurrying down the steps, gun at my side.
Logan throws his door open and flashes a grim smile. At least it looks grim under that dumb beard he’s started growing since his uncle died.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” Gravel flies in every direction as I hurry to meet him.
He shrugs and adjusts the ballcap he’s wearing. “Your phone keeps going right to voicemail. I was worried about you.”
“It’s in the truck.” I can’t decide if I’m relieved or annoyed that he’s here.
“You all right?” His gaze drops to the gun. “Were you going to shoot me?”
“Yeah, maybe.” I lift my chin toward the driveway leading off the farm. “Heard the truck. Thought it might be his people coming back.”
“Sorry.” He blows out a breath. “How’s…” His voice trails off like he can’t find the words to ask how killing my father went.
“He’s cooking in the barn.”
Logan nods once, face blank. He knows almost all of my darkest secrets and what my plans were for my father. He won’t press for details.
“What can I do?” he asks.
“A woman and her son are still here. If you can help me move them along, that’d be great. The rest of them left.”
“You got it.” He slaps my shoulder, quick and reassuring. “Jezzie okay?”
“No but she will be once I get her away from here.”
Inside, it’s silent.
“They should be in my father’s office.” I jerk my head to the side, silently asking him to follow.
Logan doesn’t waste time gawking at the frozen-in-time house I grew up in. He’d been inside at least once before he moved up north.
The office door is closed. I knock twice and push it open.
“It’s just me.”
Ruth’s standing in the middle of the room and slowly lowers her arms to her sides as we enter—as if she’d been trying to protect the kids from intruders.
Jezzie peeks out from behind the desk. She scowls at Logan, then recognition seems to sink in. “Logan?”
“Hey, Jezzie.”
Cain’s sitting in a chair in the corner, hugging a small, overstuffed backpack to his chest, ignoring all of us.
Ruth watches both of us with concerned eyes. I hold up my hands. “I didn’t know he was coming. He’s just here to check on me.”
She nods once and slowly edges toward her son.
Logan leans closer to me. “I can wait outside.”
“Jensen, there are a few things I’d like to take from the house, if that’s okay,” Ruth says, staring at the ground like my father probably trained her to do when speaking to him. “We’re taking the van.”
“Yeah.” Relief floods through me. Anything to get her going. Take the whole fucking house, lady. I’m planning to burn it down anyway. “Whatever you want.”
“I’ll help her load it up,” Logan offers.
Another hour later, Logan has the van backed up to the front porch with the doors open wide.
Dust from the gravel drive floats in the air, mixing with the scent of old wood, fresh grass, and exhaust fumes.
Inside the van, a few pieces of furniture are strapped down—an old wooden rocking chair, a few suitcases, a weathered cedar chest, a heavy antique sewing machine, and a box of cast iron pans.
“All right, Cain, say goodbye,” Ruth says, her voice tight but steady.
“No!” Cain bolts toward Jezzie and throws his arms around her. She hugs him back, bends down, and whispers something in his ear. Whatever she says makes him shake his head violently, tears streaking down his cheeks.
It’s the first real emotion I’ve seen from him all day.
The first sliver of doubt needles its way inside me.
But I don’t know what else to do.
My aunt agreed to take care of Jezzie—her niece. Showing up with my father’s widow and her kid in addition to Jezzie, isn’t an option.
“Cain, it’s okay,” Ruth says gently, holding out her hand. “We’ll call Jensen when we’re settled.”
That’ll be hard to do without my number.
Something brushes against my conscience. Guilt, probably. Or the faint echo of a soul. I’ve just ripped this kid from his home, his family, and maybe a father who hadn’t started showing him the business end of a bullwhip yet.
I pull the ring I took off my father’s finger out of my pocket and crouch down in front of Cain. “Be good for your mom, okay? Don’t take shit from anyone.”
He drops his gaze to the ring and frowns. “The monster wears that.”
“Not anymore.” I hold it out to him. “You keep it, so the monsters stay away.”
His eyes widen and he plucks the ring from my palm and holds it up with both hands and stares at it. After a few seconds, he slips the ring on his thumb and closes his fist around it.
Without another word, he joins his mother in the van.
Logan, Jezzie, and I stand on the porch in silence as the van rattles down the driveway and disappears behind the trees.
Jezzie glances up at me. “I don’t have a lot of stuff.”
“Pack whatever you want.” I gesture toward the front door. “Anything you think you might need or want from this place. We’ll stop and get you some new stuff but take what matters.”
She nods and hurries inside, the hard soles of her shoes thudding lightly on the floorboards.
Logan stands beside me, arms crossed. He knows better than to ask about Cain or Ruth or anything else. He just waits.
“What can I do?” he finally asks.
“Help Jezzie pack. Load her stuff in the back of my truck.”
He holds out his hand. “Give me your keys.”
I drop them into his palm. “Just keep her away from the barn. I’ve got some things I need to take care of out there.”
I head for the barn alone, the late afternoon sun casting long, crooked shadows across the yard.
Inside, the stink hits first—smoke, chemicals, decay, and something deeper, something older.
I roll up my sleeves.
Time to collect what’s left of the man who made me a monster.
Piece by piece.
I’ll scatter his bones across the country—coast to coast. Drop a bit of him at every truck stop, every ditch and dumpster between here and Pennsylvania. A puzzle no one will ever piece together again.
Then maybe I’ll find peace.
Table of Contents
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8 (Reading here)
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
- Page 13
- Page 14
- Page 15
- Page 16
- Page 17
- Page 18
- Page 19
- Page 20
- Page 21
- Page 22
- Page 23
- Page 24
- Page 25
- Page 26
- Page 27
- Page 28
- Page 29
- Page 30
- Page 31
- Page 32
- Page 33
- Page 34
- Page 35
- Page 36
- Page 37
- Page 38
- Page 39
- Page 40
- Page 41
- Page 42
- Page 43
- Page 44
- Page 45
- Page 46
- Page 47
- Page 48
- Page 49
- Page 50
- Page 51
- Page 52
- Page 53
- Page 54
- Page 55
- Page 56
- Page 57
- Page 58
- Page 59
- Page 60
- Page 61
- Page 62
- Page 63
- Page 64
- Page 65
- Page 66
- Page 67
- Page 68
- Page 69
- Page 70
- Page 71
- Page 72
- Page 73
- Page 74
- Page 75
- Page 76
- Page 77