Page 66 of The Graveyard Girls (Detective Ellie Reeves #11)

SIXTY-FIVE

Brambletown

Sometimes I want to kill Ruth.

That line in her mother’s journal echoed over and over in Kat’s head. She checked the date. A week before Ruth went missing.

“Do you think your mother did something to Ruth?” Carrie Ann gasped.

Kat’s stomach knotted. “I don’t know.” Her mind spun. Was her mother capable of that kind of violence?

Kat always pegged her as a weenie, especially when she and Kat’s daddy argued. Now she knew her granddaddy had slapped Hetty, she understood why her mama shied away from fighting.

But Ruth… was more her size. And that girl had been mean to her and embarrassed her in school with the tampons and who knew what else.

Carrie Ann’s eyes widened. “Maybe she tricked Ruth into going up to that graveyard and she pushed her or something and Ruth fell, then your mama buried her there like that other girl they found.”

Nerves gathered in Kat’s belly.

“The police questioned her and Hetty,” she said. “But they had other suspects and never arrested Mama so they must have thought she didn’t do it. They thought my granddaddy did, but he disappeared.”

“Would he have covered for your mother?” Carrie Ann asked.

Kat wrinkled her nose in thought. “I don’t know. I doubt it. I think he was mean to her and we know he was to Hetty.”

“Let’s read more. If she did hurt Ruth, she might write about it in her journal.”

Kat’s finger hesitated over the computer keys. What if she discovered her mama had killed Ruth? Maybe her granddaddy left town to take the heat off of her?

No… from what she’d heard about him, he wouldn’t do something that selfless.

Logic kicked in. “But even if Mama hurt Ruth, she wouldn’t kill that other girl.

It’s been fifteen years since Ruth went missing.

All Mama’s done since then is live here in Brambletown, raise me and take care of Daddy.

” In fact, she’d gotten pregnant in high school and married Joe.

Kat had heard her parents talking about it once, and her mama admitted she’d felt trapped but she did what she had to do.

“Go ahead, Kat,” Carrie Ann said. “Let’s read another post.”

Curiosity overtook Kat’s doubts, and she scrolled to the next entry.

Suddenly a knock sounded at the door and her mama stuck her head in. Kat quickly closed the laptop, then covered it with her throw blanket.

“Dinner’s gonna be ready soon, Kat. Your daddy’s home.”

“’Kay,” Kat said as her mama left.

Carrie Ann stood and grabbed her backpack. “If you find something interesting, call me.”

Kat nodded, although her stomach was somersaulting as she and Carrie Ann walked into the kitchen. Her daddy lumbered in the door, looking sweaty and tired, and smelling like stale beer.

Carrie Ann must have realized he was in a mood. She lifted her hand in a wave and hurried outside, avoiding eye contact with him.

The TV was blaring, and a breaking news story interrupted the regular programming.

“This is Angelica Gomez coming to you with Detective Ellie Reeves of Crooked Creek Police Department.” She angled the mic toward the detective. “You have news?”

“Unfortunately, yes, but not good news,” Detective Reeves said. “Today another body was discovered near Green Gardens Cemetery. We have identified her as sixteen-year-old Jacey Ward from Watkinsville, Georgia.” Her picture appeared on the screen.

Kat’s mama’s face paled. “Oh, my word.”

“Do you think Earl’s back?” Kat’s daddy asked.

Mama sank into the kitchen chair with a thud and closed her eyes as if she might faint.

Her father whipped his head toward Kat. “I heard kids are going up there to take pictures by that memorial, but you’d better stay away from that place and the graveyard. It’s dangerous.”

Kat started to protest, but his sharp look stopped her cold.

“Your daddy’s right,” Mama said, her voice on edge. “Stay away from there, Kat.”

“Do you understand, girl?” her daddy barked.

Kat gave a slow nod and glanced at her mother who was trembling so hard her knees were knocking together. Curiosity gnawed at Kat again. Was her grandfather still hiding out? Had he killed Ruth and now these other two girls? Did Mama know where he was?

Her father turned off the TV then walked back to the table. “Now, no more talk about that. Let’s eat.”

The chair rattled as he slid into it, and he wiped sweat from his face with his napkin then scooped up a ladle full of pot roast and a hefty spoon full of mashed potatoes and smothered it with gravy.

Bile rose to Kat’s throat, her appetite vanishing as she remembered the picture on the news. Jacey Ward was close to her age. Daddy was right. The graveyard was dangerous.

It could have been her.