Chapter 16
Rose Hill Cemetery
Vera and Eve had been so young when their mother died that separating from her so completely at first had been difficult.
Their father had added a bench to the family plots to ensure she and Eve would have a place to sit when they visited their mother.
They had done so often for those first few years.
Eventually Vera had gone off to university and then work in Memphis, and things had changed.
But since she’d come home, this was once again their special place where they could speak openly about whatever was on their minds.
Halfway across the cemetery, Vera hesitated. Someone was sitting on their bench. As she moved closer, her steps slower than usual after this morning’s fun with the assailant, she recognized the dark hair and paisley-print dress.
Luna.
What was she doing here?
Vera smiled when her sister looked up, obviously sensing she was no longer alone.
Vera attempted to hurry her steps, but she didn’t trust her balance completely just yet. Her symptoms were definitely lessening, but she still felt out of sorts.
“Hey, Vee.” Luna patted the marble bench. “Sit with me.”
Vera settled next to her little sister. Gave her a hug. Luna and that big old belly. It was still hard to believe their baby sister was about to be a mother. “Eve says the surgery went well.”
“It did. His vitals are stable, and the doctor is hoping he’ll be able to wake up and stay that way for longer periods soon. Until now he’s barely opened his eyes. He struggles to speak but can’t seem to form the words. Nothing comes out coherently. It’s so awful seeing him like that.”
“So he’s still in and out.” Vera held out hope that Mr. Andrews would wake up and explain what had happened to his wife. Like maybe he was the one who caused this tragedy.
Vera could hope. Not that she wished more pain on the Andrews family, but she’d rather it be anyone except Luna. Selfish as the thought might be.
“He is. But there’s still hope he’ll make a full recovery. Some patients just take a different path toward that result.”
Good way to look at it. “I’m sorry you had to drive back alone.” Vera wished she had been with her sister. She wouldn’t have this damned concussion right now if she had been with Luna. The drive back would have been a good time to talk as well.
“It’s fine,” Luna assured her. “It gave me a chance to think.” She smiled. “Jerome was so sweet. He urged me to leave right after the surgery was over, so I’d get out of Nashville before rush hour. I decided to stop here before going on home.”
“Jerome is a good husband.” Vera was so happy that Luna had found such an amazing husband. She hoped this misfortune wasn’t going to damage their relationship. Sadly, the potential was there.
“He is.” Luna’s lips quivered.
Vera reached for her hand, held it tight. As they sat in silence, she noticed the fresh flowers on the graves. She looked to Luna. “Did you bring those?”
“Eve and I brought them. When Jerome had to leave after his father’s heart attack, she thought it would make me feel better to do something besides sit in the house.”
Smart. “Before I forget”—Vera settled her gaze on her mother’s headstone—“Mama, Eve says to tell you hi. You too, Daddy.” Then she felt bad for leaving Luna’s mother out.
“To you as well, Sheree.” The memory of dragging the woman’s dead weight down that staircase and then hefting her into the trailer flashed in Vera’s aching head.
She squeezed her eyes shut and forced the recall away. Ancient history.
“I’m glad they’re here together.” Luna looked to Vera. “We’re all family.”
“We most certainly are.” Vera draped her arm around Luna’s shoulders. She pressed her forehead to hers. “Anything you want to talk about, I’m always available. Even if I’m in the middle of work, I can stop.”
Luna peered up at her. “I know I can always count on you, Vee. Just like Eve always could. You’re a good sister to both of us, and we’re very lucky to have you.”
“Ditto.” Vera smiled. Swiped a tear from her sister’s cheek. “And this is going to be okay. It’ll be a little tough for a while. But this”—she placed a hand on Luna’s belly—“little baby is going to steal everyone’s attention. There won’t be time to worry about the past, no matter how painful.”
Luna placed her hand atop Vera’s and stared at them. “Do you believe a baby can hear what’s happening outside their mother’s body at this stage?”
“I’ve heard that’s the case.” Since she had never been pregnant or ever expected to be, Vera hadn’t actually done any research on the subject, but she’d heard other knowledgeable people say as much.
There was, she thought, extensive information to be found.
“After they’re born, babies usually recognize their parents’ voices, so the idea makes sense. ”
Luna lapsed into silence then. They sat, staring at the headstones marking the graves of their parents.
Vera wasn’t sure how long they continued that way, but she wasn’t moving until Luna did.
It felt very much like Luna needed exactly this right now, and Vera intended to give it to her for as long as possible.
“Do you believe that sometimes people die because it’s the best thing for everyone else in their lives?”
Vera relaxed her body when every muscle tried to stiffen.
“I suppose that can happen. There are people with terminal illnesses who take their own lives because they feel it will be better for those around them. I don’t know if that’s the best decision or not.
I imagine it is for some, maybe not for others. ”
Luna drew away. “I don’t mean people who are sick. I’m referring to the ones who are so mean and so awful that everyone around them is happier—better off—when they’re gone.”
Vera wasn’t about to confirm any such suggestion—not when it was clear Luna was searching for empathy or some level of agreement on the subject. “Do you mean like the idea of God stepping in and taking them out of the way or another person doing so?”
“Either one, I guess.”
That’s what Vera thought she was saying. “As far as what is presumed to be an act of God, I really can’t say. There are plenty of strong believers who would say so. I’ve certainly known plenty of cases where people made the decision to intervene when a situation became unbearable.”
Vera searched for a way to soften the concept of vigilantism.
“Most folks are relieved when a serial killer or someone who hurts children is executed or ends up dead in a shoot-out with the police or a victim of an avenging loved one. But even killers generally have family. Someone who’s sad to see them gone.
Who’s to say? I’ve been forced to make that decision as a cop, and it’s not an easy one to make or to look back on. Taking a life, I mean.”
Luna exhaled a deep sigh. “I know it sounds awful.” She turned to Vera. “But you said I could tell you anything.”
“Of course you can, and I’ll never say a word to anyone.”
“Not even Bent?” Luna’s eyes searched hers, looking for further reassurance.
“If I say I won’t tell anyone, that includes Bent.”
“I . . .” Luna pursed her lips for a moment, and Vera held her breath. “I’m grateful she’s gone. I wouldn’t have wished it on her, but I’m glad Jackie is gone.”
And there it was. Vera absorbed the ramifications of her words for a second or two, working diligently not to show any sort of reaction that would hurt her sister. “I can understand how you would feel that way. I’m sure there are others who do as well.”
“Not Jerome or his father, of course.” Luna stared at her mother’s headstone. “It was better for you and Eve when she was gone, wasn’t it? And I imagine you were glad.”
Vera’s heart lurched. “Lu, nothing about what happened with your mother was better. It just was. I wished her gone plenty of times, but I didn’t want her to die.
” Okay that might be a lie. “Eve didn’t want her to die.
But it happened, and it was an accident.
” At her sister’s look of wanting more, Vera went on with the painful story.
“It’s true that life was . . . easier in some ways afterward.
But I would have endured whatever she did or said if it had been possible for her to keep living and to be a good mother to you. ” Maybe a bit of a stretch.
Luna’s face fell. “So you’re saying I shouldn’t be relieved.”
Shit. “No. No.” Vera moved her head side to side despite the pain. “I think you would be a little strange if you weren’t relieved. But Jackie was very different from your mama.”
Vera stared at the headstone of the woman in question.
Searched for a way to say something kind about the witch.
“Sheree didn’t have a proper upbringing, Luna.
She was badly mistreated, and she had nothing.
Coming from a home life like that, she learned to take whatever she could get by whatever means available to her. It was survival, pure and simple.”
Luna blinked as if she was confused or bewildered.
Well, hell. “In other words,” Vera went on, “she kind of did the best she could. Yes, she was jealous and would fight a bear to keep what she had once she got it, but that was only a self-defense mechanism. No one until Daddy had ever protected her, so she learned to protect herself. Jackie always had everything handed to her. She never wanted for anything, and she had fine parents. It’s not the same situation at all.
Jackie was just . . .” Vera told herself to shut up, but she couldn’t.
“She was a selfish bitch who loved making everyone around her miserable, and to tell you the truth, I am damned relieved for you that she’s gone. ”
Vera clamped her mouth shut. She had definitely gone too far.
Luna smiled, her eyes still sad, no matter that her lips showed otherwise. “Thank you. I needed to hear that truth.”
Vera wanted to feel good about it, but she wasn’t at all sure she should. “Like I said, you can tell me anything.”
Just please don’t tell me you killed her.
But she had a bad, bad feeling that might be the case.
Hopefully accidentally. Vera thought of the indentation in the drywall and the broken spindle.
And that damned scratch on Jackie’s arm.
Probably not accidental, but she could hold on to her optimism.
There was hope when there was nothing else.
And even when the hope was gone, Vera would do everything possible to protect her sister.
“I just wish things could have been different.” Luna’s expression turned despondent once more.
“Eve says she’s coming over tonight to help finish the nursery.” Maybe the reminder would perk her up.
Luna only nodded, her lips struggling to pull off a smile again.
Vera’s cell vibrated in her pocket. She fished it out with two fingers. Bent. News on Alicia Wilton’s condition would be good. Or some evidence on the case. “Hey. What’s up?”
“You still at the funeral home?”
“I’m at the cemetery with Luna.” She glanced at her sister. “We’re visiting the folks. You have news on the Wilton case? Or new evidence?”
“Nothing earth-shattering. We did find that one of Erwin’s neighbors has a Ring doorbell camera, and Erwin’s vehicle remained parked in front of her place between Saturday afternoon and Monday morning.
No sign of her coming in or out—unless she used the back door and some other form of transportation. ”
Vera felt her forehead fold with frustration. She rubbed at it. “That’s still not a solid alibi.”
“It’s not, but it is something to consider. Look, Collins wants to see us at the morgue. She’s working on the preliminary examinations of the victims from the case. I’ll pick you up.”
Wow, that was fast. But then the new ME was all about impressing Bent. “I’ll wait for you at the main gate.”
Vera put her cell away and hugged her sister. “Bent’s on the way. We have work. You going to be okay getting home and settled until Eve arrives?”
Luna patted her belly. “We’ll be fine.”
Vera intended to see that both her sister and her baby stayed that way.