Family Sins(51)

“I’m sorry I wasn’t more help,” she said. “Maybe Polly or Thomas could tell you more, only they aren’t at home today. One of Thomas’s grandchildren is having surgery to fix a broken arm. They’re all at the hospital.”

Riordan nodded.

“No matter. Again, sorry to have bothered you, and thank you for your information.”

“It wasn’t nearly enough,” Leigh said, and then got up to see the constable to the door.

She stood in the doorway until he was gone, then turned around and went to check on Jesse.

Even though she’d maintained her emotions, Bowie could tell she was upset. He heard her calling Michael and leaving a message, asking him to find out who now owned all the foreclosed property around the lake.

A short while later Michael returned her call. Bowie didn’t know what was said between them, but whatever it was, she was quiet all afternoon as they sat out on the porch breaking beans. When they had finished, she carried them straight into the kitchen, ran some water into the huge basins of beans waiting to be canned and once again headed for her phone.

Bowie knew something was brewing when she called Samuel to ask if he was free to go to Eden with her now, and apparently he said yes, because she asked him to wear good clothes and bring Bella to stay with Jesse. Then she called Aidan and Michael and asked them the same thing, to which they, too, apparently agreed.

When Leigh turned around and saw Bowie looking at her, she lifted her chin.

“I’m going to change clothes. Did you bring any dress clothes?”

“Yes, ma’am. What I was going to wear to Daddy’s funeral.”

“Well, I need you to change into that for me, son.”

“Where are we going, Mama?”

“To visit my family. They’re not going to break ranks unless I rattle them, and I know just how to do that. I think it’s time I introduced my sons to the enemy, and then I’m going to scare them so bad they’ll uncover the guilty party and turn him or her in on their own.”

Bowie’s eyes widened. “Can you do that?”

She sighed.

“I vowed when I left that I’d never set foot in that hellhole again, but this situation calls for desperate measures. They value money and power, and I am their threat to all of that. Yes, I can make them very afraid.”

“Where’s Jesse?” Bowie asked.

“In his room, watching cartoons.”

“Then I’ll go change,” he said.

*

As it turned out, all three of her daughters-in-law came, too. They settled in with Jesse, who was delighted his nephew, Johnny, was there to play with.

“We won’t be long,” Leigh said, as she thanked them for coming to help, and then gave her sons’ appearances the once-over, just as she used to do when they were young.

They were all dressed in suits, or sports coats and slacks. Samuel’s hair was in a braid. Aidan and Michael had pulled theirs back at their napes. Bowie had left his down in honor of his father. She seemed satisfied with how they looked.

“You look pretty, Mama,” Samuel said.

Leigh smoothed a hand down the back of her hair and picked a tiny piece of lint from the front of the little black dress she was wearing.

“I know you’re wondering why I asked you to do this. We’re going to pay an unannounced visit to the Wayne family. Partly, I want them to see the beautiful sons Stanton and I made. I want them to know they did not beat us down, do you understand?”

“Yes, ma’am, but what are you going to do?” Samuel asked.

“I am going to put the fear of God in every one of them.”

Samuel nodded.

“Good. I’m happy to do my part to make that happen,” Michael added.

“Let me know if I need to growl at them, Mama,” Aidan added.

There was a moment of confusion among the brothers until Leigh suddenly threw back her head and laughed.

“I’d almost forgotten about that,” she said. “The year you were a dog. I didn’t think you’d ever quit that.”

Bowie grinned.

The other brothers laughed, too, now that she’d reminded them.

“You were four. I thought something was wrong with you, but your daddy just laughed and said you were being a boy, and he was right,” Leigh said, and then the smile slid off her face as she drew a quick, shaky breath. “Damn them for taking him away from us. Let’s go while I’ve still got my wits about me.”

Moments later they were loading up in two vehicles, and then they were gone.

*

Because of the hot phone sex she and Andrew had shared last night, Nita woke up in a mood of euphoria. It lasted most of the day, until the family began coming home for dinner. At that point the mood in the house quickly darkened.

Blake and Justin were arguing when they entered the mansion. It escalated to a shouting match, which Jack brought to an abrupt end.

“What the hell is wrong with you two?” Jack asked.

When they both started to talk at once, he stopped them again. “Justin, what is your problem?”

“Your golden boy sent me to do a job this morning, which I did. I turned in my report, and he doesn’t like what I had to say, which is stupid as hell, because I only did what he wanted.”

Jack shifted focus to Blake. “Did you send Justin on a job?”