Family Sins(9)

“Yes, ma’am,” they said in unison.

“What about Jesse?” Michael said.

“I gave him one of his pills. He’s sound asleep.”

“Do you want to change clothes or anything?” Samuel asked.

Leigh looked down at the shirt and jeans she’d been wearing in the garden. They had blood all over them. She thought of the scratches on her face and realized she hadn’t even pulled the leaves out of her hair, and then let it go.

“No. I’m not changing anything. I’m not hiding the hideousness of what was done.”

“You can ride with me,” Samuel said.

“Aidan and I will follow you in my SUV,” Michael said.

“Bring your rifles,” Leigh said.

Bella gasped.

Maura and Leslie looked anxious.

“Do you think you’re all in danger?” Bella asked.

“No, not unless we turn our backs,” Leigh snapped, and then grabbed her purse and the keys to her Jeep. “We won’t be long. Jesse isn’t going to wake up, so don’t worry.”

“We’re not afraid of him,” Maura said, and hugged Leigh.

“Be careful. All of you,” Bella said, as she hugged Leigh, too.

Leslie kissed her mother-in-law on the cheek and then squeezed her hand.

“Scare the shit out of them, Mama.”

“I fully intend to,” Leigh said, and went out the front door with her sons behind her.

She tossed the keys to Samuel and then got in the passenger seat as he slid behind the wheel.

Moments later they were gone.

*

Henry Clayton had been the police chief in Eden for more than fifteen years. He’d just gotten off the phone with Constable Riordan, who’d filled him in on the murder and the name Stanton Youngblood had scratched in the dirt before he died.

Clayton was shocked. He’d gone to school with Stanton and had always thought of him as a friend. He didn’t know what to think, other than that the Wayne family held sway over the town and nearly everyone in it, including him. The constable was in charge of the case, but he would be depending on Clayton for assistance when the investigation got under way. Before Clayton could formulate a plan for himself, he heard the sound of vehicles coming down Main very fast, and when he began to hear constant honking, he frowned.

“What the hell?”

By the time he got out to the street, a crowd of people were gathering to see what was happening.

The two vehicles he’d heard speeding and disturbing the peace were now illegally parked in the middle of the street.

He was all ready to start issuing citations when he realized whose vehicles they were. His pulse kicked into high, and he began to sweat.

It was already beginning.

*

Leigh Youngblood got out first and stopped just shy of the sidewalk, fixing Henrywith a cold, angry stare. When her sons fell into step and fanned out behind her with fire in their eyes and their rifles cradled in their arms, Henry felt like a cornered rat.

“Mrs. Youngblood, what—”

Leigh raised her arm and pointed straight at him. Henry had to look twice to reassure himself the only thing she was pointing was her finger. He was horrified at how many of the townspeople were gathering behind her. Now he had to be extra careful of what he let her say and do.

“You don’t talk. You just listen.” Leigh’s voice was loud and carrying, but she sounded entirely rational. “My husband was murdered this morning.”

The gasp from the crowd was loud but brief as they quickly silenced themselves to hear what else she had to say.

“Someone shot him in the back. But there’s something the killer doesn’t know. Stanton named his killer before he died. He scratched the name Wayne in the dirt!”

Leigh’s voice was shaking, but her rage remained strong.

“My people! My family! They took the man I loved away from me, just like they swore they would do years ago.”

Henry blustered, “But that was so long ago, surely you don’t—”

“You doubt the last word of a dying man?” Leigh demanded. “No matter. We didn’t expect anything more of you than this. You are bought and paid for by the Waynes just like half the people in this town. So I’m giving fair warning to you and to them. I will find out which one of them killed my husband, and when I do, they will pay.”

Then Leigh turned around and walked between her sons to face the crowd.

“Yes, look at me. Look long and hard, all of you. As for my so-called family, if any of you are hiding in the crowd, you best take a look, too, because this is what the devil looks like when he’s on your heels. When I find which one of you did this, you will wish you’d never been born. There isn’t enough money between you and God to buy your way out of this.”

Michael walked up to flank his mother on her left. Samuel and Aidan stepped into place on her right, and then Samuel slid an arm across her shoulders and raised his voice.

“The back-shooting coward and the family who harbors him best remember, you won’t catch us unarmed again.”

Leigh lifted her chin as she stared at the crowd. She stared them down until they began looking away.

“I think we’re done here,” Leigh said.

“Yes, ma’am,” Samuel said, and slipped a hand beneath her arm, then escorted her to the Jeep and seated her inside.