Best Kept Secrets(159)
church, or do you want to go to jail? Because, you see, if
you don't say yes to my offer, I'll call my good buddy Reede
Lambert and tell him I've got an eyewitness to that vigilante
raid out at the ranch. What's it gonna be, sugar--a pulpit or
prison?"
Fergus swallowed visibly. He struggled with himself, with
his conscience, but not for long. His head gave one swift nod
of agreement.
"Good. Oh, one other thing," Nora Gail continued in the
same lilting voice. "Stop treating my sister like a doormat.
You were overheard dressing her down in public at the sheriffs
office the other night. If I ever get wind of it happening
again, I'll personally cut off your pitiful pecker and feed it
to the next dog I see. Okay?"
He swallowed hard.
"I'm sending Wanda Gail to a spa up in Dallas, where
she'll stay and be pampered for two weeks, which is little
enough vacation from you. How do you expect to attract folks
to your new church if your own wife looks like a downtrodden
toad? This summer your kids'll go to camp. They're gonna
have new bicycles and baseball gloves, because I'm overturning
your rule about no games of any kind and signing
them up for Little League next spring." She winked. "Their
Aunt Nora Gail is gonna be the best goddamn thing that ever
happened to those kids. Are you getting all this, preacher?"
Again, Plummet gave a brusque nod.
"Good." She sat back in her chair, calmly swinging a
shapely leg back and forth through the slit of her robe. ' 'Now
that we've cleared the air, let's talk terms. You'll receive the
first donation the day the licensing is finalized, and one on
the first of each month after that. The checks will be drawn
on the NGB, Incorporated account. I'm going to need the tax
deduction," she said with a throaty laugh.
Then, dismissing Fergus, she looked at her sister. ' 'Wanda
Gail, don't wait till I send you to Dallas. Use the money I
sent you the other day to buy you and your kids new clothes.
And for crissake, do something with your hair. It looks like
shit."
Wanda's eyes misted. "Thank you, thank you."
Nora Gail reached out to touch her sister's hand, but
thought better of it and lit one of her black cigarettes instead.
Through a dense cloud of acrid smoke, she replied, "You're
welcome, sugar."
Forty-four
"Junior?"
He turned away from the bar, where he'd been mixing his
second drink in ten minutes. ' 'Good morning, Mother. Would you like a Bloody Mary?"
Sarah Jo crossed the room and yanked the bottle of vodka
from his hand. "What's the matter with you?" she asked,
speaking in a much harsher tone than she usually used with
him. "Why are you drinking this early?"
"It's not that early, considering what time I got up."
"You went out. I heard you leave. Where'd you go?"
"I'd like to know that myself," Angus said, coming into
the room. "I need to talk to you."
"Let me guess," Junior said with feigned cheerfulness,
"it's about Judge Wallace."
"That's right."
"And my marriage to Stacey."
"Yes," Angus said reluctantly.
"I'll bet you're going to tell me why it was so all-fired
important that I marry her when I did."
"It was for your own good."
"That much you told me twenty-five years ago. It was a
trade-off, wasn't it? You got him to close Celina's murder
case in exchange for my marriage to Stacey. Am I getting
warm? Apparently, so was Alex. When she confronted the
judge with her hypothesis, he killed himself."
Looking faint, Sarah Jo covered her mouth. Angus responded
with anger. His hands flexed into fists at his sides.
"It was the best thing to do at the time. I couldn't allow an
in-depth investigation. To protect my family and my business,
I had no choice but to ask the judge that favor."
"Did Stacey know about it?"
"Not from me. I doubt that Joe ever told her."
"Thank God for that." Junior dropped into a chair. His
head hung dejectedly. "Dad, you know as well as I do that
Gooney Bud was innocent.''
"I know no such thing."
"Come on. He was harmless. You knew he didn't kill
Celina, but you let him be punished for it. Why didn't you
just let things take their natural course? In the long run, we'd
all have been better off."
"You know that's not so, Junior."
"Do I?" He raised his head and looked at his parents with
hot, intense eyes. "You know who Reede has in his bed this
morning, looking all soft and sexy and satiated? Alex." He