The Bourbon Thief(93)

“So you knew I killed him?” Tamara asked. “You knew all along? But—” Her mother had blamed her for George Maddox’s death but had never outright accused her of murder. If she’d known, why hadn’t she told the police?

“He’s left-handed. When he put a red ribbon on his hand, he put it on his right hand because that’s the only way he could get it on. When they found him, it was on his left hand. Of course I knew you’d killed him. Who else could have?”

“You knew and you didn’t ask me why?”

“I was protecting you. You could have gone to jail for murder, Tamara.”

“Why did you think I killed him? Go on, tell me.”

“I don’t know. I imagined you’d fought with him over Levi. It didn’t matter. I just knew you did it and weren’t sorry about it.”

“You want to know what happened? You want to know why I wasn’t sorry? You said I had to pick between my horse and Levi’s job. You’d kill my horse or you’d fire Levi. I went crying to Granddaddy and he was so sweet to me. He sent me to take a long hot bath. Then he came to my bedroom with some Red Thread bourbon. He had me drink some. And while I drank, he told me his big sob story about how much he wanted a son and how the world had taken away all his babies. Then he said he had an idea how we could help each other make everything okay again. Wanna know what that idea was, Momma?”

“No. Tamara, no—”

“He kissed me, Momma. He kissed me hard and dragged me to the bed—”

“No.” Her mother shook her head.

“And he unzipped his pants.”

“No!”

“And then the floodwater came into my bedroom and it was like God had heard me screaming. Granddaddy saw it, and when he took his mind off me for a second, I hit him over the head with a lamp. When that didn’t knock him out, I hit him over the head with a candlestick. And when that didn’t kill him, I pushed his head under the water and drowned him. Because I knew if he lived, he would finish what he started, and he would make me give him a son. That’s why I killed him. Not because he was going to fire Levi. Not to save my horse from the glue factory. Not because I wanted to inherit all his dirty money. Not because he told me about you and him. And when I was under him fighting for myself, I knew you had sold me to him. You’d set me up so I’d give in to him and do anything he wanted so we could stay in this house and keep his money. He said you told him to take me down a peg or two. You’re gonna tell me you didn’t do all that?”

Her mother sighed, heavy and sad. She wiped a tear off her face, nodded.

“I told him that,” her mother whispered, her voice hoarse, her eyes closed. “I told him to tell you about Levi. He’d been threatening to leave Red Thread and everything to Levi because he’s the last Maddox boy. I thought if you were scared we’d lose everything to Levi, you’d stay away from him. George was only supposed to scare you into behaving yourself.”

“He scared me. But I didn’t behave myself,” Tamara said.

“You really thought I’d sell your body?”

“Hard not to believe it of a woman who’d just threatened to shoot my own horse. You really thought he wouldn’t do what he did to me after what he did to you?”

“After?” her mother said, incredulous. “There was no after, Tamara. Of course I didn’t think he’d go after you. He was still coming after me.”

“Momma... I didn’t know.”

“That makes two of us, I guess. I would shoot every man, woman and animal on earth to save my daughter from what I went through... Instead, I handed you over to it.”

Tamara twined her finger in her hair, a red coil. Her mother took another coil of her hair and caressed it between her finger and thumb.

“You and I have the same color hair,” her mother said. “Under this dye. But I’ve been dyeing it so long you don’t even remember I’m a redhead, too. Or maybe I’m not—it might be gray under here. I don’t even know what I look like it’s been so long since I’ve seen myself.”

“You really didn’t sell me to Granddaddy?”

“No, baby.” Her mother shook her head. “I would have killed him myself had I known what he’d planned to do. I would have killed him with my bare hands.”

“I did it for you,” Tamara said.

“I should have thanked you.”

Tamara leaned forward and into her mother’s arms. All this time they could have been allies. One more sin on George Maddox’s head. He not only took her father away from her, he took her mother, too.

“You hit me,” Tamara said.

“I shouldn’t have done that,” her mother said, pulling back and holding Tamara by the shoulders. “I was so upset seeing you and Levi together. But, Tamara, I swear to God I never sold you out. I told George we were running out of time. I told him to talk to you. I told him to tell you the truth. I told him to beat sense into you if it came to that, but I never ever told him he could have you. If he didn’t tell you the truth, you’d be carrying Levi Shelby’s baby anytime now.”

“I’m carrying it now.”

Her mother bent over, her face in her hands.

“Momma?”

Abruptly her mother sat up.