The River Widow(25)
Adah’s heart froze in midbeat.
“Them fools in there kept on saying there’s no telling what Les done bumped up against while he was in the water, that all manner of things could have hit him in the head, full as it was with junk, but I don’t think nothing happened to his head in the river. We Branches ain’t no fools. You best believe that’s not what I think happened.”
“You got something to confess?” said Jesse.
Adah wouldn’t answer, too afraid of the terror that her voice might reveal.
Jesse continued. “Come on, now. Ain’t you heard that ole saying that confession is good for the soul?”
Adah sat still, her muscles tensed like taut wires, spine tingling, scalp tightening.
“You must think you’re some smart cookie,” Jesse said. “Thinking you done tricked everyone with your swooning spell back there. You’re not no actress, that’s for sure.”
“It wasn’t an act,” Adah breathed out.
Jesse laughed menacingly. “Sure was a good one. If’n we’d been in there alone, I would’ve let you fall straight down on the floor. But then again, you might’ve caught yourself and saved yourself the fall, right? Somehow no harm never comes to you. Now, why’s that? I wanna know. You’re one lucky little bitch, ain’t you?”
“It’s alright, Son,” Buck said with a snorting sound. “We know what happened. We saw it, didn’t we? You don’t have to say nothing,” he said, addressing Adah now. “Today I saw what really happened to my son, and I know who did it, too. Happens to be sitting here in my truck betwixt me and my other son, happens to be living in my house that’s been in the family for generations, eating my food, sleeping in one of my rooms.”
Jesse interjected, “Les once told me he was sorry he’d ever married you. Said you weren’t to be trusted.”
Still not moving, Adah became aware of her right leg trembling. Why had Lester said that to his brother? But then again, what had she expected of a wife beater? Her husband had probably convinced himself and his family that she was a bad person; therefore, in some sick way, he could justify what he’d been doing to her. She pressed down on the ball of her foot then, willing the trembling to stop. Never show weakness to people like the Branches.
Buck went on. “Even if I cain’t do nothing about it right at this moment, you best be sure that I will. Don’t you never go fooling yourself that we believe your cock-and-bull story. Don’t think you’re making the fool out of us.”
“No more lucky breaks for you,” Jesse said.
And Buck finished, “Don’t never go thinking you got off scot-free.”
Sleep was impossible that night, and well after midnight, when all was silent except for the scratching of mice and the songs of night birds, Adah slipped out from under the covers, leaving Daisy, and tiptoed down the stairs, wearing only a nightgown. Her feet whispered across the wood floors. She was barely breathing as she eased open the front door silently and slipped like smoke to the truck, the air outside as frosty as if it were inside the morgue. Both of the Branches’ dogs approached her but didn’t make a sound, since they’d been trained to bark only for strangers, fire, or other dangers and to keep quiet at all other times. She reached down and scratched both dogs’ heads to be certain they would sense nothing amiss and stay quiet.
After carefully and slowly opening the passenger-side door, she searched for the cash box and found it where she had placed it. It had shifted position a bit but otherwise was easy to find. Taking the box with her, she retraced her steps and hid the locked box under her bed, then lay down again next to Daisy and thought through once again what had happened and what she needed to do.
Obviously Jesse and Buck, even with their influence in the community, hadn’t been able to convince the police that foul play had caused Lester’s death; otherwise she would’ve been arrested or at least questioned. They were well connected but not enough for the police to charge someone for a crime without evidence. So she was off the hook as far as the law was concerned. But Jesse and Buck had seen what she hadn’t wanted them to see, and she had no idea what they would do with that information.
Would they tell Mabel? Would they tell others of their suspicions? Would they tell Daisy? What did they have in mind for her when Buck said, Don’t never go thinking you got off scot-free ? Would they take matters into their own hands and hand out vigilante justice as they had against the farmworker who had stolen from them? Would they slit her throat in the middle of the night or stage a fatal accident?
Now at least she had the cash box, although she had no idea how much money was inside. She’d never had a key, hadn’t found any keys at the house, and the police had found no possessions on Lester’s body. She would have to bang it open, and how would she do that without making too much noise and calling attention to herself? Even though the money was rightfully hers, she didn’t want the Branches to know about it. She would have to figure out how to break the lock later, and then, with some cash in hand, she would go to an attorney in town and get him to work on custody of Daisy and at least partial ownership of the farm. Once out of the house and with nothing proven against her, she could begin her life with Daisy anew.
“Time,” she breathed out. It was only a matter of time now.
The next day, Mabel and Buck gathered themselves to drive the sedan to the funeral home in order to make plans for Lester’s service. Now that a body had been found, there was no need to wait any longer. Plans were made, Adah not once being consulted.