“Boy, you need to watch your mouth. Coming down here, yelling. You want to get us killed?”
“Watch my mouth? Killed? I thought we agreed that no one would know about this?” He raised a hand over his head, looking exasperated. “Hanging them from a bridge, Alby. Are you out of your mind?”
“They never hid your father. They never showed any respect. My brother was left in the middle of a dirt road, so why the hell should I bury them? Burying is something you do for people you care about.”
“No, burying them would have kept the Stricklands off our backs. Now, who do you think they’ll come after?”
Alby pushed away from a granite kitchen counter. “Yeah, well, maybe you should have thought about that before you put Edgar and Jared down.”
“They were about to carve you up, and you know it.”
There was a break in the conversation. Jessie took a seat at the table and drummed his fingers. “Even if they can’t connect it to us. Do you think Hank gives a crap? He’s been looking for any reason to come at us, and now we’ve given him three.” He sighed. “Man, I just wish you’d buried them, dumped their bodies somewhere outside of the county. Their family would have thought they’d left.”
“No one leaves. The only ones who’ve left have been Colby and Hank’s brother, and he returned. That reminds me. Have you seen any sign of Colby yet?”
“Of course not. And I don’t expect to.”
Jessie paced. He was on edge. She hadn’t seen him like this.
Alby put a hand out. “Listen. We need to be on the same page about this. Eventually, your mother will find out. Keep your mouth shut. Don’t say a word. The last thing I need is her coming down here all fire and fury. You understand?” He waited for a response. Jessie didn’t give one. “Jessie.”
“Yeah, yeah, I hear you.”
“Now about Nina. You spoke with her?”
Nina? Miriam frowned.
“No. I’m not sure what to do.”
“So all that talk about you raising that baby, bringing her into the fold was to rile Luke up?”
“Something like that. I don’t know how to handle it.”
“You don’t. You do nothing.”
“I wish it was as easy as that,” Jessie said.
Baby? Miriam shifted ever so slightly, and the pot tipped. She ducked as it clattered. Miriam darted back into her hiding spot. She was certain they’d spotted her. She could see Alby peering out the window. He looked her way for a second.
“I don’t see anyone,” he said.
Too nervous to step out, she waited. Ten minutes later, Jessie emerged. “Remember, Jessie. Don’t say a word.”
“I won’t as long as you say nothing about Nina.”
He got back on his ATV, and it roared to life. As it peeled away, Alby looked her way but then closed the door. She waited a few more minutes just to be sure he wouldn’t step out again before she took off, collecting her mountain bike and pedaling as fast as she could into town. She couldn’t believe it. Jessie and Nina? Pregnant? The last time that had happened, it didn’t end well. If her mother found out, there would be hell to pay. Her thoughts switched to the Strickland brothers.
They’d murdered them.
She shook her head. This was not good. Not good at all.
Miriam pushed it all from her mind as she weaved through the streets heading north toward her aunt’s, taking in the sight of the town eleven days out from the event. For a community with a history of lawlessness, she was surprised to see how much was still intact. Buildings had shutters pulled down. Some were advertising products and services in exchange for cash or bartering items. These folks must have thought it was nothing more than a glitch.
She passed by several deputies patrolling on bicycles. They glanced at her but continued, having no reason to stop her. She had to give credit where credit was due. Dan Wilder had managed to keep looters at bay and maintained some level of order. How long that would last was still to be seen.
The mountain bike bounced over uneven ground, and Miriam ducked below low-hanging branches, taking a shortcut that she’d used countless times.
Her aunt Hazel owned the local theater in town, just off Redwood Street, a small business that at one time had been a garage. She’d spent many a weekend there. Free movies. Free popcorn. It had been her escape away from chores. Unlike her mother, Hazel had done her best to give her a normal life. Maybe that’s why she enjoyed spending time with her. There was never any talk about illegal activity, no wondering if the cops were going to bust through the door and arrest them. She was the complete opposite of her mother.
With a large gap in age between Miriam and her sisters, she’d found it difficult to have anything in common with them, whereas Hazel’s youngest daughter was only a year older.
She swerved onto Arthur Road. Her eyes scanned two homes on either side of the road that belonged to the Stricklands. One belonged to Luke. As she passed it, Miriam noticed there were several trucks outside, and a group wearing black and drinking. They looked as if they’d just come back from a funeral. They saw her pass and immediately threw insults her way. One tossed a full beer bottle. It smashed a few feet from her back tire. She sped up. She didn’t look, she never looked. That’s what Hazel had told her. Just ignore them.
Still, with what she now knew, a shot of fear ran through her. Miriam looked over her shoulder just to make sure they weren’t following. There were a few routes to get to Hazel’s home, but this was the
