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“D’Vora saw you with her in your truck out at the lake.’’
Mama, startled from her trance, asked, “Who’s ‘her’?’’
“Camilla.’’
I heard her gasp when I said that name.
Ke
“Did you?’’ Henry asked.
Ke
Henry lifted one eyebrow, the same one he used in the courtroom when he wanted the jury to believe a witness on the stand was lying.
Ke
“I don’t think God had much to do with this,’’ Mama said.
“I felt awful,’’ he continued. “All I could think was how hurt Maddie would be.’’
He sneaked a glance at Mama. Arms folded tight across her chest, she simply shook her head. He sniffed, knuckled at an eye.
“Unfortunately, you’ll have the chance to find out just how much you hurt her,’’ I said.
“I know y’all won’t believe this, but I was only with Camilla …
in that way … the one time. She started flirting around with me at the golf course. A few times, she sat down while I was having lunch or di
Ke
“Whose idea was that?’’ Henry asked.
“I swear it wasn’t mine. Camilla asked me to drive her to Lake Okeechobee to see the sunset. She just about jumped me when we got there, doing things I’d never dreamed a woman would do.’’ His face reddened. “I couldn’t resist.’’
“Was she wearing that outfit we found her in at the dump?’’ I asked.
I saw a gleam of comprehension in Mama’s eyes. She butted in. “When exactly was this you were with Camilla at the lake?’’
He’d clamped his lips shut again; his eyes cast down.
The gleam became a flash. “Oh my Lord Jesus! You’re not just a cheater, you’re a murderer, too.” Mama clutched her throat. Her face had turned grayish-yellow. “I’m going to be sick.’’
And she was, all over Ke
forty
Mama dabbed her lips with a pineapple sherbet-colored hankie. She must have eaten a big breakfast, because the delicate handkerchief wasn’t up to the task. I handed her a super-sized bandana from my back pocket.
I figured the vomit all over Ke
“How could you think I’d murder that girl, Rosalee?’’ Ke
Mama turned her back on him.
Henry said, “We all thought we knew you, Ke
Ke
“Camilla was alive when I dropped her off at her house; and she wasn’t wearing any kind of black leather getup, either.’’
Brakes hissed in the road. A horn blared on a tractor trailer hauling sugar cane. I waited until the big truck rumbled past, narrowly missing an oblivious tourist in a rental car.
“What about the text you sent to Maddie?” I quoted it word-for-word, since it was seared into my heart the moment I’d read it: “I did something terrible. I don’t think you can forgive me. I’m so sorry.’’
Ke
“Yeah, well, sorry if I offended your ‘privacy’ by trying to help my sister patch together her shattered life.’’
“That message had nothing to do with anything except the fact guilt was eating me up because I’d cheated. I betrayed my wife, the only woman I ever loved. That’s what I was saying I was sorry for!’’
Mama turned, cocking her head at Ke
He looked at each of us in turn. It seemed he was trying to gauge whether we believed him. I wasn’t sure if I did or not. He’d shaken my faith. Not just in him, either. In all men. The fact I couldn’t tell if my brother-in-law was lying troubled me more than I wanted to let on to Mama or Henry.
Finally, Mama spoke up. “I’m angry at you, son. What you did to Maddie makes you low enough to walk under a trundle bed wearing a ten-gallon hat. But I don’t believe you killed anybody, either.’’
I heard a whoosh of air escape, as if Ke
“Not so fast.’’ She took a step back. “I want to know how you’re going to fix this. How much trouble is he in, Henry?’’
My cousin stroked his chin, thinking. “He’d be in a lot less trouble if there was somebody else who saw Camilla after he did. What time did you drop her back home after you left the lake, Ke
“Right before eight o’clock. I wanted to get back to the motel in time to watch that reality show I like about the bounty hunters.’’
“How appropriate,’’ Henry said. “Let’s hope you don’t end up starring in a real-life episode.’’
I was surprised to hear Ke
“Where’ve you been staying?’’ I asked.
He pressed his lips together; put his sunglasses back on.
“Mace asked you a question,’’ Mama said.
He turned his face my way. The sun glinted off the dark lenses of his glasses. “How do I know you’re not going to send Carlos after me?’’
“Believe me, if this whole mess didn’t involve Maddie, you’d already be sitting, dripping sweat, in his suspect’s chair.’’ I ran my fingers through my hair; encountered snarls. “Before it becomes common knowledge, I’m going to tell my sister what’s been going on. I owe her that. In the meantime, you ought to talk to Henry about the best way to frame all this when you do sit down to talk to Carlos.’’
Henry gave a curt nod. “Good advice.’’ He dropped a hand on Ke
“What about my tickets to the monster truck show? They said on the radio I’m a contest wi
Henry rolled his eyes. “You’re a wi
“It was a ruse,’’ Mama said. “There are no tickets.’’
I sent up a silent thank-you to the Lord for seeing that their daughter, Pam, inherited her brains from Maddie instead of from Ke
Ke
“The NoTell Motel.’’
_____
My supervisor at Himmarshee Park was an understanding woman, but even she had her limits.
“Get your ass into work, girl. Your lunch hour has come and gone. I’ve taken a half-dozen phone messages, and now there’s a teacher waiting to see you in the breezeway.’’ Even through the cell phone’s crappy speaker, I could hear the testiness in Rhonda’s voice.
“I’m just pulling in now, boss. I’ll be there in two shakes of a lamb’s tail.’’ My Jeep bounced over the slatted wooden bridge at the park’s entrance. “I got caught up in some family trouble.’’