Blood Wounds Read Online Free PDF Page A

alone in the kitchen.
    I dialed Faye's number. "It's Willa," I said. "I just spoke to Mom. She's fine. Jack's bringing her home."
    "Thank you, Jesus," Faye said.
    "She doesn't know yet," I said. "About ... about Budge. About the bodies. I think Jack'll tell her, or maybe the police will. She might be too upset to call you for a while. But she's fine. You don't have to worry anymore."
    "Thank you, Willa," Faye said. "I'm sure you'll be a great comfort."
    "I'll try," I said. "Uh, Faye?"
    "Yes, sweetie?"
    "Mom knew? I mean, that he had gotten married again and had kids?"
    "She knew," Faye said. "But, sweetie, it wasn't important. You're all that matters to her, you and Jack and the girls."
    "I wondered," I said, "because she never told me."
    "Your momma was just trying to protect you." I could hear her start to cry. "You be there for her," she said. "She's going to need you."
    I hung up and returned to the living room. "I was supposed to dust and vacuum," I said to the officers. "I guess there's no point starting now. Mom and Jack'll be home soon."
    "I hate vacuuming," Officer Schultz said. "That's the one job I won't do. Dishes, diapers even, I don't mind. But my wife does all the vacuuming."
    "I don't mind vacuuming," Officer Rivera said. "What I hate is throwing out the garbage."
    "Well, we see enough garbage on the job," Officer Schultz said.
    "More than enough," Officer Rivera said.
    "I don't like throwing out garbage either," I said. "Could you excuse me, please? I'm going to be sick again."
    This time, when Officer Rivera knocked on the door to see if I was all right, I told her I was but I didn't come out. I guess she figured I couldn't get into much trouble in a bathroom, because she left me alone after that, and I stayed in there until I heard the car pulling up in our driveway.
    I met Mom and Jack at the back door. Jack was holding Mom up, helping her walk into the house. "The officers are in the living room," I said. "They've been waiting for you."
    Jack reached over and gave me an awkward embrace. "How are you, pumpkin?" he asked.
    "I'm fine," I said.
    "Do me a favor and pour your mother a brandy," he said. "Bring it to the living room."
    "Okay," I said.
    "I'm all right, honey," Mom said. "I was feeling a little faint, that's all."
    "I know," I said. "I'll join you in a minute."
    Mom seemed sturdier and she managed to walk to the living room without holding on to Jack. I went to the dining room, found the brandy and the snifters, and poured one for Mom.
    "I sent my daughters to a friend's house," Jack was saying as I joined them. "As a precaution."
    "That's a good idea," Officer Rivera said. "I'm sure they're in no danger, but it might be better if they stayed away from here for the time being."
    "What about Terri and Willa?" Jack asked.
    "We'd like to talk to Mrs. McDougal first, if we could," Officer Schultz said. "Any information we could convey to the Texas police would help. After that, the safest thing would be for you all to move in to a motel. Just as a precautionary measure."
    "When was the last you heard from Dwayne Coffey?" Officer Rivera asked.
    Mom took a sip of her brandy. "About four years ago," she replied. "Right after we moved here. I wrote Budge to ask if he'd let Jack adopt Willa. That's his nickname: Budge. He wrote back a very abusive letter. He said I'd only written to extort money from him. Which I hadn't. When we got the divorce, I signed away any claims for alimony or child support, and I've never asked him for a penny."
    "You didn't tell me you'd written Dwayne," Jack said.
    "Things were so crazy then," Mom said. "The move. Val leaving. If Budge had said okay, I would have told you. He didn't, so I kept it to myself."
    "Willa told us she's had no contact with him," Officer Rivera said. "Not since she was a little girl. Did he ever say he wanted to see her? Maybe in that letter?"
    "No," Mom said. "I don't know what I would have done if he had. When I was with Budge, he was always promising