Blood Wounds Read Online Free PDF

to turn over a new leaf, but he never did. But Faye told me he'd accepted Jesus as his savior and was working steady. She'd see him in church every Sunday. He and his wife had a little daughter and newborn twin girls. I thought now that he had three daughters, maybe he'd be ready to let Willa go."
    "But his letter disturbed you," Officer Rivera said. "Did he threaten you?"
    "No," Mom said. "It was more his tone than anything. It brought back a lot of bad memories. I only read it once, and then I threw it out."
    "When you were married, had he been abusive?" Officer Rivera asked. "To you or Willa?"
    Mom glanced at me, then looked away. "Budge and I both had tempers," she said. "It was a bad marriage. When I couldn't take it anymore, I grabbed Willa and ran."
    "All right," Officer Schultz said, putting away his notebook. "I think you should pack a couple of days' worth of clothes, just to be on the safe side. I'm sure this will be wrapped up by then."
    "Let us know what motel you're staying at," Officer Rivera said. "In case we need to reach you."
    "Wait a second," Mom said. "There's one more thing."
    We all stared at her.
    "Trace," she said. "Budge's son, Trace. He's a couple years older than Willa. The Texas police probably know about him already."
    "Do you have any idea how we could find him?" Officer Schultz asked.
    Mom shook her head. "I don't even know what last name he goes by," she said. "Coffey or Sheldon. And Mandy, his mother, has been married a couple of times, so I don't know what her last name is either."
    "Do you think your friend Faye would know where Trace is?" Officer Rivera asked.
    "I doubt it," Mom said. "She hasn't mentioned him in years. Mandy was in Georgia, the last I heard. Maybe he's with her. Maybe he enlisted. Maybe he's in jail." She turned away from the others and faced me, looked straight into my eyes. "Trace is what you would have been," she said, "if Jack hadn't rescued us both."

Four
    T O MY SURPRISE, Jack drove us to Curt and Pauline Henderson's house. Curt and Pauline had both worked at the paper with Jack, and he'd stayed close with them after they retired.
    When Jack had said Brooke and Alyssa were at a friend's, I assumed it was a friend of Brooke's. But Jack had told them to go to the Hendersons' and wait there until they heard from him.
    "You'd better come in," Jack said to Mom and me. "It's safer."
    "Budge isn't going to find us sitting in the Hendersons' driveway," Mom said.
    "Terri, please," Jack said.
    Mom and I got out of the car and followed Jack to the door. Curt opened it before Jack had a chance to ring the bell.
    "We've been keeping an eye out for you," Curt said. "Come on in."
    We found Brooke and Alyssa sitting in the living room. "Pauline's in the kitchen, making sandwiches," Curt said. "In case you're hungry."
    "I couldn't eat anything," Mom said. "Willa?"
    I shook my head. "No, thanks," I said.
    "You can stop making the sandwiches," Curt called to Pauline. I guess she stopped, because she came into the living room.
    "Terri, I'm so sorry," she said, giving Mom a hug. "Come here, Willa. This must be awful for you."
    I love Curt and Pauline. Jack's parents are very nice, but I can tell they feel differently about me than they do Brooke and Alyssa. And Mom's parents died a couple of years after we'd left Texas. Curt and Pauline are more like grandparents than any I've ever had.
    Brooke and Alyssa both looked uncomfortable. "We spoke to Mom," Brooke said.
    "She says you have to take us to Orlando, Daddy," Alyssa said. "She says it's the safest place for us until they catch Willa's father, but we shouldn't fly there alone."
    "She was pretty insistent, Dad," Brooke said. "I think you'd better call her."
    "Excuse me," Jack said, and left the room. He went to the den and closed the door.
    "Are you all right?" Brooke asked me.
    "I'm fine," I said. For all I knew, I was. "As soon as I heard from Mom, I felt better."
    "What a horrible, horrible thing for all of you," Pauline said. "I