Sinful Southern Ink Read Online Free PDF Page A

because they’re both dead now doesn’t automatically make them good people.”
    Jed’s cell phone vibrated on the counter, the sound making her jump.
    His eyes slanted to the phone and back to her, dismissing the interruption. “Were you there when he killed her?”
    Abigail wasn’t surprised by the question, but she was surprised by the angry look on Jed’s face. She could tell he wasn’t angry at her, more like if her parents weren’t already dead, he’d be thinking about doing the deed himself. His reaction was a far cry from the pity, obscene interest, or suspicion she’d faced in the past. Most people tended to look at her and wonder how fucked-up she was from growing up in such an environment and witnessing a murder. Before she’d left her hometown, she’d always felt as if people were eying her, trying to figure out when she’d finally have that mental breakdown they’d all been anticipating.
    “Yes, I was there.” She thought about lying, to avoid answering the inevitable questions about the gruesome details.
    Instead of launching an inquisition as she’d expected, Jed did something amazing. He pressed his foot against her chair until it scooted back far enough from the table for her to stand, then tugged her onto his lap, wrapped his strong arms around her and put his chin on her shoulder.
    He didn’t ask how much blood her mother had shed or if she’d gotten any on herself during the ordeal. He didn’t ask any of the ignorant questions she was used to. He just held her, offering support.
    “It was 11:00 a.m. on a Saturday and I’d just stopped at home to grab some clothes before going back to my friend’s house for the weekend. As soon as I walked in the door, I heard my father’s truck tear down the drive and skid to a stop. I remember the gravel spraying the side of the trailer and how it made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. He stormed inside, straight back to their bedroom at the end of the hall, and kicked open the door. I stood in the hallway, trying to decide if it was worth getting in the middle of another one of their fights. My mom was lying on the bed next to a man I’d never seen before. One of her drug buddies by the look of the guy.
    “My dad started screaming at her about being a whore and bringing another man into his house, and she just laughed at him. I could tell by the sound that she was still high from the night before. I decided I wasn’t going to stick around and watch any more of it. As I turned toward the door, I heard a click and knew in my gut it was the hammer of a gun being pulled. I spun back around just in time to see my dad put a bullet in my mother’s head.”
    Jed squeezed her tighter, burying his nose at the back of her ear.
    “If my father caught me, I’d likely end up dead just like my mom. So I ran.”
    “Where did you go?”
    “I ran into the woods surrounding our property. I ran until my side hurt so badly I couldn’t take another step and my arms and face were bloody from being scraped by thorns and branches. I had no idea how far I’d gone or in which direction. We’d never been able to afford cell phones so I had no way of calling for help. I walked and walked and eventually made it to a road I recognized. I was still too scared of my father finding me to take a chance of walking on the road or accepting a ride so I stayed in the woods and headed back to town. By the time I made it to the police station, it’d been almost twenty-four hours.”
    She sighed, the difficult part of the story now over. Relaxing into Jed’s embrace, she turned and put her arms around his neck, drawing in his unique scent of pine and musk and man. With her cheek on his shoulder, she felt him tense when his cell phone started to vibrate again.
     
    “Do you need to get that?”
    He finally had Abigail where he wanted her and his damn phone wouldn’t stop blowing up. It had to be Sherrie, still whining about their ruined night and demanding he take her