Now Violet was locked up in a mental institutionhopefully never to be released, if Arlene had anything to do with it.
Bo, Arlenes only son, had been engaged to Maddie Cavanaugh. The two had been all wrong for each other from the beginning. Unfortunately, since the breakup, though, Bo hadnt shown any interest in finding himself a good woman to spend the rest of his life with. In fact, when Arlene had offered to line him up with one of her clients, hed told her it would be over his dead body. It broke her heart, since Bo had always been her favorite.
And then there was Charlotte, the daughter that Arlene had thought would never have any trouble finding a husband.
Arlene scowled as she studied her youngest childand Charlottes huge protruding belly. For months Arlene had been trying to find out who had fathered the baby now growing inside her daughter. The baby was due next month, and Arlene was no closer to discovering the name of the father than shed been when shed found out about the pregnancy.
Charlotte took perverse pleasure in keeping it a secret. If her daughter even knew, Arlene thought with a silent curse. Other mothers considered their children blessings. Arlene had come to see hers as a curse.
Not for the first time, Arlene saw a silver SUV drive past. She couldnt see the driver, not with the glint of the June sun on the darkened side window, but she had the impression it was a woman behind the wheel.
Arlene frowned, trying to remember how many other times shed seen the vehicle. Strange, since not much traffic ever came down this road. She put it out of her mind. She had a lot more important things to worry
about.
When she turned back to her computer, she was surprised to see that she had a potential new client. She completely forgot about the silver SUV as she clicked on the mans e-mail and felt a small thrill that had nothing to do with success or money.
Since my wife died, I find myself deeply needing the company of an interesting woman. I want someone who would like to travel the world with me. Someone who wants to share my final years.
Travel the world. What woman wouldnt want to do that with an attractive older man? A man only a little older than Arlene herself.
She e-mailed Hank Monroe back, promising to find him the perfect woman and set up a time to meet.
BEHIND HARPER HOUSE, Nate Dempsey leaned on his shovel to rest for a moment and listened to the sound of the wind in the trees. A hot, dry wind that made his skin ache. The years must have distorted his memory. Hed been so sure he was digging in the right place.
But the land looked different than he remembered, and it had been a long time ago.
He began to dig again, turning over one shovelful of dirt after another, trying to gauge how deep the body would have been buried.
As he dug, he tried not to think about that hot summer night. Not the sounds hed heard. Nor the fear hed felt knowing he could be next. What he hadnt known was who they were burying out back. He didnt know that until the next morning. Until it was too late.
The heat bore down on him. He stopped digging for a moment to look up at the blue wind-scoured sky overhead and catch his breath. Standing there, it was impossible not to think of the past. Had a day gone by that he hadnt remembered this place?
Hed spent years looking over his shoulder, knowing whose face he would see that instant before he felt the blade. But now he was no longer that skinny, scared boy. Nor was he a man willing to run from his past any longer. It would end here.
He began to dig again. Had it really been twenty-one years since hed left this godforsaken place? Coming back here, it felt as if it had only been yesterday.
His shovel hit something that made the blade ring. He shuddered at the sound as he looked down, expecting to see bones. Just a rock. No body buried here.
He stopped again, this time the skin on the back of his neck prickling. As he had earlier, he felt someone was watching him. Carrying the shovel with him, he strode back to the house and stripped off his shirt to use it to wipe the sweat from his eyes.
For a moment he stood at the back door, surveying the land behind the house, the tall, old cottonwoods that followed the creek bed, the weather-beaten barn and outbuildings, the rolling grassy hillsides.
He couldnt see anyone, but that didnt mean Roy Vaughn wasnt there. He was the man Nate had to fear now, just as he had as a boy.
Stepping inside, he turned on the faucet at the old kitchen sink, letting the water run until it came up icy-cold, all the time watching out the window. He could almost convince himself hed only imagined that someone was watching him.
Discarding his shirt, he scooped up handfuls of water, drinking them down greedily. Johnnys remains were out there somewhere. With all his heart he wished it wasnt true. That Johnny had run away, just as hed been told. But he knew better. Johnny would have come back for him if hed gotten away. Johnny wouldnt have left him at Harper House. Not when Johnny had known how dangerous the place was for Nate.