“Of course you can, and I’ll never say a word to anyone.”
“Not even Bent?” Luna’s eyes searched hers, looking for further reassurance.
“If I say I won’t tell anyone, that includes Bent.”
“I ...” Luna pursed her lips for a moment, and Vera held her breath. “I’m grateful she’s gone. I wouldn’t have wished it on her, but I’m glad Jackie is gone.”
And there it was. Vera absorbed the ramifications of her words for a second or two, working diligently not to show any sort of reaction that would hurt her sister. “I can understand how you would feel that way. I’m sure there are others who do as well.”
“Not Jerome or his father, of course.” Luna stared at her mother’s headstone. “It was better for you and Eve when she was gone, wasn’t it? And I imagine you were glad.”
Vera’s heart lurched. “Lu, nothing about what happened with your mother was better. It just was. I wished her gone plenty of times, but I didn’t want her to die.” Okay that might be a lie. “Eve didn’t want her to die. But it happened, and it was an accident.” At her sister’s look of wanting more, Vera went on with the painful story. “It’s true that life was ...easierin some ways afterward. But I would have endured whatever she did or said if it had been possible for her to keep living and to be a good mother to you.” Maybe a bit of a stretch.
Luna’s face fell. “So you’re saying I shouldn’t be relieved.”
Shit. “No. No.” Vera moved her head side to side despite the pain. “I think you would be a little strange if you weren’t relieved. But Jackie was very different from your mama.”
Vera stared at the headstone of the woman in question. Searched for a way to say something kind about the witch. “Sheree didn’t have a proper upbringing, Luna. She was badly mistreated, and she had nothing. Coming from a home life like that, she learned to take whatever she could get by whatever means available to her. It was survival, pure and simple.”
Luna blinked as if she was confused or bewildered.
Well, hell. “In other words,” Vera went on, “she kind of did the best she could. Yes, she was jealous and would fight a bear to keep what she had once she got it, but that was only a self-defense mechanism. No one until Daddy had ever protected her, so she learned to protectherself. Jackie always had everything handed to her. She never wanted for anything, and she had fine parents. It’s not the same situation at all. Jackie was just ...” Vera told herself to shut up, but she couldn’t. “She was a selfish bitch who loved making everyone around her miserable, and to tell you the truth, I am damned relieved for you that she’s gone.”
Vera clamped her mouth shut. She had definitely gone too far.
Luna smiled, her eyes still sad, no matter that her lips showed otherwise. “Thank you. I needed to hear that truth.”
Vera wanted to feel good about it, but she wasn’t at all sure she should. “Like I said, you can tell me anything.”
Just please don’t tell me you killed her.
But she had a bad, bad feeling that might be the case. Hopefully accidentally. Vera thought of the indentation in the drywall and the broken spindle. And that damned scratch on Jackie’s arm. Probably not accidental, but she could hold on to her optimism. There was hope when there was nothing else. And even when the hope was gone, Vera would do everything possible to protect her sister.
“I just wish things could have been different.” Luna’s expression turned despondent once more.
“Eve says she’s coming over tonight to help finish the nursery.” Maybe the reminder would perk her up.
Luna only nodded, her lips struggling to pull off a smile again.
Vera’s cell vibrated in her pocket. She fished it out with two fingers.Bent.News on Alicia Wilton’s condition would be good. Or some evidence on the case. “Hey. What’s up?”
“You still at the funeral home?”
“I’m at the cemetery with Luna.” She glanced at her sister. “We’re visiting the folks. You have news on the Wilton case? Or new evidence?”
“Nothing earth-shattering. We did find that one of Erwin’s neighbors has a Ring doorbell camera, and Erwin’s vehicle remained parked in front of her place between Saturday afternoon and Monday morning. No sign of her coming in or out—unless she used the back door and some other form of transportation.”
Vera felt her forehead fold with frustration. She rubbed at it. “That’s still not a solid alibi.”
“It’s not, but it is something to consider. Look, Collins wants to see us at the morgue. She’s working on the preliminary examinations of the victims from the case. I’ll pick you up.”
Wow, that was fast. But then the new ME was all about impressing Bent. “I’ll wait for you at the main gate.”
Vera put her cell away and hugged her sister. “Bent’s on the way. We have work. You going to be okay getting home and settled until Eve arrives?”
Luna patted her belly. “We’ll be fine.”
Vera intended to see that both her sister and her baby stayed that way.
