“We should talk to Luna and Jerome and get out of their way.”
“We should. Yes.” She pushed a faint smile into place to hide the concerns that were piling up faster than flies on a corpse.
In the living room Luna and Jerome sat on the sofa, holding each other and sobbing. Vera wished there was some way she could help, but there was nothing. Losing a mother was heartbreaking—even if she was a know-it-all, unkind ...Enough, Vee.
“Luna,” Bent said, “Jerome, we’ll get out of your way.”
Jerome cleared his throat. “I should ... should call my father.” He let out a big breath. “I don’t even know what to say to him.”
“I can go tell him in person,” Bent offered. “Drive him over here, if you’d like.”
Vera’s heart lightened just a little. Bent truly was a good sheriff and a really good man. He cared about the people in this county. She was so grateful she had found her way back to him—no matter the bizarre circumstances. Bizarre seemed to be an ongoing theme in the story of her life—of her sisters’ lives as well.
“I should tell him. I can drive over there.” Jerome extracted himself from Luna and stood. “But thank you, anyway.”
Luna started to lever herself up. Jerome gave her a hand. “I’ll go with you.” She swiped the fresh dampness from her cheeks.
A cell phone chirped a rapid-fire staccato. Vera recognized the sound as Jerome’s ringtone. She hoped his father hadn’t already heard the news some other way. He fished his phone from his hip pocket and made a face at the identity of the caller.
He glanced at Luna. “It’s Dad.” He stepped away and took the call.
Vera reached out and squeezed her sister’s hand. “Sweetie, you call me if you need anything at all.”
Luna managed a jerky nod. “Thanks, Vee.” She drew in a deep breath and worked up a trembling smile as she turned to Bent. “I appreciate you coming, Bent.”
“I’ll be right there,” Jerome said, his frantic tone drawing their collective attention to him. His gaze shot to Luna’s. “That was the hospital calling from Dad’s phone. He’s had a heart attack. It’s bad. We need to get over there.”
Good grief. What else? “Go,” Vera urged. “Bent and I will lock up here.”
When Luna and Jerome were gone, Vera turned to Bent. “I’ll trade you all this for your murder scene.”
He chuckled. “You might change your mind after you see it.”
She glanced around the entry hall with its clean, crisp painted walls and shiny wood floor. “There’s nothing else we can do here. I might as well go have a look.”
“I would sure appreciate it.”
Vera grinned. “Don’t appreciate it too much until after you see the bill I’ll be sending the county.”
While Bent checked the side door in the kitchen, Vera took a pic of the spindle and then the wall indentation. The idea that something wasn’t right wouldn’t let go, but she wasn’t saying it out loud. She righted the can of paint Luna had dropped when she came inside and found Jackie.
Hopefully that scenario was what actually happened.
Vera shook off any other concept. There was no way Luna hurt anyone. Not once in her whole life had she ever been a bully or one to fuss or fight. In the back of her mind, Vera couldn’t help thinking that maybe some errant gene Luna had inherited from her mother had suddenly surfaced.
No way. Luna was nothing like Sheree.
Why the hell was she even thinking about that woman? Sheree was dead and buried. And that long-ago secret as to what really happenedto her had come out and shaken things up for a while. They had all, including Luna, moved on.
Vera was immensely grateful that Luna had forgiven her and Eve after they’d stuffed her dead mother into that cave on the farm all those years ago. And then kept it a secret for more than two decades. What kind of sisters did that?
No use rehashing the past.
Damn. Vera suddenly realized that she needed to call Eve. As a mortician at one of the top funeral homes in the area, she would not be happy if Jackie Andrews’s body showed up on her mortuary table without advance warning.
As Vera and Bent exited the house, she called Eve and filled her in. She didn’t mention her worries about what may have happened at the top of those stairs. Eve would agree that it wasn’t likely.
No way.
