Grace Anne

chapter 16



Joey looked at her stepson. Thomas had been a horror since the day she’d married his dad. And he hadn’t improved one bit in all the years since. She supposed she should have put her foot down more, but the kid wouldn’t listen to anyone. The few times that she had had to discipline him he’d rebelled so much and retaliated so harshly against the other children that she’d finally given up. She blamed herself for a little of what he’d done now.

She turned to the door when it opened. She burst into tears when she saw her husband and Michael walk in. Rushing to the men she was pulled into a tight hug and held. Sometimes, like now, a hug could make all the difference in the world. She was still crying when she pulled back.

“The nurse said that he’ll be fine in a few days and the police are going to take him to the infirmary at the jail. They thought about leaving him here, but they just don’t have the manpower.” She looked over at Thomas who was cuffed to the bed by his ankle and wrist. “I’m actually afraid for him. He killed one of their own and I know they aren’t too thrilled about the fact that he survived whoever shot him.”

“Have they figured out what happened yet? Payton said that he was screaming about being framed for those two men, that a woman had actually committed the crimes.”

Joey knew from Michael’s tone that he didn’t believe his stepbrother, not that she blamed him.

“They didn’t say, but then I doubt very much they would tell us. They took both bodies to the coroner’s office to see what they could find. I did hear that both of them died about the same time and that one had been cut up, the other stabbed through the heart.” Joey sat down on the couch next to Michael as she continued. “They have him for the other two murders, so I don’t suppose they care one way or the other if he killed these two or not.”

Joey glanced over at the cop she’d forgotten about. He’d not left the room since Thomas had been brought back from surgery. She wondered if he would save Thomas if someone, the supposed woman, came back to finish the job. She doubted it. She also doubted that she would care all that much either. The thought made her feel like a horrible person and she felt more tears fall. Before she could say anything Lucas started talking.

“The older man was the super of the apartment complex where he died. They aren’t sure what the connection was, only that he had been stabbed in the heart and that he had a blunt force to the back of his head. They are doing a room to room search to see if he was killed there. The younger man had been cut badly. They said that he’d been wrapped in plastic and put down there first because he was beneath the older man. He’d been stored down there for at least twenty-four hours.” The cop coughed, but didn’t speak as her husband continued. “There are seventy-two apartments in that complex and most of the people are…less than trustworthy. I understand that any one of the residents there could have killed either man as it seems to be a regular occurrence in that neighborhood.”

“Four to five per week,” the cop said. “We get a call there four, sometimes as many as ten times a week for one thing or another. The man, the younger one, he’s a known prostitute in the area about three blocks from there. And the kid here is going to trial. It’s a capital to kill a cop in this state.”

Joey shuddered. The death penalty was almost a guarantee for Thomas. She looked at him again before she spoke to the cop. “Did you know him; the other policeman, did you know him? And did he have a family? I’m not sure…my family would like to make a donation to whatever fund you have for them. And I know you’ll keep that to yourself.’

He nodded. “Officer Bill Abbott, ma’am. And Officer Tyler and I will. I know…your husband is a good man, fair too. I was before him on a few cases.”

Joey smiled as she looked at her husband. He’d been a sitting judge for a few years before they’d married and he’d become a well-known and very well respected circuit court judge before he’d retired. He still presided over some cases when needed, filling in for vacations or some other thing, but he’d been retired for a few years now.

Thomas stirred and they all looked at the bed expectantly. The doctor had told them that he would be out for a bit, but when he came around they would make sure that he could move about before sending him on his way. They’d been told they could stay with him until then, but after being transported he was going to be in lock down. Mostly, they’d been told, for his own safety.

The bullet had entered his right arm. The doctor who had treated him said that it had gone through his bicep. He said that it hadn’t been anywhere near as life threatening as the person who had called it in had said and he’d wondered to them if it was a lover’s quarrel and that she’d had remorse over trying to kill him. Thomas had been awake when they’d brought him in and, at that time, they hadn’t discovered the bodies. Nor, it seemed, had they realized who they had. It wasn’t until he was transported that they made the connection to him and the cop killer at his home. By then Thomas had already been taken to surgery.

“Dad? Where…what am I doing here?” Thomas pulled on the cuff at his wrist. “What the f*ck is this? Why am I…am I in trouble for something? That bitch shot me and you have me in cuffs? I want these things taken off me right f*cking now.”

“Shut up, you little prick,” Michael said softly. “You’re lucky that you’re not in prison, you fool. What the f*ck did you think was going to happen? That they’d throw a parade in your honor? You killed the senator’s daughter, you spoiled little bastard.”

“I didn’t kill anyone who didn’t deserve it. And who the hell do you think you are talking to me like I’m subhuman? You have a dead hooker on your lawn. What the hell is your precious Grace going to think about marrying you now, huh? And that little bastard of yours? What do you—”

Officer Brent Tyler was standing over him with his baton out and at his throat before any of them could move. Michael put his hand on his shoulder and the man seemed to ripple with anger. Joey was suddenly very afraid for his stepson.

“Officer Tyler, let him go,” Michael said calmly. “He’s not worth it. I know what you’re thinking, but he isn’t worth losing your job over. He’s been a selfish little prick all his life.”

Joey looked at her husband as he backed away. She couldn’t tell what he was thinking, but she had a pretty good idea. He was blaming himself, as she was doing. He was thinking just like her and that, if they had done more, maybe none of this would be happening.

“He can’t say things like that. We have him…there is a tape that shows him killing that girl. That little girl was seventeen.” Officer Tyler pulled back, but not before he put a bit more pressure on Thomas throat. “But you’re right, Mr. Cunningham, he just ain’t worth it. Nobody’s worth the death of a cop killer who is going to get the chair anyway.”

Before Thomas could open his mouth his father stepped back to the bed. “Shut the f*ck up before I let this man shoot you.”

They all moved away from the bed. Thomas glared, but thankfully kept his mouth shut. The nurse came in twice; once to check on his IV, the next time to bring him a tray with clear liquids. Thomas took one look at the broth and other things on the tray and shoved the entire thing, including the half table, away. Anger practically boiled off him as he glared at Michael. Joey thought, if given the chance, Thomas would kill Michael without any qualms. But she was sure that, given Michael’s background, Thomas would be dead before he got close enough.

~~~

Ginny locked the door behind her. They’d had to move and move quickly. The f*cking bitch Verrie had nearly gotten them all caught. What the hell was she thinking bringing her “work,” as she called it, to where they lived? And now, now they were back in Ohio.

The dive was just that, a dive. The walls had water stains running down them that looked as if the bathtub upstairs had overflowed and poured down the walls. That might have been believable it this hadn’t been but a one-story complex and the only thing above them was the open sky. The bathroom, not much bigger than a shoebox, had a shower stall and a toilet. The sink was so close to the toilet that you could literally reach all the way across it to the door knob. The floor was cracked tile that was in an undetermined color and she was sure it hadn’t seen either mop or cleaning agents since the place was built. But what the floor lacked in color, the walls and the shower curtain certainly made up for.

The curtain was puce. A shade so ugly that, if you were feeling any sort of upset stomach, would certainly make you toss your belly. The sink was green, a lime green that made your eyes ache. The tub and the toilet a muddy brown that was probably due more to the state of its lack of cleanliness than a manufacturer’s idea of a color. Ginny only hoped that if the need for a shower came up soon it would be dark out so that she could do it without the light on.

The bedroom wasn’t much better in either cleanness or color. The picture over the bed of a naked woman with a simple apple over her p-ssy was the least offensive part of the room. The spread was covered in bugs and she was hoping it was the pattern and not real ones. She hadn’t looked under it, not even sure she wanted to see the sheets. The pillows, if there were any, were the same thickness as the spread and probably just as buggy. She sat in the bright orange chair and closed her eyes. What the f*ck was she doing here?

She wasn’t aware when they’d fled New York. Thankfully someone, one of the others, had known where to find everything they’d needed to get a plane ticket and get them to safety. Ginny wasn’t even sure what had happened other than she had shot someone and that the person had discovered her body. She didn’t know anything else. But what she did know, or had guessed, was that the police thought someone else had done the deeds and not her.

“They will find out it wasn’t him. When they do, Grace is going to kill us.”

Ginny looked in the mirror at Guinnie. She wasn’t strong enough to speak to her through a simple mind connection, so Ginny spoke to her this way. “You’re just a kid; what the hell do you know about it? And where have you been? Did one of the others hurt you?” Guinnie was shaking her head before Ginny finished the question. “Why do you think Grace is going to kill us? She only knows us as her mother.”

“No, she doesn’t. I told her about us.”

Ginny’s eyes widened in the reflection.

“She knows more than any of the other children because I liked her most. Grace would talk to me when the others walked away. She saw Verrie kill a man at her home.”

Ginny felt her heart pound. Grace knew and, worse yet, she knew that Verrie had a bad habit. Trying to remain calm so that she wouldn’t alert the others, she looked back at Guinnie when she realized she was talking.

“You aren’t the host. You never were. I know that Verrie told you that, but she lied. Verrie is the host.” The sing-song voice was irritating. And Ginny knew that she knew it. “The others, they think that they are the host as well. She tells them all.”

Ginny rubbed her forehead. “Why? What possible reason could she have for lying to us all? And why would she want us to think we were the ones in charge? Don’t you think it would benefit her best if she was the one…”

“Yes, that’s it. Or so I’ve heard. She wants you all to fight about yourselves. If you fight, she can control us. I want this to end. I’m…I’m still a little girl because I can’t grow and she will not let me.”

Ginny heard the anger in her voice, but was too busy trying to figure out Verrie’s angle. She got up to pace. She could still see Guinnie, but only in small glimpses that showed a small child of about ten or so. Ginny knew that she’d been there all along. She’d only come out when the children, Guinevere’s kids, needed her. And now. She started to ask her why she was here now when something else occurred to her.

“Will Grace tell them what she knows? Will she, you think, tell her family about us?”

Guinnie nodded.

“This isn’t good. This will get us put away and I don’t want that to happen. No way are they going to lock my happy ass up.”

“Or they will kill us.” She sounded so wishful that Ginny stopped to stare. “You have to admit that we are not doing so great. If we continue to fight, then we will destroy each other anyway.”

Ginny had been thinking the same thing, but it didn’t set well with her to have it pointed out to her by a child. She glared at Guinnie and decided that she’d had enough of Miss Doom and Gloom. She turned her back on her and tried to bring Guinevere to her. The laughter behind her made her think of nails on a chalk board and metal against her fillings. She turned slowly.

“I’m neither as weak as you think, nor am I as easily dismissed. I may look like a child to you, but I’ve been around as long as you. I listen and pay attention.” Pain seared though Ginny’s head as Guinnie continued. “You’d do well to remember that without me, you would be nothing.”

Ginny felt dizziness swamp her and she felt the floor come up to grab her. Her last thought was that she hoped the floor was cleaner than it smelled before she heard the other two, Guinevere and Verrie, scream.