“That wouldn’t be contraband, would it?” she asked, using a word Miss Bitty used often.
Big Joe glanced at her from where he sat. He was smoking a cigarette, and an empty gallon of what had been a green smoothie was next to him. And next to that, a bottle of whiskey.
Miss Bitty was at a conference in Dallas and would be gone all day. Before the old woman left, she’d instructed Allie to stay in the house with the doors locked. The only exception, she said, was when she needed to let Piglet out.
She wasn’t to open the door for anyone. And Allie had followed the old woman’s rules all day. She completed the homework Louis had assigned. She even worked ahead of the curriculum and read three extra chapters in her science text. But now the house felt awfully empty, and she was lonely. Plus, she had a question she was desperate to ask someone. It was something that had been bothering her a lot lately.
Venturing outside, it took her all of ten seconds to find Big Joe sitting on the guesthouse porch, doing things he wouldn’t normally be doing had Miss Bitty been around. “Bitty asked me to keep an eye on you while she was gone,” Joe said. “I was just about to check on you.”
“Yeah?” Allie grinned. “Before or after you got drunk?”
“Heh.”
Allie set Piglet down to roam in the grass. “Anyway, I can keep an eye on myself.”
“Not sure how you can manage that. At least physically,” he said, then took a long drag off his cigarette.
Good one. The big man is actually clever.
“She told me not to open the door for anyone, so how were you supposed to keep an eye on me?”
“She wanted me to call you.”
“Oh.”
Allie studied the man for the first time in weeks. He looked different. Slimmer. Much less bloated. She lowered herself to the opposite side of the porch and contemplated asking him her question.
The two grew silent. Allie knew now was the perfect time to ask, but she was a little afraid.
A gust of wind sent bed linens fluttering on the clothesline a few yards away. Joe dragged on his cigarette, then stared off into the woods. “So what’s the deal with the sheriff coming around yesterday?” he asked, flicking some ash into a cup.
“Just asking more of their same stupid questions,” Allie said. She dug some dirt from the ground with her bare toe. She was sick of the sheriff and the FBI agent’s visits. Her brother was dead, so even if she wanted to give them information, which she didn’t, it was all pretty much pointless anyway.
“Questions about what?”
Allie narrowed her eyes and stared at him. “You don’t know?”
“No. Why? Should I?”
Allie shrugged. “They’re just asking questions about my brother and the murders. I guess they think I know something I’m not telling them. Either that or they have nothing else to do.”
Big Joe looked incredulous. “Brother? Murders?”
Allie realized that he didn’t know. She’d just assumed he did, but with him being from out of town, she supposed it made perfect sense that he didn’t.
“Yeah. My brother killed two teenagers last year. But he died, so I don’t know why they still care so much. They say they’re just wrapping up loose ends, but they could just be saying that. I really don’t know.”
“He killed people? You’ve got to be kidding me.”
She wished she were kidding. Piglet let out a few yaps, then bounded out from around the house. The pup came to a stop a few feet in front of the two, then poked her head in a bush.
“I didn’t know that. I’m really sorry, Allie.”
Allie watched Piglet disappear around the corner of the guesthouse and thought about her question.
“Why did he do it?” Joe asked, his voice almost a whisper.
Allie didn’t want to answer any more questions. From the law, from Big Joe . . . from anyone. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Okay. I understand.”
Allie listened to the crickets chirping as she watched the puppy root around. She wrapped her arms around her middle and realized she was getting tired. She thought about the comfortable bed awaiting her in the main house.
“Looks like it might storm again. I swear, in all my years, I’ve never seen such bad weather,” Joe said, peering at the sky.
It had been unseasonably rainy. But Allie was used to storms. Gazing at the dark sky, she wondered how she could ask Big Joe her question without sending up any red flags. She’d just be casual about it . . . although it really wasn’t a casual subject. What she needed to know is how uncommon (or common) it was to hear things, and see things from time to time. Things that weren’t actually there although they sounded and looked as real as anything else.
Maybe if it happened to others—people who seemed totally normal—she was normal, too. She needed to hear that she wasn’t being haunted. But more importantly, she wanted to rest assured that she wasn’t losing her mind, and for now, talking to Miss Bitty about it wasn’t an option. She wanted the old lady to be proud of her. Not worried that she had a head case on her hands.
The longer she procrastinated about asking him, the more exhausted she felt.
“You look tired,” Joe said.
“I am,” she said, deciding it was a bad idea after all. She called for Piglet and scooped the puppy into her arms.
“C’mon. Let me walk you inside.”
“You’re not supposed to be in the house at night when Miss Bitty isn’t here. Remember?”
“Well, what she doesn’t know won’t exactly hurt her, will it?” Joe smiled. “Let me walk you.”
Once inside the main house, Allie and Big Joe walked down the hallway that led to the bedrooms.