Blood Wounds (6 page)

Mom looked at me. "It'll be all right," she said. "I promise."

"I know," I said, because I didn't want her or Jack to be any more upset. Besides, a mother and two little girls were dead. What difference did it make if I was embarrassed?

T
HE PHONE RANG
.

The sound woke me up, and it took a while before I understood what was going on. I was in the motel bedroom, with Jack and Mom on the sofa bed in the living room area. It was three forty-five in the morning and something very bad must have happened.

No one calls at three forty-five
A.M.
with good news.

Mom opened the bedroom door and peeked in.

"I'm awake," I said, which was half true. "What is it?"

"I'm not sure," Mom said. "There are two police officers coming up. Do you think you can go back to sleep?"

"No," I said, climbing out of the bed and putting on my robe. "Do you know why they're here?"

"The desk clerk called," Mom said. "To let us know they were on their way up and that he'd checked their ID."

Jack was sitting on the opened sofa bed, talking on his cell. "I just wanted to be certain," he said. "Yes, it's better to be safe. Thank you." He hung up. "They're cops, all right," he said. "But I still don't know what's going on."

We could hear their footsteps coming down the hallway to our suite. "It can't be anything about Brooke and Alyssa," I said. "They're in Orlando."

"I'm sure they're fine," Mom said. "Most likely they found Budge and they're coming to tell us we can go home tomorrow."

They knocked quietly on the door. Jack got up and opened it.

The officers were in uniform. They introduced themselves and showed Jack their badges and ID. Mom and I sat on the sofa bed while Jack and the officers stood there.

"There's no easy way of saying this," Officer Washington said. "We have reason to believe your ex-husband is dead, ma'am. It would be a big help to us if you came down to the hospital and identified him."

"He's here?" Mom asked. "He came here?"

Officer Myers nodded.

"The little girl?" I asked. "My sister." For a moment, I couldn't remember her name. "Krissi. Did they find her?"

"I'm afraid she's dead also," Officer Washington said.

Mom gasped.

"What happened?" Jack asked.

"There was an incident," Officer Myers replied. "It's under investigation."

"Look," Jack said. "I can turn on the TV and find out exactly what's going on. Or you can stop beating around the bush and tell us what we need to know. We're talking about Willa's father and sister. We have a right to hear what happened."

"I'm sorry," Officer Washington said. "But before we go on, can you confirm your home address?"

"Twenty-two Cedar Lane, Westbridge," Mom said. "Why?"

"A man believed to be Dwayne Coffey approached your house," Officer Washington said. "The house was under surveillance, in case he showed up. A police officer approached him and asked for identification and the man attacked him with a knife. The officer's partner shot him. The attacker was taken to the hospital, but he died in the ambulance, presumably from the gunshot wounds."

"Oh my God," Mom said. "He was going to kill us."

"We don't know that, ma'am," Officer Washington said. "We don't even know for certain it was your ex-husband."

"The cop that was attacked," Jack said. "Is he all right?"

"He's expected to live," Officer Washington said.

"Krissi," I said. "You said she was dead too."

Officer Myers nodded. "She was found in the car," she said. "Wrapped in a blanket on the floor of the back seat."

"Stabbed?" Jack asked.

"Her head was severed," Officer Washington said. "I am sorry, ma'am, that we have to tell you this. Do you think you're up to making the identifications?"

"I can't identify the girl," Mom said. "I've never seen her."

"But you do remember what Dwayne Coffey looks like?" Officer Myers said.

"Yes," Mom said. "I do. Hold on. I'll change into some clothes and come with you."

"I'll come too," Jack said.

"No," Mom said. "You stay with Willa." She grabbed some clothes and went to the bathroom to change.

"They're really all dead?" I asked. "He came to our house and you killed him?"

Officer Washington looked at me. "She's in shock," he said. "Maybe you should take her to the emergency room."

"No," I said. "I'm okay."

Jack walked over and wrapped a blanket around me. "There'll be reporters all over the hospital," he said. "Will you be able to get Terri in and out without them seeing?"

"We'll do our best," Officer Washington said. "And we'll see if we can find a doctor to make a house call here."

"Thank you," Jack said. Or at least I think he said thank you. Because that's the kind of family I come from. We're very polite. Even when people die on our doorsteps, we remember to say please and thank you and excuse me.

I
T WAS ALMOST NOON
when I woke up, and I was startled to find Mom asleep on the other side of the bed.

I tiptoed to the bathroom, splashed some cold water on my face, and groggily made my way to the living room. Jack was sitting at the table with Curt and Pauline. The room smelled of freshly brewed coffee.

I saw an open box of Danish and grabbed one. Pauline handed me a napkin.

Something about that gesture made me remember. Budge had been killed in front of our house the night before. Krissi, the last of my half sisters, was dead. What was it the officer had said? Her head severed.

I ran to the bathroom and threw up. When I finally emerged, I saw Mom was still sleeping.

"The doctor gave both of you sedatives," Jack said. "You were asleep by the time Terri got back."

"The cop," I said. "The one Budge cut."

"He's fine," Pauline said. "Treated and released."

"Budge came to our house," I said. "Did he come to kill us? If we'd been there, if the cops hadn't ... would he have killed us all?"

"It doesn't matter," Jack said. "We weren't there, and the police were, and it's all over."

"There's a way some people choose to die," Curt said. "Suicide by cop. They do things that force police officers to kill them. I think that's what happened last night. Budge had enough of killing. He was ready to die."

"You make it sound so noble," Jack said.

Curt shook his head. "He was insane," he said. "He'd obviously lost all grip on reality. Maybe he meant to kill all of you. Maybe he was bringing Krissi as some kind of offering. We'll never know. But you're right about one thing, Jack. It's over. That's what's important. The nightmare is over, and you'll be able to get your lives back, as though this had never happened."

I thought,
We'll be a happy family again. My mother, my stepfather, my stepsisters, my half brother I've never met, my slaughtered stepmother and half sisters, my insane father killed by police bullets in my front yard. That's the life I'll be getting back.

I would have burst out laughing, but I was afraid of how they'd react if I did. Instead I bit hard on the inside of my mouth, until the intensity of the pain let me get back under control.

"Brooke," I said. "Alyssa. Do they know?"

Jack nodded. "Alyssa woke up early, went online, and found out what happened before I had a chance to call," he replied. "Val's angry because I didn't tell her right away." He paused. "If I had, if I'd called Val in the middle of the night, that would have upset her just as much. But it would have been better for the girls. I didn't want Alyssa and Brooke to find out this way."

"There's no good way to find out something like this," Pauline said. "Willa, why don't you shower and get dressed. Maybe you'll feel up to eating after you've freshened up."

I did as she suggested. Even after I rejoined them, Mom was still sleeping.

"It's almost one," I said. "We missed the checkout time."

"We can't go home now anyway," Jack said. "Our house is a crime scene. The police are still there, and so are the reporters."

I noticed the TV set was off. "Is it on TV?" I asked. "Budge? Our house?"

Pauline nodded. "There's no reason for you to see any of it," she said. "They're not going to tell us anything we don't already know."

"Please," I said, thinking if I saw our front yard, our house, on the news, I might be able to believe what had happened there.

"No," Jack said. "Maybe later, Willa. I don't want you to see it now."

I knew Jack felt he was protecting me. That's what Jack did, protect me, protect Brooke and Alyssa, protect Mom. Even when we didn't want to be protected, he did it anyway.

"Is it in the papers?" I asked.

"Some," Curt said. "There'll be more tomorrow. It happened so late last night, it missed the deadline."

Deadline,
I thought.
A line of the dead.
This time I did laugh.

"You need something to eat," Pauline said. "Something more nutritious than Danish. Fresh air would do you good too. Why don't I take you out for brunch?"

"Is that such a good idea?" Curt asked. "What if someone spots Willa?"

"We'll go to the Bright Star," Pauline said, naming a diner a half hour away. "We'll be gone a couple of hours. By the time we get back, Terri'll be awake, and she and Jack will have had a chance to talk."

"Are you up for it?" Jack asked me. "Getting out of here for a couple of hours?"

I had no idea what I was up for, but I did sense I could talk to Pauline in a way I couldn't to Jack or Mom. I nodded.

"Good," Pauline said, grabbing her jacket and mine. "We'll see you in a while. Call if there's something you want us to get while we're out."

It felt strange to walk out of the motel suite and ride the elevator down to the lobby. I'd been in the suite for less than two days, but it was starting to feel like I'd spent my whole life there.

"Thanks for suggesting lunch out," I said. "I don't care where we go, just as long as it isn't here."

But Pauline was already pushing me back into the elevator. "Reporters," she whispered. "Checking in."

We rode the elevator back up in silence. My exciting expedition had lasted two minutes.

"No one saw us," Pauline told Jack and Curt as we took our jackets off and settled back in. "But I couldn't risk having Willa walk across the lobby to the parking lot. I knew a couple of the guys checking in. Even if they didn't recognize Willa, they would have spotted me."

"Well, it was worth the try," Jack said.

"I can slip out later," Curt said. "Get us something to eat. The reporters won't be in the lobby very long. They'll be going to the police station, to the crime scene."

"My home," Jack said. "The crime scene."

"That's what they do," Curt said. "But by the time they get back tonight, the three of you should be out of here."

"You can stay with us for as long as you need to," Pauline said.

Jack thought about it. "Today's Saturday," he said. "Sunday's a slow news day, so it'll be front page around here. Maybe some coverage on Monday, especially if they get their hands on Terri or Willa."

"These things burn out fast," Curt said. "The local crews will lose interest soon. The cable guys might go to Texas for the funerals, but that should be it."

"Val could send the girls home Tuesday," Jack said. "Wednesday at the latest. We'd be out of your hair by then. Willa could even go back to school Tuesday."

"That might be pushing it," Curt said. "But Wednesday for sure."

"No!" I said.

They stared at me, as though they'd never heard the word
no
before.

"My sisters died," I said.

"Your sisters are fine," Jack said. "They're in Orlando, with Val. You'll see them in a few days."

"My blood sisters," I said, remembering with the sting of a cut that I couldn't even recall Krissi's name last night. "My blood father. My stepmother. They died. They're all dead."

"You didn't know them," Jack said. "They mean nothing to you, Willa."

"Don't tell me what means nothing!" I shouted. "You don't know. You just ask me to pretend all the time. Well, I won't. I'm through pretending. They were my family. They're part of me."

"Willa, this is very hard on all of us," Jack said. "We're trying to make it as easy for you and Terri as possible."

"I don't want it to be easy," I said. "I'm going to Pryor. I'm going to their funeral."

I must have spoken louder than I realized, because Mom came out of the bedroom. She looked like the ghost of the Mom I loved.

"No," she said. "You can't go. I won't let you."

"I have sisters," I said. "Sisters who died. I have to go to their funeral."

"You never knew them," Mom said. "They're strangers, Willa."

"And whose fault is that?" I asked. "Who kept me from them?"

"Willa, that's not fair," Jack said. "Your mother was protecting you. You've got to see that now, see what he really was like."

"He was a killer," I said. "And I'm half his. That's not going to change, not ever, Jack. You think I don't know that?"

"What we all think is that you're overwrought," Curt said. "The past couple of days have been a nightmare for you, for all of you. Maybe Tuesday is too soon for you to go back to school. Maybe you should stay out a few extra days."

"I'll be in Pryor on Tuesday," I said. "I'll stay there until the funerals. By then, everything should be back to normal here. Brooke and Alyssa'll be back home, Jack'll be back at work. We'll act like this never happened." My mind flashed to my little basement refuge. Razors. Cuts. Blood. Release.

"You don't even know where Pryor is," Mom said. "You couldn't find it on a map. And how do you think you'll pay for this trip? You're not getting the money from us."

"I'm not asking you for it," I said. "I have some money saved up. If I have to, I'll borrow from my friends."

"I'll take you," Pauline said. "We'll fly down together. I'll pay."

"Pauline," Curt said.

"Terri, I know you want what's best for Willa," Pauline said. "We all do. But I see things differently from the rest of you. My father died in the war when I was just a baby. Everybody told me about him, what a hero he was. But there's a part of me that's missing, even now, seventy years later, because I didn't get to know the man, the real man. All I knew was the hero, and now all Willa knows is the demon." She paused for a moment, then reached out her hand and touched Jack. "I know you love Willa," she said, "but you have to accept that she isn't your daughter. And Terri, I know you ran away from Dwayne, from Pryor, and that took great courage. But Willa needs to see where she came from. Please, this time, put Willa's needs first."