The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires - Grady Hendrix Page 0,86

he hit was eleven years old. He will never find another job. Promise me, Patricia. No more.”

“I can’t,” Patricia said.

“Patricia, please—” Maryellen began.

Patricia hung up.

She tried Grace again. The machine was still picking up so she called Slick.

“I saw it in the paper this morning,” Slick said. “That poor girl’s mother.”

Patricia’s heart unclenched.

“Kitty is too frightened to do anything,” Patricia said. “She’s buried her head in the sand. And Maryellen is in a bad position because of Ed.”

“That man is evil,” Slick said. “Look how he twisted us up like pretzels and made us seem like fools. He knew exactly how to get Leland’s trust.”

“He says he got that money he put into Gracious Cay from Ann Savage,” Patricia said. “But that’s dirty money if I’ve ever seen it.”

“I know, but he’s Leland’s business partner now,” Slick continued. “And I can’t accuse him of this kind of thing without cutting my own family’s throat. We’ve been there before, Patricia. I’m not going back there again. I will not do that to my children.”

“This is about children’s lives,” Patricia said. “That matters more than money.”

“You’ve never lost your house,” Slick said. “You’ve never had to explain to your children why they have to move in with their grandmother, or why you have to take the dog to the pound because food stamps don’t cover dog food.”

“If you’d met Destiny Taylor you wouldn’t be able to harden your heart,” Patricia said.

“My family is my rock,” Slick said. “You’ve never lost everything. I have. Let Destiny’s mother worry about Destiny. I know you think this makes me a bad person, but I need to turn inward and be a good steward to my family right now. I’m sorry.”

Grace’s machine picked up again when she called back, so Patricia got her purse and went over to her house, stepping out into the blast furnace of the day. By the time she rang Grace’s bell, sweat was already seeping through her blouse. She let the echoes of the chimes die inside the house, then rang again. The doorbell got louder as Mrs. Greene opened the door.

“I didn’t know you were helping Grace today,” Patricia said.

“Yes, ma’am,” Mrs. Greene said, looking down at Patricia. “She’s feeling poorly.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Patricia said, trying to step inside.

Mrs. Greene didn’t move. Patricia stopped, one foot on the threshold.

“I’m just going to say hello for a quick minute,” Patricia said.

Mrs. Greene inhaled through her nostrils. “I don’t think she wants to see anyone,” she said.

“I’ll only be a minute,” Patricia said. “Did she tell you what happened yesterday?”

Something confused and conflicted flickered through Mrs. Greene’s eyes, and then she said, “Yes.”

“I have to tell her we can’t stop.”

“Destiny Taylor died,” Mrs. Greene said.

“I know,” Patricia said. “I’m so sorry.”

“You promised you’d get her back to her mother and now she’s dead,” Mrs. Greene said, then turned and disappeared into the house.

Patricia stepped into the cool, dark house. Her skin contracted and broke out in goose pimples. She’d never felt the air conditioning turned this low before.

She walked down the hall, into the dining room. The overhead chandelier was on but it only seemed to make the room darker. Grace sat at one end of the table in slacks and a navy turtleneck beneath a gray sweater. The table was covered in trash.

“Patricia,” Grace said. “I’m not up to seeing visitors.”

She had strawberry jam clotted in the corner of her mouth, and as Patricia came closer she saw it was a scab crusted around a split lip.

“What happened?” she asked, raising her fingers to the same place on the corner of her own mouth.

“Oh,” Grace said, and made her face look happy. “The silliest thing. I was in a car accident.”

“A what?” Patricia asked. “Are you all right?”

She’d just seen Grace last night. When had she had time to get in a car accident?