ahead of her. We come from that. That’s in our blood. He was a monster,” he spat out, setting the beer down on the end table with a snap. “How are the sons of monsters supposed to protect someone?”
“Your father didn’t kill anyone,” she said firmly. Too firmly for it to be parent patronization.
I remembered our talk outside the library. How she warned me about taking on men of power. Specifically Judge Kendall. “Oh God, Jenny,” I breathed. “You know something.”
All eyes went to her. Now, she looked sick.
“I promise you boys, your father didn’t hurt Callie Kendall.”
“Mom?” Jonah said his voice low. “What do you know?”
She closed her eyes, rubbed a hand at her forehead.
“I think we’re all going to need a drink,” she said.
We opened a bottle of whiskey and moved the discussion to the dining room. It felt formal. Gibson stared at the glass in his hand while Jonah and I waited.
“I know your father didn’t kill Callie,” Jenny said, gaze skating back and forth between Jonah and Gibson.
“Why? Because the drunk sonofabitch told you he didn’t?” Gibson snapped. There was so much pain in his voice that it hurt me to hear it.
“Your father saved Callie Kendall’s life.”
Gibson was shaking his head already. Like he was trying to shake free the hope the words sparked.
“Mom, what are you saying?” Jonah asked.
Jenny took a fortifying sip of whiskey and settled back in her chair.
“Jonah was coming home from a late run to the grocery store—”
“You mean the liquor store,” Gibson sneered.
Jenny covered his hand with hers, and I watched in surprise when he didn’t pull away.
Gibson Bodine needed a mom. A mom like Jenny. And that just about broke my heart for the man.
I reached for Jonah’s hand under the table and squeezed.
“The grocery store,” she repeated gently. “He’d gotten paid for a big job that day and had some money burning a hole in his pocket. So he got steaks for the whole family to grill the next day.”
Gibson sat stonily. But he was listening.
“He was on his way home. It was dark. There was this flash of red crumpled up on the side of the road.”
I held my breath.
Gibson pushed away from the table and rose but didn’t go anywhere.
“It was Callie. She’d been hurt badly. Jonah thought maybe she’d been hit by a car. Until he got a better look at her. Her face was bruised and cut. There was a lot of blood. She had several cuts on one arm. They looked deep.”
Gibson’s nostrils flared.
I fought against the memories that threatened to swallow me. I knew what it was like to be bruised and cut.
“He took his shirt off and tied it around her arm. Asked if she wanted to go to the hospital or home. She said neither. Asked him to help her get out.”
“Who did it?” Gibson demanded. “Who did she say did it?”
“She didn’t. She refused to tell him. Jonah worried that because she didn’t want to go home that it meant her father had done something. But when he asked her, Callie refused to answer. She begged him to get her out. To help her leave. To save her life. She was shaking, in shock. And terrified. He said he’d never seen anyone so scared in all his life.
“So he took her to your grandfather’s cabin, where you live now. It had been empty for a few years by that point. And he called your mother. Connie called you that night and asked you to take your brothers and sister for the night. Remember?”
Gibson nodded slowly. “I thought they’d had another fight and didn’t want anyone around.”
“She came to the cabin with first aid supplies, and they did what they could to stop the bleeding and clean her up. She was hurt badly but kept insisting that she needed to get out. That her life depended on it. They believed her, Gibson. So the next day, your father took your mother’s car, and he and Callie left town. He drove her to New York. To a friend of a friend of Callie’s. Someone she said she could trust. And then he came home.”
“None of this makes any sense. Obviously, he didn’t save her life. That’s still her body they found.”
“No, it’s not,” Jenny said firmly.
“The dental records matched,” Jonah chimed in. “They identified the body as hers.”
“I’m telling you the dental records are wrong or the report was tampered with. That body is not Callie Kendall’s. But someone wants