Mary and Tess (Part 2) by Lena White

Author:Lena White [White, Lena]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-01-06T00:00:00+00:00

8 - “This Will Be Yours Forever”

“I incinerated Billy’s body,” Deets says as the trio drives away from the Tuscaloosa Disposal Center in the gathering darkness. Mary turns to look at her sister but Tess doesn’t meet her gaze. She had long wondered how the bodies of slaves, often killed accidentally by their owners but not always, were handled by a society that had been treating human beings as property for more than five centuries. Now that she knew - she had to admit, if only to herself - it brought her no comfort.

“What’s next?” Tess asks without looking at either of her traveling companions.

“We need to figure out a way to make it look as if Billy took off with us and somehow got rid of you in the process, Marlin,” Mary says in a surprisingly matter-of-fact tone. Tess glances at her with her eyes wide with surprise. Mary cocks an eyebrow to let her sibling know she gets it. Things have changed between them. Forever.

“Do you have any ideas, Mary?” Deets asks and Mary smiles to herself - he gets it.

“I do, actually,” Mary says, talking past her sister who sits between them. “We already have a small blood stain on the mattress in the guest bedroom. If you can give us some of your blood, we can contaminate the stain so if the police do a DNA analysis it will be at worst inconclusive. More likely, they’ll decide that Billy overpowered you in an effort to abscond with us, killing you in the process.”

“Why do you need my blood?” Deets asks. Mary rolls her eyes - for a man whose profession and expertise is euphemistically known as ‘pain management’ he is quite squeamish when it comes to his own.

“We can use some of ours if you insist,” Mary says as gently as possible. “I just think it will be more convincing that you’re the one he murdered if they find your blood at the crime scene.”

“I wish we didn’t have to get rid of Raymond,” Tess says to Mary’s surprise.

“Why? Did you like him or something?”

“No, that’s not it. It’s just the injustice of it all,” Tess says. “One minute he’s getting ready to close that grubby little place where he eeks out a living and the next minute he’s being strangled and incinerated in his own crematorium. It’s sad, somehow.”

“He chose to work there,” Mary says without trying to disguise her disdain for their latest victim. She glances at Tess who is looking at her with concern evident in her eyes. “What?”

“Okay,” Deets interrupts. “This kind of talk will just lead to bad feelings.”

“I already feel bad,” Tess says in a small voice.

“You know what I mean,” Deets says as he pulls into the driveway of his house. “So, you need my blood, then. Is that what we’ve decided?” Mary nods. “Do either of you know how to insert a line because I can’t do it to myself.”

“They trained you for that?” Mary asks.

“I went to medical school if that’s what you’re asking,” Deets says with a bit of attitude.

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