Shame the Devil (Portland Devils Book 3) by Rosalind James

Author:Rosalind James [James, Rosalind]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bellbird Publishing
Published: 2020-11-14T00:00:00+00:00

Harlan asked, “What does Dad say?”

He needed to know. He needed to know now.

It was what Jennifer had said. How cruel was that to Annabelle? To all his sisters? To make them hate their mother and feel guilty for not loving their father more, when, after all, he was the one who’d stayed?

The detective said, “He’s denied having anything to do with it.”

“When the car was buried on his land?” Harlan asked. “When you’d need an earthmover to do that, and he happened to own a farm-equipment business? Who does he expect to believe that?”

The detective said, “Does it surprise you to think he might have been violent?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

Harlan still had his arm around Annabelle. She felt cold and shaky, and he wished he could do what Jennifer had done. Tell her to put on something warmer.

Then do it, asshole.

He said, “Bug. Go get changed into something warm. A big shirt, a sweatshirt. Warm socks. And start packing up. As soon as this is done, we’re leaving here.” He told the detective, “I’ll give you the address, and for where my other sisters will be. Any other questions you have, you can ask them there. We aren’t coming back here.”

Had his mom been killed here? In the house? The thought made his blood freeze. The place had felt alien, cold and bleak, after she’d gone. Was that why?

He wanted to get out of here. He wanted to run.

Annabelle asked, “Where are we going?” She didn’t question his right to decide. She needed somebody to decide. Her world was upside down.

No. Her world was gone.

“We’re staying in town for a couple days,” he said. “In case there are more questions. Arrangements to make.”

Mom’s body, he thought. We need to bury it. Again. When will they let us do that?

He had to breathe for a second. You can’t go there yet. Focus. Right now, you need to get Annabelle out of here. This is so bad for her. He said, “Jennifer will help you pack a suitcase. Or better yet, two suitcases. Better yet, pack everything.”

“I only have one suitcase,” she said.

“Then put everything on your bed,” he said. “Use laundry baskets, maybe. Jennifer or I will help you buy more luggage.”

“Of course,” Jennifer said, and stood up. “Come on. I’ll give you a hand.” Which was a relief. One thing he knew for sure that Jennifer knew how to do, besides booking travel, was taking care of a teenage girl.

He waited while the two of them left the room. Waited until he heard a distant door close, then turned to the detective and said, “No. It doesn’t surprise me that he could be violent. He was a big believer in physical discipline, and he wasn’t real controlled about it, though I never saw him hurt Mom.”

“When you say ‘physical discipline,’” Johnson said, “what do you mean?”

“I mean he’d grab his belt. Not on my sisters so much. He used his hand on them, mostly. That was bad enough. He saved the belt for me.

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