The Glades by John Netti

Author:John Netti [Netti, John]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Black Rose Writing
Published: 2022-07-20T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 22

Friday, August 24, 1984

Maddy Reynolds

Maddy picked up a few groceries and swung by the post office to buy stamps. A woman in line ahead of her, wearing a dowdy black hat and veil, placed a parcel on the counter. She opened her purse and fished out the four dollars and fifty-six cents fee. With a pen in hand, the clerk asked her name.

“Abigail Hicks.”

“Oh, hi, Mrs. Hicks. I didn’t recognize you,” the clerk said as she handed him the money. The woman walked out, and Maddy stepped to the counter. “Luellen Hicks’s mother?” she asked the clerk.

“Yep. Since her daughter’s murder, the poor thing never comes out of the house.”

“Murder? You mean suicide.”

The guy gave Maddy a disbelieving look, handed over the stamps, and glanced away. “Next, please.”

Maddy watched Abigail Hicks through the post office window. She wondered how the woman lived after losing her only child. “Murder.” The word bounced around in her head like a steel pinball. The possibility the body found behind her house was a murder victim added mystery to the unfolding saga of Berry Lake. Its undercurrent pulled her further into murky waters.

She drove home, preoccupied, and noticed the back door wide-open when she got home. Startled, she hit the brakes. Did I leave it open? No way! She grabbed her gun and ran to the stairs, listening for an intruder. There was no sound. She ascended to the deck with her heart pounding and peeked inside a window. Someone has trashed my place.

Sweat beaded on her forehead as she leaned back against the house, taking deep breaths. She slid inside with her weapon in a shooting position. Stepping over books and around overturned furniture, she moved to the kitchen; it looked untouched. Her bedroom, however, was ransacked; drawers on the floor, contents scattered everywhere, and her bed was turned over. I’m sick, she thought to herself. She looked for the locked metal box that contained her other weapons; it was gone. Fuck! She returned to the living room, sat, and stared at the mess.

Wondering if it was a robbery, she thought about her father’s gold shield, got up, and ran to the fireplace. The mantel was bare, and she panicked. On her knees, Maddy crawled around, looking for the beloved keepsake.

The badge was more than a memory; it was a part of her soul. She’d held it the night she entered the room where Benny Bowls waited to kill her. It gave her courage as she pursued Cupid through the woods, and she’d used its pin to stick him, freeing her from the maniac’s chokehold while they battled to the death.

She saw it. The shiny gold object lay hidden under a sheet of paper in a corner next to her journal. Thank God! Holding it near her heart, leaning against the wall, she began to weep.

I can’t believe this is happening. Unable to move, staring at her belongings, Maddy felt violated.

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