“I’s gonna help ya find yo’ daddy, Caleigh.”
Hillary’s eyes lit up as they widened.
“You will?” She asked excitedly. “Honest?”
“Miss Billie don’t tell no lies, honey.”
“You’ll buy me a bus ticket?”
“No, sugar, I ain’t gonna sends ya off travelin’ on yo’ own like that...how’s I gonna feel if I read ‘bout you in the papers, that somethin’ bad happened to ya? No, child, we’s gonna go down to the li-berry and—”
Hillary did her best to look devastated.
“That’s okay,” she said, sadly. “I’ll find my way there somehow.”
“Now, honey, think ‘bout it...you talkin’ ‘bout goin’ up north, that’s a big trip, that is. What if yo’ daddy don’t want nuthin’ to do with ya?”
“But I have to go. I just have to find out.”
“But we could do some research on them computers...lotsa people find they missin’ relatives like that, ya know. You’s a smart girl, I bets you can find ‘im by—”
“No, Miss Billie, I have to meet him face-to-face,” Hilary said, her eyes downcast. “You’ve been more than kind to me and I’m really grateful for all that you’ve done. But tomorrow I think it’s time to get my journey started.”
“Nonsense, child. How you gonna gets to Maryland from here?”
“I’ll just hitchhike...I’ll be okay....”
“Good Lord, child, don’t ya know how dangerous that is? Won’t do ya a bit o’ good if yo’ dead, sugar.”
“I’ll be fine, Miss Billie, really,” she said, greatly disappointed that the woman hadn’t offered to buy a bus ticket to Maryland for her.
They sat in silence for a few long, awkward minutes. Miss Billie stared uncomfortably at Hillary from across the table, watching the dispirited girl slowly moving the food around on her plate without putting any into her mouth.
“Okay,” Miss Billie said softly, moved by Hillary’s apparent frankness about her troubled past. The young girl just looked so sad. Miss Billie felt compelled to help.
Hillary looked up from her plate and stared eagerly at Miss Billie. Her eyes begged for assistance, but there was something else in them too...something Miss Billie couldn’t decipher.
“You’s one expensive girl,” Miss Billie said, half-jokingly.
“You’ll buy me a bus ticket?”
“Two tickets...one fo’ you and one fo’ me.”
Hillary frowned and was about to say something, but Miss Billie cocked her head and cast a cautionary glance.
“On a few conditions,” she said seriously.
Hillary braced herself for the worst. What exactly did Miss Billie have in mind?
“First, you gots ta listen ta me...you can’t go doin’ whatever ya want when we gets there. I’s gonna be yo’ guardian. Agree?”
Hillary just wanted to get to Maryland, once she was there, she could just take off and leave the old woman on her own.
“Sure,” she said a little too callously. “I agree.”
“They’s more,” Miss Billie said.
Hillary let out a soft sigh as she waited for the woman to continue. It didn’t matter much, anyway. She had no intention of complying with Miss Billie’s terms.
“I’s serious now Caleigh, don’t you be gettin’ any funny ideas ‘bout taking off once we gets there. If I’s spendin’ my money on ya, least ya can do is follow my rules.”
“I didn’t say—”
“You don’t gots ta, some things a person just screams out without even openin’ they mouth.”
Hillary smiled. She had to hand it to the woman, she had gumption. She was shrewd in spite of her impoverished, uneducated background, or perhaps because of it. In any event, Hillary truly didn’t think she needed to worry about old Miss Billie. The woman was her ticket to Maryland, nothing more.
“I’ll obey your rules, Miss Billie...really....”
Miss Billie glared at Hillary for a long moment before narrowing her eyes.
“It’s hard ta read ya, child...I s’pose I just gots ta have faith. I’s gonna pray on it, I will.”
Hillary smiled.
“I’s gonna go ta the church tomorrow and gets some money.”
“From the church?”
“I ain’t no rich lady, sugar, in case ya ain’t noticed. The church helps me ta help others. Now I gots me a little cash ‘round here, but it’s gonna take plenty mo’ for our trip. So that’s the second condition...if the church is willin’ to help.”
Great, Hillary thought despairingly.
“Now don’t fret, our church ain’t never lemme down ‘fore...you gonna see, they’s gonna help ya baby, have some faith.”
Hillary allowed a weak smile to invade her face.
“Just one mo’ thing, Caleigh,” Miss Billie said.
Hillary gave the woman her full attention and waited for the final condition.
“If we find yo’ daddy and he ain’t willin’ to help ya, you come on back with Miss Billie to Raleigh. ‘Cause ya know, I ain’t gonna just leave ya there on yo’ own. I wants no argument ‘bout it. We gots to be clear ‘bout it.”
Whatever, Hillary thought. As long as I get to Bethesda and find Lt. Alan Langsford, I’d agree to anything....
Hillary nodded enthusiastically.
“Sure, Miss Billie, I agree to those conditions,” she said sweetly, glad that she was finally getting closer to accomplishing her goal.
Hillary picked up her fork and finished the remaining pile of mashed potatoes then ate most of the peas and carrots before pushing the plate aside.
“The fried chicken was amazing,” she said happily. “You really are a great cook, Miss Billie.”
“Thank you, child,” Miss Billie replied proudly. She didn’t know where the skinny girl put all the food she ate. “I’s gonna fatten you up some.”
Hillary laughed. It was an actual, whole-hearted snicker and Hillary realized that it was the first time she had genuinely laughed out loud in ages. After helping Miss Billie with the dishes, the odd twosome went into the living room to watch some television, in keeping with their established nighttime ritual. As soon as Miss Billie pressed the power button on the remote control and the television flashed on, Hillary’s jaw dropped. There was a picture of her on the news.
“My, that girl sure looks a lot like ya, Caleigh,” Miss Billie commented, turning up the volume.
Hillary looked horrified as she forced a thin smile on her face and pretended to be amused.
“...months back,” the reporter was saying. “Greyson had brutally murdered her entire family except for her mother, Katherine, who had narrowly escaped death at the time, only to be killed by her daughter’s copycat killer. The woman’s badly mutilated body was found nearly two weeks ago in her kitchen. Her death was caused by multiple stab wounds. There are even reports that parts of the woman’s flesh had been prepared into food and possibly ingested. Based on the gruesome details of the murders involving Dr. Patrick Morrison and his wife, Monica—many of which have been deemed too gory to be revealed to the public—police officials suspect a connection between all three ghastly murders. Additionally, the body of fifty-eight year old Leonard Poole, owner and proprietor of Seaside Taxicab Company in Sea Cove, was found just outside the Greyson residence. His abandoned car was discovered yesterday in Hudson, North Carolina....”
Copycat killer? Hillary thought with great amusement. She didn’t think she would be a suspect since she was dead to the world. Now the world knew her as a copycat killer.
“This is boring,” Hillary chimed in, hoping that Miss Billie would change the channel.
“Hush child,” Miss Billie scolded her. “Hudson? That just a few miles ‘way from here,” she added as she continued to listen intently to the broadcast.
“...trying to determine the link between the murders. Police warn that the serial killer is still at large and is considered extremely dangerous....”
The photo of Hillary was rep
laced with a sketch of a young, gaunt man with long blonde hair.
“This sketch has been drawn based on eyewitness account....”
Eyewitness account? Hillary wondered as she furrowed her brow.
“...thin man in his late teens or early twenties. Again, police officials strongly urge everyone to be alert and vigilant and to contact authorities immediately if a person matching the suspect’s description is spotted. Up next, a look at Tropical Storm Felicity and what the National Hurricane Center has to say about its path.”
A commercial for an auto dealership came on and Miss Billie lowered the volume.
“On Lordy, ain’t that just awful,” she said worriedly.
“Don’t worry most tropical storms never become hurricanes.”
“Ain’t no hurricane I’s worried ‘bout, child. You done heard that woman on the news. They’s a serial killer on the loose.”
“All the more reason to get away from here,” Hillary replied smugly.
“You sure look an awful lot like that Greyson maniac.”
“Well, you know, we white girls all look alike,” Hillary joked with a chuckle.
“Hmm...you sure yo’ not related?”
“She killed her whole family,” Hillary said. “How could I be related to her?”
Miss Billie nodded slowly, as if she harbored doubts. She had heard about Hillary Greyson months ago after the psychotic young girl had been killed during her arrest. If she didn’t know better, she would swear she was looking at Hillary’s ghost.
“Where you say you’s from again?” Miss Billie asked suspiciously.
“Maryland,” Hillary replied, wondering if this were another one of Miss Billie’s tests.
“Hmmm,” Miss Billie responded suspiciously.
“Miss Billie, do you really think I’m involved in that whole Hillary Greyson mess? You wanna call the cops and tell them that I’m the copycat killer?”
“Now don’t go gettin’ fresh with Miss Billie, child, you know I ain’t thinkin’ you’s no copycat killer.”
Hillary looked perplexed as she tried to figure out if the double negatives in Miss Billie’s sentence meant that the woman did think she was the copycat killer. She smiled as she concluded that it was just Miss Billie’s poor grasp of the English language.
“In fact,” Miss Billie continued, “when I first saw that picture I did think it was you but I thought the story was gonna be ‘bout a missin’ girl. I don’t wanna be arrested fo’ kidnappin’ ya on our way to Maryland.”
Hillary was relieved to hear Miss Billie confirm her interest in going to Maryland. The news report had been a close call and for a moment, Hillary had to consider her options. She didn’t want to hurt Miss Billie but there was no way she was going to let the woman stand in the way of her plans, or worse, report her to the cops.
“I guess we do sort of look alike,” Hillary shrugged. “Can we watch something other than the depressing news now?”
Miss Billie handed Hillary the remote control.
“It’s all yours,” she said kindly as she settled onto the soft leather couch.
Hillary felt funny about commandeering the television. Usually it was Miss Billie who selected which shows they viewed and she would quietly sit and watch. She didn’t mean to be rude but she didn’t want to see any more news reports about herself. She didn’t need Miss Billie to grow suspicious, however unlikely it would be. She settled on an old re-run of “Seventh Heaven,” figuring it was a wholesome-enough show to satisfy Miss Billie’s preference for “respectable programming,” as she had once put it.
It didn’t much matter what show was playing on the television. Miss Billie was more interested in talking than watching.
“What in God’s name made that young girl go an’ kill her fam’ly like that? Don’t it just break yo’ heart?”
Hillary nodded, trying not to be rude but wanting to convey disinterest. She pretended to be distracted by the show. Miss Billie was persistent.
“I tells ya, I dunno what be gettin’ into people these days. Did you hear ‘bout what that girl did to them twin babies? Babies!”
Hillary nodded again.
“And ain’t bad ‘nough she had to go an’ kill them folks, she ate parts o’ ‘em too, like some wild animal.”
Hillary stared at the television pretending to be engrossed by the show but she was listening to every word Miss Billie had to say about her.
“Lord, Jesus, help us all. Don’t know what this world’s comin’ to. Ya know they says she cooked her baby brother? Cooked ‘im!”
Hillary felt her cheeks begin to grow warm.
“Then she served ‘im to her own mama...’magine that...” Tsk, tsk, tsk.
Hillary’s face was red and she was trembling slightly. Why did Miss Billie have to go and stir up all of those unpleasant memories?
“I know!” Hillary shouted, startling Miss Billie. “I heard all about it, I don’t want to hear about it anymore. I’m trying to watch the show!”
Miss Billie’s mouth hung open in surprise.
“Well excuse me,” Miss Billie said, insulted. “Don’t gotta be so nasty ‘bout it.”
Hillary sighed. What was it that her mother had always said about biting the hand that feeds you? As angry as she had grown, she knew that she had to calm down and apologize to Miss Billie for her outburst. The last thing that she wanted to do was make the woman angry when she was so close to getting her ticket to Maryland.
“I’m sorry, Miss Billie, honest...it’s awful what that girl did to her family.”
Miss Billie accepted her apology by way of a warm smile.
“Ya know, I bets if that girl had come ta me I coulda fixed her.”
“Fixed her? You say it like she was broken or something.”
“She was broken, sugar...anyone act like that is broken, but Miss Billie coulda made her better.”
“Maybe she didn’t want to be fixed. Maybe killing those people fixed her.”
“Now Caleigh how can ya say such a silly thing? Don’t ya know yo’ commandments? It a sin to kill...don’t make anythin’ right ya know.”
“But what if those people deserved to die?”
“Innocent babies?” Miss Billie’s eyes were wide, her eyebrows arched.
“Maybe she only did that to make a point.”
“What point? That she done lost her mind? You gots ta be real sick in the head to hurt babies.”
“I’m sure she had her reasons.”
“Ain’t no reasons to hurt no babies...to butcher them. Caleigh, why you defendin’ that crazy girl?”
Miss Billie’s voice was had grown increasingly loud and she was frowning now.
“I’m not,” Hillary replied coyly. “I’m just saying she must have felt there was a good reason for doing what she did.”
Miss Billie was shaking her head in dissent.
“Ain’t no good reason, no siree...that girl was just sick in the head, plain and simple.”
Hillary didn’t argue. She didn’t need to defend her actions to Miss Billie, the judgmental old woman. She turned her attention back to the television even though a commercial was on.
Miss Billie couldn’t understand how the girl could try to find logic in Hillary Greyson’s actions. It just didn’t make sense why she seemed to get so agitated. Miss Billie looked at her as she glared at the television, a clear scowl on her face. It triggered one of those feelings Miss Billie often got...a warning that something bad was about to happen in the near future. Miss Billie knew better than to dismiss her feelings. There was something peculiar about the pretty young girl on her couch, something more unsettling than the abuse she allegedly sustained.
“Ya know, I think I’s gonna turn in a li’l early tonight,” Miss Billie said unexpectedly, breaking the long silence.
Hillary’s heart began to pound. What was Miss Billie up to? Was she going to sneak into her room and search her shopping bag?
“You know, I think I’ll catch up on my rest too,
” Hillary said, then yawned.
She followed Miss Billie up the stairs and went into her assigned bedroom. She closed the door and walked over to her shopping bag on the other side of the bed. She peered inside, taking inventory of all the things she had acquired. She didn’t dare start pulling anything out of the bag, for fear that Miss Billie might walk into the room without knocking. Then her freshly-cleaned instruments would be bloodied all over again. She had rinsed everything during her second night at Miss Billie’s house while she was showering.
Afterward, while she was still in the locked bathroom, she pulled out the cell phones that she had accumulated. She wondered whether they were still activated. They were both dead, the batteries completely drained of power. She made a mental note to ask Miss Billie to buy her a cell phone charger cable when they were in Maryland. If necessary, Hillary would just steal one. Then she would have access to Lt. Langford’s phone number, which was stored on Dr. Morrison’s phone. She had meant to write down the information, but hadn’t gotten around to it while the phone was still charged.
It was a lucky thing that Dr. Bentley and Dr. Morrison both had iPhones. She would be able to use the same charger with both devices. Then she would have Internet access. Between the information she already had and access to the World Wide Web, she would find her long lost “father.” She could hardly wait to meet him.
Miss Billie had headed for the bathroom before going into her room. She had no intention of searching through Hillary’s belongings, even though her instincts did warn her that the girl in her temporary care was not all that she appeared to be. She had definitely reacted suspiciously when the picture of Hillary Greyson was televised. And she had so adamantly defended the crazy girl’s horrific actions. Who was this girl, this stranger in her house? As skeptical as she was about the girl’s true identity, she wasn’t afraid of her. She didn’t feel as if she was in any danger. After all, if the girl had meant her any harm, she would have done something by now.
Still, Miss Billie was no fool and she had a plan of her own. Tomorrow, when she went to the church to acquire the funds, she would use the computer in Pastor Louie’s office and fish for some information. She didn’t know quite what to look for or what she would find, but she’d spend a few minutes searching for something useful. If the good Lord intended her to know, then He would enlighten her.
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