“Evangeline, no!”
Lena Saunders—Ruth—was suddenly running across the yard toward her. Evangeline had no idea where she’d been hiding. She came forward now with her arms outstretched. “Please don’t hurt her.”
“I don’t want to hurt anyone.” Evangeline kept the gun leveled on Rebecca. “I just want my baby back. Tell me where he is.”
“I told you,” Rebecca said. “He’s safe.”
“Where is he, damn you!”
“Evangeline…” Lena came slowly toward her. “Please…just put the gun down before someone gets hurt.”
“She took him,” Rebecca said, pointing down the steps toward her sister.
Evangeline swung the gun toward Lena. “Stop right there. I’ll kill you both if I have to.”
Lena’s blue eyes widened in alarm. “Evangeline, listen to me. Rebecca’s sick. She needs help.” She turned to her sister. “Please, just tell us where you put the baby.”
Rebecca took a step back. “No.”
“We just want to help you,” Lena said.
“You’ll send me away again.”
“I never sent you away. It wasn’t my fault what happened. It wasn’t your fault, either. You didn’t know any better. You just wanted to help Mama, didn’t you?”
“You were her helper,” Rebecca said. “You were her favorite.”
“I was the oldest. She depended on me. You can depend on me, too. I’ll get you help. Whatever you need. All you have to do is tell me what you did with the baby.”
At that moment, Evangeline heard J.D.’s cry. It was coming from somewhere inside the house.
She and Lena moved at the same time. Before she reached the steps, something hit her hard between her shoulder blades. The force of the blow catapulted her forward and she fell with a hard thud to the ground. The gun flew from her hand as she lay dazed and shocked in the dirt. With an effort, she lifted her head and glanced behind her, saw the man with the scarred face standing over her. He had a club in one hand and a burlap sack in the other.
“I’ve got her,” he said and laughed.
Evangeline lunged for the gun, grabbed it, but he was just as quick. Straddling her, he rolled her over and tried to pin her left arm to her side while he grappled for the gun in her right hand.
A shot went wild and she heard one of the sisters scream. She couldn’t worry about that now, though. She had to get free. She had to find J.D. No matter what, she had to find her son and save him from these lunatics.
She fought viciously. With her free hand, she raked her nails across the tender skin of his scar. She clawed at his eyes, dug her knee into his groin. Nothing seemed to faze him.
One hand was at her throat, squeezing, squeezing while his other hand pried loose the gun in her hand. He flung it aside and then, his fingers tightening around her neck, he reached for the burlap bag.
As he upended it, a black, ropey body tumbled to the ground. As quick as lightning, his hand flicked out and he snatched the snake behind the head. He brought it close to Evangeline’s face, and when he poked the snout with his club, the mouth widened, revealing the cottony interior and the long, razorlike fangs.
The swampy stench of the snake filled her nostrils as a cold, black terror dropped over her. Was this what he had in store for J.D.?
Adrenaline surged through her veins as her hand scrabbled across the dirt, searching for the gun. Her fingers closed around a stick, and when he lifted the snake high over his head, mumbling words she could not understand, Evangeline reared up and drove the makeshift weapon into his eye with all the strength she could muster.
He screamed and dropped the snake.
The thick body fell hard against Evangeline’s chest, then sprang forward in a blur. The fangs sunk into the man’s neck and hung for the longest time as he fell backward to the ground, writhing in pain.
Evangeline grabbed the club and scrambled to her feet. Flinging the snake aside, the man, on hands and knees now, tried to get up, too, but Evangeline was ruthless now. She swung the club and connected with his temple, then the back of his neck. He fell face forward into the dirt and did not move again.
Dropping the club, Evangeline turned. Rebecca lay on the ground at the foot of the porch steps, blood gushing from a wound in her chest. Her sister was on her knees beside her.
“She’s been hit,” Lena said on a sob. She lifted Rebecca’s slim body in her arms and rocked her back and forth. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I’m so sorry.” She looked up with shimmering eyes. “I never meant for this to happen.”
“I know.”
“She’s my baby sister. I’m supposed to take care of her, but I couldn’t help her. I couldn’t save her.”
Evangeline turned from the weeping woman and bolted up the steps. As she stepped inside the house, J.D.’s cries seemed to surround her and she knew where he was.
She opened the door to the whispering room, where she herself had once lay hidden.
A ray of sunshine fell on J.D., and for a moment, Evangeline’s breath caught in her throat as the light haloed his hair. The dark history of the house whispered through the silent rooms as she bent and gently picked him up, cradling him to her heart.
“It’s okay. Shush. It’s okay. I’m here now.”
Something in her voice must have reassured him because he calmed almost instantly. His little fist tangled in his mother’s hair and he held on for dear life.
“I’m here,” she whispered over and over. “I’m finally here.”
Outside, the woman who called herself Lena was still on her knees beside Rebecca, her face buried in her sister’s hair. There was nothing Evangeline could do for either of them now.
As she started down the steps, the weeping woman looked up. There wasn’t a tear in her eyes or on her face.
“I can’t let you leave here,” she said.
Evangeline’s heart began to pound as she clung to J.D. There wasn’t a trace of Lena Saunders on her face. She was Ruth now.
“Give me the baby, Evangeline. You know I have to do this. It’s the only way.”
“It was you.” Evangeline’s gaze went to Rebecca’s still form on the ground. “She was telling the truth. It’s always been you. You’re the one who visits Mary Alice at Pinehurst. You pretended to be Rebecca to give yourself cover. Everyone knows she’s been in and out of psychiatric hospitals for years. She wouldn’t be held responsible for her actions, but you would be. You—Lena Saunders—could face the death penalty for what you’ve done.”
“Give me the baby, Evangeline.”
“You were very clever, too. Oh, so concerned about your sister. You left all those cranes for me to find, the snakeskin in my house. You laid the groundwork, had it all planned out.” Evangeline glanced down at the scarred man’s prone body. “You even found someone to share in your delusions, didn’t you? Someone who didn’t mind doing your dirty work.”
“Give the baby to me!”
“Go to hell.”
“It’s the only way to save him. Let me do what I was meant to do.”
“Murder children?”
“You don’t understand. I’m guided by His hand. Just as our mother was. Rebecca wanted to be, but she was too weak. You’re strong like me, Evangeline. You’re my only sister now. My blood is your blood. Our father’s blood is his blood.” She nodded toward J.D. “You have to let me save him.”
“You’ll have to kill me first.”
Ruth’s blue eyes darkened. “Think what Johnny would have wanted.”
“Don’t you dare even speak his name,” Evangeline said furiously. “You used his memory to get to me. You never even met him, did you?”
“What does it matter? All that matters is this child. You know what he’ll grow up to be. Do you really want that for him? Think about it, Evangeline. How much do you love your son? Johnny’s son. How far are you willing to go to protect him, to save his immortal soul from eternal damnation?”
“I’ll go as far as I have to,
” Evangeline said, backing across the porch. “Even if it means killing you.”
“You can’t run away from who we are. You told me that once, remember? You said Ruth was still inside me somewhere. Her story is my story. Her truth is my truth. And you were right, I am Ruth Lemay. And you’re my sister. The DNA, the blood…it’s a part of us. And now it’s a part of your son.”
Evangeline kept backing away from her. Ruth was still standing at the foot of the steps when the bullet caught her in the back. The punch drove her forward and she dropped to her knees, her gaze locking with Evangeline’s.
The gun slipped from Rebecca Lemay’s fingers as her sister’s body fell across hers.
Her hand cradling J.D.’s head, Evangeline stumbled down the steps. As she started across the yard, a car emerged from the trees and slammed to a halt. A man got out and ran toward her. It was Nash.
A squad car came out of the woods behind him. And then another. Evangeline paid no one any mind, even when someone called her name. She kept walking until the distance between her and Nash had vanished.
He stood looking down at her for the longest moment, and then his arms came around her and J.D. and he held them both close.
Thirty-one
After two days, Lynette was taken out of intensive care and moved to a private hospital room. When Evangeline stopped by on her lunch break, her mother was sitting up in bed. She smiled when Evangeline walked through the door and started to reach out her arms for a hug, then thought better of it.
Evangeline sat down on the edge of the bed. “How are you feeling?”
Lynette was still smiling, but her eyes brimmed with tears. “Much better. The doctor said I might be able to go home in the morning.”
“That’s great. Will you need a ride?” Evangeline hated that her voice sounded so stilted, but she couldn’t seem to help it. So much had happened. So many lies had been uncovered. It would take her a while to sort them all out.
“I don’t want to trouble you. Besides…” Lynette glanced away. “Your father said he’d come by and drive me home.”
Evangeline stared down at her in surprise. “That’s okay with you?”
Lynette shrugged. “It’s just a ride. It doesn’t mean anything.” But there was a hopeful note in her tone that she couldn’t quite suppress. Then her expression darkened and tears flooded back into her eyes. “Evangeline…I’m so sorry. Your dad and I should have told you the truth a long time ago. What we did was wrong, but it was for the right reason. We wanted desperately to protect you. What that woman did to her children…we never wanted you to have that burden. And over time, it just became easier to pretend that you were ours. Because you are. In every way that counts.” She reached for Evangeline’s hand. “Can you ever forgive us?”
Evangeline had wondered that herself over the past forty-eight hours. Now as she stared down into her mother’s careworn face, the answer came easily. “A few days ago, I might have had a hard time forgiving you, but now I know how far I was willing to go to protect my own child. I would have killed an innocent woman if it had come to that. So I’m not sure I’m in any position to judge you. I have my son back. That’s all that matters to me now.” She bent to kiss her mother’s cheek, and Lynette’s arms slipped around her, holding her close for a very long time.
Later that night, Evangeline sat out on the front porch with the baby. He’d been fed and bathed and it was long past his bedtime. But she couldn’t bear to put him down. She wanted him close. Wanted to be able to stare down into his little face for as long as she needed to reassure herself that he was safe.
The burnished clouds of sunset had cooled and darkened, and the sky turned lavender as twilight winged softly over the landscape.
A car door slammed down the street, and a moment later, Nash turned up the walkway to her porch. He paused on the bottom step, his face in shadows, before coming the rest of the way up. He sat down beside her, and the scent of his aftershave, the scent of him, filled Evangeline’s senses.
“I have some news,” he finally said, his gaze on the sleeping baby.
“What kind of news?”
“Remember when I promised you justice? We’re moving in on Betts.”
Evangeline turned to study his face. “When?”
“I can’t say exactly when. But soon. I’ll let you know when it’s over. This time he won’t walk. We’ll make sure of that.”
Evangeline stared down at her son. “That’s good,” she said.
“You don’t sound too excited about it.”
“Justice is a very good thing,” she said. “But it won’t bring Johnny back. It won’t change what he did.”
“No, I guess not.”
Summer lightning flickered on the horizon and the soft breeze carried a hint of rain.
Nash said softly, “He’s a fine-looking boy, Evangeline.”
Her heart swelled with pride.
“You should see your face when you look at him.” He paused, as if suddenly at a loss for words. “Don’t let go of that feeling,” he said. “Don’t ever forget what’s important.”
Tears burned Evangeline’s eyes. Tears of guilt and wonder and a love so fierce, her chest felt ready to explode.
“For so long, I only went through the motions,” she said. “I did everything I thought a mother should do, but I thought something was missing inside me. Something that wouldn’t allow me to love my son the way he deserved to be loved. Now I know it was just fear holding me back. Fear of losing him the way I lost Johnny. It took meeting that fear head-on for me to realize how much I love him. He means everything to me. I’d die to protect him.”
“He’s lucky to have you for a mother,” Nash said. He sounded moved. Humbled.
“No,” she said. “I’m the lucky one. I know that now.”
They sat for the longest moment in silence while she cradled her sleeping son in her arms.
“I had the strangest dream last night,” she finally said.
“Oh, yeah?”
“I was sitting out here on the porch just like we are now and I saw Johnny on the street. He was driving Nathan Mallet’s red Mustang, the one he always loved. When he saw me on the porch, he honked and waved, but when I ran after him, he drove away without stopping, like he had somewhere important he had to be.” She turned to Nash. “What do you think that meant?”
His eyes searched her face in the darkness. “Maybe it was his way of saying goodbye.”
“I told you once that I could still feel his presence, remember?” She drew a long breath, releasing something bittersweet inside her. “I don’t feel him anymore. Not with you here. So maybe that dream was my way of telling him goodbye.”
Nash said nothing as she turned and watched the clouds roll in from the gulf. The breeze picked up and the heady fragrance of her neighbor’s roses hung heavy on the steamy night air.
Evangeline couldn’t look at Nash, but she didn’t pull away when he slipped his arm around her shoulder.
Down the street, a car engine roared to life. It sounded like Nathan Mallet’s old Mustang, and in her mind’s eye, Evangeline saw Johnny wave as he gunned the motor and drove away.
J.D. whimpered in his sleep, as if he’d heard the sound, too. Evangeline lifted him to her chest and pressed her cheek to the top of his head.
“I’m here,” she whispered. “Mama’s here.”
ISBN: 978-1-4268-2936-9
THE WHISPERING ROOM
Copyright © 2009 by Marilyn Medlock Amann.
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher, MIRA Books, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.
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