Blood Sisters

by Melody Carlson

  She spoke out loud, giving specific directions to the clinic, and exactly where Aunt Lenore’s room was located. She described all the entrances and the windows, as best she could remember, and the people working there, even suggesting that the nurse practitioner might possibly be bribed. Or maybe not. She mentioned having seen Hank. She described where all the buildings were, as far as she knew, and where Burt and even Hal’s houses were located.

  “Okay, I’m sure a lot of this information is just meaningless.” she said finally. “And I’m not even sure that you can hear me. But I guess I’m lonely and just need to talk. By the way, I hope Eli’s doing okay. On one hand, I don’t feel too worried, since everyone’s pretty busy with these meetings, but on the other hand, what if these boys got all fired up after one of the speakers, like Ed Burns this morning, and decided to go out on a little mission of their own? What then? Can you hear me, Adam? Anybody? So, keep an eye on things, okay. Now, I’m almost wishing I was going to that meeting tonight. But not really. I mean a person can only stomach so much of their propaganda at a time. Signing off for now.”

  She walked down to the little dock on the lake. She slipped off her sandals and put her feet into the water, then she leaned back on the dock, still warm from the sun, and closed her eyes, and for a few minutes just daydreamed, pretending she were far away from the horrors and problems that surrounded her. The sound of the water gently lapping against a little rowboat was soothing to her jittery nerves.

  “Hey there.”

  Startled, Judith sat up quickly and looked all around. “Oh, Hal. Where’d you come from? You scared me.”

  “Sorry. I didn’t mean to. Burt’s tied up with the meeting, but he sent me down here to check on you two. Everything okay? I heard about Ellen’s little spell. That’s too bad.”

  “Yeah, but she’s all right. She was sound asleep when I left her. I just wanted some fresh air.”

  “Mind if I join you?”

  “Not at all, pull up a chair, but watch out for the slivers.”

  He chuckled as he sat down on the dock. “It’s sure been great having you around, Judith. I know how much Ellen loves having you here. Even Burt’s hoping you’ll consider staying on, maybe take that teaching position at the school.”

  “Well, you just never know.” She smiled at him. This, she suddenly realized, might possibly be her best chance to collect some evidence—if he had any.

  “So, how do you like it here?”

  She shrugged. “To be honest, I have sort of mixed feelings.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well, it’s a beautiful place and all. But to be perfectly honest, I just can’t shake the feeling that Jasmine lived here and that she was horribly unhappy during that time. And that kind of bothers me.” She looked him right in the eye. “Forgive me if I’ve offended you, and I would never say this to the Morrisons. But I guess I thought maybe you’d understand.”

  He nodded. “Yeah. I kinda do. It’s almost like she haunts me too.”

  She looked at him intently. “Yes, that’s how I feel. And I just need to know what happened to her—before—I could ever consider settling down here. And, well, I hate to ask Burt and Ellen too much. I know it’s distressful to them. And probably to you too. You were, after all, her husband.” She looked right into his eyes again, pretending to see something there that she couldn’t for the life of her imagine. A slight breeze from the lake ruffled his combed-over hair to expose the large, pale bald area on top. “Tell me, were you in love with her, Hal?”

  He looked out on the water for a long moment, then finally shook his head. “You know, I really wanted to love her. And I remembered how pretty she was when she was in high school—I was quite a bit older than her, of course, but I knew her through Burt back then. And then when she came here to live, I think I believed I was in love with her— right at the beginning, at least. But it didn’t take long before I realized that something was wrong with her. She wasn’t the same Jasmine I’d known back in Mississippi. It was almost like she was already dead.”

  “Yes. That’s just what Ellen said.” She looked at him again. “But then why did you marry her, Hal?”

  He shrugged. “Mostly for Burt, I guess.” He puffed out his cheeks then slowly blew. “You see, Burt’s been like a dad to me. I think I’d do most anything for him. And when he wanted me to marry Jasmine, I thought he was handing me the world on a platter. Oh, I know it must seem pretty strange to someone like you, like an arranged marriage or something. But you know, those things can work sometimes. I know this other guy who lives here and he met his wife by mail. And they seem fairly happy. And it’s not like my first marriage was any screaming success. So, I figured, heck, why not. I thought maybe Jasmine would change over time, get better, you know. But as it turned out, I didn’t know what I was getting into.”

  “And what was that?”

  He studied her closely, then continued. “Well, for one thing, I didn’t realize that Jasmine had been forced into the whole thing, right from the start. Burt sort of made me think that she had agreed, like she actually wanted to get married. He explained how she’d been sort of messed up, but was ready to return to her family and live a decent sort of life. And he said that she was ready to get married to a respectable guy and have some respectable children and live a respectable life. And we talked about building a house and raising a family and all kinds of stuff.”

  “You and Jasmine talked about these things?”

  He shook his head. “Me and Burt.”

  “Oh.”

  “Yeah, that was the main problem. Jasmine wasn’t too involved. Basically, she just didn’t want to be here. And I didn’t really know what all was going on with her. I mean, all the stuff she’d been through. I still don’t know the half of it.”

  “Like what?”

  “Oh, I don’t know. But she’d messed up real bad. Burt said she’d shamed her family. And he was holding something over her head. Kind of like he was blackmailing her or something like that. But he had power over her, and he could make her do whatever he wanted. Until the end, that is.”

  “The end?”

  “Yeah, when she shot herself.”

  “And you’re certain that she shot herself?”

  Hal looked sharply at her. “What’re you suggesting, Judith? You think somebody else shot her? Me maybe? Since it was my gun, after all.”

  “Nooo...” Judith sighed deeply. “I guess it’s still hard for me to understand why she gave up on life. I mean, I’ve been through some pretty hard things myself, and I’ll admit I almost gave up, but then I didn’t.” She didn’t mention that it was Jasmine’s very death that had brought her back from the brink of her own. But her purpose here was to keep him talking—any way she could.

  “But you’re a strong woman, Judith. Jasmine was weak. She’d given up on everything before she ever came here. I just hadn’t known it.”

  “Did you feel bad toward Burt because of all this?”

  “Well, to be honest, I was a little upset for a while. But then I don’t really think he meant any harm. I’m sure he just thought that he was helping her, and me too, for that matter. But it’s like Jasmine was already broken and couldn’t be fixed.”

  “Who was the last one to see her alive?”

  He pressed his lips together. “Well, at first I thought it was me. But it may have been Burt.” He shrugged. “Doesn’t really matter though.”

  “Yeah, I suppose not. But I guess I’m just curious. What makes you think it was Burt?”

  “Well, something he said, I guess. I mean right after we found out.”

  “What did he say?”

  “Something like he shouldn’t have told her something.” He turned and looked at Judith. “But it’s not like he really had anything do with her death. You know how you blame yourself when something like that happens. Like, I just keep kicking myself for leaving that stupid handgun out there. I’d forgotten all about it. I guess, if anyone’s to blame, it s
hould be me.”

  “So, you don’t know what Burt told her then?”

  He shook his head. “Probably nothing important.”

  “Who found her?”

  “The kid next door. Poor kid. I heard it really shook him up bad.”

  “Oh my.” Judith pushed her hair back with both hands, then took a deep breath. “Well, thanks for answering my questions, Hal. It really helps me to understand better. And to appreciate that you never meant her any harm.”

  He nodded. “Yes, that’s exactly right. I never meant her any harm. And if I’d a known she was going to kill herself, I’d have tried to work things out with Burt or something.”

  “Work things out?”

  “Well, like I said, he was holding something over her. I might’ve tried to talk him into forgetting about it, and just letting her go her own way—whatever that might’ve been. I mean, it didn’t do anyone a bit of good having her here. Poor Ellen’s been just crushed by this business. We all have. But I know that whatever Burt did, he did it for Jasmine’s own good.”

  “Yes, I’m sure he did.” She looked back toward the house. “I suppose I should go check on Ellen.”

  “You’ve been good medicine for Ellen. I sure hope you decide to stick around.” He was smiling now.

  “Well, you just never know. Thanks for sharing that stuff, Hal.”

  “Yeah, guess I’ll get back to the meeting.”

  “You enjoying these meetings?” she asked as they walked toward the house.

  He looked at her curiously. “Well, to be honest, I might not be as committed to all this stuff as some of the other guys.”

  “All this stuff?”

  “Oh, you know. I guess I kinda go along with it mostly ’cause of Burt. Like I said, I’d do most anything for him.”

  “Would you break the law?”

  He looked at her intently. “I might.”

  “Really?”

  “Well, the thing is, some laws are completely ridiculous and just begging to be broken anyway.”

  They were at the house now, and she turned and looked him right in the eye. “Would you hurt or kill another person for Burt?”

  He rubbed his chin. “Well, now, I might, if it was in self-defense or defending someone I care about. Or are you meaning would I go out and do a lynching or something like that?”

  “Maybe that’s what I mean.”

  His countenance grew dark. “Some things are better left unsaid.”

  “Have you ever seen a lynching?”

  He frowned, his lips pressed together.

  She knew she was getting out on a limb here, but somehow she couldn’t stop herself from asking the next question. “Do you know anything about what happened to James Paxton?”

  His eyes flashed. “What do you know about that?”

  “Only what I’ve heard.” She eyed him carefully. “That he may have died under some mysterious circumstances.”

  Hal rolled his eyes and laughed a forced laugh that sounded more like a snort. “That boy was living carelessly. He brought on his own death.”

  “Meaning he didn’t have any help?” These words came out just barely above a whisper. And she couldn’t believe she’d said it.

  Now Hal looked seriously perturbed and Judith felt sure she’d gone way past the line. Suddenly her heart began to beat fast and her palms grew clammy.

  “You ask some pretty tough questions, Judith.”

  She forced a smile to her lips, hoping to look coy and somehow throw him off her trail. “Well, Hal, how else am I supposed to get to know somebody better?”

  He dipped his head and his cheeks reddened, just slightly as he cleared his throat. “Okay then, have a good evening and give my regards to Ellen. I hope she’s feeling better.”

  Judith went into the house and stood before the kitchen sink, breathing deeply and trying to steady herself. She could hear Ellen still snoring contentedly in the living room. She turned on the tap water then looked down to see her hands shaking. For a long time she washed them in the warm water, soaping up again and again, and rinsing slowly. Then she filled a glass with cool water and slowly drank it.

  Dear God, help me, she prayed silently as she wiped the empty glass across her forehead. Just get me through one more day undetected, and please, help me find some real evidence and concrete answers.

  Ellen continued to sleep soundly, and then after the sun finally set, Judith decided to call it a day herself. First she opened the windows to allow the fresh evening air inside since it was cooling off nicely now, and then she draped a light afghan over Ellen and tiptoed off, slipping upstairs, where she took a careful, tepid shower, protecting the strange little device taped to her upper abdomen from the splashing water.

  Once in bed, she opened Jasmine’s little Bible again. Suddenly she wondered if she shouldn’t have also given this book to Adam for clues. For somehow it seemed they were there, even if she couldn’t quite grasp it. She remembered the curious verse she’d read last night, and decided to read it out loud now, for Adam’s sake. First she announced that it was underlined in Jasmine’s Bible and then slowly read it, feeling slightly ridiculous as she did. Then after reading, she fingered through some more pages and not much further along but in the same book of Matthew, she found some more verses, also underlined in pencil. So she read these lines aloud as well. “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it.”

  Now, she mentally compared this Scripture to last night’s verses which spoke of not giving things you treasured to those who didn’t appreciate them. But this new verse was different in that it spoke of someone who found something of great value and gave up everything to attain it. She wondered if these two verses had anything to do with each other, or had they simply been ones that Jasmine had liked. She continued to thumb through the little Bible in search of more underlined verses, but to her great dismay found not a single one more.

  As she heard Burt’s key in the front door she snapped off her light and then whispered into her chest, “Good night, Adam.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

  JUDITH ROSE EARLY THE next morning. She slipped downstairs while it was still quiet and started a pot of coffee. She wanted to be extra helpful today, making things go as smoothly as possible. And although they hadn’t discussed it, she hoped this would be her last day at the lake. She wasn’t sure how much longer she could last in this role she’d created and felt worried that her disguise might be wearing thin by now. But just the same she wanted to win their final portion of trust today and hopefully learn something really important and helpful.

  “Morning, Judith.” said Burt as he came into the kitchen.

  “Good morning,” she answered in a cheerful voice. “Would you like a cup of coffee?”

  “That’d be nice.” He sat down at the breakfast nook and folded his hands on the table. Clearly, this was a man who was used to being waited on.

  “How’s Ellen feeling this morning?” she asked as she set down his cup and spoon.

  He reached for the sugar and stirred in two rounded spoonfuls. “She’s feeling a little worn out still. I told her to go ’head and sleep in if she liked.”

  “Well, that’s nice of you.” She hoped her voice didn’t convey the sarcasm behind it. She took a slow sip of coffee and then noticed that Burt was eyeing her carefully, almost suspiciously or so it seemed. She looked out the window, noticing the clouds on the horizon. “Looks like it’s going to be a little cooler day.”

  Burt cleared his throat. “Hal tells me you’ve been asking a lot of questions, Judith.”

  She turned and looked at him, her eyes meeting his over the brim of her coffee cup. She held her gaze steady, cup still poised before her lips, and wondered how best to answer this accusation. That’s what it felt like anyway. And for once she longed to somehow match that icy penetration of his cold stare. “Well,” she began slowly, “as
a matter of fact, I have been asking some questions.” She lowered the cup and sighed.

  “Care to explain why?”

  She eased herself into the seat across from him and placed her cup on the table. She felt her heart beginning to pulse harder, and suddenly wondered if perhaps Adam or someone else was listening now. Could he hear her heart pounding? Would it interfere with his reception? And what if Burt suspected she was wearing a wire? She suppressed the sudden urge to reach for it, pat it, make sure it was there.

  “Explain why?” She looked at him innocently. “I’m not sure I know what you mean exactly, Burt?”

  “I mean, why are you asking all those questions about Jasmine?” His voice was flat and full of accusation now.

  She suppressed the urge to scowl, angry at herself for trusting Hal last night. She should’ve known who held his allegiance. Here, she’d thought it was she who was gathering information, and as it turned out he was simply playing her for a little fool. It was time to think fast. “Well, as I told Hal, I’m still a little unsettled about a few things, and before I can seriously consider moving here or teaching at the—”

  “Moving here or teaching?” Now this seemed to catch him slightly off guard.

  “Well, yes. Didn’t Hal tell you the full context of our conversation last night?”

  “I’m not sure.”

  “Hal asked if I had any serious interest in relocating here. And I told him, quite honestly, that I was still a little troubled by Jasmine’s death.” She looked Burt right in the eye, hoping to convey the honest pain and sadness she felt about losing her friend. “And sometimes, it’s almost like I can feel her near me. Like I can understand how miserable she was during the last part of her life. But what I don’t understand is why. I mean, this is a beautiful place to live. She was close to her family. Can you tell me why she was so completely miserable, Burt? You were her daddy. Did you know what was troubling her? Because until I can resolve this thing about Jasmine, no matter how much I love Ellen and you, no matter how much you feel like family to me, I will never be completely comfortable here.” She felt her voice grow louder. “Jasmine was like a sister to me. I loved her dearly. I just want to know what really happened. Did she really kill herself? And if she did, why did she do it?” She felt genuine tears in her eyes.