Don't Close Your Eyes

by Christie Craig

  “So when I die, she’ll love me?” Fran snapped.

  “Sorry. I—”

  “No, I’m sorry. It’s just not enough. I haven’t been enough of a mother for Lily, either. But it stops now.”

  Annie nodded. “We’ll for sure get together.”

  Fran walked to the window, pulled the curtain back, and stared out. “Your mom ever hit you?”

  “No.”

  “She never drank?” Fran kept her gaze out the window.

  “Never.” The question gave Annie pause.

  “Was she a good mother?”

  Annie inhaled. “If you’d asked me that two months ago, I’d have said yes. Truth is she…she was distant. My dad was closer to me. And now…”

  Fran turned. “Now what?”

  “Now, I can’t understand why she lied to me all those years. Why she’s still lying. It feels like she chose them over me.”

  Fran’s eyes rounded. “They don’t think she’s the one who shot you?”

  “No, but she’s hiding something. I don’t know what kind of a relationship we’ll have when this is over.”

  “I’m sorry,” Fran offered.

  Annie nodded and her heart hurt.

  “When I heard your father died, I wished I’d found out sooner so I could have gone to the funeral. He was like a television dad. You know, good. I liked him.”

  “Me too,” Annie said.

  Fran crossed her arms. “Family’s important. I want to give my daughter a family. A normal one. A place where she feels safe.”

  “I think that’s what we all want,” Annie said, and they stood in silence. Both lost in the hurt of the past. “What made them this way? The Reeds?” Annie asked.

  Fran shrugged. “Alcohol, maybe.”

  “Did you know our grandmother?”

  Fran nodded. “She was as crazy as the rest of them. She died when I was like thirteen.”

  “And our grandfather?” Annie asked.

  “Never knew him. I asked Grandma one day. She told me he’d met his maker and was paying for his sins.” Fran rubbed her shoulder. “Did your mom ever talk about her childhood?”

  “No,” Annie said. “I asked, but she wouldn’t talk about it.”

  Fran hugged herself. “Mom would tell me I didn’t know how lucky I had it. Usually after she’d slapped the shit out of me.”

  * * *

  A little after noon, Mark, waiting for Connor to call to say if they’d gotten the warrant, combed through Juan’s file of everything Reed. Nothing jumped out except a whole hell of a lot of dysfunction. And coming from dysfunction, he knew it when he saw it.

  Juan’s tapping on the computer keys echoed in the tiny room. He stopped. “You know when this is over, the three of us should do something fun. Like go fishing. Spend all day sitting by the water and trying to forget about this shit.”

  “I don’t know. I have a lot of shit to forget,” Mark said. “But yeah, let’s do it.” Dropping the file, Mark recalled spilling his guts to Annie and wished he hadn’t. She had enough crap on her plate.

  He and Annie had barely spoken today when he showed up with her cousin and returned to pick her up.

  He could tell that seeing Fran hadn’t been easy on Annie, and he wanted to pull her against him and hold her, but with Fran there he’d refrained. But at least they were making headway on the case.

  His phone finally rang. “Connor,” he said, and put it on speaker. “And?”

  “We got it. Got everything,” Connor said. “The warrant to speak to Sarah, but a psychologist needs to be present. And a warrant to dig up the barn. Sheriff Harper already has a dig team from the county morgue heading to the old barn.”

  “That fast?” Mark asked.

  “Harper said that’s the way it works in the country.” Connor chuckled. “Before I hit the judge’s office I stopped off and spoke with Doris Roberts and Sam and George Reed about where they were last night. Doris Roberts has an alibi. Harper’s deputy checked it out while we were talking to the judge, and the bartender accounted for her drunken presence. Sam and George say they were both home alone. Both their wives had gone for the weekend. So it could have been either of George or Sam, or both.”

  “Shit.” Mark supposed it was best Connor had done the questioning. He’d have ended up beating the shit out of someone for hurting Annie. And he wouldn’t have felt guilty about it, either.

  Connor continued, “I’ll call you when we find something from the dig.”

  “No, you won’t.” Mark reached in his gun drawer. “I’m coming.”

  * * *

  A little over an hour later, Mark pulled up to George Reed’s place. Yeah, he’d driven like a demon and he’d been too damn antsy to wait for Connor’s call. He spotted a patrol car pulled in the back of the house beside a falling-down building. Walking through the knee-high weeds, he stepped inside the dilapidated barn. Slices of sun leaked in through the rotted wood. There was already a huge-ass hole in the center of the barn. At least three officers wearing San Antonio uniforms, and one dog, crowded around the hole. Two more men were in the hole. Connor and Sheriff Harper spotted him and waved him over.

  “Anything yet?” Mark asked.

  “Not yet,” Connor answered. “But the dog marked the spot. Let’s hope it’s not a turtle this time.”

  Harper introduced Mark around. “How did the Reeds take this?” Mark asked Harper.

  “Pissed. Really pissed. They called their lawyer and he came and swooped them away.”

  Mark wasn’t there an hour—but long enough that his shirt was soaked with sweat—when one of the men digging spoke up. “I got something.”

  Everyone crowded around. Everyone but Mark. He didn’t have to see it to believe it. He just wanted this case closed. Maybe then he and Annie could find their place again. If they had a place.

  “Is it a body?” Harper asked.

  “Yeah.” The man answered. “But it’s not what you’re looking for.”

  “What?” Mark moved in. He looked down and saw parts of skeleton remains still half covered with dirt.

  “This ain’t no kid. Whoever we just uncovered is over six feet tall.”

  * * *

  When the Reeds’ lawyer wouldn’t agree to allow his clients to be interviewed until the next day, Mark headed back. By four he walked back into the precinct. On the drive, he’d tried to make sense of the new body but nothing made sense. Harper was supposed to send a list of all the Missing Persons cases for the past twenty-five years, but he said it could be a few days.

  Mark wanted this thing solved. Now. He wanted to call Annie with good news.

  His phone rang. Annie’s number appeared on the screen. “Hey.” He tried to decide how to tell her about the body.

  “Hi, uh, I spoke with my mom.”

  Mark’s frown curled in his gut. “You didn’t tell her where you are, did you?”

  “No, but I’m meeting her at the coffee shop.”

  “Annie, I—”

  “She’s my mom.” Her voice quavered. “Right now I’m pissed at her. I don’t understand why she’s doing this. But after speaking with Fran, I realize she hasn’t been a terrible mother. She heard I was shot and she’s been worried sick. I love her.”

  He exhaled. “What time are you meeting her?”

  “I’m in a taxi heading there now.”

  “Okay.” What else could he say? “Call me when you’re finished and I’ll pick you up.” He’d tell her about the body then.

  “Yeah.”

  * * *

  After the body had been carted off, Adam drove back to his office. His mind was racing over the new body. This case was his. He needed a plan. When he walked into the office it was unmanned.

  Then Jennifer walked out of the ladies’ room, phone in her hand. Her face was puffy as if she’d been crying.

  “You okay?” he asked.

  “Allergies.”

  She moved to her desk and sat down. Questions about her father, about any miss
ing family members, danced on his tongue—but without more information, he didn’t know what to ask. He started back to his office when something tacked to the wall behind her desk caught his attention. A paper target.

  And then he remembered she went to the gun range.

  She was a Reed. She had a gun.

  He walked back to her desk.

  She looked up.

  “What kind of gun do you have?”

  Her head slumped forward. Adam knew guilt when he saw it.

  “What kind?” he demanded.

  When she didn’t answer, he raised his voice. “Answer me!”

  “A Ruger nine-millimeter.”

  “Where is it?”

  “I don’t know.” Her voice cracked.

  Adam leaned down and pressed his hands on her desk. “Jennifer, where is your gun?”

  Tears filled her eyes. “Mama took it. She’s been obsessed about this whole thing. I don’t know why. She made me tell her things about the case.”

  Adam clenched his jaw. “Where is your mom?”

  “I don’t know.”

  Adam snatched up the phone and handed it to Jennifer. “Call her. Ask her where she’s at. Tell her she needs to come home. Now!”

  * * *

  Mark’s phone rang. He recognized Harper’s number.

  “You were right,” the sheriff said.

  “About?”

  “I didn’t check all the Reeds for guns.”

  “Who has one?”

  “Jenny Reed.”

  “Your desk clerk? You think she—”

  “No. Her mother, Patrick Reed’s wife. She took Jennifer’s gun. Jennifer admitted that her mom’s been obsessing over the case. Jennifer called her and asked her where she was. The mom said she was in Anniston with her aunt JoAnne. When Jennifer told her she needed to come home, she hung up.”

  “Fuck!” Mark said. “Annie’s meeting her mom now.”

  Mark slammed the phone down and called Annie. It rang. And rang. Then went to voice mail.

  * * *

  Annie walked into the coffee shop. It was empty except for Fred. He waved and smiled. Annie smiled back. She ordered coffee and sat fretting about what to say.

  When her mom walked into the coffee shop Annie gasped. She looked as if she’d aged ten years. Her clothes were wrinkled. Her makeup smeared.

  Annie didn’t take all the blame for not seeing her, but she still felt guilty. She’d promised her father she’d take care of her.

  Her mom’s eyes filled with tears when she saw Annie. Annie’s eyes did the same. She stood up.

  “Oh, baby.” She ran and hugged Annie tighter than she ever had. And longer. Annie soaked in the feeling of being loved. When her mom pulled away, she said, “I’m sorry. Sorry for everything.” She looked her up and down. “I thought you were shot.”

  “I was.” Annie pulled up her sleeve to show her mom the bandage. “But I’m fine.”

  Her mom’s lips trembled. “George and Sam swear they didn’t do it. But it doesn’t matter. It has to end.” She dropped down in a chair.

  “What has to end?” Annie’s chest tightened. The sound of coffee beans being ground echoed around her, but her attention lay completely on her mom.

  “The secrets. The lies. It was so ugly, it was best it stay buried. Nobody needed to know. But more lies are piling on top of lies. It has to stop.”

  “You swore you’d never tell!” an angry voice said.

  Annie looked up. The gray-haired woman standing there. She looked vaguely familiar. Then Annie recalled seeing her at the funeral. Aunt Karen, her uncle Patrick’s wife.

  “What are you doing here?” Mom asked.

  “I’m protecting your brother’s name. You, both of you, need to shut up. They’ll blame Patrick. He always got the blame. On his deathbed, he made me promise to never let his daughter find out. He lived with that shame and guilt.”

  “He wasn’t any more at fault than any of us,” her mom said. “It needs to come out.”

  “I won’t let you do this.” She pulled a gun out of her purse.

  Panic spiraled in Annie’s chest. But somehow a shot of adrenaline had her jumping up and putting herself between her mom and the gun. “Put that away. We won’t say a word.”

  Her mom tried to push in front of Annie, but Annie pushed her back. She’d die for her mom.

  “Gun!” yelled Mary the barista.

  The woman turned. That’s when Fred grabbed the crazed woman’s arm. The gun clattered on the tile. While those two wrestled, Annie dove for the weapon.

  The moment she had it, the door slammed open. She saw the gun before she saw Mark. Fury made his eyes bright.

  Fred had the woman pinned to the floor. “I got her,” he yelled up to Mark. “You read her her rights.”

  * * *

  Thirty minutes later, Annie and her mom sat in a small room with a big table at the police station. Her mom’s eyes were still teary. Annie took her hand.

  Mark sat down. “Ms. Lakes, I’m going to need you to be honest with me.”

  She nodded, but didn’t speak.

  “Patrick killed Jenny, didn’t he?”

  Her mom looked up. “No.”

  “Mom, please, just tell him everything.”

  Frustration filled Mark’s expression. “Whose body did we just dig up in your brother’s barn?”

  “What body?” Annie asked.

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  We should have told a long time ago,” Annie’s mom said, and her expression, her tone, reminded Annie of how Mark had sounded and looked last night.

  “I was pregnant with you. We lived on the other side of town, Doris called and said I needed to get there. Our daddy was having one of his fits.” Her mom swallowed. “Your father, he worked the third shift. He didn’t like it when I went to see them, but they were my family.”

  Annie tightened her hold on her mom’s hand as she continued. “For some reason, my daddy would listen to me. Don’t know why, he beat me like he did everybody else. But when he got the meanest, I could talk him down.”

  New tears formed in her mother’s eyes. “When I got there, Daddy had everyone against the wall and he had his gun on them. He asked me which one he should kill ’cause he was tired of feeding them all.”

  Her mother’s voice became slower, her eyes blank, as if she saw it. “Mama and Patrick were beaten. They’d tried to fight him off, but Daddy was a big man. And when he had whiskey in him, he was so mean.”

  She inhaled. Her gaze locked on the wall. “I begged him to hand me the gun. He told me that Sarah was the devil and made him do things he shouldn’t. I finally got the gun from him. But Sarah grabbed it. She shot him. Blood was everywhere. He died. Mama made us take him to the barn. The boys buried him. She said they’d put us all in jail. That they’d lock Sarah away forever. She made us swear on the Bible that we’d never tell. It had been our secret that he’d beaten us all those years. Now our secret was that Sarah had killed him.”

  Annie covered her mouth to keep from crying aloud.

  “Eight months later, Sarah gave birth to Jenny.”

  Her mom’s lips trembled. Annie’s heart quietly broke. Broke for her younger mom. For the pain she’d endured.

  Mark spoke up. “So what happened to Jenny?”

  “We were camping. Sarah, Doris, and I were sharing a tent. Jenny came in and needed to go potty again. I offered to take her in the woods to pee. But Sarah said she’d do it. She loved Jenny. She really did.”

  Her mother dropped her face into her hands and sobbed. Mark didn’t push her to continue. The sound of her crying filled the room. Annie hugged her. She finally lifted her face. “They were gone a while and when Sarah came back she was crazy. Not making sense. She said it had happened again. She had blood all over her.”

  “We found Jenny, she was dead. Mama said we had to bury her ’cause Sarah would tell everything. I pleaded for them not to do it. But the boys said Mama was right. Sarah just sat on the ground, h
ugging herself, saying she hadn’t shot her.”

  Her mom looked at Annie. “My brothers found a place to bury her at the park. You and Fran woke up and went into the woods. When you came out, your knee was cut. I grabbed you away from Patrick and took you to the hospital. You’d told me you’d seen Jenny with dirt all over her. I told you it was a dream. I know I lied, but I didn’t know what else to do. When I called your father and told him, he got furious. He said the only reason he didn’t tell the police when Daddy died was because he was afraid I’d go to jail. He said they were all becoming like my daddy.”

  Her mom stared at the wall again, but Annie could swear she saw things. Ugly things. She finally started talking again. “I’m told that later when Sarah came to her senses, she told everyone that Jenny had fallen by the creek and hit her head. She said Jenny went to sleep. She held her for a long time then realized she was dead, like Daddy. They’d already called the police and told them Jenny was missing. It was too late to change the story.” Her mom’s gaze cut to Annie again. “Your father packed us up that night and we moved to Houston. He told me you were never going to be with my family again.”

  She pulled in a deep breath. “I knew he was right. They all drank like Daddy did, but they were my family. Living with Daddy was war, and the rest of us counted on each other. We protected each other. They understood what was wrong inside of me.”

  Her mom folded her hands together. “When your dad died, I was so alone. He was my north star. As long as I had him I was good. But without him I felt lost. I needed someone. I didn’t want to be a burden on you. So I turned to them.”

  She sat up straighter. “No one knew Karen was doing this. We only saw her twice these last two weeks. I would have never let anyone hurt you.”

  Annie held her mother and they both cried. The painful sound echoed in Annie’s heart.

  Mark stood up. “I’ll give you some time.”

  Annie and her mom stayed in that room for almost half an hour. Annie felt emotionally drained. She could only imagine how her mom felt. When she finally walked out, Mark was standing at the end of the hall with his two partners. He saw her and rushed over.