The Thomas Girls: Book 4 of the Adelaide Henson Mystery Series
Page 19
“Charlotte, Madison is with a friend. She’s not with us. This isn’t about her. We’re not here for her.”
Innocently, Charlotte replies as if relieved, “Whew! I’m glad to hear that. So, what is this about? That speeding ticket from last week?”
Addie is calm, stopping Frank before he goes ballistic. She holds his hand and looks at him, breaking his mood momentarily. She smiles up at him to make him understand, to reassure him that what he wants is what she wants. He knows she’ll take over now. He reads her.
Addie turns back to Charlotte, telling her in a measured tone, “You know what this is about.”
Charlotte appears perplexed, but before she can speak, Addie asks, “Can you remove your hat, please?”
She begins to protest. Frank steps forward suddenly, shouting, “Take your fucking hat off, Charlotte!”
Addie expected this. Frank’s an emotional person like anyone else. He’s as fed up as she is. She places her hand on Frank’s shoulder, and he steps back.
“Remove your hat or one the officers will take it off for you,” Addie tells her. She’s not kidding, as Charlotte can tell when Addie motions to an officer to step forward.
“OK. OK. I’m taking it off,” Charlotte insists, her hands shooting to her cap to take it off. When she does, the entire group stares at the top of her head. There’s a foul scrape there, on top of a huge knot. Charlotte notices what the group is looking at, telling them, “So, I fell down. So what? Doesn’t mean anything. So, I’m clumsy. Is that a crime?”
Addie needs to end this charade. She’s disgusted with it all. Frank, too. “Why’d you do it, Charlotte?”
“I didn’t do anything,” she answers. “I fell. That’s all.
Addie continues, “I’ve been chasing you around for months now and here you are walking around in my back yard all this time. You’re smart, you’re good. But it’s over now.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she says indignantly.
“You made sure Madison told you where they were. She called you like a dutiful daughter and you used it against her. You killed those men, Charlotte. You beat those people. Even Jimmy. Did you know Madison’s in love with him?”
Charlotte’s head perks up when she hears his name, emphatically telling Addie, “I did no such thing! I would never hurt him! Ever!”
“Look at you, Charlotte,” Addie begins, “You’re athletic and smart. Tennis is an endurance sport, is it not? You’re strong, too. The gym give you that toned, muscular body under those rumpled sweats?”
“You’re out of your mind, Addie. I didn’t hurt anyone!”
Addie’s going to take it to the next level. “You hurt that couple down the street from where they lived. You wanted to kill them. But Madison stopped you, Charlotte. She fought back and stopped you.”
“No! It wasn’t me.”
“It was you, Charlotte. But you didn’t stop, did you? You attacked Jimmy, and tried to kill him, too. He told us, Charlotte.”
Spitting the words, Charlotte yells, “I did not do that!”
“And you attacked Agatha. You know you broke her ribs? Your own niece. Frank’s daughter in law. My daughter in law.”
Charlotte’s eyes are wet, sorrow filling them as she looks beyond Addie to Agatha. She’s ready to break. Addie’s knows, she’s seen it before.
When Charlotte doesn’t reply, Addie drives the nail home, “Madison gave you some beating, didn’t she? How did you think she would feel after you tried to kill the man she’s in love with? How do you think she’ll feel about you when she finds out it was you?”
Tension bursting, screaming, Charlotte lunges for Addie, ready to tear her eyes out, “AAAAGGGHHHHH!”
Quick as lightning, Agatha steps forward and pushes her back strongly. When Charlotte sees Agatha’s hand go to her service weapon, she stops resisting.
Still, no confession.
“I can trace your past, where you’ve been, and where you’ve stayed. Your DNA will tell us you are the killer.”
Addie steps forward, quickly wiping some of Charlotte’s makeup off. “You can hide scratches and bruises, but not the swelling. Madison did quite the job on you. Lots and lots of knots and gashes where she drove your head into the pavement.”
Charlotte’s eyes are wide, “You can’t have my DNA.” She’s getting mad now.
Addie is nonchalant, “I can use the courts to force it. Your injuries will be enough to convince a judge.”
Addie knows Charlotte’s ready. “So, I ask you again. Why did you do it?”
Charlotte’s eyes dart from Frank to Addie, to Agatha. The accusing stares from them are too much for her. She’s done, and she knows it. It’s over. The still of the room, the rain outside, her, these officers, her family – it all gives pause for her to regroup.
Addie watches as Charlotte calms down. Everyone takes a breather before what comes next. Charlotte knows Addie wants an answer. And, she will not disappoint. She’ll give Addie an answer alright. So, step back and grab your hats, it’s going to be a doozy.
Calmly, Charlotte begins, “It’s my mom. It’s the wonderful Reggi Thomas. You know, the best mother in the whole world? It’s all about her. You see it, don’t you?”
Addie doesn’t answer. She’ll let her hang herself. She knows that Charlotte wants to tell the whole world WHY.
“I hate her, you know. She got my husband killed. She ruined my life. Her daughter, me. Me. Me! Me!” She’s pounding on her chest with each word, becoming more angry, reaching shrill levels.
“Mom had this crazy story about meeting a rich man and falling in love. We believed her, everyone believed her, that bitch!” Charlotte says, hatred coloring her story.
“Do you know how much money you need to be a member of Biltmore Forest?” Charlotte loudly says while pointing her finger in Addie’s face. “No? Well, I’ll tell you. It’s a lot!”
“Mom, that witch, knew we had fallen on hard times! Our status as the most popular members of the club was going to be ruined! Well, we couldn’t have that! So, Edwin drove out to see Mom’s rich boyfriend, the one she said she was going to marry!”
“But it wasn’t real, none of it,” she says sadly. “He turned out to be a mobster and he killed Edwin. I know it. She might as well have killed him herself.”
Addie’s expression is priceless. It’s a stone. No sympathy. She wants Charlotte to finish. She wants her to confess.
“I decided to follow her. Madison would tell me where they were. We have a special connection, she and I. I trust her and she trusts me. That’s why you couldn’t get it out of me, Detective Henson! You tried and tried, but I kept my promise to my girl,” She says, spitefully, spitting the words.
“I went to see them, to see what they were up to, and I brought my bat. My friend. My little friend. I terrorized Reggi by killing her friends. I enjoyed it. It was fun,” Charlotte relates, laughing. “You should have seen the look on their faces when I attacked them. There I was, this puny, pretty girl. Beating the living shit out of them. It was crazy! They couldn’t believe it!”
“When I was done with each of them, you know what I did? I took a sample. You know, like a cannibal. It didn’t really taste that good, but I didn’t spit it out. I swallowed it. Like the tribesmen of Africa, that’s how they remember their triumph, by eating a small piece of their enemy.”
“And, yes. I go to the gym. I run. Miles and miles every day. With each step, I’d think about my mother, hating her, planning the worst for her. It made my day.”
Broken and tired now, Charlotte adds, “I hate my mother. Who wouldn’t? She killed my husband and ruined my life.
The two officers are summoned forward, and they place cuffs on Charlotte, leading her away. As she passes by Agatha, she pans, “Sorry,” looking down.
Whether she means it or not doesn’t matter.
She has a mental illness, not unlike Reggi. It’s an inherited trait, passed from mother to daughter, gender to gender.
The officers stop and turn her around as Addie poses her nagging question, “Why Orlando, Charlotte? He hasn’t seen Reggi in over a year. He wasn’t even near her. Why him? Why Orlando and his friend?”
Charlotte grins, giving her the answer, looking at her like she should already know, “Had to keep sharp, Addie. Just practicing, that’s all.”
Damn, Agatha was right.
Epilogue
Real happiness is cheap enough, yet how dearly we pay for its counterfeit. Hosea Ballou
Madison’s speeding away with Greg at the wheel. His operatives have left them, having been sent home, following Greg’s orders.
“Thank you, Greg. You’ve saved me again,” she demurely tells him.
After a while, she has calmed down. Looking up to the sky, the stars and moon are out, shining ever brighter as they leave the city lights behind. “Where are we going?” she asks.
Greg places one hand on Madison’s leg, perhaps too high, but it’s a friendly gesture all the same. Smiling, he answers her,
“Where no one will ever find us.”
◆◆◆
Frank is sad, deep in thought. Adelaide watches him from the entryway to the living room. He, in his lazy boy, fixated on the ceiling above. He breaks his concentration when she walks in, taking a seat on an ottoman near him. Addie hands him a piece of plastic. It’s got a little marker in the middle. It dawns on him what it is. A pregnancy test.
She says four words, “Six weeks along now.”
He pulls his recliner to a seated position and embraces her, holding on for a long time.
When they part, he asks, “You thinking what I’m thinking?”
“I am. With your bloodline, if we’re having a girl, she’s going to give us a run for it.”
To Be Continued
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