Trace rested his chin on a fist. “What meeting?”
“AA. That’s where me and Lily first met.”
I blinked hard. “Alcoholics Anonymous?”
“Don’t be surprised.” Valene chuckled and her expression warmed. “Yes, I’m an alcoholic. Been dry twenty-three years.”
“Forgive me, Mrs. Campbell….” I shook my head. “It’s just such a surprise. I didn’t know Mother had sought help.”
The old woman gave a swift nod. “Oh, she did. Many times. Went back to the meetings after your daddy died. Master Harrison’s passing was a wake-up call for her, but she didn’t stick it out. Every day I asked her to get help knowing what she was doing to you.” She lowered her eyes. “I just didn’t do enough, I guess. I’m sorry, Little Miss.”
Absolution. That’s why Valene Campbell wanted to meet. She’d carried this guilt for years. The three of us had a lot in common there. I reached out and squeezed her hand.
Valene slanted a glance at Trace. “They never should’ve sent you away. I always know’d you was innocent. Would’ve said as much were it not for that green-eyed devil.”
Trace and I exchanged a puzzled look.
Valene’s toothless mouth worked. “Gray,” she spat the name out like a curse. “Lord, but it feels good to get this off my chest.” Then she whispered, “He’s why Janie didn’t want me speakin’ with ya. She was just trying to protect me.”
TRACE
____________________________
Now stuff was getting interesting. I tipped the chair forward, my attention lasered on the old woman. “Did Sheriff Gray make a threat?”
Her silver brows crested. “In a way, yes. It started with the calls. First one come ‘bout two months before you got out.”
“That’s when I started asking questions,” Shannon added.
“I answered his first call,” Valene said. “Got so mad my pressure shot up. It put me in the hospital for a week. Janie—she started answering the phone after that. She had them rollin’ over to her cell phone so she could deal with ‘im.” Valene’s eyes lifted to me. “If she hadn’t forgotten to take the phone with her the day you called, y’all wouldn’t be here.”
“Wow.” Surprise edged Shannon’s voice. “So Jane really was concerned about your health.”
“Oh, yeah. I tole you, Gray gets me worked up. She worries ‘cause I’m all she’s got. What, with her husband dead. No chil’ren of her own. A sad one, she is, my Jane.” Valene pursed her lips, then reached for Shannon’s hand. “I tried to help you when you was little, but that devil Gray had something on me.”
“He was blackmailing you?” I asked.
Valene tossed a nod in my direction. “‘Cept money wasn’t involved. I called him the night before Lily died when y’all had the pool fight—soon as I hung up with Dottie. I thought it would help since Gray was Master Harrison’s best friend.” She swung a look at Shannon. “I tole him Lily was still beating on you.”
“Still?” Shannon frowned. “You called him before?”
“Lotsa times. I even threatened to contact Protective Services. That’s when his devil side came out.”
I tipped the chair forward some more. The whole situation was twisted as hell. “Go on.”
“I did some things in my youth that I’m not proud of,” she said staring off. “Gray found out and tole me long as I kept my mouth shut, my secrets was safe.”
“So you were afraid?” I asked.
She gave a helpless shrug. “My husband didn’t know of my other life. Gray said he’d make it so nobody would hire me.” Her eyes pleaded. “Can you forgive me, boy? Please say you can.”
I knew how it felt to have your livelihood threatened. Lilith had done it to Mama and me. When you’re dirt-poor, money, or the lack of it, can bring even the strongest people to their knees. Mrs. Campbell was no exception.
I looked the old woman in the eye. Hers were liquid. “Yeah,” I said. “I think I can do that.”
She sniffed, dabbing her cheeks with a corner of the quilt. Relief softened the lines in her face. “Thank you.”
Shannon glanced from me to Valene, waited a few moments for the old woman to collect herself, then, “Why didn’t Uncle Jackson want you to talk?”
“I haven’t a clue, dear heart. Him and your family were very secretive. They didn’t want nobody sayin’ nothin’. And they had the money and power to get away with it, too. Said we all better catch amnesia about Lilith and Sears—”
Shannon’s mouth fell open.
So did mine.
Valene drew back. “Y’all didn’t know?” When we both shook our heads, her gray brows twisted. “Lord, I thought Lily’s obsession was common knowledge. Dottie knew. We all did.”
“My Uncle had an affair…with my mother?”
“Oh, nothing like that,” Valene said. “Not that Lily didn’t try—she was in love with him. But he only had eyes for Hesta.”
Shannon wilted into the seat. “My God.”
“Lily fought with Sears the day Master Harrison was laid to rest,” Valene went on. “Threw herself at him, but he rejected her. Said he loved his wife. So Lily got desperate and threatened to lie—to tell Hesta they was involved anyway. She never did, but her threat made Sears very angry.” Valene’s sympathetic eyes zeroed in on Shannon. “No offense, but I always believed she married your daddy just so she could have a version of Sears—them bein’ twins and all.”
Words Lilith Bradford had once spoken finally clicked. …the man I love doesn’t want me.
“How long was this thing with Lilith and Sears going on?” I asked.
“Years, but he rejected her every time,” Valene said. “It just made her more bitter. She was middle-aged, dreading the other side of forty. With her beauty fading, she feared she’d never find love again.” Valene’s eyes darkened. “So she turned destructive. Started taking up with younger men. She refused to grow old gracefully.” Her pensive gaze rested on Shannon. “That’s why she went crazy when you first got your menses.”
Shannon colored.
But the old woman kept on. “I don’t mean to embarrass you. I just want to help you understand Lily.” She set her sights on me. “The evenin’ y’all had the pool fight, she told me she’d hit the Little Miss and she was sorry for it.” She looked at Shannon. “You gettin’ your menses made her even more scared of growin’ old. So she took her fear out on you.”
I muttered a curse. “That’s why you had the bruises when I found you at the gazebo?”
Shannon’s face was somber. “I’d forgotten about this until you told me about the pool.” She stared into her lap. “Mother and I had never talked about…that. I was upset, so I went to her expecting—oh, I don’t know. Maternal comfort.”
“But she went ballistic on you.” I nodded to myself. Now it all made sense. “When she kissed me in her room. The night you broke the vase. She was going on about insurance plans and how stuff was out of her control. I just thought she was drunk, but now I see she was scared of getting old. She also said somethin’ about loving a man who didn’t love her back.”
“That would be Sears,” Valene put in. “With each rejection, the drinking got worse…as did her abusiveness.”
Shannon raked her bangs off her face. “The sheriff blackmails you into silence about the abuse and Mother’s obsession with Uncle. But he couldn’t care less about the Bradford name. So what’s the connection?”
“It’s there,” I said. “We just gotta find the key.” I looked at Valene. “You think Sears killed her?”
Valene sighed. “That ornery temperament didn’t endear her to most. She had lotsa enemies.” Her gaze drifted to the window and beyond—to the manicured backyard with its naked trees and snow-dappled shrubs. “But I still miss Lily. She was like a daughter to me—wayward, but still a daughter. Not a year goes by that I don’t visit her grave. I say a few words. Leave some flowers.” She turned her eyes on Shannon. “I see yours there too.”