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over her shoulder. And Don here is my brother-in-law. And she nodded toward
the living room you ve met Katie. My little girl.
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You told me, a long time ago, I said, that you didn t have any children.
I remember, she said. I guess, first of all, I didn t want you to know. I
didn t want anyone to know. I wanted to protect her. And also, a large part of
me doesn t feel I deserve to be called a mother.
Claire, sitting back down, said, Miranda.
It s true, Trixie said. If I were a good mother, a responsible mother, I
wouldn t have had to ask my sister, and her husband here, to raise her. She
gave Don a warm smile and he gave a tired shrug.
Why are Claire and Don raising Katie? I asked. It s not just because of,
you know, your choice of occupation.
No, Trixie said. That s not it.
Everyone was suddenly very quiet. No one stirred coffee or cut cake. The only
sound came from the TV in the other room.
I could never guarantee that Katie would be safe, living with me, Trixie
said. I ve spent the last four years looking over my shoulder. The men, that
man, coming after me, he wouldn t hesitate to hurt Katie to get at me.
Are we talking about Gary Merker? I asked.
He murdered Katie s father, she said. And he d like nothing more than to
find me, kill me too. And Katie.
Why?
Trixie opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out right away.
Is it because of that massacre at the Kickstart? I asked. I ve talked to
the police in Canborough. I know about that night, when the three bikers were
shot and killed. And how Merker, and his friend Leo Edgars, somehow managed
not to get killed, saying they weren t there at the time. How, after that,
Merker bailed on his share of the drugs and prostitution, how he let the
Comets run things, take over his share of the market. What happened, Trixie?
Did Merker cut some sort of deal with the competition? Wipe out his buddies?
Was that easier than trying to get them in on the deal, too? Did you see
something? Are you a witness?
Trixie listened in quiet amazement. She was taken aback at how much I knew, I
could tell that by the look on her face.
Is that why Merker s after you? Because of what you know? And something you
took from him?
Trixie got up, walked over to the row of hangers by the back door, fished
something out of a jacket, and came back to the table. It was a piece of
paper, folded over. She unfolded it.
This was the note that was left for me, in the basement, when we found
Martin Benson.
I remembered her finding it, how she wouldn t let me see it.
It s not all as simple as it seems, she said, pushing the note across the
table to me.
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It read:
Dearest Candy or should I say Trixie?
So sorry we missed you bitch. Ran into Mr. Benson instead, looking threw your
house. He didn t know where you are. He d of told us if he d know. Leo s all
freaked, and hungry, so we have to go. But we know where you live, right?
We ll be coming back. When we do you better have what you took from me or
we ll do you to bitch. I want all of it plus interest. Hows your little mini
bitch? I bet shes a cutie. You ll here from us soon.
It wasn t signed, but given that its author had mentioned Leo in the
letter, it might as well have been. And just because someone wasn t a master
criminal didn t mean he wasn t dangerous.
Reading from the letter, I said, I want all of it plus interest. I looked
at Trixie. What s that all about?
She took a long breath. I ripped him off, she said quietly. To the tune of
about half a million bucks.
Are you kidding me? I said. You took five hundred thousand dollars off
this guy?
Not all at once. A little bit at a time, so he wouldn t notice. It was my
going-away money.
Is that the only reason he s after you? I asked. Just for the money? It
doesn t have anything to do with those three bikers getting shot?
The Bennets exchanged glances.
Oh, I think he d like to talk to me about that too, Trixie said.
27
SOMETIMES, Claire said, I blame myself.
Oh, stop, said Trixie. This has nothing to do with you.
Claire shook her head, dismissing her sister. You taking off with five
hundred thousand dollars? Okay, I m not saying I specifically blame myself for
that. But your life. How it s turned out for you. I blame myself for that.
Claire, we ve been over this before, Trixie said. Claire sniffed and looked
away, and I thought maybe she was going to cry. Aww, come on.
Don t beat yourself up, Don told his wife. You did what you had to do. You
had to protect yourself. You had to get out of that situation.
What are you talking about? I asked. Looking across the table at Claire, I
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said, What do you mean you blame yourself?
Claire sniffed again, took a deep breath. Miranda s my baby sister, she
said, and smiled. When you re the big sister, you re supposed to be there,
you re supposed to be looking out for the younger one. But I left. Our father
was a he was a monster. And our mother was a drunk. He beat her, he took the
belt to us, and& that wasn t all.
Claire, Trixie said, reaching across the table to touch her sister s hand.
When I was eighteen, I got away. I left. I couldn t take any more, she
looked down at the table, took a moment, and raised her head, of the night
visits. I wasn t going to let him touch me again. I didn t have any money, I
didn t have anything, but I knew I had to get away. I figured I d either kill
him or I d kill myself if I didn t leave. I couldn t count on my mother to
protect me. She had her bottle to protect her, and who could blame her. It was
the only way she knew how to deal with the pain. The only one who could help
me was me. So one night, I packed up what I had, which wasn t much, and at
four in the morning, I slipped away and never went back. She looked at her
husband and reached over for his hand. Don took me away.
But then her eyes shifted to Trixie. Her face started cracking. And I left
without my sister.
Don slipped his arm around her. Come on, honey.
If I had taken you with me, she wept, holding Trixie s hand, Miranda s
hand, maybe your life, maybe things could have been better for you.
I got out too, Trixie said.
But not right away. You were only fifteen. You had to live with& you had to
live with that for almost two more years.
Claire Bennet grabbed a couple tissues, dabbed at her eyes. Every night I
thought about you, cried myself to sleep worrying about you, praying that
you d leave too.
I did, Claire.
But you went from one bad environment to another. Bikers, strip clubs,
drugs.
As bad as it was, it was better than what I left behind, Trixie said,
although she didn t say it with much conviction. I didn t exactly have what
you might call a high opinion of myself. I didn t believe I deserved anything
good. I felt worthless. She was holding back tears of her own. But something
changed when I had Katie.
What changed? I asked.
I d seen how Claire had managed to survive, to pull her life together,
Trixie said. She met Don, this wonderful, wonderful man. He couldn t keep
himself from blushing. They got an apartment, they got a house, and finally
they got this house, they have a life. A normal, decent, life. A safe life. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] - zanotowane.pl
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