Chapter 16

Slowly over the next two weeks, the house was changed. Bright and warm tones began to replace the muted corpse-like coloring of the house. Trina and Meri's love of summer took over the place that hadn't been called home since they were teens. Room by room, they made it their own. Once the upstairs was finished, they began cleaning and painting the downstairs during the beginning of Meri's eighth month. Trina began to work part-time at the Valley View clinic so Meri spent her days alone. Colt had refinished half of the furniture in the house and spent most of his days in the garage turned shop.

Meri woke from her midmorning nap in her old bedroom off the kitchen. The paint cloths draped over the refinished furniture and bare floor in the master bedroom were waiting for the paint to cure and the fumes to clear before she could use it again. Fans vented the odors out of the house but they still made her nauseous. Meri checked her blood sugar number then got a protein shake from the fridge. She went into the master bedroom and stared at the one-foot squares of color. Sipping as she walked, she carried the can from one of the color samples into the living room and held it next to the dark wood bookshelves on either side of the fireplace.

"It's too yellow," Colt said as he came in.

"But I want a warmer color in here," Meri scowled.

"I know, but the blond sandstone of the fireplace will look dingy against it. I am going to pick up a few more colors. Do you want to go with?" Colt offered.

They quietly got ready. While driving, Meri murmured, "The furniture looks really nice. You're very talented. The whole house is going to be so beautiful when you get finished."

"Thank you," he responded then he sighed. "I... I'm sorry I got mad and started growling at you during our counseling session."

"I know you don't want to be here," Meri knew she sounded defeated.

"Neither do you."

"Yeah... And it's my fault that you miss Sam."

They loved each other but they were taking their resentment over being trapped in Veil Falls out on the other and poor Trina, who often ended up caught in the middle.

"I do miss Sam but..." Colt shifted his grip on the car's steering wheel, then he reached over and took her hand. "I love you. I love junior."

"We are not naming our son junior," Meri scowled at him, but he flashed her a handsome smirk. His chuckle vibrated something in her and made her heart flutter.

"How about Maverick?"

"Why? Because he's taking a gamble having us for parents?" Meri grumbled.

"I told you, darlin', I'm all in and you're going to be a great mom." He pulled her hand up to his lips to kiss it. "Per the therapist orders. I love the way you know which kind of onion to use in dozens of dishes. I love that you care enough to cook things the way others like, even if it means leaving something out. I love that you grow your own spices. I love that you honestly care about keeping the birdfeeders and hummingbird feeders full. I love that you fall asleep reading cozy romances and I love that I always wake up with you holding my bicep or curled against my back."

"Stop..." Meri begged as her cheeks heated.

He parked in front of Valley View Ace Hardware then came around and opened the door for her. Helping her out of the car, he hugged her. Meri looked up at him and smiled. Things were getting better between them, and she was happier, but her trust still struggled to follow her heart. She kissed him.

"I love you."

"I love you too... And... And I think you should bring Sam here."

~~~~~

Meri began to take the books off the shelves in the living room. She noticed the edge of a piece of notebook paper. Opening the encyclopedia, she saw what it was; another journal page. Holding up the volume, she fanned the pages, but nothing else fell out. Setting the book on the shelf, she read the scrawled, scarlet words and shook her head.

"Meri! I told you I'd do that," Trina scolded.

"I found another one."

Meri held out the paper. After Trina took it, Meri began fanning through the books she had already put in a box. Only one yielded a piece of paper. Meri read it then handed it to Trina when she finished reading the other one.

"I talked to Dr. Vandemire. He was at the pharmacy when I was picking up your insulin module refill. I asked him if Miranda had early onset dementia." Trina scowled. "I think he lied to my face when he said no. because when I told him we were finding scribbled pages all over the house while we were remodeling and they read like the drunk rants of a mental patient, he looked scared then excused himself."

Shaking her head, Meri looked up at the shelves. "I wonder how many more there are?"

"Let me get a shower and I'll pull the books while you search them," Trina offered.

"Dinner is almost ready, I just have to make the risotto," Meri revealed. "Do you want to eat first?"

"Sure. Have you heard from Colt today?" Trina asked as she walked toward the stairs.

"He says he'll be home by 3AM Texas time, 2AM mountain time."

Going into the kitchen, Meri made the risotto with the broth from the chicken she had slow-cooked since mid-morning. The pear-rhubarb cobbler went into the oven to bake for a later-in-the-evening treat.

Trina came down in yoga pants, a slouchy tee, and messy bun. She sat down and looked at the three pages. "I wish they were dated."

"I wish we had the whole journals so we could figure out what the heck is going on," Meri complained.

Trina's phone chimed and she looked at it. "Char will be home at seven our time. She wants to video chat."

"Let's eat and see if we can find more before she calls," Meri insisted as she put a plate in front of her cousin.

Trina took a bit of chicken and risotto and groaned. "You know you've ruined every restaurant in the world for me now, right?"

Grinning, Meri giggled. "Good."

~~~~

Trigger Warning - Reading of a letter and discussion of child abuse by person in a position of trust.

"We honestly don't know what to think," Trina said, "Colt found the first one was under a dresser drawer and sounded like the rantings of a dementia patient."

"What did it say? Can you read it to me?"

Meri nodded her head then she read it aloud.

The room behind Char was the color of sunset beyond the windows. Her face was basked in a golden glow that made her look even tanner. "And you're sure Miranda wrote it?"

"Yes," Meri answered. Her mouth made a thin line as she pressed her lips together. "And it's them."

"Tell her," Trina muttered with gritted teeth.

"Tell me what?" Char demanded when Meri didn't answer immediately.

"We found over a dozen pages in total while clearing the shelves on just one side of the fireplace." Meri held up the stack in view of the camera. "In the second 'D' volume starting at D-A-T, under D-A-U, the word daughter was underlined with the same marker, then in the Third 'D' volume, under D-E-V there was another. These are more detailed that some of the others."

"Detailed how?" Char asked suspiciously.

"The daughter's one talks in circles about mothers who were once daughters can't protect their daughters who will become mothers of daughters they can't protect." Meri took a sip of her tea then added, "It cuts off in the middle of a sentence with a word torn in half like it was pulled out of the journal in a hurry. The edge is ragged and not trimmed neat like the others." Meri held it up to show her sister over the internet.

"Read it to me," Char demanded so Meri did.

"To me, it seems like there should be another page, but we haven't found it. All the pages have slightly different colors of ink, like they were written with different markers," Trina explained.

"And the other page, the one in D-E-V?" Char's face was oddly impassive. "Where was it exactly?"

"Tucked between developer and development," Meri murmured. She did not want to read that one to her sister but knew she was going to. "It talks about the smiling monster and how she thought it would have green blood. It's like the first saying she and another killed it."

"Read it."

"You... You don't want to hear this one," Trina refused with her hand on Meri's arm.

"Read it." The tone of Char's order was cold and hard.

Trina and Meri glanced at each other, then Meri swallowed before she started reading.

"Are my daughter's tears worth diamonds?

Clear and unblemished.

Are they worth the accolades of all around?

Those who bleed the green of old wealth.

They are not like me. Covered in the clinging red,

staining everything a pink water cannot wash away.

Everything ruined because I ignored when the monster smiled at me.

He bought my soul with worldly words and pretentious promises.

Lies, lies, lies... Money, money, money... That smile.

It knew what I was, a daughter not protected by her mother.

It smiled it again when it met my daughters.

It knew I could not protect them because I was not protected.

He gave me flawless diamonds and flawed dreams of fortune and fame,

hiding that smile behind old money and perfect manners.

The night came and I slept through what it did to my daughter

because mothers who were daughters can't save their daughters

from the monster they weren't saved from by their mothers.

One untouched with cheeks stained by tears for one tainted by the monster's touch,

together they cried for a daughter to be avenged.

As one, my daughters came to their mother and father.

Another mother, and another mother, and I alone went to see the monster.

It smiled when it met us; that mocking monster inside a man.

He called us attention-seeking, and desperate, pathetic cowards.

He said our daughters wanted to scream... That they liked it... to scream.

He wouldn't shut up. I saw the monster with its smile, mocking me.

As a daughter, I wouldn't scream again.

As a mother, my daughter wouldn't scream again.

The weight, cold and hard and heavy at my back became a weight in my hand.

Another mother shouted at me to stop.

I heard her daughter screaming in my mind.

Another mother hissed at me to do it.

Her daughter suffered worse than mine.

The thundering of my heart became the thunder in the room.

My palm vibrated. I just wanted it to be quiet.

I thought it would bleed green.

Monsters made of money are supposed to bleed green.

He screamed and screamed like my daughter must have screamed while I slept.

Like I screamed and screamed while my mother slept,

Like she screamed while her mother slept.

Like all the daughters and mothers before us and forever after.

Is she a real mother to make it dead because her daughter screamed?

Or is she a monster for putting the thunder to its head?

Or am I a monster because I couldn't? I can still see its red-spattered smile.

Did I fail as a mother because I only half-killed the monster and left another to show it the end?

I can't wash off the pink stains left behind. It's everywhere, on everything.

On the walls, on my hands, on my soul, on my daughter...

I still imagine I hear my daughter's screams, my screams, my mother's...

I wish I had never seen It smile."

Meri ended as Trina let out a small sob. They sat in silence. The weight of the realization of what it meant seemed to suck the words out of the three sitting over a thousand miles apart. With a trembling hand, Meri picked up her cold tea and sipped from the cup. Wordlessly, Char got up and walked out of view of the camera. She came back with a rocks glass of ice and poured vodka into it.

Char gulped the clear liquid then poured another glass. "So Mom and someone else killed Winston... and she did it because of what he did to me, because someone else did the same to her." She didn't seem to notice the tears leaking down her face like snowmelt in spring. She regretted every time she taunted her mother about selling her and her sister.

"Two other mothers," Trina murmured then half-sobbed. "I think one was my mom... Your mom and my mom and someone else went to confront Winston. Your mom shot him once and then one of the other mothers finished him off. That's why my mom was murdered. She told me that once I left for nursing school things were going to get interesting. Truth were going to be told no one wanted to hear. When I asked her what she meant, she just kissed me on the forehead and said it was time to make things right and that Veil Falls has too many secrets and secrets don't keep forever."

"When do you think they did it?" Char rasped out.

"I remember that the day after we told Mom and Dad, he burned some stained rags in the fire pit then put the ashes in his hunting tarp. He took the snow machine, a fuel can, and his hunting tarp and left. When he came home he burned his hunting tarp too. I don't think it was rags, I'm pretty sure it was bloody clothes," Meri revealed.

Char leaned back in her chair. It was dark in her house now and only the light of the monitor glowed on her face. "So, Mom and mother number two killed Winston and Aunt Layne was a witness."

"How do we know she wasn't the person who killed him?" Trina demanded. "And mother number two wasn't the one who tried to stop Miranda?"

"Because Layne was killed so she couldn't talk. Dad covered up the first murder to protect them then Layne's murder to protect Mom," Char answered. She leaned forward and her eyes glittered like chocolate diamonds and looked just as hard. "Mother number two at Winston's murder may have killed Layne to keep her quiet and then run Mom and Dad off the road to keep the secret. Chuck was just collateral."

"What do we do?" Meri murmured. "What if they think we know something?"

"Do you still have Dad's files? The ones on open cases he kept in his safe?" Char asked suddenly.

"No. Hank took them back to the station," Meri answered.

"He said they were just stuff on a series of B&Es," Trina added.

"He did?" Char's eyebrow went up.

"I... we... We are talking about things. He said all the files on Winston's disappearance are missing, and there is only one page in the official report on Mom's death besides the death certificate saying it was an overdose, no labs or anything."

"Why is he looking into the Winston thing?" Char demanded; her words were starting to slur as she finished the second glass of vodka.

Trina chewed her lip, then admitted, "For me, for you, for all the girls that didn't get justice."

"Now, tell us the truth." Char folded her arms across her chest as Meri turned to face their cousin.

"Trina?"

"I am!" Trina insisted then she blushed, "He is determined to find out why Winston was allowed to escape. That's why he got a law enforcement degree and came back here."

"And..." Char had that look like she would crawl through the internet to get the truth.

"And he told me the reason we stopped dating is because his dad told him there might be a chance I was his half-sister. We... we are waiting on a DNA test to come back to see if it is true," Trina confessed sheepishly.

Meri stared at her cousin, then glanced at the computer screen showing her sister was making the same face.

Surprisingly, Charlene laughed. "Damn, Arnold sure got around before he became Mayor. How many sons and daughters does he have?"

"I don't understand," Trina looked confused.

"On the night of the Cotillion, Meri overheard Mayor Richmond arguing with some woman that she wouldn't allow Heather to date her son. She also said she could put Catherine in jail," Char revealed.

"Who was it?" Trina looked shocked.

Meri shook her head as she admitted, "I don't know, someone from church maybe. I couldn't hear them that well."

"Welp, I always said Veil Falls is worse than a soap opera." Char swayed slightly and her eyes had become glazed.

"Go to bed, sis. We'll talk tomorrow," Meri insisted.

"Hey, scan those letters and send them to me. We need copies. If the murderer thinks we know something, they might come after us and we need to figure this out. When is Colt back with his dang horse?" Char demanded drunkenly.

"In a few days," Meri revealed.

"Keep the doors locked and for fuk's sake, do not tell anyone about the letters," Char slurred as she finished the last of her vodka.

"I may have already revealed that we found them." Trina cringed, "I saw Dr. Vandemire at the pharmacy and asked him if Miranda was showing any signs of dementia. When he lied to me, I told him we found a letter drunkenly ranting like a mental patient. He freaked out and left."

Char cursed for several minutes then ordered, "I want you each to keep one of Dad's sidearms on you at all times... Meri, until Colt comes home, I want you upstairs with Trina at night. Call a locksmith and the alarm company tomorrow and change everything including the safe combos."

"Don't you think that you're being a little paranoid?" Meri argued.

"No. I already lost Chuck, I am not losing you and Trina too." Char reached out and slammed her laptop closed ending the call.

Trina sagged. "We shouldn't have told her about the letters. They were triggering to me, and I've had therapy."

"Yeah, but Char is better at figuring things out than either of us. If anyone can put together Mom's drunken ramblings, it's her," Meri reminded. "Where can we hide them? We know someone was in the house and both safes between the accident and when we got here for the funeral."

Trina drummed her nails on the counter then grinned, "We'll scan them and send them to Char, and then hide them in the freezer like a package of frozen leftovers but... I want to show them to Hank."

"We need to see if there are any more in the books on the bookshelves," Meri decided then she yawned. "But not tonight."

Trina looked at her, then gave her a nudge. "Let's get you upstairs and into bed."

After Meri went to sleep, Trina called Hank. "Hey," she said first.

"Hey... I was going to call you."

His voice still gave her a thrill and she closed her eyes praying for a moment. Please don't be my half-brother. "You got the test back?"

"Yes, but I didn't want to tell you over the phone. Can... Can I come over?" He asked.

"I was going to ask you to. Meri and I found some... I don't know what they are exactly. It's like... well, you'll have to read them," Trina revealed.

"I get off shift in half an hour."

"Would you like me to make you some dinner?" Trina chewed her lip after asking.

"Sure, see you later. I need to finish my paperwork. Bye." Hank hung up before she could say goodbye.

She couldn't tell if he was upset or excited, so she started making his favorite grilled ham and cheese with loaded potato soup. Comfort food worked for both good news and bad news.

To be continued N