e roar of police sirens woke me. My eyes shot open, and the cold bathwater slopped onto the oor. e bathroom was the only room I had privacy, so I had opted to spend as much time as I could in there. How long had I dozed o ? I climbed out, dried myself o , and redressed.
What the hell happened now?
I slipped on a pair of sandals before heading outside. Betty was seated on the porch, sobbing with a blanket wrapped around her. Calvin stood next to her talking with Wyatt and Sheri Almond. Parked in the driveway were two police vehicles and an ambulance. Calvin glanced in my direction. His eyes seemed to light up. I walked toward him, slowly and cautiously.
“What’s going on?” I asked. “It’s Albert,” Calvin said.
Betty sobbed harder. “Where is he?” I asked. “He’s dead.”
My hand went to my mouth.
A squeaking sound grabbed our attention. Two paramedics rolled a gurney carrying a large black body bag. Albert was clearly inside as it was cumbersome, and they were having a hard time moving it over gravel. ey pushed and pulled, but the wheels kept getting stuck on every rock.
One of the paramedics wiped the back of his hand across his sweaty
forehead. “Can we get a little help over here?”
Both Sheri Almond and Wyatt nodded. Calvin followed behind. Between the ve of them, they were able to get Albert’s body into the ambulance. e paramedics shut the doors, got in, and drove o while Sheri Almond, Wyatt, and Calvin made their way back to Betty.
e sheri looked to her. “So, you just found him down there?”
She threw her hands up. “Yes, I already told you that.” Betty glared at Calvin. “Why didn’t you tell me Albert was back in town?”
“It slipped my mind.”
“What was he doing here?” she asked.
Wyatt and Sheri Almond exchanged a look while I stood there silently, trying to stay out of it.
“He was just passing through. You know how he is.” Calvin scraped one boot against the other, icking o a clump of dirt.
Betty’s lip quivered. “But why was he down there?”
Calvin rubbed the back of his neck. “He must have wandered o . He’s been drinking a lot, even more than usual.”
She narrowed her eyes. “You should have been watching him.”
“You’re the one with the bees on the property. You’re the one keeping secrets. Got the goddamn secret life of bees over here. Maybe if you were taking your pills, you’d know what was going on around you,” Calvin spat.
Betty stood quicker than I thought an old woman like herself could. “Don’t you dare talk to me like that, Calvin.” She thrust a nger into his chest. “Your mother didn’t raise you to speak like that.”
Calvin’s face reddened and his eyes tightened. “My mother is a murderer.
You don’t know what she raised me to be.” Betty let out a gasp.
I didn’t react. I had heard Joe tell Calvin about their parents the night before while I was hiding in my room. You can hear everything in that house. I didn’t know it was true then. I thought Joe was saying anything he could to infuriate his brother. But I knew it was true now. Knowing that made me
believe that Joe was also telling the truth about the night Lisa died. He wasn’t
driving. Calvin was. But the question now was, did Calvin lie to cover his own ass after the accident, or was it not an accident?
Sheri Almond’s eyes went wide and his brows drew together. “Did you say
murderer?”
“All right, that’s enough,” Wyatt said, stepping in between them.
“Ignore him, Sheri . He don’t know what he’s talking about,” Betty hu ed. Calvin pressed his lips rmly together but didn’t say another word.
Everyone was silent. Sheri Almond jotted a note down and pocketed the pad of paper. He rocked back on his heels, his eyes swinging from Betty to Calvin. He clearly wasn’t in the know about the Wells’ family history.
“As of now, it appears to be an accidental death, but we’ll know more after the autopsy,” he said to Betty. “I’m going have Deputy Miller take you home. Okay?”
She nodded several times and stepped away from Calvin.
If my car was working, I would have packed up and got a police escort out of this town. But instead, I just stood there silently, trying to go as unnoticed as possible. Wyatt walked Betty to his vehicle and helped her into the passenger seat. Sheri Almond lingered, standing between Calvin and myself.
“When was the last time either of you saw Albert?”
“Last night when he went into town with Calvin,” I replied, noticing Calvin’s unhappy glance my way.
“I saw him just before you arrived last night,” Calvin added. “He was helping me put out the fire Joe started but left before you all pulled up.”
Sheriff Almond twisted his lips in frustration. “This is the fourth time I’ve been here this week.”
“I know,” Calvin said. “It won’t happen again.”
The sheriff let out a heavy sigh, his teeth clicking as he considered his next words. Before he turned to leave, he shot Calvin an accusatory look, as if he knew more trouble was on the horizon.
“If it does, I’ll find something to arrest you for,” he warned.
His footsteps thudded heavily across the porch and down the steps. He glanced back once more, narrowing his eyes as he climbed into his vehicle. As the sheriff backed his SUV down the driveway, I felt a pang in my stomach—like it was telling me that was my last chance to get out of here.
“Are you hungry?” Calvin asked.
How could he think about food at a time like this? His uncle was dead. I was ready to call him out, to question him, to throw a fit, when my stomach rumbled. I glanced at my watch—just after five. Only sixteen hours left. I looked over at Calvin and nodded. He smiled and motioned for me to follow him back into the house.
