Part 7 (2/2)

Tess stifled a cry and slammed the phone back down on the hook. She stared at the phone as if it had turned into a live snake in her hand. Who would do that? b.a.s.t.a.r.d, she thought. I'm not the guilty one. She clutched her chest, waiting for her heart to resume a calmer beat.

No, she thought. This was wrong. She was not going to be bullied. And it was not too late to do something about it. She picked up the receiver again and pushed *69. A mechanical voice recited the last incoming number and Tess instantly dialed it back, but it was the number of a cell phone, which switched directly to voice mail. ”Listen, you coward,” Tess declared into the receiver. ”Leave me and my family alone or the next time I will call the cops.” She slammed the receiver down again and turned around.

Erny was standing there in his sweats.h.i.+rt, looking worried. ”Who was that?” he said. ”What about the cops?”

Tess tried to sound calm. ”Nothing, honey. Are you ready to go?”

Erny nodded.

”All right.” She reached for the doork.n.o.b and then hesitated. ”No matter what these people out here say to you, just ignore them and stick with me, okay?”

The Blockbuster was on Main Street, right beside the general store. Tess parked diagonally on the street. ”Okay,” she said. ”Do you know what you're going to get?”

Erny shrugged. ”Video game,” he said. ”Probably Madden.”

Tess smiled. Dawn had purchased a PlayStation for her TV, just in honor of Erny's visits, but she had no games for it and didn't even know how to work it on her own. But Erny enjoyed having it at hand during his visits. Tess was glad he favored the sports games over the more grisly crime games that were available. ”Okay. Well, you go on in and get it.”

”Aren't you coming in?” he asked, surprised.

She didn't want to run into people asking questions. People who may have seen her face on the news. ”I'll just wait in the car,” she said.

Erny shrugged. ”Okay,” he said. He got out of the car and slammed the door behind him. Tess looked up the street. She thought about going to the gourmet shop and picking up something for their lunch, but her anxiety kept her trapped in the car. She peered at the Blockbuster window, and between the movie posters in the window she could see a red-s.h.i.+rted clerk gaping at an overhead TV monitor. She knew it would take Erny a while to look over the store's a.s.sortment of games. She could picture her son inside, resting, cranelike, on one leg, frowning intently as he read the game boxes. Tess sighed happily at the thought of him. Everyone told her that once he became a teenager, Erny would only ignore her or grunt at her. She dreaded that day. His smile always made her feel better, no matter what.

A movement in the doorway of the general store caught her eye and she turned to look. There, stepping out on the sidewalk only a few feet away from the hood of Kelli's car, was Edith Abbott. The tall, skinny woman was wearing white sneakers, faded plaid pants, and a blouse beneath a baggy blue denim car coat. The white corsage from yesterday, now brown around the edges, was pinned to the coat's lapel. Edith was going through her purse, looking for something.

Tess froze. She wished she could make herself invisible. To anyone else, Edith Abbott must look harmless, but to Tess, she might as well have been a dragon, able to shoot flames toward the winds.h.i.+eld of the car. Tess sank down in the seat, hoping not to be seen.

Last night, when she could not sleep, Tess had thought a lot about Edith Abbott. People had called this woman stubborn and stupid for doggedly pursuing her son's case, even after his death. But yesterday her determination had paid off. In the lonely hours of the night, Tess had imagined herself in Edith's position. What if someone had accused Erny of such a crime? What if Erny were sentenced to death as a result? Wouldn't you be the last person on Earth to give up on him? she had asked herself. And what if he had actually died, and then it turned out to be a mistake?

Tess had thrashed in her covers, trying to imagine it, but it was too terrible to think about. Somewhere in the middle of the agonizing night, Tess had pictured herself going to Edith Abbott, speaking to her as one mother to another. Begging forgiveness. She had tried to imagine what she would say, but it was impossible. The right words wouldn't form in her mind. ”I regret that Lazarus was executed because apparently he did not kill my sister, although I still do think he was the one...”

Horrible. There was no good way to say it. She just didn't want to face Edith Abbott. Not now. Not on Main Street with people watching, and her mind a blank.

In the few seconds it took for all those thoughts to race through Tess's mind, Edith Abbott located the item in her purse that she'd apparently been seeking. She pulled out a little round box and popped it open. She extracted something tiny with the tips of her fingers and put it in her mouth.

A mint, Tess thought. Or nitroglycerin for her heart.

”Ma,” Erny demanded, rattling the door handle. ”Open the door.”

Edith Abbott looked up, blinking at the boy standing beside the car. Then her gaze traveled through the winds.h.i.+eld and settled on Tess. Tess met Edith's gaze with trepidation, expecting a glare or an outburst. Edith blinked at her from behind her gla.s.ses, with absolutely no sign of recognition in her eyes. Then she hung her pocketbook over her forearm and gazed patiently at the general store, as if she were waiting for someone to emerge.

She doesn't even know me, Tess thought, with amazement and relief. She doesn't recognize me at all. How could she not know me? Tess wondered. And then, in the same moment, she realized that for Lazarus's mother, Tess was frozen in time. Forever a nine-year-old girl, pointing to her son in a courtroom and calling him a killer. And in all the commotion at the governor's press conference yesterday, Tess must have been just another face in the crowd to Edith. However she might feel about the child who had accused her son, Edith Abbott did not connect her with Tess, the woman she had gazed at through the winds.h.i.+eld. That realization came as a welcome reprieve.

Feeling as if she had dodged a bullet, Tess took a deep breath and pressed the b.u.t.ton on the driver's side to unlock the car door. Erny opened his door to get inside. Tess put the key in the ignition and waited for Erny to slide in. Suddenly a man's voice called out. ”Hey. You there.”

Erny, who had one foot in the car, looked up, surprised.

Nelson Abbott had come out of the general store, a roll of burlap under his arm and was walking toward his wife. His gaze had traveled from Erny to Tess, who was behind the wheel. ”Tess DeGraff.”

At the sound of the familiar name, Edith Abbott began to look around, confused. Nelson pointed at the car and Edith peered in at Tess with a dawning recognition in her eyes. Tess's heart sank. ”Who is that?” Edith Abbott asked.

”This is her. The one who testified against Lazarus,” said Nelson.

The older woman's eyes widened and she clutched Nelson's arm.

”What do they want?” Erny asked.

”Just get in the car,” said Tess, opening her door and sliding out.

”No, Mom,” said Erny anxiously. ”Get back in.”

”I need to talk to these people,” she said.

”Why?” he pleaded.

”I'll tell you later.”

”You should tell him,” Nelson advised her. ”Tell him what you did.” Tess did not reply. She understood instantly that the bitterness in Nelson Abbott's eyes was now focused on her. He was no longer sympathetic, as he had been when he came to the inn the evening before the press conference to express support for her family.

Tess spoke quietly to Nelson. ”Look, I don't think this is necessarily the time or place, but I really would like to sit down with you both-” she said.

Nelson sneered at her. ”And say what? How sorry you are?” Nelson peered at her through cold, black eyes. ”My stepson was executed because of you.”

”All I did was...I tried to tell the truth,” Tess protested.

”Did you hear what those results said yesterday? Lazarus didn't do it. You really don't want to own up to what you did, do ya?” Nelson said, shaking his head.

Tess was trembling. ”Excuse me, but didn't you tell us that even you thought...?”

Nelson's beady eyes flashed at her, warning her not to complete that sentence. He began to speak, drowning out her words. ”The facts have changed everything.”

Edith, still clinging to Nelson's arm, c.o.c.ked her head and looked at Tess sadly. ”Why did you say those things about my son?” Edith asked in a tremulous voice. ”You didn't have to do that. I know someone took your sister, but why did you have to blame my Lazarus?”

Tess turned to Edith. She still didn't know what to say to this aggrieved mother. But there was no escaping her questions. ”Mrs. Abbott, I have wanted to speak to you about all this. I'm sure you blame me for what happened to your son...”

Edith nodded. ”Well, you were only a child at the time. But child or not, that's no excuse. You're the one who lied,” she said.

Tess felt her face burning. ”Look, I told the police the truth about what I saw at the time. That was all I could do...”

The other pedestrians on the sidewalk were slowing their steps, aware of an argument and trying to catch the gist of it. Tess tried to ignore their curious faces.

Edith shook her head and began to sniff. She opened her purse and peered into it.

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