Her Mother’s Grave

Chapter Seventy-Seven

Josie’s muscle memory kicked in the moment her feet hit the trail. When she and Ray were teenagers, they had met in the woods during the night countless times. Her legs carried her into the heart of the forest without conscious thought. She was halfway to where they had found Belinda Rose’s remains—where her father had been murdered—when she stopped, trying to steady her breathing and listen for the snap of twigs or the rustle of brush. All that came to her were crickets chirping and the low, mournful hoot of an owl. Her heart was pounding so hard it felt like it might jump right out of her body.

Once her eyes adjusted to the darkness, trees and rocks took shape around her. The overhead moonlight was stronger here than it had been in the warehouse, filtering through the canopy of trees overhead. As quietly as possible, Josie found a nearby rock, hopped onto it, and swung her body up onto the low branch of a tree. Bear-hugging the branch, she used her vantage point to search the nearby forest. She thought she saw the flutter of crime-scene tape from where they had excavated Belinda Rose in the distance. To the left of it was movement, and then she heard what sounded like a wail. Trinity. She was still alive.

Josie lowered herself back down and ran in the direction of the crime scene, her stiff legs working more quickly now. The wail became louder as she approached the hole from which Dr. Feist had excavated Belinda’s remains. She slowed to a halt.

Suddenly, pain streaked across the back of her shoulders, and she went tumbling forward into the black hole, landing face-first in a pile of loose dirt. As she rolled to her side, her arm brushed against something fleshy. Feeling around, she found one of Trinity’s elbows. Josie’s fingers scrabbled over Trinity’s prone form, trying to get to her ties. “Trinity!” Josie whispered, clutching the hard knot of her shoulder. “Trinity, I’m here.”

Above them, moonlight reflected off Lila’s pale face, and the edge of a shovel gleamed in her hands. A pile of dirt hit Josie’s face.

She was going to bury them alive.

Josie abandoned her efforts to untie Trinity and struggled to her feet, feeling around the edges of the hole, trying to find a foothold. Her fingers closed over a tree root protruding from the dirt wall, and she put a foot on it and hoisted herself up. Lila was there waiting, the shovel raised high above her head. She brought it down as hard as she could, but Josie rolled to one side, narrowly avoiding it. She stumbled forward, her foot catching on a rock and sending her flailing. She broke her fall with both hands and felt the end of the shovel whiz past her head. Josie scrambled to turn onto her backside as Lila swung the shovel again. Josie kept backing up as fast as she could, fear closing her throat, but the shovel caught her forearm this time, causing a sickening crack and a white-hot streak of pain through Josie’s entire arm. Instant nausea rocked her body. Pulling her lifeless arm in close, she shuffled further backward, trying to put some distance between them again.

Lila raised the shovel one more time, laughing maniacally. “Come on, little JoJo. I’ve been waiting a long time for this. Stop running. Be a good girl.”

A pop sounded, and Lila froze. The shovel fell to the ground as her hands flew to the side of her head. “What the hell?” she muttered.

Another pop burst through the night. Then another, and another. Each time, Lila jumped as though startled. Josie spun around, searching the woods for the source, her addled brain taking a moment to figure out what the popping noise was—Kyle Price’s BB gun. Josie scrambled to her feet and picked up the shovel with her good hand. She raced toward Lila and took a wild swing that made contact with Lila’s back—a solid kidney shot. She fell to the ground. Josie pulled back and swung again but missed. Lila reached out and wrapped a hand around Josie’s ankle, trying to pull her off balance. Josie brought the shovel down again. It glanced off Lila’s shoulder with just enough force for her to release Josie’s leg.

Josie turned and ran away from her, trying to make her way back to Trinity.

“Stop, JoJo,” Lila gasped. “I’m your mother, remember?”

“You’re not my mother,” Josie said over her shoulder. “You took me away from my mother.”

“I raised you.”

“No, you hurt me, you abused me, you tried to sell me. You’re not a mother.”

Lila’s voice was getting closer. “I’m the only one you ever had.”

“Are you out of your mind? You tried to ruin my life, and you just tried to kill me.”

Josie turned, and Lila was right there. She raised the shovel over her head, but Lila grabbed it. As they fought over it, Lila changed tactics, huffing, “I’ve got money. I’ll give you money. Give me the damn shovel. We’ll bury the reporter together and go our separate ways. No one has to know. Come on, I’m dying. I don’t want to do it in prison.”

“I don’t give a shit what you want,” Josie told her. “It’s over. You’re over. You’re finished ruining lives. I’m going to make sure you rot in prison every day for the rest of your shitty life.”

Josie won the tug-of-war, sending Lila off balance. She stumbled backward without falling, and Josie turned away to flee just as one of Lila’s arms shot out, pushing at the small of Josie’s back. The ground rushed toward Josie’s face. She dropped the shovel and tried to break her fall with her good hand. As soon as she hit, she rolled. She lost sight of Lila, but she kept moving so Lila couldn’t zero in on her. Footsteps sounded close by, but then Josie heard the pop of the BB gun again.

“Knock it off!” Lila shouted.

Pop. Poppoppop.

Getting her bearings, Josie stood again. Lila was turned partially away from her, her eyes searching out the source of the BBs. The shovel hung loosely in one hand. Beyond her, Josie saw two sets of crime-scene tape around the other holes the Price brothers had dug. Holding her broken arm against her side, Josie planted her feet into a runner’s starting position, tucked her chin, and bolted as fast as she could. She shoulder-tackled Lila’s torso, and the two of them flew through the air into one of the empty holes, Lila’s fleshy body cushioning Josie’s fall. Josie heard her struggling for air, the wind knocked out of her. Sweat poured off Josie’s brow as she struggled with one good arm to turn Lila’s body over and push her face into the dirt. She sat on the backs of Lila’s legs and screamed for Kyle to go get help.

Flashlight beams cut through the trees. Josie heard shouts and the sound of boots pounding along the forest floor, then Noah’s voice, which brought tears to her eyes. “Josie!”

“Here!” she shouted back.

Her staff rushed in. What seemed like a half dozen of them stood over the hole, shining their flashlights down on her. “Trinity’s over there,” she said. “In the other hole. One of the other holes. She needs help.”

“We’ll get her,” Noah said. Josie heard more boots pounding the ground. Shouting. The night was awash in flashlight beams. Two of her officers climbed into the hole with her and Lila. They secured Lila’s hands behind her back and then lifted Josie up, out of the hole, and into Noah’s arms.