In Silence

CHAPTER 32

Avery stood at her front door for a long time after Buddy left. She felt numb, disconnected. She gazed out at nothing, the things Buddy had said playing over in her head.

Would anything Gwen said to her have made her suspicious if she hadn't be in the throes of grief? Sal's death would have been a terrible tragedy, one of those freak occurrences that made one ask, "Why?" Dolly Farmer another victim of the breakdown of the family, Pete Trimble a drunk-driving statistic.

What did she believe? She rubbed her throbbing temples. How could she be so easily swayed? One moment believing the people °f Cypress Springs were involved in a conspiracy of discrimination and murder, the next sucked in by an emotionally unstable woman with a questionable agenda. She had always been so firm in her beliefs, so self-confident. She had been able to access the facts, make a decision and move on.

Avery dropped her hands. Is this how a breakdown began? One small confusion at a time? A bout of tears, mounting indecision, a feeling of drowning that passed only to return without a moment's notice?

Becoming aware that the air-conditioning was being wasted, she closed the door, turned and wandered back to the kitchen. Her gaze landed on Buddy's nearly empty water glass.

What did she want to believe?

In the people she loved and trusted. In those who loved her.

And that her father hadn't taken his own life.

Therein lay the source of her conflict.

The phone rang. She turned toward it but made no move to pick it up. The caller let it ring nine times before hanging up. A moment later it rang again. Someone needed her. To speak to her.

Her father had needed to speak to her.

She hadn't taken his call.

She leaped for the phone, snatching the receiver off the base. "Hello?"

"Avery? It's Gwen."

Not now. Not her. She fought the urge to slam down the phone.

"I just got your message," the woman continued. "I drove to New Orleans to see my mother." She paused. "Avery? Are you there?"

"Yes, I'm here."

"I'd like to get together as soon as possible. When can you-"

"I'm sorry, Gwen, I can't talk about this just now."

"Are you all right?"

If she could call falling apart at the seams all right. "Yes, fine. I just…this isn't a good time."

"Are you alone?"

Avery heard the concern in the other woman's voice. She could imagine what she was thinking. "Yes."

"You sound strange."

"I think I made a mistake."

"A mistake? I don't understand."

"I can't do this. I feel for you, Gwen, I do. I understand loss, I'm swimming in it myself. But I can't be party to your far-fetched notions. Not anymore."

"Far-fetched? But-"

"Yes, I'm sorry."

"I'm all alone, Avery. I need your help." The other woman's voice rose. "Please help me find my brother's killer."

Avery squeezed her eyes shut. Against the desperation in the other woman's voice. The pain.

Trust the people you love. The people who love you.

"I wish I could, Gwen. My heart breaks for you, but-"

"Please. I don't have anyone else."

She felt herself wavering; she steeled herself against sympathy. "I really can't talk right now. I'm sorry."

Avery hung up. She realized she was shaking and drew in a deep breath. She had done the right thing. Pain shaped reality-her pain, Gwen's. The woman had focused her energy on this conspiracy theory as a way to lessen her pain. To turn her attention away from grief.

Avery had been drawn in for the same reason.

The phone rang again. Gwen. To plead her case. As much as she preferred to avoid the woman, she needed to face this. This was part of getting her act together.

She answered without greeting. "Look, Gwen, I don't know how to make it more plain-"

"How does it feel to be the daughter of a liar and murderer?"

The breath hissed past Avery's lips, she took an involuntary step backward. "Who is this?" she demanded, voice quaking.

"I'm someone who knows the truth," the woman said, then laughed, the sound unpleasant. "And there aren't many of us left. We're dropping like flies."

"You're the liar," Avery shot back. Outrage took her breath, fury on its heels. "My father was an honorable man. The most honest man I've ever known. Not a coward who's too afraid to show her face."

"I'm no coward. You're the-"

"You are. Hiding behind lies. Hiding behind the phone, making accusations against a man who can't defend himself."

"What about my boys!" she cried. "They couldn't defend themselves! Nobody cared about them!"

"I don't know who your boys are, so I can't comment-"

"Were," she hissed. "They're dead. Both my boys…dead. And your father's one of the ones to blame!"

Avery struggled not to take the defensive. To remain unemotional, challenge the woman in a way that would draw her out, get her to reveal her identity. "If you had any proof my dad was a mur- derer, you wouldn't be hiding behind this phone call. Maybe if I knew your sons' names I'd be more likely to think you were more than a pathetic crank."

"Donny and Dylan Pruitt," she spat. "They didn't kill Sallie Waguespack. They didn't even know her."

The Waguespack murder.

Dear God, the box of clippings.

Avery's hands began to shake. She tightened her grip on the receiver. "What did my father have to do with this?"

"Your daddy helped cover up for the real killer." The woman cackled. "So much for the most honest man you've ever known."

"It's not true," Avery said. "You're a liar."

"Why do you think my boys never stood trial?" she demanded. '"Cause they didn't do it. They was framed. None of it would have stood up to judge and jury. And all of them, those hypocrite do-gooders, would have gone to jail!"

"If you had any proof, you'd show it to me."

"I have proof, all right. Plenty of proof."

"Sure you do."

At the sarcasm, the woman became enraged. "To hell with you and your dead daddy. You're like the rest of 'em. Lying hypocrites. I tell you what I got and you'll bring the authorities down on me like white on rice."

Avery tried a different tack. "Why do you think I left Cypress Springs? I'm not one of them. I never was." She let that sink in. "If what you're telling me is true, I'll make it right."

"What's in it for you?"

"I clear my father's name."

The woman said nothing. Avery pressed on. "You want justice for your boys?"

"In this town? Ain't no justice for a Pruitt in this town. Hell, ain't no real justice to be had in Cypress Springs."

"Show me what you've got," Avery urged. "You've got proof, I'll make it right. I promise you that."

She was quiet a moment. "Not over the phone," she said finally-"Meet me. Tonight." She quickly gave an address, then hung up.