Shannon’s mouth fell open.

So did mine.

Valene drew back. “Y’all didn’t know?” When we both shook our heads, her gray brows twisted. “Lord, I thought Lily’s obsession was common knowledge. Dottie knew. We all did.”

“My Uncle had an affair…with my mother?”

“Oh, nothing like that,” Valene said. “Not that Lily didn’t try—she was in love with him. But he only had eyes for Hesta.”

Shannon wilted into the seat. “My God.”

“Lily fought with Sears the day Master Harrison was laid to rest,” Valene went on. “Threw herself at him, but he rejected her. Said he loved his wife. So Lily got desperate and threatened to lie—to tell Hesta they was involved anyway. She never did, but her threat made Sears very angry.” Valene’s sympathetic eyes zeroed in on Shannon. “No offense, but I always believed she married your daddy just so she could have a version of Sears—them bein’ twins and all.”

Words Lilith Bradford had once spoken finally clicked. …the man I love doesn’t want me.

“How long was this thing with Lilith and Sears going on?” I asked.

“Years, but he rejected her every time,” Valene said. “It just made her more bitter. She was middle-aged, dreading the other side of forty. With her beauty fading, she feared she’d never find love again.” Valene’s eyes darkened. “So she turned destructive. Started taking up with younger men. She refused to grow old gracefully.” Her pensive gaze rested on Shannon. “That’s why she went crazy when you first got your menses.”

Shannon colored.

But the old woman kept on. “I don’t mean to embarrass you. I just want to help you understand Lily.” She set her sights on me. “The evenin’ y’all had the pool fight, she told me she’d hit the Little Miss and she was sorry for it.” She looked at Shannon. “You gettin’ your menses made her even more scared of growin’ old. So she took her fear out on you.”

I muttered a curse. “That’s why you had the bruises when I found you at the gazebo?”

Shannon’s face was somber. “I’d forgotten about this until you told me about the pool.” She stared into her lap. “Mother and I had never talked about…that. I was upset, so I went to her expecting—oh, I don’t know. Maternal comfort.”

“But she went ballistic on you.” I nodded to myself. Now it all made sense. “When she kissed me in her room. The night you broke the vase. She was going on about insurance plans and how stuff was out of her control. I just thought she was drunk, but now I see she was scared of getting old. She also said somethin’ about loving a man who didn’t love her back.”

“That would be Sears,” Valene put in. “With each rejection, the drinking got worse…as did her abusiveness.”

Shannon raked her bangs off her face. “The sheriff blackmails you into silence about the abuse and Mother’s obsession with Uncle. But he couldn’t care less about the Bradford name. So what’s the connection?”

“It’s there,” I said. “We just gotta find the key.” I looked at Valene. “You think Sears killed her?”

Valene sighed. “That ornery temperament didn’t endear her to most. She had lotsa enemies.” Her gaze drifted to the window and beyond—to the manicured backyard with its naked trees and snow-dappled shrubs. “But I still miss Lily. She was like a daughter to me—wayward, but still a daughter. Not a year goes by that I don’t visit her grave. I say a few words. Leave some flowers.” She turned her eyes on Shannon. “I see yours there too.”

Shannon looked confused. “I’ve never left flowers, Mrs. Campbell. In fact, I’m ashamed to say I rarely visit.”

“Oh, dearie, that’s understandable.” Valene straightened, furrowed her brows. “I just assumed they come from you ‘cause I visit her the same time every year. First week in January, near her birthday. Somebody always leaves a dozen calla lilies before me.” She worked her lips. “Guess she’s got an admirer, um-hmm.”

I frowned. “Sears?”

“Can’t see anyone but family keeping a vigil like that,” Valene said. “But it could be one of her young men.”

“A vigil,” Shannon murmured. “Joe DiMaggio did that too.”

“Yes he did.” Valene smiled. “Left flowers on Marilyn’s grave for twenty years.”

An ominous feeling ate at me. “Maybe it’s not a vigil. Maybe it’s a guilt offering.”

Valene bobbed her head. “Could be. Could be.”

“What about Sheriff Gray?” Shannon asked.

“Him give her flowers?” Valene harrumphed. “He wouldn’t lay a dandelion on her grave, much less some hothouse posies.” The old woman’s cataract hit the light again. “He hated her.”

I let that sink in. “Where’s Lilith’s grave anyway?”

“Same place as Dottie’s,” Valene said. “At Grace Brethren.”

TRACE

____________________________

I strode down the flagstone path of Jane Younger’s three-story house. Shannon marched ahead. Icy air stung the back of my throat, but the anger kept me warm enough. The main thing on my mind was Mama’s grave and the heartless cowards who’d violated it. I gazed heavenward.

The sun had gone missing somewhere in the smoke-colored sky, and except for the occasional wind gust, the woodsy neighborhood was as quiet as a morgue.

Something wicked loomed on the horizon.

I caught up with Shannon in the driveway. Eyes narrowed, she pointed the alarm remote at her Volvo. The car chirped and the locks disengaged with a loud click.

After I opened her door, she slipped behind the wheel in brisk silence while I came around the passenger side and hopped in. She rammed the key into the ignition and floored the gas. The engine growled.

“I didn’t know Lilith was buried there too.” I snatched my seatbelt, channeling my anger. “It just makes me wonder.”

“About what?”

“Why they wrecked Mama’s grave.” Bile burned hot in my stomach. “Grace Brethren is the priciest cemetery in the area. Me coming back may have provoked the vandal into doing somethin’ he wanted to do all along. What if he was pissed that she had the balls to be buried in the same place—”

“As her son’s murder victim,” Shannon finished with grim finality. “Yes, I thought about that too.” Gripping the wheel so tight her knuckles paled, she stared straight ahead, then sank her forehead against the back of her hands. “I’m not sure I even want to know the truth now. It just keeps getting uglier.”

“Hey, c’mere.” I curled an arm around her so her head rested against my shoulder. God, she smelled good. That and the feel of her soft body next to mine nipped the edge off my anger. I kissed her temple. “Whatever happens, I’m here, okay?”

Nodding, she said, “I guess I need to speak with Uncle.”

“What? Now?”

“No, I’ll have to wait until he gets home next week.” One awkward pause later, she added, “He’s in LA…with Darien.”

Jealousy tore into me like a set of fangs, but I kept the venom from my voice. “You think Sears killed her?”

“I honestly don’t know.” Montgomery’s unspoken presence lingered when she pulled back and looked at me with nervous eyes. “Um, the…the grave desecration is too base for Uncle. If anything, he’d pay someone else to do it. That’s his MO. I just want to see his reaction when I tell him I know about Mother’s obsession.”

“What makes you think he’ll tell you anything?”

“He won’t,” she answered, her expression still wary. “It’s what he doesn’t say that matters.”

“What about your aunt? You gonna confront her?”

“No, she’ll just back him up. It’s what she always does. Anyway, I think I’ll call every flower shop in New Dyer. Calla lilies aren’t cheap. I also want to visit Cheltenham Manor.” Her eyes turned hopeful. “Will you go with me?”

I nodded, but inside a battle raged. Some hero I was. I’d had nightmares about that place for years, so just the thought of going back there again scared the piss out of me.