Penumbra Read online

  “Okay.” Frank finished his coffee. “Would you like a lift to the hospital? I have to go and see if Marlena can talk to me.”

  Jade had her own car. If she rode with Frank, she’d have to get someone to ride her back to her house in the morning. “Yes,” she said, despite the trouble it would cause later. “I’d like a ride.”

  She rose and went to her bedroom, collecting her purse, a book she’d bought, and a pillow. She returned to the kitchen. “I’m ready.”

  Frank followed her to the door, and as she exited, her arm brushed his chest. She stumbled, his hand catching her and holding her steady, holding her just a moment longer than necessary. She felt his grip tighten, and he drew her back to him so that they stood in the doorway, face to face, reading the wants and desires in each other’s eyes.

  He bent to her, his lips claiming hers as if he had a right. It happened quickly, and with such intensity that Jade had no defenses. She was unprepared for the betrayal of her own body. Pressed against Frank, she could feel his desire, and instead of shock or shame, she felt joy and a power as old as humanity. He wanted her.

  His kiss was demanding, his probing tongue a promise. She was lightheaded with passion, and heavy with a need so sudden that she could not force her legs to move. She felt him bend, his arms scoop beneath her knees, and in a moment he was carrying her through the house to the bedroom. He settled her on the cherry-blossom quilt her mother’s hands had made. Her shoes had fallen off somewhere, and Frank’s hands were at the buttons of her dress, while hers tore at his shirt.

  Jade heard it first, the sound of a car bumping over the rutted road to her house. She put a hand on Frank’s cheek, stilling him that quickly. He heard it, too, and he stood, rebuttoning his shirt and tucking it in as she jumped up, straightened her dress, and found her shoes. They were both sitting in the same places at the kitchen table when Jonah Dupree stepped into his daughter’s house. He looked at her and then Frank, considering.

  “Evenin, Mr. Frank.” Jonah’s focus shifted to Jade. “I came to give you a ride to the hospital. Miss Lucille gave me the use of her car. She said I could get you in the morning and bring you home. I thought you might be too tired to drive.”

  “Thank you, Daddy.” Jade felt the heat in her cheeks, but there was nothing she could do. Jonah would never question her about Frank’s presence, but it would lie between them like the facts of her birth, something that was never examined but never went away.

  11

  Dotty paced the small hospital room, checking her watch and then checking it again. Her lips had a raw, chapped look where she’d licked and rubbed them, a nervous gesture she’d almost conquered, until today. Lucas had not stopped by even once, and he knew she was there. Her dress was wrinkled, and she could smell herself, a not unpleasant odor of femininity and a low note of sex, like a fruit that has reached the peak of ripeness and is about to slip into rot. She moved to the open window. At least the sun was melting down the sky and the air was cooler. She didn’t understand how a person could heal in a room that was an oven. More like they were trying to bake Marlena, except the patient hadn’t broken a sweat. Dotty’s dress back was soaked with perspiration, and she could feel sweat trickling down her spine. It had been a downright miserable day. And where in the hell was Jade?

  The Bulova watch that perched on Dotty’s wrist, held by two black silk threads, told her it was six-thirty. Jade closed the shop at five. So where was she? Dotty’s temper simmered like the landscape. It would be just like a worthless nigger not to show up at all.

  The door pushed open almost silently, and Dotty simultaneously saw that it was Jade and felt the last hold on her temper slip. “It’s six-thirty. I’ve been waiting here for you to come. Where in the hell have you been?” It didn’t help that Jade looked clean and refreshed.

  When Frank stepped through the door behind Jade, Dotty faltered backward. She wasn’t prepared for Frank. She felt a flush touch her face. Everyone in town treated Jade like she was solid gold, especially Frank Kimble. He treated her like a white woman, and Dotty could see his sharp disapproval.

  “Jade was answering questions, Miss Strickland. Official questions. Something that I need you to do, too.”

  “Oh, of course.” Self-importance was a soothing balm to her aborted temper fit. “I’d be glad to do whatever I can to help. Are we going to the sheriff’s office?” Her eye was set on Lucas, but Frank wouldn’t be a bad option for a little Friday night fun. Lucas had the money, and everyone in town knew Frank was a little off, living in the big old house and using only a few of the rooms. If she owned that house, she’d open it up and have a party every night. That idea was so pleasant, she smiled.

  “I can ask you the questions here,” Frank said.

  She thought she caught some underlying meaning in his tone, but didn’t understand it. “I don’t mind going to the sheriff’s office.” No one else would be in the courthouse at this time. She and Frank would be alone. Was the man so dense he didn’t realize that?

  “It’s okay, Miss Strickland. I have to meet Huey at seven, so I’ll just ask you now and let you get along home to a hot bath. The more information I have to report to Huey, the quicker we’ll find that little girl. You may have information that will save Suzanna.”

  Dotty had almost forgotten Jade. She saw her lean against a wall in the corner, a book held in her hand. “Would you be so good as to get us a cola?” Dotty asked her. She wanted Jade out of the room so she could have a moment alone with Frank. Marlena didn’t really count for a presence since she was so drugged up she didn’t know where she was.

  “Good idea,” Frank said, pulling his billfold out of his pocket. “Can you carry three Coca-Colas?” he asked, holding out a dollar.

  “I believe I can manage.” Jade’s face was expressionless, as it should be. She took the money and left, her shoes clicking on the tile until distance absorbed the sound.

  “Was Marlena seeing anyone?” Frank asked.

  His tone was abrupt, and it annoyed Dotty. “How should I know?” It was just like Frank Kimble to think Marlena was up to something.

  “You’re her best friend, right?”

  “She never said nothing to me.”

  “You’re positive?”

  “Look, I’m not some uneducated Negro. I finished high school, and I would have remembered if Marlena had blurted out some confession like that. She’s the victim here. Maybe you should start thinking of that.”

  Frank studied her. Normally she liked men to look at her, but there was something about Frank that made her uncomfortable. He was crazy. She could see only darkness in his eyes. She was glad she hadn’t gone to the courthouse alone with him. “If you’re going to ask a question, do it. I want to go home.”

  “How old are you, Dotty?”

  That question stung. “It’s none of your business.”

  “You’re thirty-six, right? I can check your driver’s license records.”

  “What if I am?”

  “Do you know anyone who would want to hurt Marlena?”

  That question had a multitude of meanings, and Dotty was far too smart to fall into the trap Frank had set. “Of course not. The whole town loves Marlena, as far as I know. She’s on every charity committee. She does volunteer work at the school and the hospital. She’s practically a saint in this town.”

  “Someone doesn’t think so.”

  Dotty frowned. “I don’t think Lucas would like you saying that. In fact, Lucas wouldn’t care for a single thing you’ve implied.”

  “I wouldn’t blame him. I don’t like to say it because I have a special fondness for Marlena. When Mama was so sick, Marlena took her food every day.”

  That tidbit shocked Dotty. It shouldn’t have; Marlena was like that. She had a tender heart, and because she didn’t have to worry about finances, she had plenty of time to run around town playing Florence Nightingale and Lady Bountiful, all at the same time.

  “Looks to me like you’ve got a special
fondness for that nigger gal,” Dotty said. “I’d be careful, Frank. You could make big trouble for Jade, and for yourself, too. Some things just aren’t tolerated in Drexel, no matter what kinds of things went on over in Eur-rope.” She hit the last word hard.

  “What are you saying, Dotty?”

  She’d made him angrier than she intended. His eyes suddenly seemed vacant, as if Frank’s soul had fled. “I’m just trying to be a friend. Perception can sometimes be misleading. Jade’s a pretty woman, but there’s a reason she’s not hitched. She hankers after the wrong color, and this town won’t sit still for it.”

  “How do you know what Jade hankers after?” he asked.

  “I got eyes. I see what’s going on. And other folks do, too. Folks who aren’t as open-minded as I am.”

  Frank nodded. “I know you’re only looking out for me, Dotty, and I thank you for it.” He smiled, just his lips twisting up at the corners, and Dotty had a sudden, terrible thought, that if he opened his mouth, his teeth would be sharp and pointed.

  “Are you finished?” she asked, eager to get out of the room and away from him.

  “Would you say Lucas is happy in his marriage to Marlena?”

  She’d been checking in her handbag for her car keys, but she stopped. She felt Frank’s gaze on her neck. Chill bumps shimmied down her arms. “They seem happy to me.” “Lucas has never complained. To you.”

  She met his gaze, wondering how he knew. She had the craziest notion that he knew everything she’d done that morning. “Lucas never said a harm word about Marlena. Not a single word.” It wasn’t a lie.

  “And Marlena? Did she ever say a harm word about Lucas?”

  Dotty shrugged. “Just wife stuff. She was tired of cooking him a big breakfast, tired of him making all the decisions and just telling her how things were going to be.” She shrugged again. “Stuff like that. Nothing serious.”

  “Thank you, Dotty,” Frank said, and she felt as if she’d been dropped from the talons of some bird of prey.

  Frank had gotten nothing useful from Dotty Strickland, but he hadn’t expected to. The nurse on call said Marlena had not spoken any more, but that tomorrow the doctor would try to wean her down from the morphine that kept her so heavily sedated.

  Frank drove back to the courthouse where Huey waited, a long-suffering look on his face. “You sort of left us out there in the woods,” he said, not exactly an accusation but with a hint of displeasure.

  “Had a call to come back to town. Marlena partially identified the attackers. There are two of them, one heavy and one slender. They wore some type of covering on their heads.”

  The news cheered Huey. “Do you think the Klan might be mixed up in this?”

  Frank shook his head. “Not the Klan. Lucas could have the bank close down their mortgages. They wouldn’t risk that, and there’s been no indication Marlena’s done anything to upset those idiots.”

  “Maybe not Marlena?” Huey said.

  Frank had a sudden respect for the sheriff. “I hadn’t thought of that,” he admitted. “I can’t imagine those lowlifes taking on someone like Lucas Bramlett’s wife.”

  Huey leaned back in his chair and put his feet up. “If it were anyone but Lucas, I’d give it more thought, but his dealings with Negro girls are limited to commerce. That’s not something the Klan has a problem with.”

  Frank sat down on the edge of Huey’s desk. When the need arose, Huey could be both pragmatic and unobservant. He saw what he needed to see.

  “What’d you find in the woods?” Frank asked.

  Huey shook his head. “We lost the trail in the river but picked it up downstream just where you said. We went to the location where you found Marlena. We searched high and low, but we couldn’t find a trace of that young’un.” His worry was real. “I fear she’s dead, Frank.”

  Frank nodded. “I know.”

  “But what if she isn’t? What if they’re hurting her?”

  Frank examined the sheriff. Huey’s thoughts didn’t tend toward the dark side. He wasn’t a man who spent time thinking about the behavior a true deviant would display. “Is that what the volunteers were saying?” Junior, Pet, and Rufus Dean were always volunteers on searches, wreck sites, floods, whatever. The two other men were John Merritt and Ammon Sullivan, local farmers who’d taken a hot day to walk the woods and search for a lost child rather than work their fields.

  Huey nodded, his lips tightly compressed. “Junior thinks she’s been sold into white slavery.” He made a sound of disgust. “I’d rather she was dead.”

  Frank nodded again. “Sometimes death is the easiest answer.” He took a breath. “I talked to Lucas earlier about possible suspects. He gave me some names to check out. I’ve eliminated two men, but there’s one other to check. Why don’t you give Lucas a call and tell him the result of the search?”

  “Okay.” Huey picked up the phone and started dialing. Frank pulled out his notebook. Of the three names Lucas had given, Locklin had up and moved his business to Texas, and Orin McNeil had a rock solid alibi—he was in the hospital with kidney stones. Only Dantzler Archey remained on the list, and he was a man hard to catch up to. That fact alone whetted Frank’s appetite to find him. Darkness was falling now, and Archey would have to go to ground. Frank intended to be there when he did.

  12

  From the hospital window, Jade could see the lights of half a dozen houses along Jasmine Street. As a little girl, she’d been in three of the houses, where Ruth picked up ironing she did late at night to make a little extra money. At one house, Eula Lee Walden had given Ruth five dresses for Jade. Mrs. Walden’s daughter, Beth Ann, had outgrown the clothes. One was a beautiful yellow-and-white-checkered sundress with butterflies embroidered all over it, and a matching yellow sweater with a butterfly on each lapel so that when the sweater was buttoned up, it looked like the butterflies were kissing. It was the most beautiful dress Jade had ever seen. She loved it and wore it whenever Ruth allowed. One Sunday, when Jade was wearing the dress, she ran into Mrs. Walden and Beth Ann in town. To her surprise, Beth Ann started crying. She looked at her mother and said that Jade was prettier in the dress than she had been.

  Beneath the shame and embarrassment, Jade tasted joy. Washing dishes in the Longier home as Ruth’s assistant, raking leaves in the Longier yard as Jonah’s helper, Jade had never dreamed that she would have anything that a rich little white girl would want. It felt good.

  Jade stared at the lights of the Walden home and thought about those days. Beth Ann had grown up to marry a doctor in Jackson, Mississippi. Her picture had run in the local newspaper, her long chestnut hair shining, a string of pearls around her neck, and her veil pulled back to reveal her smile. That was ten years ago. Most of the young women Jade’s age, black or white, were married, many of them moved away. Jade had not married. In fact, had dated little. She had been bedded, because she could not halt the sexual needs of her body even though her heart was not engaged. For the most part, though, there seemed a barricade around her that most men did not care to climb. Frank Kimble was the exception, and Jade turned to examine her sister in an effort to stem the hot surge of desire that thoughts of Frank generated. She was too old to let a man make a fool of her, too old and too careful. Lust would not be her undoing.

  Marlena tossed on the pillow, and Jade soaked a cloth in cold water and made a compress for her sister’s forehead. Marlena’s fever was high, and Jade knew the doctor was worried. He’d been in once and talked about the possibility of a specialist from New Orleans. There was a wonder drug, penicillin, and he’d given Marlena some without ill effect. He was going to give her more.

  Marlena’s skin was smooth and hot, so tight it felt as if her cheeks were trying to burst. Jade touched her with the backs of her fingers, drawing them across the taut skin, whispering softly, “You have to get better, Marlena. We have to find Suzanna, and we need your help. We need you, Marlena.” And it was true. The doctor had reduced the morphine to a level that should have
allowed Marlena to regain lucidity. She had not. Jade had heard the doctor whisper to the nurse that he thought Marlena was deliberately avoiding a return to consciousness.

  Jade rewet the cloth and reapplied it. She got hot, soapy water and washed her sister’s body, massaging her feet and legs, stimulating the muscles and the nerves. “Marlena, we need you here with us,” she said. “Frank wants to talk to you.”

  Frank. Not Lucas, who had never come a single time to visit his wife. The whole hospital was buzzing about it, and some of the earlier gossip had even made its way to her four-thirty hair appointment, Mrs. Hargrove, who feigned shock at Lucas’s callousness.

  “Maybe he’s waiting at home for the ransom call,” Jade suggested, a possibility that, because it lacked malice, had been overlooked.

  A nurse’s aide came to the door. She was young and dark-skinned and looked at the floor when she spoke. “There’s a phone call for Miss Dupree at the desk.”

  “Thank you,” Jade said, wondering why Jonah or Ruth had called her at the hospital. She felt her heart rate increase. She walked purposefully to the desk. The nurse hesitated when she handed her the telephone. Jade was too weary to care.

  “Hello,” she said.

  “It’s me, Lucas. How’s Marlena?”

  She was surprised. “About the same. The doctor says he’s giving her penicillin for the infection. He said he’d be back at eight. He wants a specialist from New Orleans to see her.”

  “I’ll try to be there, but I don’t want to leave the phone,” Lucas said. “Has she said anything more?”

  “Nothing.” Jade felt a twinge of apprehension. Lucas hadn’t called while Dotty was sitting with Marlena; he’d waited to talk to Jade. Lucas was a deliberate man, so what portent was behind his action?