Read Online The Sassy Belles by Beth Albright - Free Book Online

me with her half-drunk eyes. She was purely
exhausted and it was showing. She pulled me down the bank away from Mandy and
the crowd and headed toward the river. “C’mon, Blake, I’ve got to get a better
look.”
    “Vivi, say nothing unless it is in a whisper directly to me.
The last thing we want is to get you any more involved than you need to be. This
is critical.”
    “I’ve got it, Blake. But if there’s a chance in hell this is my
Lewis, don’t you think I ought to at least try to identify the half of the body
that just washed up?”
    “Honey,” I said, “I’m right behind you.” My curiosity had taken
over, too. I just had to see it, not that I would
recognize the half that just washed up. But down to the muddy riverbank we went.
I knew that with Sonny nearby, he would make sure we were able to slip through
the crowd without a problem.
    We reached the edge of the river and there it was. Big and
hairy, it was definitely the leg of a man. Sonny joined us. We were on the
slope, and he was above us in the crest of the bank. At six-three he was a big
presence anyway. But up on that riverbank he loomed like a superhero there to
save us all. Vivi moved a little closer to him and leaned in as if in
secret.
    “Sonny, it’s only half a body,” she said quietly.
    “Yes, Miss Vivi, we’ve got that part figured out.”
    Vivi stood between us, her head moving from side to side in
slow motion, in disbelief. Silence fell over us. The three of us stood there on
the banks of the muddy Warrior River under a darkening Southern sky.
    Vivi broke the silence. “Well, thank God this is the half I
know best, huh? This is not my Lewis.”
    She leaned in and squeezed Sonny’s arm and tears rolled down
her cheeks. We stood on the bank and watched the river roll. I looked at Sonny
and noticed his face had softened in the moment. He looked at me full on and
gave a little grin. I knew with his help we would all be okay.
    Harry walked toward us in his determined, deliberate way. He
looked exhausted but still pulled together. His white oxford shirt still looked
as starched as it had been that morning, the silver wire frames sitting on his
nose sparkled along with the silver hairs sprinkled throughout his dark
hair.
    “Well, the body part is already causing a problem.”
    “Why, Harry?” Vivi asked. “’Cause there’s no dental record for
you?” Vivi smirked.
    Harry then told us the police would perform the DNA tests in
the morning, and would try to match what they swiped at the motel room. He
wanted to talk to me alone. Then Vivi said she wanted to talk to both of us
alone.
    “Well, I know when I’m a third wheel,” Sonny said and winked at
me.
    “Do you have anything else for us?” I asked Sonny before he
walked off. I didn’t realize it, at first, but I was touching his arm.
    “No, Blake, I’ll get in touch with you in the morning,” he
said. Something came over me. I squeezed his wrist and, I don’t know, but a
feeling of comfort swept in and it made me feel warm and calm. I looked up at
him and he was looking right through me. I let go and looked forward to the
morning.
    “Okay, ya’ll. Listen to me,” Vivi began after Sonny headed back
up the banks. “That is not Lewis’s lower half. There is no way in hell. I would
bet my life on it.”
    Harry and I were silent and looking at each other.
    “Dammit! I know him. This is not
him! Believe me…that little thing would have never kept me coming back!”

5
    I t was a quiet drive back to the
McFadden place. The crystal-clear night sky was ablaze with starlight. The
moon hung over the tall pines and dodged in and out of sight, like a thief
following us.
    I sat in back with Vivi, her head on my shoulder. The quiet
felt good. No radio. No conversation. We had all been through a tremendous
amount of emotions and it was a relief to take a minute and let everything
digest.
    I stared out the window at the cloudless night sky. As the city
baked in moonlight,