Read Online Tin God by Stacy Green - Free Book Online Page A

People won’t forget an episode like that.”
    Jaymee squeezed her eyes shut and bit her lip. God, how she hated Paul Ballard.
    “Your name better not come up again.”
    Her eyes snapped open. She stared her father down refusing to let him intimidate her as he’d done when she was a child. “I found her body. I’m sure it will. Guess the Righteous will have to understand that.”
    “This has gone on long enough.” Gereau moved toward the door. “Paul, didn’t you say you had to pick up Eli?”
    The hatred on Paul’s face faltered at his grandson’s name. Her brother’s three-year-old, Paul’s pride and joy. Jaymee had seen the two of them playing in the park or walking down Main Street to the ice cream shop. The only time Paul didn’t seem like a monster was in Eli’s presence.
    “He’s at daycare,” Paul said. “I don’t want him waiting for me. He gets scared, thinks we’ve forgotten him.”
    “Then you’d better leave,” Jaymee said. She didn’t want sweet Eli suffering for her.
    “You’ll not embarrass us any further.”
    “Don’t worry. I’ll make sure the police know I haven’t associated with you in years.”
    “See that you do.” Paul strode out of the diner. Gereau hesitated, face pinched into an unreadable expression. Jaymee wondered if the guilt was finally getting to him.
    “Be careful,” Gereau said. “Your father–”
    “I’m well aware of what he’s capable of. My eyes are wide open now, Reverend.”
    “If you ever need to talk–”
    “Goodbye.”
    Gereau left without another word. As soon as he was out of sight, she sank into the booth and finally allowed the tears to escape. Paul was a selfish bastard and always would be. Her father’s threats were nothing new–he ruled with an iron fist and always had. The only way Sonia Ballard survived his tyranny was to be a model Christian housewife and buy into her husband’s misogyny. Even that failed sometimes.
    Another wave of pain crashed over Jaymee. Her mother had been battered and broken by Paul long before Jaymee came into the world, and no amount of encouragement from her daughter ever compelled Sonia to leave. She’d been brainwashed into believing she was living the life she deserved. It hurt to watch, hurt to even think about, and after Paul threw Jaymee out of the house, she stayed away from Sonia. Her absence made life easier for both her and her mother.
    And yet the truth kept Jaymee anchored to Roselea and to her father’s insults and petty cruelty. Four years ago, justice was within her grasp. But that hope had been snuffed out with Lana’s murder. Jaymee had spent the next four years saving, hoping, and praying. Suffering.
    Lana. Now Rebecca.
    She pulled herself out of the booth and went back to work on the dirty table. Damned if she’d let her father get away with hurting Rebecca. She’d call Cage and tell him everything she knew as soon as her shift was over.

7
    “Bourbon.” Cage handed Nick a shot of the amber liquid. He tipped it back quickly, enjoying the smooth burn in his throat.
    “Good stuff.”
    Beside Nick, Cage relaxed in the patio chair staring up at the dusky sky. Supper finished, the two of them had snuck out to the deck. Conversation inside had been strained. Lorelai’s worried face and teary eyes were inescapable, and Oren was mostly silent, huffing for seconds and thirds. Nick was grateful to escape into the heat.
    “Dad’s.” Cage raised his glass. “He only buys the expensive booze.”
    The cicadas still filled the humid night air with their annoying song. A spicebush swallowtail, Mississippi’s beautiful black and ivory state butterfly, flittered around the verbena and honeysuckle climbing up the white fence. Tiki torches flamed at the deck’s corners, but they were little help. Mississippi mosquitoes were nearly as tough as cockroaches.
    “What’s the plan for tomorrow?” Nick wished he had another shot of Bourbon.
    “Take the note to Charles, tell him our