Genny's Ballad: The Sisters, Texas Mystery Series, Book 5

by Becki Willis

  The pop of fire in the rafters drown out the squeaky board. Genny grabbed a few more items on her way out the front door. She was standing on her lawn, watching the flames lick across the gables and devour the attic of her parents’ home, when Cutter arrived.

  The house was a complete loss. Maddy insisted she stay at the Big House for as long as she needed. Granny Bert insisted she use the first-floor suite, where she had a spacious room, her own bath, and her own entrance.

  With her meager bag of salvaged treasures, Genny accepted the generous offer.

  The townspeople poured out to help her, gifting her with clothes and money and household gifts, small and large. Derron took her shopping, filling Genny’s borrowed closet with all the essentials. There was talk of a fundraiser in her honor. Mary Alice Montgomery invited her to the ranch house, where Cutter’s family surprised Genny with a small ‘fire shower’.

  The press picked up the story and HOME TV ran a segment about her house fire. Someone set up an on-line account and fans flocked to her aid, donating thousands of dollars to help her start over.

  While nothing made up for the irreplaceable things she had lost — pictures of her parents, trinkets Momma Morgan had given her, mementos of Tommy, little presents from Blake and Bethani through the years — it warmed her heart to know that so many people cared.

  A week after the fire, Cutter and the County Fire Marshall concluded their investigation. Someone had deliberately set the fire. Gasoline was splashed around the house, making this a definite case of arson. Once a suspect was named, charges of attempted murder could be added.

  Pembrook had a rock solid alibi this time; he was sitting in jail, denied bail.

  This meant just one thing. There was someone else still out there, and they meant to do her harm.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Knowing she was still in danger, Cutter stubbornly refused to let her leave the café alone at night.

  Tonight was no exception. It had been a slow night at the café, and by just after eight, all her workers were gone and the kitchen was spotless. Genny used the few extra minutes of peace to work on books while she waited for her escort.

  She heard him let himself in the back door with his key.

  “Cutter? I’m in my office. Let me finish this one thing and I’m done.” She wrote out the check, slipped it into the envelope, and sealed it shut.

  She grabbed her sweater and purse. November brought the first cold snap of the season and the light cover felt good in the crisp autumn air. Forecasters were predicting eighty degree temps by the end of the week, but tonight there was a chill in the air.

  “Judging by his silence,” Genny mused aloud, “I suppose he found the left-over apple turnovers.” She turned out her office light, shut the door, and started down the hallway. She did not remember turning off the dining room lights, but without their cheerful spillover, the passage was dark.

  “Cutter? Take it easy on the turnovers. Don’t stuff your mouth,” she called with a chuckle.

  She stepped into the dining room, immediately realizing something was wrong. The shades were drawn on the windows. She specifically remembered opening them just this evening.

  Without the proffered light of the streetlights, shadows danced among the scattered tables and chairs.

  “Cutter? What’s going on?” she asked, nerves moving into her voice.

  She heard a noise and turned toward it, but she saw nothing amiss. Genny worked her hand into her purse to find her cellphone.

  Her purse jerked from her hand. The phone went with it, slinging across the room.

  “Who’s there?” Genny demanded, whirling around.

  An unseen person grabbed her arm, twisting it at an impossible angle behind her. Unable to see a face, Genny struggled to get free. “What do you want? Who is this?”

  There was no answer, just another painful jerk on her arm.

  “Cutter!” Genny screamed.

  “Cutter isn’t here,” a cold, angry voice snarled. The voice belonged to a woman, and was filled with hatred. “You really must learn not to run to him every little time something goes wrong in your life.”

  “What do you want?” Genny demanded again. She tried to place the voice. “Is this a robbery?”

  “I don’t want your money, Genesis Baker,” the other woman spat. “I have my own.”

  “Then what do you want?”

  “Revenge.”

  Genny knew the unseen woman was stronger than she was. There was a corded strength in her hold. But maybe, just maybe, Genny was smarter. She struggled once again, then pretended to slump in defeat.

  When she heard the other woman laugh in victory, Genny swung her right foot backward, hooked it around the other woman’s leg, and jerked hard to the left. They both toppled over, hitting the floor with a thud.

  The woman’s arms loosened and Genny jumped to her feet, but her attacker came with her. And she held a knife.

  “Kayla?” Genny gasped in surprise. “What are you doing? Have you lost your mind?”

  “No, not my mind,” the other woman said coldly. “Just the love of my life. Just my whole world. And you took it from me. You took Tommy.”

  “That—That was twenty years ago!”

  “It still feels like yesterday. I tried to let it go, but how can I, when all I ever hear about is how wonderful you are? First Tommy, now Cutter. The town, the television... the whole country loves Naomi’s little sweetheart, the precious Genesis Baker!” she spat. “Now they’re raising money for you, when you are nothing but white trash!”

  “You are insane,” Genny announced flatly. “Put the knife away, Kayla. We both know you aren’t going to use it.”

  “You think not?” With a single swipe, she proved Genny wrong. The cut was not deep, but a line of blood beaded on her forearm.

  “You—You cut me!” Genny cried out, more in shock than in pain. “You freaking cut me!”

  “I’ll do more than that. Before the night is over, I will carve your heart out,” Kayla threatened. “I’ll cut it up and slice it to pieces, the same way you did mine.”

  “I didn’t do anything to you, Kayla,” Genny reminded her old enemy. “Tommy drove his motorcycle into the path of that eighteen wheeler. I wasn’t even there.”

  “No, you had run away. And he couldn’t stand it. He couldn’t stand the thought of living without you, even though he was my husband!” She welded her knife again, but Genny saw it coming, and jumped free of her swing.

  “You tricked him into marriage, Kayla. What kind of marriage was that?”

  “He could have grown to love me, if it hadn’t been for you.” Another swipe, another dodge.

  Genny scrambled to put more distance between them. She swung a chair in front of her.

  “That’s why I left town, Kayla. So I wouldn’t interfere in his life. He chose you.”

  “No he didn’t,” she argued with a bitter laugh. “He did what he had to do. What all good Southern boys did back then. What his parents insisted that he do. What my parents insisted that he do. He gave me his name, but he never gave me his heart.”

  “It wasn’t my fault, Kayla.” With every step Genny retreated, Kayla advanced. They danced around the table, a slow and dangerous waltz.

  “Of course it was. He had always loved you. I was always his second choice, someone he ran to when the two of you were fighting.”

  “And you always took him in,” Genny reminded her. “You could have stood up for yourself.”

  “But I loved him, Genny. He was all I ever wanted in life.”

  Genny eased her way backwards. If she could reach the counter, she could find a knife of her own. Even the odds just a bit. And there was a telephone there. She could call for help.

  “Do you know what it was like for me?” Kayla raged, advancing on Genny. “Seeing that reminder on the road each and every time I drove past? The letters were huge. ‘Tommy loves Genny. 4ever.’ In huge red letters, all across the highway! He still had the
red paint all over him, when they pulled him from the wreckage.”

  She moved swiftly then, coming upon Genny without warning. “Do you have any idea how humiliating that was for me, his wife, to know he immortalized his love for another woman, right before he drove to his own death? It wasn’t fair, Genesis Baker!” She heaved the knife over her head with both hands and brought it down, intending to sink it into Genny’s heart.

  Genny twisted at the last minute. The knife caught the edge of her blouse and pinned it into the counter beside her. Genny pulled, but the material refused to rip free. Kayla tried to pull the knife out, but it was buried in the wood. They were locked together, face to face, and Kayla’s eyes were filled with rage.

  “You’re right, Kayla. It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t fair to either of us. Tommy took the easy way out, and he left us here to suffer.”

  “Don’t blame this on Tommy!” Her voice was shrill. “It was your fault! Yours!” When Kayla rammed herself into Genny, it knocked the breath from her lungs. She flew backward over the counter, her spine taking the brunt of the blow as her blouse ripped free.

  Yet she somehow managed to get her feet up, and she thrust them forward, launching them both into Kayla’s stomach. While Kayla staggered back, Genny wrested with the knife. Just as she worked it from its wedge, Kayla rammed into her again, knocking the weapon from her hand.

  The knife skittered across the floor. Both women lunged for it. First Kayla had it, but Genny pounced upon her back and the knife flew free. Genny stretched her fingers forward and felt them close around the handle, just as Kayla bucked her off and flipped her aside, trapping her with her beefy legs. Kayla grabbed for the knife again, prying it from Genny’s hold and sending it skating across the floor once again.

  Back and forth it went. They chased the knife across the room, knocking it just out of their reaches with each change of power. At last, the knife slid up against the wall.

  They both dove for it, but Kayla’s reach was longer. A triumphant smile slid across her face. Her fingers closed over the handle. Genny tried to get up, but Kayla’s legs pinned hers to the floor. Genny fought, but she saw the knife come up. She saw the gleam in Kayla’s eyes.

  And then she saw Cutter, standing over them.

  “Drop the knife, Mrs. K,” he said coldly.

  “No. No, it’s not fair!” She turned frantic eyes to the firefighter. “She’s evil. A vixen. The only man I ever wanted killed himself, because of her! But that wasn’t enough for her. She had to take you, the only man Callie Beth ever wanted! She’s trash! Nothing but white trash!”

  “Put down the knife,” Cutter said again, his voice deadly calm. “It’s over.”

  “Don’t you see? It won’t ever be over, not until she dies!” With a banshee cry, Kayla Sorenson Irwin drew back to plunge the knife forward.

  In the blink of an eye, Cutter hurled his own knife. It caught Kayla in the neck. A bright red stain appeared around the blade, blood dripping down to slide inside her shirt collar. Kayla fell back against the wall, her eyes wide. She blinked once, twice, her mouth working with the effort to speak. No words came out.

  The knife dropped from her hands. When she coughed, blood seeped from around the knife, gurgling out in bright red bubbles. Another cough, this one weaker, and Kayla’s head fell to one side. She never moved again.

  “Genny,” Cutter said softly. “Genny, come on, darlin’. You need to move away. Come on, sweetheart, I have you.”

  With Cutter’s help, Genny slid away, disengaging her legs from the dead woman’s. Then he helped her to stand, engulfing her in his strong embrace.

  “She—She—She would have killed me, Cutter,” she babbled. “You saved my life. You—You stopped her. You saved my life.”

  “I would do anything for you, Genny,” he told her gravely. His own voice was less than steady. “I love you, Genny. I love you.”

  He buried his face into her hair and she clung to him, her body trembling.

  Reality slowly seeped in. “Oh, God, the—the mess,” she said. “We have to call Brash!”

  “He’s on his way.”

  Right on cue, sirens rent the night, as red and blue strobe lights filtered through the shades.

  ***

  New Beginnings remained closed for the week.

  Brash waited until morning before taking Genny’s official statement. Once that was out of the way, Maddy and Granny Bert promptly whisked Genny out of town. Loaded up in Granny Bert’s motor home, they went down to the coast to spend a few quiet days by the water.

  Genny spent most of her days staring out at the waves and listening to the peaceful roar of the Gulf. She did not want to talk, and her friends did not push her. They were simply there for her.

  Genny was unusually somber when they returned. She went through the motions of work, but the sparkle was missing from her eyes. Worst of all, there was a new distance between her and Cutter. He dutifully checked in with her each day, stopping by for lunch and calling and dropping by in the evenings, but the easy silence between them was strained. Something between them had changed, and she thought she knew what it was.

  They sat outside on the porch, enjoying the mild temperature of a late November evening. Thanksgiving was next week, and soon after that, Christmas. Genny wondered if she could enjoy the holiday season this year.

  “So you’re staying at the Big House this weekend by yourself?” Cutter asked.

  “Yes.”

  “You know my mom would love to have you at the ranch.”

  “I know, and I appreciate the offer. But I’ll just stay here. Maddy has that amazing alarm system, you know.”

  “Hard to believe it’s only been a year since Maddy’s husband was killed. Less than that since she and the kids moved back here to The Sisters.”

  “I know. So much has happened in the past twelve months.” There was a pregnant pause as Genny sighed. After a moment, she continued. “But Maddy is really to move on. Her life is here now, with us and with Brash.”

  “You didn’t want to go with them?”

  “They invited me, but this is something they need to do on their own. This weekend is important to Blake and Bethani. They need the sense of closure that seeing Gray’s headstone will bring. Granny Bert will be there for them, and I’ll be here when they get home.”

  They sat for a few moments without talking. “Are you cold? Do you want to go in?” he asked, seeing how she shivered and pulled her sweater closer around her.

  “No, I’m fine. The cold is from inside me, you know?”

  He had no reply to that. Before the ordeal with Kayla, Cutter would have put his arm around her and pulled her in to share his warmth, but now he sat stiffly beside her. The difference broke Genny’s heart.

  “Do you hate me, Cutter?” she whispered softly.

  His gaze snapped to hers. “Hate you? Of course not! Why would you ever think that?”

  “Something’s different now, Cutter. I can’t put my finger on it, but somewhere along the way things have changed between us. I thought maybe it was because of... because of her.”

  “Callie Beth?” he asked. “I’m just trying to be her friend, Genny darlin’.”

  “No, not Callie Beth.” She frowned first at the suggestion, then at the implication. “Wait. What are you talking about?”

  His sigh was heavy. “As you can imagine, she’s having trouble processing all this. She never knew Scott Irwin wasn’t her real father. Now she finds out her mother was in love with another man all these years, and that her aunt helped torment you. She’s pretty messed up right now.”

  The sordid details had all come out. When Brash confronted Ellen McDaniel about the stolen recliner, the grief-stricken woman told all. Yes, she had stolen from the homes she cleaned. Yes, she had re-sold many of the items to other unsuspecting clients. And yes, she had helped her sister stalk and torment Genesis Baker. The restauranteur had made her sister’s life miserable, she insisted. After living in Genny’s shadow for all t
hose years, seeing her on national television had been too much for Kayla to bear. Ellen gladly made the phone calls and drove Kayla to conduct her nefarious deeds. And when Genny stole her niece’s boyfriend and made a fool of her – on her birthday, no less! – why, yes, she helped set the fire that destroyed her home. Ellen McDaniel was now in jail, awaiting arraignment.

  “Poor Callie Beth,” Genny said. “Her mother valued a twenty-year old grudge more than she valued her own daughter.”

  “We’ve been friends for a long time, Genny. I can’t just abandon her now. I’m trying to get her into grief counseling. But I’ve made it perfectly clear how things stand. She knows how I feel about you.”

  Genny laid her hand on his. “I understand that, Cutter. She’s lucky to have a friend like you in her corner. So am I.”

  He greedily took her hand and squeezed. After a long moment of silence, he thought to ask, “So if you weren’t talking about Callie Beth, who were you talking about?”

  “Her mother.”

  He looked confused. “That doesn’t make sense. Why would I hate you over Kayla Irwin?”

  “Because... you killed her, Cutter. You killed a woman because of me. Not just any woman, but your friend’s mother.” Her voice dropped to a pained whisper. “I wouldn’t blame you if you hated me for it.”

  His arm came around her now, to circle her shoulders. His other hand took her chin and forced her head up.

  “Genny, look at me.” He voice was both gentle and commanding. “I could never, ever hate you. And yes, I killed someone. I have to live with that. I won’t lie to you, it’s hard. That’s one reason I feel obligated to help Callie Beth. I’m the one who took her mother from her. But none of that is your fault, Genny darlin’, any more than Tommy Evan’s death was your fault. We all make our own choices in life.”

  “But—”

  “But she was trying to kill you, Genny. I would have taken that knife in my own heart, before I let her put it in yours.”

  “But you’ve been so... standoff-ish since then.” Her voice was small.