Total pages in book: 61
Estimated words: 58874 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 294(@200wpm)___ 235(@250wpm)___ 196(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 58874 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 294(@200wpm)___ 235(@250wpm)___ 196(@300wpm)
His father had tried dating Vickie when they were in high school, but his parents didn’t approve of her. The Sterling family was all country clubs and political appointments and old money. The Dunworthys were none of that. So, Harold Sterling had pretended to move on. He’d had the right kinds of girlfriends, went away to college and law school, gotten the right kind of job at the right kind of firm, and eventually married the right kind of woman. But Jule now realized that his father had never loved his mother, because throughout that entire time, he had still been seeing Vickie Dunworthy, off more than on, but almost thirty years of that added up.
“John Jones hit Vickie?”
“He tried to anyway. I got in between them, and this happened.” He pointed at his eye. “John Jones is a psychopath, but he’s never laid his hands on me. When he realized I wasn’t going to get out of his way, he took off, but I don’t trust it. He was way pissed at her. He’ll be back.”
“Jesus,” Jule said under his breath.
“Yeah. I told Vickie that she needs to tell your dad to stay the fuck away from the house, but the way she’s coked up all the time, who knows what she’ll remember so you should tell him too. Honestly, I don’t know why he still comes around at all. He’s the fucking Arizona Attorney General. If someone catches him at the house, he’ll be ruined. The whole thing’s stupid and risky as hell.”
“They don’t leave the bedroom. How is anyone going to catch him?”
Tor cringed. “Anyway, I’m pretty sure John Jones knows Vickie’s seeing someone and that’s why he’s raging.”
“Isn’t he married to a lady who lives in Tucson?”
“I don’t think he’s married to anyone.” Tor shook his head. “But, yeah, he lives with someone there sometimes when he’s not in prison. I think he’s got the same thing going with a woman in Avondale. Maybe there are others. Who knows. Doesn’t matter though. He thinks Vickie belongs to him, so when he feels like fucking her, he expects her to be single and excited to see him.”
“That’s fucked up.”
“That’s John Jones.” Tor sighed. “Anyway, tell your father, okay? And you shouldn’t come over for a while either. He’s not safe to be around. My brothers are shacking up in other places too. They’re living, breathing reminders that Vickie fucked other people, and if that’s thrown in his face right now, there’s a solid chance he’ll try to eliminate the living and breathing parts.”
“Damn,” Jule said. “Why are you letting her stay at the house? She’s never done anything for any of you and she’s nothing but trouble.”
Tor went still and looked him in the eyes. “Vickie’s a fuckup but she’s family. Family takes care of family.”
“Right.” He dipped his head. “Maybe you should get out of there until John Jones is gone.” Jule stepped even closer, curled his hand around Tor’s hip, and moved his thumb back and forth over him. “I don’t want you to get hurt.”
“I’m probably the only person he’d never hurt.” Tor paused and touched the bruise under his eye. “Well, on purpose anyway. I’m his only son and that seems to mean something to the bastard. If I take off, he’ll probably be even madder at Vickie, and the way he was last night, I already thought he was going to kill her.”
“If he cares so much about you, why was he okay with Vickie not giving you his last name? All your brothers have their fathers’ last names.”
“That was his idea. John Jones has a ton of enemies, and if they knew he had a son, they could use me against him, so he made sure that wouldn’t happen.”
“What kinds of enemies?”
“Vickie never said, but I have some idea. It’s too much to talk about right now. What’s important is that you and your father keep far away from the house while he’s here. He never stays long, and once he’s gone, things can go back to normal.”
“I don’t like this.”
Tor pressed his lips together, arched his eyebrows, and shrugged. “Nothing we can do but wait it out. Come on, we’re already late to next period.”
***
“Did Vickie give you any details about what set John Jones off?” Tor asked. He was lying on his back in a trench they had dug across the yard, head under the trailer. He wore jeans with the legs cut off and a T-shirt with the sleeves cut off, both of them stained with grease and dirt, and he looked so hot that Jule wanted to jump him.
“Not really,” Tyson answered, a cigarette perched at the edge of his lips. “She said some shit but most of it didn’t make sense.”
“The bitch is so fucked up all the time it’s a wonder she can talk at all,” Trey said. He was sitting cross-legged in the dirt, drinking a beer. “It’s hot as balls out here.” He took off his cap and wiped it across his brow.