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“Where’s Lula?” he asked.
“With Mother. She’s staying for several hours.”
Regis held her gaze and slowly caressed her cheek. “You look tired.”
“I am but...”
“Come inside.” Entering the drafty house, she noticed dishes piled in the sink. Something sticky on the linoleum floor. The lingering scent of dinner reminded her that she hadn’t eaten yet. Her stomach growled, but Regis didn’t seem to notice. He was preoccupied.
“I get the impression something is on your mind. What’s going on, Reege?” Maybe helping him with his problems would take her mind off of her own.
“You hungry?” he asked. “I can make you a sandwich, or there might be some chicken left.”
“Actually, I’m starved. A sandwich would be great, but I can do it.”
“No. Take a load off. I got it.” He opened the fridge and took out all the fixin’s, holding them in the crook of his arm and carrying them to the counter. “Tomato?”
“No.”
“Mayo?”
“Sure.” She swiped a crumb from the table. “How is your mom? Mother said she wasn’t doing well. She was going to swing by tomorrow and bring a pie.”
“That’s not necessary. Really. Besides it’s supposed to storm all day, and Mother don’t need to be out in it.” He carried the sandwich to the table and then opened the cabinet for a glass. “Tea or lemonade?”
“Tea.”
After pouring a glass and setting it by her plate, he took a chair opposite her and tented his hands on the table.
She bit into the ham and cheese on white and noticed his right hand. She swallowed and pointed to the nicked and roughed-up knuckles. “What did you do to your hand?”
He stared at it a moment and sighed. “Would you believe me if I said I punched a raw cedar wall?”
Ruby laughed and took another hefty bite. The bread was soft and sticking to the roof of her mouth. She pushed it away and finished chewing. “FBI driving you crazy? How’s the investigation? Mother said they’d been by to talk about Atta.”
“The dark-haired one—she kinda reminds me of you. Only cold and...feral.” He wiggled his eyebrows. “I like riling her up. Except, I’m not sure it’s wise. She’s not like the others. She’s...calculated. But I kinda like that too.”
Regis had a knack for getting under a person’s skin if he wanted to, and growing up he enjoyed bullying other kids. Girls at times. But Ruby didn’t judge. She had her own sins to atone for. He’d never declared feelings for her, and she didn’t ask because he’d been rejected before, and she didn’t want to add to the hurt. He’d had a hard row to hoe.
“I think you should cooperate, Regis. Amy said they talked to her again today. She said the woman agent was nice.”
“She have short hair?”
“Yeah.”
“Then that ain’t the one I’m talking about.”
“I’m scared, Regis. I think it’s someone we know who lives in the holler or down in Crow’s Creek. He’s brought trinkets to Lula. He leaves them by the crick, and he knows his way in the woods. It’s not a transplant.” No one wanted to believe a man in the holler would dare touch one of them, but someone was proving them wrong. “He’s not afraid of the fact that others have died for doing less in the past. He thinks he can evade it. Hide from it. And he has, Regis. We’re helping him hide and continue killing ’cause we won’t share any information with the FBI.”
Regis frowned and glanced at the ceiling, his jaw working and nostrils flared. “What kind of trinkets?”
She told him about what Lula had been given. “I heard they talked to Cecil too.”
“Cecil? Why?”
“They found leather pouches he made them. Made me one too. I gave it to Lula for a purse. He said—”
“When did you see Cecil?” he asked, cutting her off. He was a little possessive of her. She shouldn’t have even mentioned it. Regis wouldn’t hurt her, but he would punch a wall. She had no doubt he’d torn into raw cedar with bare hands.
