Deke’s knuckles were white on the receiver. “I was just trying to scare you. I didn’t mean nothin’ by it.” His voice shook and he still didn’t look at them.
Hez raised his brows. “How did you know the candy would frighten us?”
A sob burst from Deke, and he covered his eyes with his free hand. “Because of her, the little girl.”
Savannah clutched Hez’s hand tighter. The trembling in her stomach moved up her back, and her vision dimmed. Ella? How did Deke know about their baby girl? Maybe he’d tell them the name of the mole inside the PHPD.
“Who told you about Ella and the peanut butter cups?” Hez’s voice took on his stern prosecutor tone.
Deke’s sobs grew louder. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry. We didn’t want to kill her. We were just gonna keep her till we got the money. All the money the Legares stole. We thought we could get it back, doubled. We didn’t mean to hurt your little girl.”
Ice ran through Savannah’s veins as his words penetrated. She forgot to breathe, forgot where she was in the horror that encased her. Her baby had died because of revenge? It had never been Hez’s fault. Her father’s corruption had begun the cascade of events that led to the loss of the most precious person in her life.
Hez didn’t speak either, but his fingers tightened around hers in a death grip. His blue eyes stared out of his shocked white face.
“It wasn’t supposed to happen that way!” Deke wailed. “I watched the family awhile and knew she didn’t eat candy often, and when she did, you guys gave her that Justin kind. So I lured her out with it. We only planned to keep her long enough to get you guys to pay up. It all happened so fast—she slipped and fell in the pool. When she started screaming, the dog went crazy with barking. I—I panicked.” He raked his hand through his hair. “I just ran. I’m sorry.”
Savannah started to rise, but Hez’s hand anchored her in place. “Y-you left her struggling in the water?”
Tears rolled down Deke’s face. “I—I thought Mr. Hez would hear and come running, that she would be fine.”
“Whose idea was it?” Hez asked in a wooden voice.
“Th-the man called my phone. He used somethin’ to make his voice sound like a robot, so I don’t know—”
Hez waved the answer away. “Never mind. Michael’s fingerprints are all over this.”
Deke stood and turned for the door. “Guard!” His shoulders shook with his sobs, and he glanced back one more time before the guard took him away. “I didn’t mean for her to drown.”
Though she hadn’t been there, Savannah had imagined the scenario in graphic detail ever since her baby drowned. Over and over she saw Ella falling into that pool, heard Marley’s barking, saw Hez’s panicked rescue that failed to revive her.
Numbness traveled down her face to her arms, and her vision darkened again. She heard Hez shout her name before the merciful blackness moved in to claim her.
Chapter 25
Hez stared down at Ella’s grave. Savannah stood beside him. Her sobs had subsided to sniffles, but her breathing was still shaky and ragged. He put his arm around her, and she leaned her head on his shoulder.
He had no idea how they’d gotten there. He vaguely recalled gathering her in his arms when she collapsed in the visiting room. Then they’d been in the parking lot, holding each other tight. And then he was driving through the countryside, not consciously aware of where he was going. He’d had one hand on the wheel, while the other grasped Savannah’s. They must have left her car in the jail parking lot.
It was a beautiful day, which felt wrong and surreal. The sun hung high in a cloudless sky. A gentle breeze rustled the leaves of the ancient oak and tupelo trees, carrying the scent of wildflowers and newly mown grass. A bird sang somewhere. A single fresh red rose lay on Marie’s grave.
Savannah hugged herself and rocked back and forth. “I don’t know how to forgive him. I’m not sure I can.”
“I know, babe.” Hez crouched down and brushed a leaf from the little statuary grouping that marked Ella’s resting place. Ella sat on his lap while Simon knelt beside her and smiledadoringly at her. Savannah sat on the sculpted grass on the other side looking toward the children, a peaceful smile on her stone face. “I could forgive Deke for trying to kill us. But Ella—” His voice broke and his vision blurred.
A kaleidoscope of images ran through his thoughts. Savannah holding newborn Ella in the hospital, Ella taking her first wobbly steps on chubby legs, Ella laughing and playing with Marley, Ella looking up at Hez with her blue eyes full of confusion as he tried to explain that “dog” and “God” were very different words.
Those same eyes staring at him, glassy and dead, as he desperately performed CPR on her by that swimming pool.
Savannah knelt beside him and put her arms around him. “Oh, Hez. You carried all that guilt around, but it wasn’t your fault. And you holding me tight by the hand during that ordeal with Deke made everything clear about those pictures. I believe in you. I know you would never cheat on me, never. You might be guilty of being too obsessed with justice, but most of the time it’s endearing. I love you.”
“I’m sorry.” He clutched her to his chest. “I don’t deserve you. I’ll try not to be so stupid ever again.” He wasn’t ready to let himself off the hook about Ella. He rested his hand on top of the headstone. “If I’d been paying attention to her like I should have, she’d still be with us.”
Savannah gave him a squeeze. “She’s with God.”
A new fear gripped Hez’s chest. He touched the statue of Simon. “But Simon is with Michael. We can’t let him hurt another child we love.”
Savannah froze for a heartbeat. “Do you really think Michael would hurt Simon?”
