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“You’re not going to believe me when I tell you, so just think of some other crazy story.”
“Spit it out, Imogen. If you don’t tell me, I will call Mitzy and get the full story from her.”
I shook my head. “You won’t get a word out of her. Mace already told me none of the girls or guys will say a word to anyone.” At least they better not. They hadn’t even tried to pity me when we first met, so I did think that what happened fifteen years ago was safe with them.
“Tell. Me,” Dorothy pleaded. “I promise to take it to the grave.” She flailed her hand in the direction of the caskets for sale. “If I open my mouth, you can bury me in the cardboard casket. The worms and moles will be eating my eyes in a week.”
I cringed and shook my head. “I will not do that to you. If anything, I’ll put in one of the toe pinchers.”
“Damn, harsh,” Dorothy laughed. “Might as well just put me in the cardboard.”
“Wicker,” I laughed. “I’ll put you in the wicker.”
Dorothy sighed and leaned back in her chair. “Do you think other people joke about caskets?”
I glanced at her, and we both busted out laughing. “I think that is a big fat no.”
Dorothy spun around slowly in her chair. “Tell me what happened, Imogen. Whatever it is, you know it won’t matter to me.”
I dropped my pen and combed my fingers through my hair. “It happened a long time ago.”
“Yeah, but why is Mace back now?”
Jesus. I was foolish to think that I wouldn’t have to tell Dorothy what happened. I was actually surprised she had waited this long for the truth. “Uh, when I was fifteen, I was walking home from school.”
Imogen stopped spinning and stared at me.
“Sutter Creek was a small town where everyone knew everyone, and no one was a stranger.” I took a deep breath and stared at my planner. “I walked by Kent’s house, and he was outside, sitting on his porch. I didn’t really think anything about it since I walked past his house every day to get home. I waved at him, and he just tipped his head. I made it probably fifty yards down the road when suddenly, I was knocked down from behind. It was Kent.”
“Jesus,” Dorothy breathed out.
“He dragged me into the ditch and to the woods. A path ran along the road that led back to his house. I was so shocked and disoriented that I barely struggled. By the time we were back to his house, I had realized what he was going to do.” I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. “I screamed. Hollered hoping anyone would hear me.”
“Imogen,” Dorothy cried.
Dorothy didn’t need the details. I didn’t want to relive the details. “He raped me on his back porch. He told me he was going to kill me because he knew I wouldn’t keep my mouth shut. I figured since he said he was going to kill me, I was going to do everything I could to get out of there.” I took a deep breath and opened my eyes. “So, the second he turned his back, I ran. I hollered and screamed for help, but he tackled me before I could get to the road. We fell onto a pile of loose boards, and I grabbed one. Kent reared back to hit me, but I swung the board and smashed it into the side of his head.”
“Jesus Christ.” Dorothy stood and moved toward me.
I held up my hand and stopped her. “I killed him. When I grabbed that board, I didn’t realize it had two nails pounded through it. I swung the board so hard that the nails impaled his head, and he died instantly. He fell to the side, and when I scrambled away, Jonathon was running up the driveway.”
“Imogen,” Dorothy called. “You gotta look at me, girl.” She kneeled in front of me. “You were protecting yourself; he was going to kill you.”
I knew that. I never once thought I had done the wrong thing. It was just hard to accept the fact that I had killed someone. I nodded and wiped the tears from my face I didn’t know had fallen. “Jonathon helped me. He gave me his sweatshirt to wrap around my legs and sat me on the porch while he took care of Kent.”
“He got rid of the body,” Dorothy sighed.
“He got rid of any evidence that either of us was there. He did a damn good job of it, too. No one suspected either of us until a couple of weeks ago.”
“Oh, no,” Dorothy gasped.
Kent Bing’s brother is now the mayor of Sutter Creek, and he is hellbent on finding out who murdered his brother.”
“But how are you two suddenly connected to this?”
“A fingerprint. Jonathon’s fingerprint was on his shoe.”
“Oh, fuck.”
