Sisters in the Wind(72)

Jamie lets me know he’ll be contacting my former foster parents.

“Please don’t contact the Sterlings. They lie.”

“That’s why we need to contact them, Lucy. We want them on record so that any contradictions will nullify their testimony,” he says.

“I’m scared,” I say. “I didn’t bomb the diner. I only said it to…”

Am I ready to tell them everything? The things I did do.

“Who was after you?” Jamie asks.

“You don’t understand. There’s so much more going on.”

My breath hitches. I don’t want to cry. I want to be the version of Lucy Smith that Jamie has known up to this point.

“You were in foster care,” I tell him. “Take your worst placement and use it as a high point. There is no care in foster care. Only Miss Lonnie was in it for the right reasons. The rest had their own motives.”

My voice quiets to a whisper.

“They make girls like me disappear.”





WHEN I WAS SEVENTEEN


2007

Boyd’s body was found in his bed after the fire in the loft. I cried along with everyone else. What a beautiful young man. A kind soul.

The police wanted to meet with each person at Hoppy Farm. Missus protected us. She was our legal guardian. Law-enforcement officers could not interview minors without their parent or guardian’s permission. She declined on each minor’s behalf.

It had been a tragic accident, she told them. Boyd was known to light candles that were left unattended.

“He could be careless, I hate to say,” Missus said.

I stared at her as I remembered the night before.



* * *



Boyd returned from the bathroom.

“Did you find the—” He froze.

“Why do you have Diego’s crucifix?”

“I don’t know what—”

“Stop.” I held it in my palm. “I bought this for him.”

He looked away like a little boy who’d gotten caught.

“Why do you have it?” I repeated.

Boyd had been shy the night of my sweet-sixteen kiss. The next day he’d attempted to stake a claim to “his girl.” Rebuffed, he became annoying. And as the last person to have seen Diego before he went missing, Boyd was downright sketchy.

I wanted answers but needed to stay alive.

I sat at the bistro table and motioned for him to join me.

Boyd turned the chair around and sat with his knees spread on either side of its back. He leaned forward, resting his crossed arms atop the back. I had his full attention.

“Help me fill in the gaps about July second,” I began. “It was the night before I turned seventeen. We all had fun at the bonfire. I drank church wine. Diego finished the bottle before switching to your vodka and Red Bull. I went to the hammock grove. Diego followed. When I left him there, he was happy. He never mentioned Emily. He was still wearing his crucifix. You said you guys talked after I walked to the farmhouse. Then he was gone.”

We sat in silence. Outside, the sunset gave way to a perfect golden glow, followed by the deepening blue of twilight. Inside the loft, dozens of candles provided a mystical light.

Boyd’s handsome face was bathed in flickering candlelight that made him look timeless. The corners of his mouth lifted, along with a perfectly arched eyebrow.

“You left out the most important detail,” he drawled, “where you have sex on a picnic table. That’s the key to everything.”

I didn’t like the way my skin went all clammy.

“W-w-why’s that the key?”

“If you got pregnant, Diego would get the bonus. Not me.”

My heart stopped. The world stopped.

“Bonus?” My voice was a mouse’s squeak.

“Don’t you know what this place is, Lucy?” He was thrilled to watch my reaction. “We’re a baby farm. Girls like Emily and Paige come here already pregnant. Girls like Tonya get knocked up while they’re here. Missus works with an adoption attorney. They find good homes for babies. Don’t you know how many people want newborn babies? Especially white babies.”

“Tonya is biracial,” I pointed out.

“Yeah, but I made up for that.” He was actually proud of himself.

“What sort of bonus did you get for Tonya’s baby?” It took everything for me to not fall apart.

“That was a freebie. It had to be completely legal because it was for Allen and Jennifer,” he said. “But I got five grand for Christina’s baby.”

I had no idea who Christina was. Someone before I’d arrived.

“Not bad for twenty minutes of effort,” he crowed.

His arrogance angered me. It gave me focus.

“What about Diego?”

Boyd snorted a “Ha!” before continuing. “Diego was smiling. I knew what it meant. He got there before I could. He didn’t know about the bonus. But nobody would’ve turned that kind of cash down. Not even Saint Diego.”

“It’s a nice pickup truck,” I said.

“Yeah. Decided to get something decent now instead of saving up for Allen’s fancy truck. Wheels are freedom, Lucy,” he said. “I can go anywhere. Missus lets me go overnight. I get to do what I want.”