Page 51 of Deeper Than the Dead

Eve shrugged. “How do I know? Luna was screaming. Sheree was trying to shove her head under the bathwater. I just understood in that moment that I had to stop her. So yeah, her head hit the sink.” Her face twisted in confusion. “But then we did drop her a couple of times going down the stairs. And we tossed her into that trailer pretty hard. Wouldn’t that do it?”

Vera chewed her lip. Her sister had a point. “I suppose it’s possible.”

She tried to recall more precisely the details of those moments when they were grunting and hefting Sheree’s lifeless body. She’d felt like a ton of bricks. They had dropped her at least once. Vera shook off the memory of how they’d swung her back and forth for a moment, then pitched her into the trailer. It was the only way they could get her in there. At least in their adolescent minds.

Still, the news was troubling. Sweat beaded on Vera’s skin as her gut turned and twisted with the need to vomit. It was conceivable that Sheree’s head had hit the stair tread or the metal rails on the trailer hard enough to cause a fracture. They hadn’t exactly been thinking about protecting her from further injury. She was dead, for God’s sake.

“So we don’t worry about this,” Eve said, her expression hopeful.

“Right. We just stay calm and wait for the final autopsy report,” Vera agreed. “We’ll know more about the type and pattern of fractures then. There is nothing to be gained by borrowing trouble at this point.”

Frankly, Sheree’s injuries might end up being the least of their worries.

“Okay,” Eve said, sounding only marginally relieved. “I’ll try not to worry about it.”

“There’s something else I learned late yesterday, but since I didn’t see you last night, I wasn’t able to share the details.”

Eve made a face. “Why? All you had to do was call.”

“I wanted to do it in person. Remember what I said about phone calls.”

Eve made a frustrated sound. “Yeah. Yeah. I meant you could have called for a meeting.”

“I was just too exhausted after going to the mall with Luna.” Vera had needed to be more rested and alert for this—to analyze her sister’s reaction to the latest news.

Guilt heaped onto her shoulders for allowing the notion of distrust to linger.

“The other remains—except for the male vic—were posed the same as Sheree. But the really bizarre part is that all three had a silver cross necklace—the exact same type. If there was one with the male victim, they haven’t found it.”

Eve blinked, once, twice. “Are you serious?”

“As a heart attack.”

Her sister made one of those groans of disbelief. “How did that happen?”

“I don’t know.” The resigned admission sent more of that ice forming in Vera’s veins.

“Then somebody does know what we did,” Eve suggested, obviously referring to the text messages they had received. “They know, and maybe they think we copied what they did. Now that the police are involved, they’re trying to scare us or maybe pin their shit on us.”

Vera looked away. Felt sick with the notion that her sister could possibly be correct in her assumption. “The question is Who knew about the cave?”

“I did not tell anyone,” Eve snapped, “and even if I had when I was on a binge, that would have been years ago. Besides two of the victims were there before we ...”

Her words trailed off. Obviously, she’d just had the same thought as Vera. No matter how they looked at it, this appeared more and more like their father was involved ... or, at the very least, someone he knew.

Jesus Christ.

“Okay”—Vera drew in a big breath—“no matter what we think we know, we need to confirm the details we’re certain about. For that matter, the victims who were killed before Sheree may not have been put in the cave until after we put her there.” The idea gained momentum as Vera talked. “We won’t know for sure on that until the remains and everything around them have been analyzed. The approximate time of death doesn’t necessarily mean the cave was their first resting place. Considering the extended time involved, the results could be inconclusive, and we might never know when or how they ended up in the cave.”

Eve shook her head. “I’m confused. What do you mean we have to confirm the details we’re certain about?”

“We need to recall every single thing we saw that day. Only what we saw with our own eyes is certain.” Vera allowed the memories to flash through her brain. “Maybe we saw something in that cave the day we put Sheree there that might make a difference in regard to the other victims.”

Eve nodded slowly. “When you really think about it, this could be good, right? The extra victims, I mean. Bent could determine that the same person killed them all. If that person is no longer alive or around ... then we wouldn’t have to worry anymore.”

Vera couldn’t deny having had the same thought. “Maybe. At this point, I’m not sure of anything. And there is the man who was murdered more recently.” She stood. “Come on, I should let you get back to the funeral home.” She cast a final look at their mother’s grave. Their lives would have been so different if she hadn’t died.

Vera almost laughed at herself for indulging in that fantasy. Her grandmother always said that if a frog had wings, it wouldn’t bump its butt when it hopped.

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