In Seconds (Bulletproof #2)(50)
Author: Brenda Novak

Now that Virgil was out of prison, holding a grudge felt pointless. The older she got, the more Vivian wanted to purge the anger that’d been trapped inside her for so many years. It was too dark, too negative; sometimes that darkness seemed about to overtake everything else.

And now, just when she’d been closest to forgiving her mother, the doubt was back. Had Ellen let The Crew threaten her or bully her into putting her own children and grandchildren, as well as Rex, in danger? It wasn’t as if Vivian thought Ellen would call Horse or any of the others. She knew her mother wasn’t out to hurt her or Virgil. She just didn’t believe that Ellen would go to much trouble to protect them if her own life or welfare was on the line.

“What’s the matter?” Rex called.

She’d misdialed and hung up. Shoving her sunglasses higher on her nose, she waved him off and tried again.

This time the phone rang. Then her mother’s voice came on the line, but it turned out to be the recorded message.

Vivian hung up and almost walked back to tell Rex they’d have to wait until later. As long as she didn’t know for sure, she could continue to hope that her mother wasn’t the reason she was once again in danger.

But if Ellen had heard from a member of the gang, not knowing could cost Vivian one or both of her own children. She couldn’t be a coward.

“She’s not home?” Rex called.

“No.”

“Can you call another family member?”

“My cousins have moved around so much I’ve lost track of them.” Uncle Gary was in prison. His ex had testified against him, then washed her hands of him and his extended family. But Ellen still lived in the house on Sandalwood Court where Vivian and Virgil had grown up, so Vivian knew quite a few of the neighbors. Were any of them still around?

She’d once had a terrible crush on Junior Ivey, the next-door neighbor’s son. Could she remember the number to his house? She’d certainly called it often enough, much to his annoyance, since he was four years older and in high school when she’d been mooning over him.

She racked her brain for the number but couldn’t come up with more than the prefix, and that was only because it was the same as her mother’s. But she remembered Junior’s father’s name and that meant she could get the rest from directory assistance.

The phone rang so many times Vivian thought she’d wind up with another recorded message, but the breathless voice of the woman who answered told her she had a live human being.

“Mrs. Ivey?”

“Yes?”

Vivian pushed her sunglasses up again. “This is Vivi—er—Laurel Skinner.”

“Laurel! My goodness. Hang on a sec. I was downstairs doing some ironing. Needless to say, I’m not as fit as I used to be.”

She’d been overweight even back then. “Take your time.”

After an audible breath, she said, “I’ll be okay in a minute. How are you?”

“Fine, thanks.”

“It’s been years and years since we’ve heard from you.”

“It has been a while.”

“Too long. Your mother tells me you have two children now.”

“Yes.”

“She’d love to see them, you know. It’s a pity you live so far away.”

The disapproval in those words told Vivian that Sonja Ivey had forgiven Ellen for the murder, if she’d ever held her accountable for it in the first place. Ellen could be quite convincing. That was part of the reason she hadn’t been charged for Martin’s murder along with Gary. The police believed Gary was telling the truth, but the D.A. didn’t have enough hard evidence connecting Ellen to the killing, and he felt she came across as too genuine to try with what he had.

“Maybe someday I will,” she said to avoid discussing why she hadn’t visited so far.

“How’s your brother?”

“Good.”

“Terrible what happened to that boy. So hard to believe.”

“Yes.” Hard to believe Ellen didn’t have a hand in it, or do more to stop it. “How’s Junior?”

“Fabulous! He’s a doctor.”

“That doesn’t surprise me. He was always a smart kid.”

“But we don’t like his wife much,” she murmured.

Vivian would’ve laughed, except she was too anxious to get to the point of her call. “I’m sorry to hear that. Adjusting to in-laws can be difficult.” No one knew that better than she did. Instead of having an ounce of sympathy for what Tom had put her through, his parents had spent most of the time they were together trying to convince her that he wasn’t really a bad person. Never had they taken her side. Instead, they’d acted as if she must be provoking him into acting the way he did. They didn’t care that something as innocuous as making the wrong dish for dinner could set him off.

“She’s a spoiled little prima donna from the rich side of town,” Sonja said.

“Hopefully, Junior is happier with her than you are.”

“I don’t think he is, but…what can you do? It’s not my place to get involved.”

Vivian glanced at Rex, who made a motion that said to hurry up. “Listen, Sonja, I’m really sorry to interrupt your ironing, but I’m calling because I can’t reach my mother. You don’t know where she is, do you?”

“She should be home. I’m standing at my kitchen window, looking out at her car right now.”

“I just tried her. She didn’t answer.”

“She’s been pretty depressed lately. Randall left again, you know.”

Her mother’s latest love interest. She hadn’t married this one, but they’d been together for a couple of years. “When?”

“Maybe two weeks ago? Found someone else.”

That must’ve been a blow to her mother’s self-esteem. It was usually Ellen who became dissatisfied. She was only interested in the initial wining and dining part of a romance and grew bored as soon as the mundane intruded. “Would you do me a favor, Sonja? Do you think you could walk over and see if you can rouse her?”

“Sure, honey. Here, call my cell. I’ll take it with me and let you talk to her.”

Vivian had the feeling that Sonja suspected Ellen was simply ducking her call. They’d had so many problems, almost anyone would think that. She didn’t try to disabuse her of the notion. Instead she wrote down the number Sonja rattled off, hung up and dialed again.