Pay the Price (Harmony Grove Book 3) by Carol Post (which ebook reader txt) 📕

and scratched his cheeks. When she moved to his neck, he tilted his head back again. Over the next few minutes, she worked her way down his sides then gave him a good belly rub.

When she carried him to the kitchen, he went right to his dish and began to eat. She heaved a sigh of relief. No vet bill. He was fine. He just wanted attention. Yeah, definitely high maintenance. The sooner she found him a permanent home, the better off he’d be.

Now that the dog was taken care of, she whipped herself up an egg and cheese sandwich. After she’d downed that and some carrot sticks, she headed out the door. According to BethAnn, Autumn was in her second year at Polk State College and still lived at home. Jessica didn’t need directions. She’d dropped Prissy off at the Jenson residence dozens of times. Ever since getting her license, and even before, she’d played taxi driver when her mom had been too soused to get behind the wheel. Her underage driving had started between father number two and father number three.

When she rang the bell at the familiar ranch-style home, Autumn opened the door. “Jessie? Is that you?”

Okay, she hadn’t changed that much. Her hair was shorter, she’d dropped the extra twenty pounds that had plagued her through high school and she’d ditched the extreme makeup. But other than that…

Before she had a chance to respond, Autumn wrapped her in a spontaneous hug. When she finally released her, she looked ready to burst into tears.

“I still can’t believe it.” Her voice broke, and Jessica silently pleaded with her to hold it together. She wasn’t good with sobbing females.

“Can I come in?”

“Sure.” Autumn led her into the living room, motioned for her to sit, then took a place on the adjacent love seat.

Jessica drew in a deep breath, unsure where to begin. “You probably know Prissy and I hadn’t spoken since I left.”

Autumn nodded.

“I was angry. I had snuck out, and she squealed on me. When I crawled back through my bedroom window, Buck was waiting with his belt.” At least that was what he’d started with. He’d finished with his fists. Of her three stepdads, he’d been the meanest.

“Prissy said she didn’t want for that to happen. She felt really bad about it afterwards.”

Jessica gave her a wry smile. “I thought she lived for the thrill of getting me in trouble.”

“It was more to make herself look good. She always wanted to be the favorite.”

“I’d say she succeeded.”

“She didn’t think so.”

No, she probably hadn’t. If Prissy had thought less love for Jess would mean more love for her, she’d been wrong. Love hadn’t lived in their house, period. The Parker home had defined the word dysfunctional.

Autumn looked down at her hands clasped in her lap and lowered her voice. “Things weren’t easy for her after you left.”

Jessica almost laughed, but something in Autumn’s tone stopped her. “I can’t imagine Buck beating her to a pulp. She was too much of a goody two-shoes to get into any real trouble.”

“No, he never beat her.” She pressed her lips together. “It would have been better if he had.”

Jessica sat unmoving, a sense of foreboding trickling over her. Autumn’s words hung in the air between them, heavy with meaning, hinting at other, more horrific words she was unwilling to voice.

“What did he do to her?”

Autumn shook her head. “She made me promise not to tell.”

“He touched her, didn’t he?”

Tears pooled against her lower lashes but didn’t overflow. “After you left, he started coming into her room when your mom was passed out drunk. He said if she told anyone, he’d hurt her the same way he hurt you.”

Jessica closed her eyes, nausea gripping her. Even with all the grief Priscilla had caused her, she hadn’t deserved that. No one did. “Did she try to tell anyone? Did you tell anyone?”

“I didn’t know at the time. Prissy just told me a few months ago. She tried to tell your mom back then, but she didn’t believe her, just told her to keep her mouth shut. So Prissy didn’t think anyone else would believe her, either. Finally, she put a knife to his throat and told him if he touched her again she’d kill him in his sleep. He left a week later. She was seventeen.”

Seventeen. Four long years.

Jessica stood and strode toward the door. She needed fresh air. No, what she needed was somewhere to throw up.

She should have been there. What were a few beatings? She should have toughed it out and stayed to protect her younger sister. Instead, she’d run away and left her to endure four years of the worst kind of abuse. If Priscilla did kill herself, it was no wonder.

Or maybe she had threatened to finally tell, and Buck killed her to keep her quiet.

She stopped in the doorway and turned to face Autumn. “Do you know if she had any contact with him after that? Especially recently?”

“Not that she mentioned.”

There was one other person who might have information. “Was she getting any kind of professional help, a psychiatrist, a counselor or anything?”

“Not recently. Several months ago, she went to a psychiatrist and got a prescription for some antidepressants, but she didn’t like the way they made her feel. So she stopped taking them. After that one visit, she never went back.”

Jessica nodded. “Carolyn Platt told me Prissy was dating Hammy.”

“Yeah. They started dating last July.” She drew her brows together. “It was kind of strange, actually.”

“How so?”

“I don’t know, it just seemed one sided. He was really smitten with her. You could tell. But she was kind of flippant, like she could take him or leave him. She didn’t act like someone in love. I think she was using him more than anything.”

“How did they get along?”

“They seemed to get along fine. Except the day before she died. That night, she stopped by my house after work. She was upset, so we went for a ride.