The Hunted Girls by Jenna Kernan (best book club books for discussion txt) 📕

“Why should I?”

And she had her answer. Arleen and she were solid adversaries. The only way she got information was by paying for it.

“They ID the other body?” asked Arleen.

“You know who it is.” Nadine suddenly felt exhausted.

Meanwhile, Arleen looked energized. Her eyes sparkled. Even her posture had changed.

“They’re going to come at me for this one. Blame it on the ex-wife. Figures.” Rather than seeming upset, Arleen revved up. “They want me to plead, they’ll have to make me a sweet deal. Keep that hypodermic needle and shove it up their own ass.”

Arleen had been unsuccessfully attempting to negotiate a reduced sentence from lethal injection to life imprisonment for years. Nadine realized that the state’s desire to close this new cold case might be an opportunity for both Arlo and Arleen. The idea sickened her. She often wondered how much better her life would be after her mother’s departure from this world. It made her a terrible daughter. But perhaps a good person.

“How’d they know it’s him?”

“I don’t know. But they’ve asked me for a DNA sample.”

Arleen’s eyes widened. She looked suddenly worried. “Don’t they got Arlo’s DNA on file?”

“I suppose. Either way. No difference. Right?”

Arleen’s eyes narrowed as she tried to gauge what Nadine knew against what she was prepared to tell her.

If they didn’t use Arlo’s DNA but Nadine’s, there would be no match. And Arleen’s hopes for a deal would dissolve like ice on a hot sidewalk.

Finally Arleen shrugged. “Right. No difference.”

And there was that smirk again. Duping delight at her daughter’s expense. She would not be asking her most pressing question because Arleen had no intention of revealing the identity of her real father.

“You have anything else to tell me about this?” asked Nadine, giving her mother one last chance.

“You want answers? You can buy a copy of my book ’cause I just added a chapter.”

Nadine rose and left, pursued by her mother’s laughter.

Two hours after arrival, she had cleared security at Lowell Federal Institution and drove her new shadow to Lawtey, to visit Arlo. They stopped only to grab some takeout, which Nadine now regretted as the fast food roiled in her stomach like the contents of an Amish butter churn.

She reached the visiting area with her gloom continuing to cling like wet clothing. Her companion stood with the three guards in the observation office, behind the shatterproof window, her steady gaze on Nadine, who headed inside and sat, glancing from the cracked concrete floor to the greenish cinder-block walls, waiting for Arlo. Many of the inmates sat at the other round tables, already chatting with their guests. Several of the tables had checkerboards printed on the laminated surface. She wondered if there were any checkers. She knew only that she had never seen any.

Beyond the guard booth, a bank of seven payphones waited. These were the sort that used credit cards rather than money. Above the seating area an L-shaped catwalk hung. Armed guards stood along the metal railings staring down on them like expectant vultures.

Her mood improved only at seeing Arlo. He grinned and threw open his arms. They were permitted a three-second hug.

Arlo stepped back, beaming. “There she is!”

He motioned her to an empty table she’d already claimed, and they sat in adjacent seats rather than on opposite sides as her mother and she always did.

“You look well.”

“Yeah. Feel good. Working out and waiting to hear from my lawyer. He thinks I got a reasonable shot at early release.”

Nadine felt guilty bringing Arlo more troubles. He certainly deserved some good news.

“You were out in the forest recently,” she said.

“Yeah. Sure was. They wouldn’t let me contact you. Obvious reasons, I guess. Wouldn’t want me escaping into the woods.” He laughed at that. “I think I was pretty close to wherever she buried Dad. She used to stop on that damned circle all the freakin’ time. Smoke and talk about Dad, what a piece of shit he was and how we were all better off without him.”

“They found him, Arlo. Thanks to you.”

Elation lifted his features. “They did? My attorney didn’t tell me.”

“Not public yet.”

“This is good news, only…”

Was it now occurring to him that he’d been right? That their father was really gone and was never coming back?

“You wish you were wrong?”

“I guess I hoped that he was out there and just smart enough to get clear of our mom. Always wished he’d come back for us when he got settled. Stupid.”

“It isn’t. I used to want the same thing.”

They shared a long silent stare and the sorrow at being right. Finally Arlo let his head hang. She waited for him to digest the bitter pill she’d given him. It didn’t take long. Arlo was strong that way. When he lifted his head, his eyes were misty.

“So Dad never ran off. He’s been here all along.”

“Yes,” she said. “They made a positive ID.”

“My lawyer said if we can show a murder, my testimony against Mom can be leveraged for my release.”

“Mom’s planning to use a confession to the crimes in exchange for a sentence change to life in prison.”

“How does she know?” he asked.

“I told her today.”

“Well, shit.” Arlo thought about that for a while. “She’s free to try. We all do what we gotta. Where was he?”

Nadine told him all about it. About her visit to the grave site and what she had seen. When she finished, Arlo was scowling.

“What?” she asked.

“Spill,” he said, gesturing with his fingers for her to hand over whatever was troubling her.

Her big brother might be a danger to society, but he had always had her back.

She told him everything. About the DNA match to him, the identity of the other body, that Dennis Howler was murdered with a blow to the head. He listened as she babbled on, a tumbling brook of information, about the soil and second body and green sandal, finishing with the news that he and she had different fathers. Dennis Howler was not hers.

He took