Page 10 of August

“Mary bailed him out. She told the officer that she’d been stashing away money so that they could take a nice vacation this summer before the kids went back to school.” He cried a bit more, but not like before. “She told Linda, Richard’s wife, and Dick they should have planned for a rainy day, and they’d be out too. Poor woman. That poor family.”

They were loading up into his car on the way to the hospital when he heard from his brother, Zander. He’d just heard what had happened and wanted to make sure that Dedria and Jacklynn were all right. While telling him that he hoped they were, Locke and Demitrius called as well. Their little town was just waking up to the tragic news.

“He said it was my fault. I thought for a while that I had caused him to think that. But I didn’t. They did this—when David was younger, he had some mental health issues. He tried to kill himself once—no, twice just after Mary had their oldest. Then, with the right help and meds, he seemed to be better.” Dedria said that she had noticed that he was getting back into his old habits. “Yes, that’s right. He used to rock himself in the rocker really fast until he was given his med again. I wonder if he’s been taking them like he should have been.”

They speculated on that on the way to the hospital. They entered through the emergency department and could hear a baby crying. Milly, working the front desk, asked him if he was there to see the little girl and before he could tell her that was what they were doing, Jacklynn made her way around the desk and to the back halls. No one tried to stop her or say anything to her.

The screaming stopped, and that scared him a bit. Hurrying with Milly, they opened the door to the room to find Jacklynn holding little Joey and telling her that it was all right. That she had her now, and she’d be safe.

The baby had on a gown, the cutest little thing that he’d ever seen. The staff seemed to be worried about her, too, so they asked Jacklynn a lot of questions about her health. August was surprised at how much information she had on the child. She even knew how much she weighed at her last appointment. But not once more did Joey cry. She kept staring at Jacklynn like she had been waiting on her all day.

Shipley, his sister-in-law, was called in to take care of the bodies. But she wanted to ask Jacklynn if she was all right with her doing them. That was when Shipley started crying when she heard how young the children were. Not to mention that even their mother had been murdered. Jacklynn told her that she’d like for her to do the autopsies and asked her to not give her any information unless it was just to say how they died. She, like him, was worried that all three of them had been alive when the house caught fire.

Jacklynn handed Joey off to him when she was asked if she could identify the bodies. She told the officer that she would try, but she’d rather that someone else do it. August asked if he could do it as he knew the family as well. It would be difficult, to say the least, and he wanted to spare his wife and mother-in-law if he could. No one should have to go to identify small children, he thought.

Chapter 4

There were no services for the family but for a graveside at the interment. She thought for sure that the Marshalls, Mary’s parents, were going to take Joey back with them, but they seemed to not want anything to do with the family after they ‘murdered’ their entire family and grandsons. She did allow them to take a couple of pictures home with them that had withstood the fire. There was nothing much left the way that the house had gone up.

Joey was a good baby so far. Jack talked to her every time she had her in her arms. Mostly, it was about her as her aunt and her grandma. She also told her how much she was going to love her and take care of her. She didn’t care what others thought about her rambling. It didn’t bother August, so she was going to do it until Joey told her to stop.

“I don’t think she looks like your brother much. I only saw Mary a handful of times, so I have no opinion of that.” She told August that she looked a great deal like her mother. “That’s good then. Your brother was kind of ugly.”

She’d been able to laugh with August. He’d been keeping an eye on her since they’d been able to bring Joey home. Mom was staying with them for now. She was brokenhearted and blamed herself for what had happened until she sat down and talked to Shipley. She must have said the right things because soon after that, Mom was starting to get out of her slump about the deaths.

“Are you ready? Locke and Alex are here to babysit.” Jacklynn looked at August. She had no idea what he might be talking about. “We have an appointment with the judge concerning us being legal guardian to Joey.”

“I forgot.” She handed Joey to him, who in turn handed the baby off to Locke. For some reason, she would cry when she didn’t hold her, and it seemed as if she was terrified of the dark. Not that anyone could blame her, Shipley said she was in the shed for about four to six hours waiting to be found, and it would have scared her as well.

They were only a few minutes late when they noticed that Linda was there with her kids. Three of them were dressed in jeans and tee shirts that she thought looked out of sorts with today’s weather. It was the tenth of June. Much too warm for how they were dressed in jackets as well.

As soon as they stood up when their names were called, Linda did as well. She had a handful of papers and the kids were dragged to the front of the room as well. Handing off the paperwork, she told them that they could have them.

“Mrs. Blackman, this court hearing is for Josephine Blackman. I’m not sure what it is that you—”

“I don’t want them anymore. They’re tainted by evil blood, and I don’t want them.” The oldest, his name was Richard, too, tried to get away from his mother. That was when she saw the marks on his arms and neck. “They’re evil, and I don’t want them anymore. I don’t want her to take them, but I was an only child, and because of her, my husband is going to prison. So she takes them, or I’ll sell them off.”

“Mrs. Blackman, it’s against the law to sell off your children. Please have a seat, and we’ll get to you in a minute.” Instead of waiting, Linda slapped Richard hard enough that he hit the floor. His mouth was bloodied as well, and he was cowering away from Linda like he was terrified of her. “Mrs. Blackman, you’re going to have to—”

“Will you take them?” Both she and August said yes at the same time. “I don’t want to be associated with them anymore. You should see how people in town treat me. Like I had anything to do with David. I always heard that he was off his meds, but I didn’t know that’s what they meant for real. These kids are nothing but a burden, and you can have them. I’m not selling them to you. I know that’s against the law. But if you could give me some money so I can start someplace else, I’d be grateful toyou both.”

“Mrs. Blackman.” Completely ignoring the judge now, August asked her if she’d allow them to adopt her children. At her affirmative answer, the bailiff came around to their side of the dais and asked what was going on. With his hand on his gun, he looked about as lost as they were about what was going on.

“Yes, you can sit them out by the road if you want. I have no desire to raise somebody’s kids that was related to someone who killed off his family. I don’t want them, and I won’t kill them off, but they’ll wish for death. As surely as I’m standing here, I’m going to beat them daily until they are no longer my problem. Well, his brother was a monster. And now my husband is going to prison because he sold you the business. I don’t know all the details, but I do know that I don’t want these kids. They’re dragging me down.”

“How much do you want to start a new life?” The judge didn’t say anything more but to watch what was going on. “This is a one-time help for you, Linda. I won’t be hounded to death over this just because I’m going to be raising your children. Sir, if you’d be so kind as to bring in an attorney so we can get this settled about me giving her a fresh start, I’d appreciate it.”

The bailiff went into the hall and literally dragged in an attorney. Once he was in the room and explained to what was going on, the judge told him that he was behind him and nothing would come back on him. There wasn’t a thing about this that was legal, she was sure, but she also didn’t want to see her nephews sold off to some stranger because the townspeople had been giving their mother a hard time.

The attorney kept asking Linda if she was sure that she wanted to do this. Each time, her answer was a little more vocal about being yes. She not only didn’t want them but said at one point that she wished she had the balls that David had to do the same thing. Christ, this was a nightmare. After the handwritten paperwork was sent out to be finalized, August asked the attorney, Jimmy Scott, what he owed him. He told them that he just wanted to be out of there when she realized what she’d done.

“I know what I’m doing. I’m getting rid of my brats.” As soon as the contract came back, another attorney with it, Linda signed off on it, as did the judge as a witness, and she and August signed off on it as well. “Now, you give me some money, and I won’t be bothering you again.” She was, of course, arrested and taken away. The judge looked at the two of them.

“I know that we got her signature on that paperwork saying that she was going to be selling her children to you. I thank you for playing along, Mr. and Mrs. Erickson. But I don’t want to separate these little ones, and that’s what will happen if they’re put into the system. Can this court depend on you to—”

“I wasn’t joking, your honor. We’ll raise them along with their cousin so that they can have a healthy upbringing.” She looked at August when he nodded, she looked at her family. “It’s going to be different than what you had with your parents. I won’t put up with your shenanigans like she did.”

Richard looked at his brothers and then back at her. She could see the fear in his eyes and wanted to tell him that everything would be perfect. That they’d be in a good home the way that they’d been before, but she knew that he had something to say.