He felt bad about committing Patty, but he hadn’t really had a choice, and thinking about what had happened to her made Brad feel more depressed than he’d ever been in his life. Her appearance when they’d come home last night had been truly shocking, and for a brief fraction of a second, he’d thought that it wasn’t her. But that fantasy had died instantly, and he’d rushed the girls out of the house and back into the car before returning to call Vern at the station. He kept his eye on Patty to make sure she didn’t try to leave as he described to Vern what had happened, asking the deputy to hurry over, explaining that he was going to leave with the girls once Vern arrived. He didn’t want them to see their mother cuffed and taken away.

Patty was still talking to the dummies made up to look like their children. The slashes that covered her face—made no doubt with the knife embedded in his effigy—were superficial enough that they had stopped bleeding, but the dried streaks and crisscrossing cuts were so dense and overwhelming that they made her look like a completely different person.

A monster.

How had it come to this? What had happened to her? Had she always been unstable and he just hadn’t noticed or had something—

the bank

—occurred that had pushed her over the edge and caused her to unravel?

She kissed the top of the Sue dummy.

Vern arrived quickly, and Brad reiterated the plan, telling the deputy to remain in the house with Patty until he and the girls were gone. He’d call as soon as he could.

They spent the night at the town’s only motel, the rundown Montgomery Motor Inn. He’d had enough sense to bring extra clothing for all of them, but he’d forgotten some of the small things like toothbrushes, and after they checked in, he drove them over to Wal-Mart, calling Vern while the girls were distracted to make sure Patty was safely at the hospital where she couldn’t harm herself. He told Vern that he would call the hospital later and look in on her in the morning but his priority right now was his kids.

After a nearly sleepless night on one of the most uncomfortable beds he’d ever lain on, he took Jillian and Sue out for breakfast at Burger King. None of them had mentioned what they’d seen last night, but before she exited the car, Sue asked, “Can we sleep at home tonight? I like home better.”

Tellingly, she did not mention her mother, and, his heart aching for both girls, he said, “I have something better planned,” although her question made him realize he was going to have to clean up that horrific tableaux in the living room.