Chapters (97)
- Cover
- Back Cover Text
- Praise
- Booklist
- Dedication
- Epigraph
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-One
- Twenty-Two
- Twenty-Three
- Twenty-Four
- Twenty-Five
- Twenty-Six
- Twenty-Seven
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Thirty-Two
- Thirty-Three
- Thirty-Four
- Thirty-Five
- Thirty-Six
- Thirty-Seven
- Thirty-Eight
- Thirty-Nine
- Forty
- Forty-One
- Forty-Two
- Forty-Three
- Forty-Four
- Forty-Five
- Forty-Six
- Forty-Seven
- Forty-Eight
- Forty-Nine
- Fifty
- Fifty-One
- Fifty-Two
- Fifty-Three
- Fifty-Four
- Fifty-Five
- Fifty-Six
- Fifty-Seven
- Fifty-Eight
- Fifty-Nine
- Sixty
- Sixty-One
- Sixty-Two
- Sixty-Three
- Sixty-Four
- Sixty-Five
- Sixty-Six
- Sixty-Seven
- Sixty-Eight
- Sixty-Nine
- Seventy
- Seventy-One
- Seventy-Two
- Seventy-Three
- Seventy-Four
- Seventy-Five
- Seventy-Six
- Seventy-Seven
- Seventy-Eight
- Seventy-Nine
- Eighty
- Eighty-One
- Eighty-Two
- Eighty-Three
- Eighty-Four
- Eighty-Five
- Eighty-Six
- Eighty-Seven
- Eighty-Eight
- Eighty-Nine
- Acknowledgments & A Personal Note
- Excerpt
She’d bonded with her sisters.
And they’d sealed their bond forever with their prayer and blood pact.
As the bus wheels hummed on the asphalt, images from that night on Old Pioneer Road burned through her and suddenly…
I’m awash with blood, so much blood, warm blood, hot blood and the screaming…
But no one was supposed to tell.
We were protected by the pact, with undying loyalty.
But I was betrayed.
The truth of what happened that night was rising. Ghosts were coming for her, forcing Lucy to clench her eyes.
The time has come for me to set things right.
Between sleeping and the rest stops, she devoured the material Devin had obtained for her, enough for what she’d needed. She’d read through it so many times, she’d almost committed it to memory. And what she read deepened her anger. The information fed her plan, and her plan had options, depending on how reality unfolded when she confronted it.
Lucy was ready, ready to end the pain that was her life and collect what she was rightfully owed.
With each mile her rage grew.
Again and again, Lucy changed buses—in Atlanta, New Orleans and finally in Shreveport.
Her westbound bus left Louisiana to cut through the swamps, creek beds and deep pine-woods of East Texas before she got off in Lufkin.
She went to The Splendid Rest Motor Inn, which charged thirty-five dollars a night.
“We also offer hourly rates, if you like.” The clerk winked. “The pool’s just been repaired. We got a Long John Silver’s, Popeyes and McDonald’s down the street.”
Lucy hefted her canvas bag over her shoulder, stepped from the office, passed the ice and vending machines, made her way to room 12. It smelled of disinfectant, had a fridge, TV, microwave and a crack in one wall from the floor to the ceiling. She dropped her bag on the bed, pulled out a few items, walked to McDonald’s, ate a Big Mac, then called for a cab.
The cab took her to the edge of town. Lucy paid the driver. He grunted at the meager tip.
She turned to the sign that greeted her, its letters weakened by weather, time and neglect.
Welcome
The Irma Mae Anson Mobile Home Community
Walking along the potholed dirt road she surveyed the trailers, run-down with peeling paint and loose siding that flapped in the breeze. Some had older cars, or eviscerated pickup trucks resting on cinder blocks out front.
She turned her head at the yip of dogs, three of them battling over trash strewn across the roadway, gnawing on bones. One of them stopped to assess Lucy, stiffening, preparing for battle if she was deemed a threat. She found a broken broom handle with a spear-like tip, ready to draw blood if she had to, until she passed unchallenged.