Page 90 of A River of Crows

“Then how do you—”

She told her teacher,” Caroline interrupted.

Ridge’s chin quivered. “Then why doesn’t Mrs. Evans tell the police?”

“She doesn’t believe your sister. She told me to speak to Sloan about telling lies. Your dad is a very influential man, Ridge. That’s why Mrs. Evans won’t believe Sloan. Why no one will believe us.”

Caroline’s mouth felt suddenly dry. She stood and filled up a glass of water. This was nothing to lie about, but she had to bring out the brother crow in him somehow.

“I need your help, Ridge. She finally said. Sloan needs your help.” Caroline took his tiny hands in hers. “Remember that crows don’t fly away when they grow up like other birds; they care for their siblings. Sloan needs you to take care of her. But you can’t tell her we know. Do you understand that this is our secret?”

“Yes.” Ridge’s voice was loud, resolute. “What do I do?”

After Caroline explained the plan to Ridge, she realized she was past the point of no return. Looking into his scared and sad eyes for a moment, she almost told him to forget all about it. But of course, he could not have forgotten, just as she could never forget what Jay had done to her. Just as a crow never forgot the face of who wronged them.

When all was said and done, Ridge only had one question, one small objection. “But I thought crow families were forever. Isn’t Dad part of our nest too?”

“No,” Caroline had told him. “He’s a part of somebody else’s. I’ll explain all that to you later.”

On the eve of the camping trip, Caroline was unable to sleep. She’d managed one last time to avoid Jay’s advances. Between his erratic schedule and a few well-constructed excuses, October had been mostly sexless. She had given in a few times. No need for Jay to suspect anything. Not when it was so easy to close her eyes and imagine another man’s face.

“Tomorrow,” she’d promised him right before he had fallen asleep tonight. “I’m exhausted.”

Caroline watched the rise and fall of Jay’s chest as he snored. Looked at his disheveled blonde hair that hadn’t yet thinned. She tried to remember how much she loved him thirteen years ago, how much she loved him six weeks ago. If her plan were successful, that man she loved would go to prison. He would leave behind two women and five children. But then she remembered how it had felt to watch him kiss another woman and scoop up another little girl in his arms. She didn’t know Jay Hadfield at all. The man she had loved had never even existed. The thought was black enough to make her consider picking up her pillow and smothering him right then and there.

Caroline realized there were less permanent ways to exact revenge than what would happen tomorrow. Ideas had swirled in her head like tornado debris during those early days. She could take a crowbar to his truck or a baseball bat to Anna Hadfield’s windows. She could record her and Jay having sex and leave the VHS in Anna’s mailbox. She could sleep with Frank Brewer. Or she could simply show up at Jay and Anna’s doorstep and enjoy watching the horror and panic overtake him. She fantasized most about that. What would he say? What would he do?

But no matter what came out of that meeting, whether he passed out, sobbed on his knees, or pissed his pants, it wouldn’t be enough. It wouldn’t last long enough. Their relationship had been his long con, and now, it was time for hers.

She climbed out of bed and walked across the hall to Sloan and Ridge’s room. She knelt beside Ridge’s bed and stroked his sweat-soaked hair. “I’m sorry, baby boy,” she whispered. “Sorry I lied to you, but someday you’ll understand.”

She must have been louder than she intended because Ridge opened his eyes. “Mom?”

“Sorry to wake you.” Caroline kissed his forehead and stood. “Go back to sleep.”

Ridge sat up. “I’m nervous about tomorrow.”

Caroline turned to make sure Sloan was still sleeping, then knelt beside Ridge again. “It will be okay. Remember the plan.”

“Blue thermos,” Ridge said. “I only drink from the blue thermos.”

“That’s right,” Caroline whispered. “Dad has two. One is green, and one is red. Green is water, and red is sweet tea. You keep the sweet tea in your little cooler and give it to him around 3:30. He won’t turn down sweet tea. The medicine will make him tired right away. He may act silly and out of it for a bit, but soon enough, he’ll fall asleep. And what are you going to be doing while he sleeps?”

“Playing in the mud,” Ridge whispered. “Only that’s not really what I’m doing.”

Caroline nodded. To anyone watching, he would look like a boy playing in the mud, but Ridge was really building the crime scene, a scene of struggle.

“I slide around in the mud, cut myself a little with my pocketknife, make sure blood is in lots of places.”

“But not too deep.” Caroline paused. This was like an out-of-body experience. She was telling Ridge to cut himself with his pocketknife. A pocketknife she’d argued he was too young to have.

“Not too deep,” he repeated. “Make sure the bleeding stops.”

“Right. There’s a band-aid in your bag. Don’t leave the trash on the ground. What else do you leave there? In the mud?”

Ridge pointed to his hair.

“That’s right. And when no one is watching, you need to scratch your daddy’s arms a few times, or even his face. Take his hand and scratch yourself too. That way, they will find skin under his nails.”

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