Page 7 of The Women of Wild Hill
“I know you’re here, Kayleigh!” Curtis shouted from the front yard. “Your goddamned car is parked outside.”
“If he finds me, he’ll kill me,” Kayleigh whispered.
“Then stay here,” Phoebe ordered as she made her way to the door.
“He carries a gun on him,” Kayleigh warned her. “He’ll shoot you.”
“Not today,” Phoebe assured her. For once, she had a taste of her sister’s power. “That wasn’t the message the pig brought me.”
THE MAN SHE MET ONthe front lawn of the homestead was the spitting image of the douchebag she’d pictured, with the bright red face of a squalling infant. “Hi there,” she said with a smile. “May I help you?”
He didn’t answer at first. He seemed thrown to find himself faced with a woman who wasn’t intimidated. It took him a moment to camouflage his own fear with disgust.
“What the hell are you?” Curtis sneered. “Go get your boss.”
“I’m the owner of this property,” Phoebe replied.
“Well then, you know why I’m here. Tell my wife to come out.”
“Who?” Phoebe enjoyed seeing his face turn a deeper shade of red and wondered if he was going to spare her some trouble and expire from a heart attack.
“My goddamned wife!” he shouted. “Kayleigh, if you did something to harm a baby, there’s gonna be hell to pay!” Then he turned back to Phoebe. “And you. I won’t rest until you’re locked up for ninety-nine years.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Phoebe said.
“That’s my wife’s car right there!”
“Is it?”
“Goddammit, I’ll just go in and find her myself.”
Phoebe laughed. “The hell you will. You’re on my property, and I’m asking you to leave before I have to make you.”
He reached around to a holster, and Phoebe saw the gleam of metal as he swung the gun around to face her. Then he disappeared in a blur, and she heard a brief scream just before the gun went off. When the dust settled, the only parts of Curtis that remained visible lay south of his gut. The rest of him was buried under four hundred pounds of hog, with his face wedged right in the pig’s ass.
Phoebe took out her phone and dialed Ed. “You better get back over here,” she said. Then she stepped forward, avoiding Curtis’s boots, which were digging channels in the dirt, and addressed the pig.
“Good work,” she told the animal. “I’d give you a scratch but it wouldn’t look right on camera. But do me a favor and ease up just a little? This isn’t really our call. We should let his wife decide what she wants to do with him.”
Petunia snorted as though she wasn’t convinced the man should be spared. She directed a second angry grunt at Kayleigh, who’d just stepped outside.
“Well?” Phoebe asked Kayleigh. “My security cameras caught everything on tape. They don’t record audio, though. So I can ask the pig to get up—or we can leave her just the way she is. You know what will happen if she stays put. I’m aware you’re a God-fearing woman, so I want to make sure—”
“Leave the pig where she’s at.” Now that the tables had turned, Kayleigh’s face showed no sign of terror.
“Well then, you heard the lady,” Phoebe told the pig.
Petunia let her full weight down on Curtis’s head. The muffled cries were instantly silenced and his feet stopped clawing the ground.
“You go now,” Phoebe ordered Kayleigh. “I’ll stay here and deal with the authorities.”
Phoebe waited until the car was speeding down the drive before she turned her attention back to the hog. “Don’t get me wrong, Petunia, I’m very grateful. But I’m still not gonna be scheduling any family reunions.”
Petunia snorted once in disgust and rose to her feet. Her two babies scrambled out from under the porch to join her as she trotted off toward the creek and into the sea of bluebells. Curtis lay spread-eagle on the river rock path, eyes staring up at the gathering clouds, his blue face covered in hog shit and black bristles. Phoebe crouched over him and laid two fingers on his jugular, even though he looked dead as hell. She felt no pulse. Still, she’d watched too many horror films to feel comfortable with a gun on the ground so close to his hand. Phoebe used the hem of her dress to pick up the weapon and transport it to the porch.
She was sitting on the steps, watching the body, when Ed arrived in his Jeep. Just the sight of him set her at ease. She’d never fancied any man but Ed, and she knew for a fact she never would. The winds had picked up and he held the brim of his hat with two fingers as he made his way to the house.
“The sky’s been looking awful mean,” Phoebe noted.
