The Black Widow

“You’re disgusting. You know that, don’t you? Mama should have put you in a sack and drowned you in the river when you were born.”

J.C. chuckled, then took another draw on his cigarette. “Sugar, you’re the one who should have been put down like a rabid dog. You’re nothing but a burden on Mama and on Jordan.” He placed his cigarette in the ashtray on the side table. “Poor, pitiful, little Tammy.”

She came at him with teeth bared and claws out, lunging on top of him like the wild creature she was. She managed to rake his cheek with her fingernails before he manacled both of her wrists and forced her to her knees.

“You’re hurting me,” Tammy cried.

He increased the pressure, making her scream for mercy.

“Johnny Cash Harris, what the hell do you think you’re doing?” Roselynne yelled as she came through the door. “For pity’s sake, let her go.”

He loosened his tight hold, but didn’t release his sister. “She’s gone loco again. If I hadn’t grabbed her, she’d have done worse than scratch my face. She’s crazy and it’s time you put her away someplace where she can’t kill anybody else.”

Roselynne stomped toward them, hellfire and damnation in her eyes. J.C. jerked Tammy to her feet as he stood and then he shoved her toward their mother. Tammy went running into Roselynne’s open arms.

Soothing her child with comforting strokes, she murmured endearments. “Now, go to the bathroom and wash your face while I talk to J.C.”

“Yes, Mama,” Tammy said, meek as a lamb.

J.C. had never understood how their mother could so easily control Tammy with a few words and a tender touch. The only other person who came close to controlling his crazy little sister was Jordan. But Jordan had a way with people in general, not just Tammy.

As soon as Tammy disappeared into the bathroom, their mother turned on him. “Damn it, boy, what am I going to do with you? Manhandling your sister is not allowed. How many times do I have to tell you? And as for the other, about her killing somebody—I don’t want to hear you spouting off such nonsense ever again. You hear me?”

“It’s not nonsense and you know it. Don’t tell me that it hasn’t crossed your mind that Tammy might have killed Dan.”

“Shut your mouth! Nobody’s proved that Dan didn’t kill himself.”

“Ryan Price thinks Dan was murdered. And so does that Powell agent who’s snooping around.”

“Everybody’s got a right to their opinion. Just because Ryan can’t accept the fact that Dan committed suicide doesn’t mean he didn’t do it. And Rick Carson is being paid to be suspicious, to snoop around and find out what’s what.”

J.C. laughed. “I’d like to be a fly on the wall when he unearths the truth about Dan and Jordan’s marriage.”

“Whatever he finds out, he’ll keep to himself. It’s a rule of some kind that private eyes have.”

“Aren’t you the least bit curious about the baby?” J.C. asked. “It’s kind of difficult for a woman to get pregnant if her husband isn’t screwing her.”

“I don’t want to hear anymore talk like that either. The baby Jordan is carrying is Dan Price’s kid, Dan’s heir. You got that?”

J.C. winked at his mother. “Yeah, I got it. And if she gets more of Dan’s money for that kid, then it’ll mean more for all of us, right?”

“You’re a greedy, ungrateful—”

“I just tell it like I see it.” He narrowed his gaze and studied his mother for a couple of seconds. “You didn’t by any chance know, before Dan killed himself, that he had Alzheimer’s, did you, Ma?”

J.C. was creating problems they didn’t need. She’d probably have to deal with him sooner rather than later. The very thought of disposing of him was abhorrent to her since he was part of the family. She had put up with his bad behavior, excused his misdeeds, and refrained from killing him because he had not posed a real threat to them. Not until now. He had become a liability. Even before she’d killed Dan, she had known it was only a matter of time before J.C. would have to be eliminated. His actions were hurting them more and more all the time. She couldn’t allow him to continue upsetting them, not with a baby on the way. Nothing and no one was more important than their child.

She would simply have to wait for the right moment and then strike. And it had to look like an accident. If only she could have found a way to have made Dan’s death look accidental instead of like suicide, as she had some of the other deaths.

Killing J.C. immediately was out of the question. First of all, she never eliminated someone without reason and that required her to consider all sides of a situation. Once she had made her decision, as she had with J.C., she formulated a plan. That took time, days, even weeks. She couldn’t do anything to bring suspicion on herself, especially this soon after Dan’s death. And she certainly couldn’t take any undue chances with a private detective living here at Price Manor.

But when the time was right, she would remove J.C. from their lives, just as she had removed all the others who had betrayed them, either intentionally or simply by an act of fate.

Jordan waved goodbye to Kendra and Wes as they drove away. As much as she would have loved having them here until Sunday, sending them off today had been the right decision. She couldn’t risk what might happen if they stayed and Kendra disobeyed her and encouraged J.C.’s attention. Her stepbrother couldn’t be trusted around any woman who appealed to him, and young, inexperienced girls like Kendra appealed to him greatly. She remembered all too well how he’d come on to her more than once when she’d been in her teens. For years, she was able to fend him off without any real harm done, but eventually, she’d had to go to Roselynne. She never knew what her stepmother had said or done, but whatever it had been, Jordan had never had to fight off J.C. again.

“We’ll miss them, won’t we?” Darlene came up beside Jordan so quietly that Jordan jumped.

“Oh, dear, I didn’t mean to startle you. I’m so sorry.”

She smiled at Darlene. “It’s okay. I guess I’m a little edgy this afternoon.” She draped her arm through Darlene’s and smiled. “Yes, we will miss them, but sending them back to school will save us from having any more problems for the time being.”

“You should send J.C. packing,” Darlene said. “That man…” She sighed. “I hate to speak ill of anyone, but J.C. is nothing but trouble.”

“I know, but we’ll give Roselynne a chance to deal with him first and if that doesn’t work, I’ll ask him to leave. He’s stayed longer than he usually does when he visits. I really didn’t expect him to stay this long.”

“He’s waiting for the will to be read, hoping when you come into your inheritance, you’ll be generous with him and Roselynne and Tammy.”

“I suppose you’re right about his reasons for staying. Maybe I should tell him that although I’ll take care of Roselynne and Tammy, I’ve washed my hands of him. He won’t have any more luck getting money from me than he did getting it from Dan.”

“I…uh…really shouldn’t say this, but…well, have you ever considered the possibility that J.C. killed Dan?”

“Let’s walk.” Jordan tugged gently on Darlene’s arm.

Darlene nodded agreement and the two women strolled down the long drive that led from the house to the county road half a mile away.

“Are you upset with me for—?” Darlene asked.

“No, of course not,” Jordan replied. “It had never entered my mind that J.C. might have killed Dan. But you’re the second person today who has suggested that J.C. could be a murderer.”

“Was Wesley the other person?”

“Yes.”

“Wesley is a very bright boy. I know that Roselynne and her children are family, but if it turns out that Dan was murdered, I think Mr. Carson and the sheriff should look to those three first. I’ve seen Tammy throw some hysterical hissy fits over the years. There’s no telling what she might do. And Roselynne…well, if there’s any money involved…”

“Mr. Carson suspects that I might have killed Dan,” Jordan said.

Darlene gasped. “That’s the most preposterous thing I’ve ever heard.”

“No, it isn’t. Not really. When you look at the facts, that my fiancé, my first husband and now my second husband have all met untimely deaths—”

“Robby Joe’s death was an accident, a tragic accident that almost destroyed us. How could anyone think that you killed him when you loved him with all your heart?”

Jordan stopped, took both of Darlene’s hands into hers and smiled warmly at Robby Joe’s mother, a woman who was as dear to her as anyone on earth.

“Robby Joe was the love of my life.” Jordan kept her smile in place even though she wanted to cry. She had to stay strong, for Darlene’s sake as well as her own.

“If the baby is a boy, I wish you could name him Robby Joe, but I know that’s out of the question.” Darlene laid her open palm over Jordan’s flat belly.