The Devil To Pay (Hennessey.) (80 page)

The sheriff gave her a look of contempt mixed with anger, ‘your friend Hennessey better hope so, Miss. Faraday.’

Adela looked away and her head bowed she left the hospital. They had brought Dean to
Gulfport, which was the nearest hospital to Eden, and she had to walk sometime before she saw a taxi coming down the street towards her.

She must have looked upset because he asked her if she was all right. She wanted to tell him that no, she wasn’t, she was very far from all right, instead she said she was fine and thanked him for his concern then sat back in the seat and closed her eyes. It was not a long journey back to
Eden and Adela wished it was longer, much longer. She didn’t want to go back; she didn’t want to have to see the expressions of accusation and disgust she would surely see on the faces of the townsfolk.

She would get back to the cabin pack her things and leave as soon as she had rested. She really wanted to leave right away but she was in no fit state to travel any distance and
Georgia was quite some distance from Mississippi and she really needed to be fit for the journey. She seriously debated leaving the country all together and going home, but she knew she was too tired to make that judgement right now, she would leave it until she felt a little better, if she ever did.

She asked the taxi driver to drop her as near to the woods as possible which he did. She paid him giving him a generous tip for which he thanked her most enthusiastically.

She prayed that she would not run into the Carters or anyone else, she just couldn’t face them, not right now. Not only because of what had occurred at the Gazebo but because they would have heard by now what had happened to Dean. She could hear them now, relaying what had happened in Silver Run and saying that they knew Sterling Hennessey was trouble. And Annie Bloom adding her twopenneth, telling everyone who would listen…that being just about everyone in Eden…she had told Adela that Hennessey was dangerous, and how right she had been, but not in the way Annie had envisaged.

This time however, luck was not on her side and she did see the Carters just as she rounded the trees beside her cabin. She stopped dead as did they and they all looked at one another, Adela with embarrassment and shame and the Carters with accusation and dislike.

Adela walked towards them on shaky legs and stopped a few yards away from them. The boys stared at her with curiosity; it was obvious their parents had talked about her in their presence. Angela said, ‘go and play boys.’

To Adela's surprise, although they looked disappointed, they did her biding instantly.

The adults stood looking at each other until Adela could stand it no longer and said, ‘there’s no need for me to ask if you’ve heard what’s happened.’

Angela said abruptly, ‘we heard, although we can’t say we’re surprised.’

Although Adela felt guilty she couldn’t help the annoyance that grew in her at Angela’s words. After all, Hennessey had only been rude to them he had not been violent, and they had not been there in Dean’s shop as she had been. They had no right to jump to conclusions and to judge him. But she kept a check on her anger and said, ‘Dean is going to have tests on his back.’

Paul said, ‘yes we know, Sheriff Taylor called us.’

Adela said, ‘oh.’ And thought, so
that’s
how they knew.

Angela her voice dripping with disdain said, ‘I took you for a smart woman, Adela, too smart to get mixed up with the likes of that thug.’

‘Thug?’

‘Yes, you know what a thug is.’

Adela sighed and turned to walk away not wanting to get into an argument now, she was much too tired.

Angela’s voice stopped her, ‘do you not take any responsibility for what happened, Adela.’

She turned swiftly back but couldn’t look them in the eyes. She said quietly, ‘I did what I could for Dean. I stopped Sterling. I called the ambulance; I stayed with Dean all night.’

‘And you think that makes it all right?’ Angela barked.

Adela was exhausted and drained and dreadfully depressed and Angela was goading her. She felt the anger growing in her and she couldn’t help it she turned on Angela and said coldly, ‘no, no it doesn’t make it all right, but neither does it give you the right to judge me, or Sterling Hennessey either. You don’t know him; you don’t know what happened you don’t know anything about it. You’re judging him by what happened in the gazebo, when in fact you should be judging
yourself
, you acted inappropriately and he acted accordingly. So take a good look at yourself before slandering others, before turning on others.’

She turned to go leaving them opened mouthed, but couldn’t resist turning back and saying, ‘you know, Angela, gossip has a way of coming back and biting you in the arse.’

CHAPTER 27.

           Adela had expected Angela to hurl abuse at her so was amazed when there was no response to her comments. Maybe she had been too shocked to think of a suitable comeback for which Adela was grateful, she did not want to get into a slanging match with the Carters, or anyone else right now.

She didn’t know why she had defended Sterling Hennessey to Angela, only this horror and abhorrence she had for gossip and rumour could explain it, that’s what she told herself anyway.

She entered the cabin to be met by a horrible smell of burning. She stood for a moment trying to figure out where it was coming from, then dashed to the kitchen and switched off the oven she had put on hours before. She did not have to look in the oven to know what the beef would look like now.

She leaned on the cooker not even noticing how hot it was, just staring blindly down at the saucepans full of the vegetables she had prepared earlier. She felt her throat tighten and her eyes began to sting. She blinked rapidly and to distract herself looked at her watch and realised it was now 9.30 a.m. She had been awake for more than a day, a day in which so much had happened, a day that had began with so much promise, a day which had ended in violence and horror and fear.

She pulled away from the cooker and went into the bathroom where she stripped off her blooded clothes, Dean’s blood, blood Hennessey had spilled. She pushed everything except the raincoat into an old shopping bag and threw it in a corner, later she would throw them away. She pulled off her beads and watch and turned on the shower at full pressure hoping the water would blast away the memories and the guilt as well as the blood. It didn’t of course.

She stayed under the water until it began to turn cool but even so she still felt dirty, she wondered if she would ever feel completely clean again.

Through the open shower curtain she could see her pyjamas lying on the chair, the same ones she had worn the night Hennessey had stayed. The night he had made love to her. The night he had taken her to a place she had hitherto never known existed, except in books. The night he had beaten two men and nearly choked another to death.

She knew now why he has not had sexual intercourse with her, he couldn’t bring himself to get that intimate with her, he had not found her attractive or sexy enough. She cringed when she thought what it must have cost him to touch her.  And all he'd wanted was to con her out of her money, maybe even steal it.

She stared at the garments until they became a blur until everything became a blur and she sank down onto the tiled floor of the shower her mouth open as if trying to catch her breath. Then a sound so awful, so heart wrenching and so pitiful issued from her, it was like the cry of an animal in pain and she wept as if her heart would break, which she hoped it would, then she would never have to feel anything ever again, and right at this moment she would welcome that. She stayed crouched on the floor of the shower until the water ran cold but still she did not move.

Hennessey had ditched the car and picked up his alternative vehicle, his getaway car, which he had had hidden in a nearby parking lot. He wasn’t one of those men that cared about cars. No, a car was a car, something that took you where you wanted to go and that was that, especially if it didn’t belong to him. But he had to admit to a small twinge as he pushed it into the swamp and watched it disappear beneath the slime; it had been a nice ride, comfortable and stylish. Shame.

As he drove her last words to him kept ringing in his ears, “Sterling Hennessey, you coward.” He didn’t blame her for that, to her that was what he had acted like, a coward. Of course she didn’t know that he couldn’t afford to be questioned by that stupid hick town sheriff and his dumb deputies, or worse still, detectives. They would ask uncomfortable questions, and not just about Maxwell. They would have searched his room by now, not that they would find anything of interest, except his fingerprints, which would avail them nothing. So he had reverted to the fight or flight scenario, he had done the former and now it was time to do the latter, for now anyway.

He was now in Biloxi at the CC club sitting with a coffee in his hands and listening to Carson extol the virtues of Brazil and Switzerland. He was saying, ‘one is very hot the other cold of course, but both have no extradition treaty with the U.S, you’ll be safe in either country.’

Hennessey smiled, ‘as usual your ideas are sound,
Carson, but I’m not leaving the country, nor even the state, not yet, I have still have a contract to fulfil.’

Carson
almost fell from his leather upholstered, very comfortable chair. ‘What? You can’t mean you’re still going to see this thing through?’

‘Of course.’

‘But they’ll be looking for you, they’re probably even on their way here now. She’s bound to have told them about the incident with those three assholes the other night. I’ll cover for you of course, but it’s only a matter of time before they track you down, Sterling.’

Hennessey smiled again, ‘thanks,
Carson I appreciate that, but she won’t tell.’

Carson
looked incredulous, ‘and what makes you so sure?’

Hennessey shrugged, ‘I just am.’ He raised his right leg and put it over left thigh and sat back looking very relaxed and unconcerned. ‘I know how her mind works, she won’t want anyone to know about that, she’ll be too embarrassed.’

Carson said, ‘embarrassment will mean nothing once the cops get hold of her and bring on the heavy stuff, she won’t be able to hold out.’

‘She will, she’s tougher than she looks.’

‘But…

Hennessey cut him off no longer smiling, ‘look,
Carson, I haven’t really come here to discuss this. I never meant to involve you any of it, the less you know the less you can tell the cops if they do come calling.’

Carson
sighed heavily, ‘you know that guy you almost choked to death is awake. He hasn’t talked yet, obviously he don’t want anyone to know why he got his ass kicked. But that might change if enough pressure is put on him, then they’ll come looking for you.’

‘I’m not worried about the cops.’

‘It’s not the cops I’m worried about, Sterling. If he’s connected they won’t rest until you’re six feet under.’

‘You worry too much,
Carson.’

‘If I don’t worry about you who will?’

Hennessey grinned, ‘it gives me a warm glow inside when you talk like that, old buddy.’

Carson
gave him an exasperated look then he too grinned then said, ‘so what do you need, not money?’

‘No, nothing, I just…I just wanted to say goodbye is all. When this is over I won’t see you again, you understand?’

Carson looked down at his hands gripped tightly together on the top of his desk, then he looked up at Hennessey and said, ‘you don’t have to do this you know. Whoever is paying you the five mil is an asshole of the worst kind, a cocksucking low life, but that doesn’t mean you have to be one too.’

Instead of being angry Hennessey smiled a soft smile, ‘
Carson, old buddy, I’ve been one of those for a long time, it’s too late to change now.’

‘No, it isn’t. Look, I’m not telling you to go to the nearest church and confess your sins. Or to go out there into the big bad world and make reparation for your crimes, I’m just saying you don’t have to keep doing this, even without the five million bucks you have money. You told me the guy paid you a million up front, screw the asshole and take the money. You can go live in Scandinavia or
Europe just like you always wanted, without the blood of an innocent woman on your hands.’

Hennessey stared at
Carson for a long minute before saying, ‘and you don’t think those other men I killed were innocent?’

Carson
’s voice was low as he answered, ‘I know two of them weren’t.’

Hennessey’s smile was soft, ‘you blame yourself don’t you.’

‘What? What do you mean?’

‘You think it’s because I did what I did to the bastards that hurt you that I got into this life don’t you. That it gave me a taste for it.’

Carson stood up abruptly and looked out of the window he stayed that way for a full minute. Hennessey watched him his face impassive until Carson turned to face him, ‘I can’t say I’m sorry you did what you did, Sterling if that’s what you mean.’

‘That's not what I mean. Okay, if it happened now, today, if those assholes came in here now and did
that
to your face, would you stop me from going after them, would you prevent me from getting revenge?’