Peggy Holloway - Judith McCain 02 - Portrait on Wicker by Peggy Holloway Read Free Book Online Page B

she can flush him out by being seen coming and going form Julia’s beach house. At least she has George with her.
    “It’s funny. The same fearlessness I so much admired about her now really makes me mad. She’ll never be a traditional wife and mother and I wouldn’t want her to be. I’m proud of her and I love her so much.”
    “I love her too, daddy,” Brad said as he ran back into the dining room.
    We laughed and it broke the tension some. I still had a bad feeling about this whole setup.
    That evening we all went to see Julia . She looked so much better. She still had a lot of bruises but she was overjoyed when she saw both Mark and Brad. This was one of the reasons I wanted to put her in Westpark. They encouraged family involvement no matter how young.
    “Where’s Tracy?” Julia asked after all the hugs and kisses were out of the way.
    When we finished filling her in on everything, she was silent for awhile.
    “What are you thinking, Julia?” Mimi asked.
    “It scares me that she decided to stay at my house. You need to tell her that Calvin has a key. He might very well come back there. I think this is a stupid idea. I’m scared for her.”
     
     
     
    CHAPTER 15
     
    For the next two days, when one of us talked to Tracy, she assured us that everything was going all right, but was boring. They hadn’t seen any action. After showing Calvin Lessiter’s picture around, they had found a few people who had seen them, but had not in the last few days.
    On the third night, after Tracy left for Florida, we got the call in the middle of the night. It was the sheriff’s department of St. John’s County in St. Augustine. They were trying to locate Julia. They hadn’t been able to reach her at her condo in New Orleans. She had given Mimi’s number in case of emergency.
    At 3:00 a.m., I heard the phone ring and Mimi answer. “What? Oh, my God, no!”
    I ran to Mimi’s room expecting to hear bad news about Julia. She had attempted suicide once while in psychiatric treatment before.
    When I got to her room, Mimi was lying face down on her bed crying so hard she was shaking. I put my arms around her and she turned her head onto my shoulder and wept.
    I was afraid to ask , but she finally said, “Julia’s beach house has been burned to the ground. An accelerant was used. It was arson. They found two bodies but no positive identification has been made. There were a man and a woman in two of the bedrooms.”
    We held each other and cried for what seemed like forever. Then Mimi said, “We have to tell Mark.”
    “I’ll do it Mimi. Mark and Brad are going to be devastated.”
    Mark came to the door fastening his jeans. It was all he wore. He took one look at my face and broke down and started crying.
    “How,” he said when he had calmed down some.
    “They believe it was a rson. They haven’t finished the investigation but they do know an accelerant was used. There hasn’t been a definite identification…”
    “Son of a bitch,” he yelled, “I told her not to stay there…”
    I watched as sweet gentle Mark proceeded to destroy everything he could get his hands on. Mark, the man who had held me all night while I slept when I was a scared sixteen year old.
    I would have let him destroy the house just to get his emotions out , but there was Brad to consider. He came down stairs rubbing his eyes.
    When he looked at his dad he looked scared to death. I ran to him and picked him up. I carried him to our house and tried to put him down but he clung to me.
    “What’s wrong with d-d-daddy?” He cried. I looked at Mimi and she shook her head.
    I took him into the kitchen and began making hot chocolate.
    “Is it time for breakfast?” He asked.
    “No, I just thought you’d like to have some cocoa.” I had him distracted for the moment and decided not to mention Mark until he brought him up.
    He pulled a chair up to the counter top and stood on it to help me . He looked so sweet and innocent it broke my heart.