Page 84 of Call Off the Dark

Slam! The meat mallet crashed onto a pill on the cutting board.

Helen smashed the last of the antipsychotic pills into a powder, then swept it all into a small glass jar. She was hiding the jar in the back of her spice cabinet when Isaac came into the room.

“Isaac,” she said. “We need to talk alone, if that’s okay.”

“Sure,” he said.

But right then Helen saw Wade through the window, walking toward the house.

“Later tonight,” she quickly added.

Isaac nodded and picked up a rag to clean his boots.

Wade entered the house without wiping his boots down. He went straight to the sink and filled up a glass of water.

“Wade, I thought you might want my help in the trees tomorrow,” Isaac said.

Wade turned back slowly to face Isaac but said nothing. Then he drank the glass of water, never taking his eyes from his brother.

“That sounds nice,” Helen finally chimed in.

Wade glared at her, then addressed Isaac in a flat voice. “What kind of game are you playing?”

Isaac tossed the rag aside. “No game. I’m more than happy to help you.”

Helen looked at Isaac sharply. Was there something hostile lurking in his tone? No, Isaac was gazing at Wade pleasantly enough. She’d just imagined it.

“Maybe you two could work on some of the trees within walking distance, and then I could go into town tomorrow for supplies,” Helen said. She envisioned herself driving the truck with the windows down and the heat cranked against the autumn wind. “With the three of us here, we’re getting short on some things.”

“I need the truck tomorrow.” Wade set the glass in the sink, then walked toward the front door. “Helen, a word?”

She rolled her eyes. God, she was getting tired of the way he barked orders at her. It was one thing when they were alone, but when he did it in front of Isaac, it really showed just how rude he could be.

Nevertheless, she followed him onto the front porch.

Wade huddled close to her and spoke in a murmur. “I’ve been thinking long and hard,” he said gravely. “Isaac was always mad about something when he was alive. He had a short fuse, and now his soul won’t rest. I think he blames me for his death.”

Helen sighed. She didn’t know if the antipsychotic pills would have any immediate effect after she drugged Wade tonight, but she assumed it would take some time. Until then, she was going to have to get used to having versions of this conversation.

Wade continued, “There’s no way I can force him to leave. The only chance I have is to get through to him. Convince him to leave on his own.”

Finally, something halfway reasonable. At least his new plan didn’t involve shooting his brother. They were headed in the right direction.

“Okay, that makes sense,” Helen said, and she tried to smile encouragingly. “Even if you guys had problems in the past, I’m sure it wasn’t all bad. When you talk to him, try to find common ground. Maybe bring up some of the good times you used to have.”

Wade didn’t return the smile. “We never had good times.”

That evening at dinner, Wade lifted a spoonful of drugged mashed potatoes to his lips. Helen and Isaac were eating mashed potatoes too, but theirs contained no antipsychotic powder.

She watched Wade shovel the last bite of potatoes into his mouth and wash it down with a swallow of cold water. He thought he still ruled the kingdom. He didn’t know she had already poured the iron mask.

Chapter Thirty-Two

Nineteen months ago

Crouched behind the dumpster, Helen’s heart was beating wildly as she switched from her green winter coat to a charcoal-gray hooded jacket. One hundred and sixty beats per minute at least. Maybe one seventy. She used to wear a heart monitor watch when she went jogging with Tyler. She never got above one fifty, even on the hills.

Anticipating murder was more taxing to the heart than the steepest inclines of Queen Anne Hill.