He shook his head. "I only wanted to protect my family. You understand that, don't you, Avery? What happened wasn't Lilah's fault. I couldn't allow her to go to jail for my mistakes. My sins. Your father understood. Sallie's death was a crime of passion, not premeditated murder."
"Pat Greene didn't see the Pruitt boys leaving Sallie Waguespack's that night, did he?"
"No. I told him I did. Confessed to having an affair with her. Asked him to help me out. Because of how it looked."
"And he believed you?"
"He was my friend. He trusted me."
She made a sound of derision. "And the murder weapon in the ditch behind their trailer-"
"I planted it. The prints on the weapon and the blood on Donny's shoe as well. Pat didn't know."
She had looked up to him. Loved him. To know he had done this hurt. Her vision swam. "And Kevin Gallagher?"
"Kevin prepared Sallie for burial. All he knew was she was pregnant. I asked him to keep it quiet. Why exacerbate the situation? Why smear the poor woman's name any further?"
"And my dad?"
He drew a heavy breath. "Your daddy was hard to convince. In the end, he did it not just for me, but for Lilah and the kids."
"Those two boys," she whispered. "They were-"
"Trash. Delinquents. Only nineteen and twenty and had been busted a half-dozen times each. For drugs, attempted rape, drunk and disorderly conduct. They were never going to amount to anything. Never going to contribute anything to society but ills. To sacrifice them to save my family, it wasn't a difficult decision."
"You don't get to play God, Buddy. It's not your job."
His mouth twisted. "Your daddy said the same. I guess that old saying about the apple not falling far from the tree is true."
"What about Sal?" she asked. "Why include him, Buddy? You needed the Gazette, but for what? Swaying public opinion?"
"He wasn't included. He thought the crime went down exactly as officially reported. But I was able to use Sal and the Gazette as a way to focus the public's attention on the social context of the crime. Whip them into a state of outrage over the crime rate, the immorality of the young, the drug epidemic, and take their attention away from the crime itself."
"You bought into your own spin, didn't you?" Avery all but spat the words at him. "And The Seven was born. You and your buddies all got together to decide what was appropriate behavior and what wasn't. You took the law into your own hands, Buddy. You and your group became judge and jury. And things got out of hand."
"It wasn't like that. We loved this community, all of us did. We had-have-its good at heart. We only want to make life better, to keep things the way they had been. We keep watch on our friends and fellow citizens. Monitor the important things. If need be, we pay a friendly visit. Use a little muscle if necessary."
"Muscle? A palatable euphemism for what? A brick through the window? The threat of broken bones? Financial ruin through boycotts? Or just good old-fashioned cross burnings on the front lawn? What's the criteria for a death penalty in Cypress Springs?"
He looked shocked. "Good God, Avery, it's nothing like that. We're not terrorists. We're not killers. We offer help. Guidance. If that doesn't work, we suggest a change of residence." He lowered his voice. "If we didn't make things a little uncomfortable for them, what would their motivation for change be?"
She made a sound of disgust. "Motivation for change? You make me sick."
"You don't understand. It's all done in the spirit of caring and community concern. Nobody gets hurt."
"Actually, I think I understand too well." Avery glanced at Cherry. She was holding her mother, crying quietly. She returned her gaze to Buddy. "You're such a hypocrite. Making like you're Mr. Morality. Persecuting others for their sins, when all the while you're the biggest sinner of all."
Tears glistened in his eyes. "Do you think I haven't suffered for my sins? A day doesn't go by that I don't wish I could go back, do it all over. I had everything. A beautiful family. The love of a wonderful woman. The respect of my friends and the community. If I could make that choice again, I wouldn't go near Sallie Waguespack. None of this would have happened."
He held out a hand to her. "Don't look at me like that," he pleaded. "Like I'm some sort of monster. I'm still Buddy, you're still my baby girl."
"No." She took a step back. "Not anymore. Never again."
"You have to understand. I was afraid for my family. I did what I had to in order to protect them." He took another step toward her. "I had to do it, don't you see? A man protects his family."
"At all costs, Buddy?" she asked. "What lengths would you go? From covering up a murder to committing one?"
"No, never."
"Everybody involved in the cover-up is dead now, Buddy. Everyone but you. What am I supposed to think?"
"Daddy?" Cherry whispered. "What's she talking about?"
Buddy glanced nervously at his daughter. "It's not true, sweetheart. Don't listen to her. She's had a shock. She's confused."
"I'm not confused. You killed all your old friends. Why? Did they threaten to come clean? Go to the Feds because the guilt had become too much for them to live with? Is that why you killed your best friend, Buddy? Why you immobilized him, doused him in diesel fuel and-"
"No!" Lilah cried out. "No!"
Buddy darted his gaze between the women. "It's not true! I didn't have anything to do with that. I couldn't! I-"
"You went in the middle of the night. He opened the door because he trusted you. You immobilized him with a stun gun. Then you carried him out to the garage, doused him with fuel and set him on fire!"
"No!" His face went white.
"Hunter had nothing to do with any of this. You set up your own son."
"No. You have to believe me!"
"I can't believe anything you say. Not now. Not ever again."
It all made sense now-Lilah's depression and addiction. Hunter's break with the family. Cherry's dedication to keeping the family together, to making them look happy and normal.
"No one needs to know, Avery." Buddy lowered his voice, tone soothing. "We're a family. We're your family. We love you."
Tears choked her. She shook her head. She had believed that once. Had thought of this family as an extension of her own. "It's over, Buddy."
"We're all you have left, Avery." He took a step toward her, forcing her backward. "Cypress Springs is your home."
He took another step. He had her cornered, she realized. Had backed her into a wall, the only way out through him. She tamped down her rising panic.
"I'll need those journals." He held out a hand. "Laurie called me. Told me you'd been there. That you'd left Lancaster a note."
"One of your many spies."
"She was worried about you."
"Right. Worried about me."
"We love you, Avery," Lilah whispered. "You're one of us."
"Yes," Cherry piped in. "Give Dad the journals and everything will be okay."
Avery moved her gaze between the three, heart racing, struggling to stay calm. To assess her options. Three against one. One of them the size of a tree and packing a gun. Lilah looked on the verge of falling apart. Cherry seemed stunned, her reactions wooden. The little focus she possessed seemed directed toward supporting her mother.
Only Buddy posed a threat to her escape. Immobilize him and she could make it. But how?
Her pepper spray! She hadn't taken it out of her purse.
"Come on, baby girl." He stretched his hand out. "You know we only want the best for you. It's all in the past. We'll be one big, happy family."
"A family," she repeated, voice shaking. "You're right." She reached into her handbag. Her fingers closed around the cylinder of spray. She drew the can out and lunged forward, shooting the spray directly into Buddy's eyes, blinding him.
With a cry, he stumbled backward, clawing at his eyes. Avery darted past him. Out of the kitchen, into the front hall. She heard Lilah and Cherry calling her back.
The front door was locked. She fumbled with the dead bolt; after what seemed a century, it slid back and she raced out onto the porch. She paused there, realizing she didn't have a vehicle.