He shook his head and everything about his manner seemed sloppy. She would bet he’d been drinking most of the day. “You know what I’m talking about. Everyone thinks I abuse my wife, and it’s all because of the two of you.”
“No, I think it’s because you hurt her,” Lila said slowly. “I’ve got records of all her injuries. You only got away with it for this long because Doc Hamet didn’t want to be bothered.”
He sneered her way. “Doc knew when to keep to his own business.”
“Mabel was Doc’s nurse, too. She didn’t have anything to do with the sheriff arresting you. It was my call to go to him. Why don’t you let her go and we can talk about this?” If Mabel was safe, her options would open up. If she was the one he was holding, she might have some moves to get herself out. It would be risky, but anything was better than watching another friend die.
Bobby obviously didn’t want to listen. “There’s nothing to talk about. I want to know where my wife is. You take me to her and I’ll let you live. I don’t have anything to lose and if I’m going down, I would love to take the two of you with me.”
This was the real Bobby Petrie. The other one was nothing but a mask. What had set him off? He’d seemed so calm these weeks. Since he’d been arrested that first time he’d laid low, staying out on his island and showing up for his court dates.
“You have a lot to lose,” she pointed out. “Think about your family.”
Donny huffed. “This is all about family. Carrie sent paperwork today filing for divorce. We’re not stupid. Momma made her sign some papers so she wouldn’t be able to take part of our boat and the business like the other one did, but that uppity lawyer she got in New Orleans thinks she can get around it.”
“Carrie’s lawyer is going to try to break the prenup because of the abuse she suffered?” It seemed like therapy had empowered Carrie in ways Lila hadn’t imagined.
“Yes. We’re going to have to fight her. We lost the first time and had to pay. How was I supposed to know my first wife would get a lawyer?” Bobby complained.
“How about you stick to hookers from now on, asshole,” Donny shot back. “Momma won’t deal with this again. You know what she’s going to do if we don’t handle this properly.”
“Then I think you should talk to your momma,” Mabel replied.
Bobby’s arm tightened again. “It’s Carrie’s greed that needs to be dealt with. She needs to understand that she’s not getting anything more out of me. I did her a favor when I married her. She was nothing. No man was going to look at that skinny bitch. No one wanted her until I did. She doesn’t get to take everything away from me.”
“You couldn’t expect her to stay with you.” She needed to talk him down. He might sober up a bit and realize what he was doing. He’d been careful before. He’d obviously not wanted to get into more trouble. Maybe if he realized how bad this could get, he would calm down. There was still time. “You hurt her.”
His face contorted. “I didn’t mean to. She wouldn’t listen. I’m no worse than my daddy was. And I never hurt her when she didn’t need it. It wasn’t my fault. She was a bad wife and now I hear she’s going to file the paperwork soon and she’s going to testify against me. She’s determined to ruin my whole family.”
“We’re not going to let that happen,” Donny vowed. “She doesn’t get to hurt my family that way.”
“I think they want to get rid of the records,” Mabel managed to say.
Yes, she got that.
“You’re the one who burned down my house?” She needed to keep him talking because she had zero doubt that Armie would show up after the session was over.
“I thought maybe it would convince you that you didn’t belong here.” Donny started to stalk toward her. “We don’t need some uppity city girl coming in here and telling us how to do things. And it wasn’t that hard. That house went up real easy. It was a beautiful sight.”
And he’d gotten away with it. The trouble was he wouldn’t get away with this one. They weren’t thinking straight, and she had to wonder if she pointed out all the fallacies in their plan if they wouldn’t kill her just because she got them angry.
Donny came into her space, his dark eyes roaming across her body in a way that made her stomach turn. “Not that you aren’t a pretty lady. Too bad you feel the need to come in and judge everyone else.”