Satan’s Lambs Read Free Page B

he’d find me. And I got things going okay now, it would be a problem for me to move.”
    Charlie squirmed in his seat.
    â€œHoney, you got to pee?”
    The boy tore a corner off the cover of a Reader’s Digest .
    Eloise sighed. “Four and a half and still won’t potty train. I’m ready to teach him to change himself. The last doctor I took him to said it may be physical, it may be allergies. She wants to run tests. But I got to be on a waiting list for those, and we’re still waiting. None of the kids around here will play with him. They call him diaper boy, the space piddler. Seems to me the last thing he needs is to move. Be all unsettled again.” She scratched her arms. “Hives. I get them every time I think about Archie getting out of jail.”
    â€œI’ll say one thing for you, you do got a problem.”
    Eloise leaned back against the stove and folded her arms.
    Lena chewed her bottom lip. “I suppose the cops are out of the question?”
    â€œWon’t they be mad about me hiding that money? It’s one of the big three, remember?”
    â€œYou might cut a deal. Possible jail term for accessory.”
    â€œThat’s no good.” She scratched the tops of her legs, her nails making scritching noises on the polyester. “I better tell you the even worse news. What I make from the cakes just barely keeps us. I do my best in June on the weddings, and I got more orders this year than I know what to do with. Could you wait till then for your money?”
    â€œWe’ll work something out.”
    Lena frowned. If Eloise Valetta had taken the robbery money, she wouldn’t still be here, worrying about Archie. Unless she’d spent it all?
    Eloise was chewing her lip. “I was thinking one way we could do it. Like with Janette Swan. You helped her out, so she makes you chili every week. And you helped that guy’s daughter, you know, the one that delivers Coke. And I bet you always have plenty of Coke. I was thinking that—you know I make these cakes? I could make you one once a week. They’re good, people come down from Louisville to get them. And they have good bakeries there.”
    â€œDo me a favor and don’t bake me a cake every week.”
    â€œYou don’t like cake? I bet you’re allergic to eggs or something.”
    â€œNo, I love cake. That’s the problem. Look, when I need a favor you can help me with, I’ll call you.”
    â€œGot to be something.” Eloise scratched the back of her neck, “Your oven self-cleaning?”
    â€œNo. It’s an old one.”
    â€œYou’re not one of those odd women likes to do housework? You hate to clean your oven, don’t you?”
    â€œUsually I don’t bother.”
    â€œGoodness, you shouldn’t let it go, you’ll get mice up under the burners. How about I clean your oven every six months? You help me get out of this trouble, and I’ll do it two times a year for the rest of your life.”
    â€œThat’s a long time to be grateful. How about just for the next two years?”
    â€œThree years.”
    â€œYou haven’t seen my oven.”
    â€œThree years.” Eloise shook her head. “Lord only knows how you make ends meet. And that’s just in return for waiting till June when I’ll pay you cash money. No, now look. I’m going to need your full attention here. Archie is pretty darn scary, and I got a baby to protect.”
    Lena smiled at Charlie and thought, just for a moment, of her nephew. “ We got a baby to protect.”
    Eloise put a hand on Charlie’s shoulder, and nodded.

3
    That night Lena had the dream again.
    It started with her parking the Cutlass by the curb out front. It was Friday and Rick was out of town. She and Whitney were going to eat chocolate cheesecake and talk.
    The front of the house was dark, except for the glow of a nightlight in Kevin’s window. Whitney