“John,” she said quietly, drawing his dark gaze back to hers.”Let him go.”
Ross shook his head slowly. “I don’t think I should. I think I should settle this here and now.”
“Maybe that’s what he’s hoping you’ll try to do. He said he wasn’t alone.” She paused to let the implication sink in. “Leave it for another time. Let’s just go home.”
“I don’t like that old man,” Bennett muttered, her thin face haunted as she pulled Harper close. “What was he talking about, anyway? It was hard to hear.”
“Scary man,” her daughter murmured, hugging her back.
“Scary is right,” Nest agreed, ruffling the little girl’s parka hood in an effort to lighten the mood. Her eyes found Bennett’s, and she spoke over the top of Harper’s head. “Mr. Gask thinks we have something that belongs to him. He’s not very rational about the matter, and I can’t seem to persuade him to leave us alone. If he comes to the house again, don’t open the door, not for any reason.”
Bennett’s mouth tightened. “Don’t worry, I won’t.” Then she shrugged. “Anyway, Penny said he—”
She caught herself and tried to turn away, but Nest moved quickly in front of her. “Penny? Penny who? What did Penny say?”
Bennett shook her head quickly. “Nothing. I was just—”
It can’t be, Nest was thinking, remembering the strange, wild-haired girl at the church. “Penny who?” she pressed, refusing to back off.
“Leave me alone!”
“Penny who, Bennett?”
Bennett stopped moving, head lifting, eyes defiant. She brushed at her lank hair with one gloved hand. “Get over yourself, Nest! I don’t have to tell you anything!”
“I know that,” Nest said. “You don’t. But this is important. Please. Penny who?”
Bennett took a deep breath and looked off into the distance. “I don’t know. She didn’t tell me her last name. She’s just a girl I met, that’s all. Just someone I talked to a couple times.”
“Someone who knows Findo Cask?”
Bennett flicked her fingers in a dismissive gesture. “She says he’s her uncle. Who knows?” She fumbled in her pockets for her cigarettes. “I don’t think she likes him any more than we do. She makes fun of him all the time.”
“All the time,” Nest repeated, watching as Bennett lit a cigarette and inhaled deeply. Like all last night, maybe. Because that’s who you were with. “What did she say about Findo Gask?” she asked again.
Bennett blew out a thin stream of smoke. “Just that he was leaving town in a day or so and wouldn’t be back. Said it was the only thing they’d ever agreed on, him leaving this pissant little town.” She sighed. “I just thought that meant we probably wouldn’t be seeing him again because he’d be gone, that’s all. What’s the big deal?”
Ross was staring at both of them, eyes shifting from one to the other.
“Does Penny have wild red hair?” Nest asked quietly.
Bennett’s gaze lifted. “Yeah. How did you know that?”
Nest wondered how she could explain. She decided she couldn’t. “I want you to listen to me, Bennett,” she said instead. “I can’t tell you how to live your life. I won’t even try. It’s not my job. You’re here with Harper because you want to be, and 1 don’t want to chase you off by giving you a lot of orders. But I won’t look the other way when I think you’re in danger. So here it is. Stay away from Penny and Cask and anyone you think might be friendly toward them. You’ll have to trust me on this, just like I have to trust you on some other things. Okay?”
“Yeah, okay.” Bennett took a last drag on her cigarette and dropped it into the snow. “I guess.”
Nest shook her head quickly. “No guessing. I know a few things you don’t, and this is one. These are dangerous people. Penny as much as Gask. I don’t care what she says or does, she isn’t your friend. Stay away from her.”
Ross glanced past her to where they were bringing up Ray Childress from the bayou. “Maybe we ought to get back to the house,” he said, catching her eye.