Free Out of Time (Nine Minutes #2) by Beth Flynn Page B

hear, she owned her own bar somewhere up in South Carolina.”
    He showed Louise into the living room and motioned toward the sofa. “Here, sit down. Can I get you a drink?”
    She smiled again, and he suddenly saw her mother in the crooked grin and warm eyes. “No, thank you. I’m not thirsty.”
    Tommy took a seat on the chair directly across from her. “I haven’t thought about Chicky in a long time. How is she?”
    “That’s why I’m here. Fulfilling her last wish, I guess you could say.”
    “Her last wish?” Tommy asked, realization dawning.
    “Mom passed away a few years back. Cancer.”
    “I’m sorry,” he said with genuine sympathy. “Chicky was one of the good ones.”
    “Yes, she was. Thank you for saying so.” After a beat, Louise quickly added, “I don’t want this to be awkward, so I’ll tell you up front that I know about my Mom’s earlier life with the gang and everything.” She paused, fingering the notebook. “She held on to something for years.”
    Louise looked up at him and smiled again, this time more sadly. “This. She said on her deathbed that it should be given to you or your wife after Grizz was gone. I don’t know if his death is significant or not. Just something Mom felt specific about. She went to see him in prison a couple of times before she died. Did you know that?”
    “No, I didn’t know,” Tommy said quietly.
    “I think he was fond of Mom. A beautiful bouquet of flowers showed up at her funeral. There was a card with just the initial ‘G’ on it. I think it was from him.”
    This surprised Tommy. He couldn’t imagine Grizz sending flowers to a funeral. Even Chicky’s.
    “She told me what a rough character he was, but she was fond of him, too,” Louise shrugged. “He always treated her right no matter how rotten he was to the others. I don’t know, maybe there’s something in here that could have hurt him. Or maybe something that would’ve made him mad. That might be why she never wanted him to know about it and why I’ve held on to it this long. I’ve never read it. I don’t know what’s in it. I honestly don’t care.”
    She stood and offered the notebook to Tommy. He got up and took it from her outstretched hands.
    “What is this?” he asked, looking down at it, then back up at Louise.
    “It’s Moe’s journal.”
     
    **********
                               
    Moe’s Diary, 1969
     
    Dear Elizabeth,
    I hate him. I hate him so much. I can’t believe how bad he hurt me. I used to love him. I would have done anything for him. I did do everything for him. I don’t understand why he got so mad.
    I was cleaning up his kitchen and I made some comment about seeing him with some guy in a suit. I had been hitching rides and wound up somewhere near the beach. I saw two men get out of a fancy car. One was all dressed up and the other was Grizz. I saw them go into a building. I just told him that his new friend looked nice and would he be bringing him around the motel?
    He got real mad then. Like he thought I was purposely spying on him. He threw me up against the refrigerator and started asking me stuff. I told him the truth. I didn’t know anything. I just happened to see him and thought the fancy suit guy was handsome. Thought maybe I could make some extra money by getting to know him better.
    He said I could die for just seeing that and that I had a big mouth and couldn’t be trusted. Then, he took his knife off his belt and told me that he was doing me a favor.
    I heard him telling Blue later that he’d asked for a blow job and that I’d told him to let Grunt do it. That’s why he cut me. I didn’t say that, but it does sound like something I would’ve said.
    I’ve been really mean to Blue’s little brother. It was just easy, I guess, and for some reason, it made me feel better. But not anymore. I feel so bad now. Everything and everyone that has ever been good to me, I’ve hurt in some way.
    I’m sorry I saw