If This Thing Unravels
A recovered letter from Lena Rae Colson’s desk makes it clear: in Cypress County, loyalty has limits
Some letters aren’t meant to be sent. . or read. This one never left Lena Rae Colson’s desk drawer but it was written with purpose. Now, that it’s come to light, the silence around County Road 6 may not hold much longer.
PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE – NOT MAILED
Found in: Desk drawer, Colson Residence
Not Dated; Postmarked envelope missing
Ellis,
You and I have always understood each other better than most people should.
So let’s be clear: what we did wasn’t a cover-up. It was a correction. A preservation. A mercy. We kept the wheels turning. We kept this county from tearing itself to shreds over a moment no one could take back.
I told you then, and I still believe it now: there was no good way through what happened on County Road 6. There was only through.
She was a bright girl. But she wasn’t built for what she stepped into. That’s not cruel, Ellis. That’s true. The PAC money wasn’t hush money. It was insurance against chaos, against a crazed media cycle and against a town that would’ve eaten her alive if they’d known what she had.
Callie was fragile, back then. She wouldn’t have survived the weight of it. Frankly, neither would you.
You remember what they were calling her by week’s end.
You remember the envelope.
You remember the sound her mother made in the hallway.
I’m not saying we were right. I’m saying we were necessary.
But hear me now: If this thing unravels, if Vera, or Dottie, or God help us, Naomi decides to blow the whole thing open. . . you are not dragging me down with you.
I’ve already done my share of protecting. I’m no longer in the business of shielding men.
You know where the file is.
You know what happens if it ever sees the light of day.
Do not let it.
L.R.C.
Editor’s Note:
This letter was recovered in a box labeled Personal from the private residence of Lena Rae Colson. It was not dated or signed in full. The envelope was missing.Its contents speak for themselves.
The fault lines are shifting.
Next Saturday, someone’s going to say out loud what’s only been whispered so far. Once it’s spoken, there’s no taking it back.