“Envious, Evie?”
She sighed. “Green with it.”
Gabriel chuckled. “Yeah. I can relate.”
It was eleven p.m. before Grace and Josh returned. Evie went inside with Grace to make sure she was settled in the motor home for the night, Gabriel quietly suggesting she stay until Grace had fallen asleep. He needed a few minutes of conversation with his brother.
“Josh, you want to talk?” Gabriel asked.
“About which part of this horrific day?”
He nodded toward the road. “Let’s walk for a while.”
Josh shoved his hands into his pockets and matched his stride to his brother’s. “She cried much of the evening. The whole thing is killing her.”
“She needed to do this, Josh, or she wouldn’t have come.”
“Yeah. Got that.” Josh sighed. “What’s a guy suppose to do? Nearly as long as I knew her, this was going on. I didn’t have a clue. To care about someone, yet not catch on…”
“We were kids, Josh. I have to keep telling myself that.”
“So was she.”
“Her tears are probably the best thing that could happen.”
Josh shook his head. “You didn’t see Grace out in those woods this morning, staring at the lake, wondering if a car could be driven over one of those bluffs and not be seen again. There’s an anger in Grace that feels… well, feels almost physical, and it’s an emotion she has nowhere to direct for some closure. It’s eating her alive. And this afternoon, just walking that land around the house, she’s stretched beyond anything I can imagine with those memories. She can put on an appearance that she’s okay, but she’s dying inside.”
“She’s talking with a doctor, with Ann. She’s come back here. She’s dealing with it, Josh.”
“Not very well. I should insist that she not be part of the search. I can tell her I can do it better, faster without her there. Which is true.”
“Do that if you need to,” Gabriel agreed, “but it doesn’t help the inevitable, Josh. If you find an answer-or don’t-regarding her parents, she’ll have to face it then. Same with any information about the Dayton girl. Grace will have to find a way to come to terms with all of it. We can help, but ultimately it’s her journey, one step at a time.”
Josh blew out a breath. “There’s no way I’ll find her parents after twenty-five years-not unless we trip over the car itself, which isn’t entirely out of the question. Otherwise it’s finding where the ground has shifted, the graves have worked back toward the surface as trees fall and roots push up the ground. Only under the very best of conditions will the dogs trigger on remains that old.”
“You’ll do what can be done, and that’s what Grace needs. Even if we can’t find the remains, I think we talk to her about a small funeral service for her parents, one that she’ll remember and will provide some closure. She was two when the first memorial service was held,” Gabriel said, “I think she needs another fixed day to say, ‘Goodbye, I’ll see you in heaven.’”
“That would help,” Josh agreed. “Dad said he’d be out at the farm tomorrow morning, take up a shovel for a while. I think he wants to see the place again now that he knows the truth. I’ll ask him to take a walk through the house and barns once Grace and I are working the pastureland where she can’t see him.”
“Good. Anything you need from me, Josh?”
“Prayer for good weather. I don’t want to have to stop until we’re done.”
“Let’s do that now.” Gabriel put an arm across Josh’s shoulders, asked God for a reasonably good day tomorrow, especially for Grace.
“Amen,” Josh echoed.
Gabriel turned to the motor home as Josh headed back to his truck. They would get through this as a family. But it was going to get heavier as it went on.
He smothered the fire in the ring, collected the bottles to recycle, folded up the blanket Evie had used, and stored the chairs. Evie stepped out just as Gabriel finished scanning the area with a flashlight to confirm all was secure for the night.
“She’s asleep. I waited a bit to be sure, prayed for her and for the rest of us.”
“Josh and I prayed too before he left. There are so many questions, so much grief and anger that’s being dug up along with this search, Evie. It’s hard to know exactly what to ask the Almighty to do.”
“I know,” Evie said. “It’s a good thing our prayers don’t require instructions for God-He knows what each one of us needs.”
Gabriel smiled. “Probably better than we can put them into words anyway.” He helped Evie settle in his truck for the ride to her place, circled around to climb in himself, hoping the truck’s engine wouldn’t disturb Grace for more than a brief moment. “Why don’t you tip that seat back and close your eyes, Evie? You’ve earned a few minutes of quiet.”
“You don’t need to offer twice. I’m exhausted.” She did as he suggested, and if she didn’t doze, she at least rested. Gabriel caught glimpses of her face in the lights of occasional passing cars. She was turning off her mind, getting some needed shut-eye. If only he could do the same when he got home.
As they drove up to the house, Gabriel saw the convertible in the driveway, a few lights on in the house. Ann and Paul had returned from the airport. He pulled into the drive, and Evie pushed the seat upright, waved him off walking her to the door. He waited until she stepped inside, then pulled out.
Gabriel figured his letter to God tonight would be a short one. He’d already composed it: God, please heal a lot of broken hearts. GT. Grace, Ann, Josh, himself, his parents, the Dayton girl’s parents-the list of people still in pain tonight, even after many years, was long. And don’t forget Evie. She’s carried an unimaginable burden for an awfully long time.
Gabriel didn’t have a text from Ann that she was calling it a night, so he made a call as he drove through the sleeping town. “Ann,” he said when she picked up, “I’ve mentally jarred myself from thinking ‘Josh and Grace’ to thinking about ‘Will and Karen.’ I can’t say I’m at my best at the moment, but let’s talk, if now is okay with you.”
“Now’s fine. Karen said we could tell Will the story about Tom Lander and the trial.”
“I was hoping she’d agree. When do you want to do it?”
“Time doesn’t help this, Gabe. Josh finds something out at the farm, the media shows up in town, we can’t risk Karen being caught on film in the background of a reporter’s statement. Let’s get the conversation over with. Wednesday morning?”
“You mean like tomorrow, which starts in about ten minutes?”
“I’m thinking we go see Will first thing. But we begin with what’s going on with Grace. You, Josh, and your father knowing what’s coming, Will not being in the loop isn’t going to work.”
“Dad already had a word with him about Grace. We’ll go talk with him about Karen. I’ll pick you up at the house at seven-if that’s not too early.”
“Paul will be flipping pancakes by then. Eat with us.”
“Works for me. We’ll tell Will about this guy Karen is trying to shake, make sure Will stays level-headed, doesn’t take off to Chicago to get a look at him. One crisis at a time is enough right now.”
“Let’s hope.”
Gabriel smiled at Ann’s tone. “Something has to break our way one of these days, Ann. You okay?”
“Better, now that Paul’s around asking me the same question. I’ll see you in a few hours, Gabriel.”
“Done.” He put his phone away. Ann had been smart to get married. He would prefer not to be going home to an empty house tonight. God, do you have a marriage in my future? Because tonight the idea rather appeals.
NINE
Gabriel Thane
Dragging a bit from lack of sleep, Gabriel arrived at the house on Kearns Road at seven o’clock the next morning. He noted the security team’s car in the drive, traded nods as he was recognized. If he’d had any questions about Paul Falcon being on-site, he had his confirmation. As head of the FBI’s Chicago office, the man had no choice about the security that traveled with him.