“They live in Florida. I’ll be talking with them tonight, and expect them to fly into town tomorrow.”
She needed to stand up, to pace the room. She leaned forward to rise, caught Rachel’s gaze, the tension telling her what she must look like. She stayed seated. She couldn’t think. “What do you need from me?”
Gabriel gave a slight smile as he rubbed her hand. “You’ll do, Grace. Listen to Josh, my folks, Ann. We’re going to keep the media away from you.”
She tried to moisten her lips. “You’ll have to tell people, the press.”
“Let us speak for you regarding all this. We’ve got some thoughts on how to do it. Those woods are known to many in the community, and we can keep you out of the spotlight for now.”
She was intensely grateful. “What about my parents?”
He shook his head. “We don’t know. Josh will be back on his search in a day or two. I promise you, if your parents are out there, we will do everything we can to find them before the weather closes the door. But I need you to stay put while the press is around.”
“I can do that.”
“Any questions you have for me at this point?”
She really couldn’t think. She tried, shook her head, but stopped quickly when the room started to whirl again.
“I’ll be around if you need to see me-just let Josh know. If you want to return to Chicago while this plays out, Rachel and Ann are your traveling companions. They can make that happen for you.”
“I’ll be all right here.” She took a deep breath. “I will.”
He nodded. “Then I’ll head out.” He released her hand.
“Ann, have you and Paul eaten?” Rachel asked, rising from her seat. “Let’s get some dinner on the table. Josh has got a pizza in the oven, and there’s potato soup simmering on the stove.” Grace smiled her thanks at Rachel for diverting the moment. She gratefully watched the others leave the room with Gabriel.
She felt as if she’d taken a punch, followed by a shot of Novocain to deaden any feeling. Her body didn’t feel like her own. She felt the couch beside her shift. A mug was tucked into her hands. Josh. Of course, Josh.
“I’ll be okay,” she repeated, pushing aside the tea. “I just got a little light-headed.”
“You went sheet-white and were about to hit the deck,” he countered and pushed the tea back into her hands.
She wrapped both hands around the mug. “It’s not like I didn’t know something more was going on, even if I was mostly hiding behind the decision not to know the details. I’ve heard Ann and Evie talking about the two cases they hoped to resolve. Even I can put together the description of Ashley Dayton and the odds that my… that he was involved. Not wanting to face it isn’t the same as being blind to the possibility.”
“You shouldn’t have been out there during the search, Grace. It’s hard enough on someone who isn’t tied-”
“My parents are out there, Josh,” she interrupted. “I’m certain of that.” She closed her eyes and let herself say something she hadn’t told even Rachel. “Until I have that closure, I’m left with this awful hole inside that whispers to me: ‘They didn’t love you. They left you behind with that monster. That’s how much your parents cared about you.’ It isn’t true, I know that now, but my childhood was lived with that running around in my mind. I need to prove that it’s false, if it can be proven. I need that, Josh.”
Josh sighed, and his hand covered hers as his brother’s had. “Then we will find out, Grace. However we have to tear apart that property, we will find out if they are there.”
She realized when he handed her a tissue that she’d begun to cry again. The tears had become so common lately, she didn’t even realize it most of the time. “Thank you,” she said, wiping at her eyes. “I’d like a funeral for my parents. Then I want to get back to Chicago and resume my life. I want to lay to rest these ghosts, so the past won’t keep dragging me down.”
“We’ll have that funeral one way or another. And I’ll get you safely back home,” Josh promised. “Come eat something, Grace. If you’re here another week, I’d like you not to blow away on me.”
She forced a smile she didn’t feel and sipped at the sweetened tea. She rose slowly, found her balance again. “I might try some of your soup.”
“I make great soup,” he said immediately, and she was able to laugh.
Oh, she needed this old friend, and the way Josh went out of his way to make her laugh was like he’d done years ago, getting her to smile as if that was the reward he was after when he kept her company. He’d been a friend she had shared the good moments of her childhood with, and she couldn’t put into words how valuable that was to her now. Something from the past was good, she silently reminded herself.
She let Josh guide her toward the kitchen and didn’t resist when an old sweatshirt of his dropped around her shoulders. She wasn’t sure she’d ever be warm again.
THIRTEEN
Evie Blackwell
A radio station’s upbeat music filled the room. Evie knew it didn’t compensate for her sadness, but it gave her some distraction while she worked. She was deconstructing the crime wall for Ashley Dayton, taking pieces down one at a time, putting the case to rest once more in its boxes. The only thing left to do for Ashley was to add the final report on her remains.
“Want some help?”
She looked over as Ann walked in. “Sure.”
“Caleb is escorting the Dayton family out to the farm,” Ann said. “The medical examiner is going to release the remains for burial in Chicago. Ashley Dayton died of a blow to the head. The answers to other questions her parents have are unfortunately lost to history.”
That the medical examiner had put in overtime to complete the autopsy was what Evie would expect in a case like this. The week was ending as she thought it might, with the case itself as closed as they could make it, given the years that had passed.
“The media is camped out at the Fast Café, so Karen is taking a few days off,” Ann continued. “I think Will has her helping him tear out drywall or some such demolition project.”
Evie smiled. “I’ve been meaning to go pick up my dogs the last two days, and I keep getting interrupted.”
“Will would’ve let you know if they’re in the way. I’d say they’re enjoying their stay in the country, and his own two appreciate the company.” Ann helped her box photographs. “Do you want to suspend this, Evie? Take the last week of your vacation as a true holiday somewhere? Go sit on a beach, find some movies, read a book? No one would blame you. You’ve made significant progress on the Florist case, and it will still be here in January when the task force officially launches. You can come back and work it then-on more than vacation pay,” she added with a smile.
Evie had been considering just that, but didn’t answer. She took down the large pieces of paper from the wall, stacked them, rolled them tightly, and secured it with rubber bands. “Is Grace going to stick around or go to Chicago with you tonight?” she asked instead.
“Josh goes back to searching the farm tomorrow, so she’s planning to stay a few more days. At Marie’s invitation, Paul and I are coming down for Thanksgiving and returning home that night. Grace will probably return to Chicago with us then. I want a few minutes with Gabriel once things have settled down around here.”
“That would be helpful.” Other than in passing, Evie hadn’t seen Gabriel since Friday night. The number of people needing a slice of his time right now would fill a phone book. She glanced over at the other wall, at the Florist case, made a decision.
“I think I’ll stay on the Florist case. I don’t need to report back to work until December first. I can give it this final week. I want to know, Ann, if it can be solved, if I can solve it. It’s not my usual ambition in play here-more a need to have that basic question answered. I think the town needs it after all this turmoil.”