Frank got up. “Yes, ma’am. Your daughter has nobility written all over her.”
Susan scowled. “What’s going to happen?”
“You’re not to leave this town,” Murray said. “The DA will decide whether or not to press charges. At this moment we are not going to take you in because you cooperated. We’ll be in touch. You need to make yourself available.”
“Is Zoey going to be in trouble?” Caydance asked.
Susan glared at her. “I think Zoey is the least of your concerns right now.”
“What your mother means,” Frank said as they began walking out of the room, “is that she is sure your first concern is for Gabby and her well-being and recovery.”
Susan opened the door for them as she speed-dialed someone on her cell. As the door closed, they could hear her ranting into the phone.
Murray and Frank walked toward the car.
“You’re going to make sure this girl goes down, aren’t you?” Frank asked.
“In a big, bad way.” Murray smiled. “And now, let’s go meet the Princess of Darkness.”
19
Kay didn’t have a showing until later in the morning, thank goodness. Something told her Jenna needed her. In fact, she would cancel the showing if need be. Maybe she should anyway. Maybe they could spend the day together talking.
Kay sifted through the pantry, deciding what to fix for breakfast. Just spend the day talking? Like that was going to work. But maybe spending any time together at all would be proactive in restoring their relationship.
She stood at the refrigerator door and looked at all the pictures held there by magnets. She studied the picture of Jenna at seven, dressed up for Halloween as a cheerleader. Times had been really good and uncomplicated back then. She knew the transition into adulthood would have its rocky times, but she never suspected it would be like climbing the Alps. Cold and harsh with little oxygen.
Kay opened the fridge and decided on an omelet. She paused and listened for any movement upstairs. All was quiet. Checking her watch, she realized she had time for a quick Starbucks run. She’d bring Jenna some green tea.
On her way, she tried not to think about how badly last night could’ve turned out, but her mind kept running over the scenarios. And she couldn’t help but insert herself into the scene. What would she do if Jenna went missing like that?
She shook off the dark thoughts and whipped into the Starbucks parking lot. A north wind snapped around the building as she tugged the door open. Once inside, she stood for a moment, trying to warm and compose herself.
She reminded herself that everything was fine. Yet fear nagged at her, and she wondered if Jenna was safe at the house. She’d locked all the doors, checked all the windows, turned on the alarm.
But still…
“Help you, ma’am?”
Kay blinked, focusing on the young man with shaggy hair, who kept swinging his head to the side, trying to get his bangs out of his eyes. Kay almost felt compelled to dig in her purse for a bobby pin. “Um, yes. Sorry. A venti green tea and a venti nonfat mocha.”
“Kay?”
Kay turned around. Shannon, Zoey’s mom, stood behind her, grinning.
“Hi, Shannon. Didn’t even see you in here.” Kay handed the barista her credit card and stepped to the side.
Shannon shuffled up, sporting a velour sweat suit. “I’m exhausted. Didn’t sleep well last night.”
“I know. Wasn’t that horrible about Gabby?” Kay asked, grabbing a napkin and stirrer.
“Yeah. And Zoey was being a beast to top it all off. We had to ground her and then she totally wigged out, yelling and crying. It was ridiculous. She was just headed to eat pizza with the girls. You’d think the world had imploded.”
The barista handed Kay her card and took Shannon’s order. Kay waited for her by the cream and sugar.
A minute later, Shannon joined her, running her fingers through her long, shiny hair. “Anyway, it was nuts. Is Jenna acting this way, all superdramatic and whiny and stuff?”
Kay hesitated. She wanted to relate with Shannon, but at the same time, she wanted to protect her daughter in every sense. “You know how teenagers are. Hormones can get the best of them.”
“I guess,” Shannon muttered. “I swear I thought I was going to pack up and leave for Hawaii last night. It was constant screaming for two hours. Finally she fell asleep on her bed and put us all out of our misery.”
Kay nodded, studying Shannon. The woman had always seemed so pulled together, so happy and energetic. It was like she was the eleventh member of the cheer squad. Today, though, Kay saw the familiar lines of regret, guilt, and worry on Shannon that Kay had seen many times in her own reflection. Maybe she wasn’t such a supermom after all. And maybe Jenna’s behavior lately, while baffling, was better than what Shannon was dealing with.
“Green tea and mocha for Kay!” the barista called.
“You drink both?”
“No. One’s for Jenna. I’m letting her stay home from school today. Last night really shook her up.”
“It did? What, is she friends with this Gabby girl? Zoey said Gabby’s kind of weird, a loner.” Shannon’s phone came to life, blaring out the Sex and the City theme. “It’s Zoey. She’s supposed to be on her way to school right now.” She flipped it open. “What is it?”
Kay turned and walked to the counter to pick up her beverages. She started to wave bye to Shannon but stopped.
Shannon grew pale right in front of her. She snapped her phone closed.
“Is everything okay?”
She shook her head, her eyes wide. “That was Zoey. She told me to get home. The police are at the house.”
About the time he usually arrived at work, Damien felt the need to get out of the office. It had become all at once stuffy and suffocating.
In one sense, it was exhilarating. The news was a driving force, and everyone was a willing passenger. But even though he was a newsman, he was also a guy with a lot of ideals. As much as he didn’t want to admit it to the people around him who were doing their jobs, what had happened last night shook him to the core.
This was Marlo. He’d grown up here and decided to plant his family here. It once was a place where dreams flourished and happiness bloomed. Now it had the stench of death.
By nine thirty, he’d made his way to a solitary bench in the middle of Marlo Park. In the spring, ten thousand dollars would be spent planting flowers and grooming the grounds. He’d once written an editorial about its importance after there was an uproar by some people aggravated that so much money was to be spent on a park.
But Damien had swayed their opinion. He’d pointed out that this was the heart of the city, and the roads were the arteries leading to the rest of the body. If the core of the city was not taken care of, what would be next? The schools? The retirement home? The churches?
The editorial had been so popular that the town created Grounds Day on April 1, and three hundred people showed up to work, saving the city five thousand dollars.
Even in its dormant state in the winter, the park held a certain majesty and pride. People still walked the sidewalks, kids still rode their bikes, and on a good snow day, on the south end of the park, a small hill provided hours of sledding entertainment.
But now, in the middle of the pristine park with its vibrant evergreens and neatly swept sidewalks, Damien felt betrayed, as if Marlo were a living, breathing person that had just slapped him in the face and blackmailed him to boot.
Maybe it had always been this way and Marlo was just now giving up its bag of secrets. Or maybe they hadn’t watched over the town carefully enough, and slowly but surely a dry, putrid rot had set in.
He was weighed down like tree limbs burdened under heavy snow. He should’ve done more to protect Marlo. Pushed harder to not let complacency win at the end of the day. In a sense, the residents had decided that their pristine and tidy little town was incapable of foolishness and treachery. But still there was the question: had complacency been here all along or had it slipped in as an unexpected guest?