“Well, you are the op-ed writer.”
“I felt like my words would serve a better purpose writing about the Web site. Trying to convince whoever is doing it to stop. I wrote a letter directly to the person.”
“I know. I’m hearing that all kinds of terrible things are happening. Fights. Tires being slashed. Windows broken out. It’s like we’re on the verge of a riot. And then with this kidnapping…” Tears stung her eyes for the fortieth time that day.
Damien hopped up and wrapped his arms around her. “You seem… sad.”
“I’m just in disbelief that those girls were involved in taking Gabby. And I’m horrified at myself that I didn’t see the signs.”
“How could you have known?” Damien asked, turning her around to face him.
“It’s a mother’s instinct. Jenna kept trying to tell me she didn’t want to hang out…” More tears. Damien swiped them and pulled her close. “And I tried to… Anyway, I think we’re back to not speaking.” Kay wanted to pour out her heart, but she wasn’t sure how. She never dreamed of telling Damien about her past. She’d not even told him why she and Angela stopped being friends. She couldn’t get herself to.
“How is she doing?”
“She doesn’t want to go to school tomorrow either, but I told her she had to. She’s doing okay, I guess. We had a good morning together, anyway. Talked a lot.” Kay smiled at the thought. “Kind of like old times.”
“Nothing like tragedy to bring people together.”
“I just keep picturing… I see Jenna out there, tied to that tree…”
Damien stroked her cheek. “Look, we’re all here. Everyone’s here, right? Hunter too?”
Kay nodded.
“We’re all here and safe and together.” He pointed to the casserole. “And chicken potpie casserole? You haven’t made that in a long time.”
“It’s Jenna’s favorite.”
“Where is she?”
“Her cell phone rang. She answered it and went upstairs. Can you grab the butter out of the fridge?”
He opened the door, digging beyond the yogurt and milk.
“Oh, and Frank’s coming over. He just called. Wanted to have dinner here.”
Damien emerged from the fridge with the butter as Kay poured the green beans into a bowl. “We’ve got to get Frank dating again.”
“Good luck with that,” Kay said. She walked to the bottom of the stairs. “Time to eat!”
The doorbell rang. Damien smiled. “Must be Frank, right on time.”
Kay poured the water into glasses as she listened to the kids hurry down the stairs. She hadn’t heard that kind of enthusiasm for dinner in a while.
Hunter arrived first, followed closely by Jenna. “Potpie casserole?” She grinned. “My favorite!”
“Ugh. Did you put peas in it?” Hunter asked Kay.
“Just a few.”
Kay couldn’t keep her eyes off Jenna, who looked up again and offered another smile. Softer. As if there were a lot of good words behind those lips. Kay smiled back and continued serving while holding back a few tears that wanted to escape out of sheer relief her daughter didn’t hate her.
Damien rounded the corner, followed by Frank.
“Hey, Uncle Frank!” Hunter stood to give him a sideways hug.
“Hey, gang,” Frank said, plopping down in his usual chair. “Thanks for feeding me.”
Kay set a plate in front of him. “You look exhausted.”
“Yeah. Long day.”
Hunter asked, “Have they arrested the girls?”
Kay started the casserole around. “Let’s not talk about that tonight.”
“It’s okay,” Jenna said, grabbing a roll. “Not talking about it doesn’t make it go away. A wise uncle told me that.” She smiled at Frank.
Kay nodded. “You’re right. I’m sorry.”
“No charges have been filed yet. But they’re coming. The DA has to put the case together, but we’ve got more than enough evidence.”
Frank served himself the casserole, but Kay noticed he wasn’t eating. Normally he just started digging in.
“Frank? Not hungry?” Kay passed him the green beans.
“Well,” Frank said, “there is another reason I’m here.”
Kay followed his gaze. He was staring at Jenna. Kay set down her fork. An uneasiness swirled in her stomach.
“With Jenna’s permission, I’d like to tell you something,” Frank said, his voice way softer than normal.
Jenna and Frank exchanged a glance.
Kay looked at Damien, whose mouth had frozen midchew. Their eyes met, and Kay read fear. She knew that fear. It was coursing through her own body. What was Frank talking about? Was Jenna involved in the kidnapping somehow? She glanced at Jenna, who just stared at her plate.
“What is it?” Kay asked, trying to keep her voice steady and calm.
Frank held out a hand. “Relax. It’s nothing bad. In fact, it’s the opposite.”
Kay sat up straighter, tried to prepare herself for whatever she was about to hear.
“You know we found Gabby last night. The reason we found her in time is because a very brave person tipped off police. And that brave person was your daughter.”
A small whimper of relief escaped Kay.
Jenna glanced up, her eyes searching everybody for a reaction.
Damien reached for Jenna’s hand and looked at Frank. “Jenna?”
“Jenna knew something was going down. She didn’t have details, but her gut told her that those girls were involved. She alerted me to what was going on, where she thought Gabby might be. Turned out she was right.”
“But Jenna was upstairs in her room asleep that night,” Kay said.
Jenna smiled weakly. “I kind of snuck out to meet Frank. Sorry.”
Kay took a deep breath as she sorted through it all in her head.
“Sweetie,” Damien said, “why haven’t you told us any of this?”
“I didn’t think…” Jenna shook her head and looked down. “I didn’t think you’d believe me.”
Damien started to say something, but Kay held up her hand. “She’s right. We haven’t been listening, have we, Jenna?”
“It’s okay. It’s just what I needed to do.”
“She’s a hero,” Frank said. “She saved Gabby’s life.”
Hunter reached over and patted her on the back. “Way to go, Sis.”
“Thanks.” She smiled at her brother like she used to when they were young.
“Jenna,” Frank said, “why don’t you tell your parents the rest?”
“The rest?” Kay asked.
Jenna pressed her lips together and took several seconds before she said, “Once the girls are charged, I might be called as a witness.” She glanced back and forth between Kay and Damien. “I want to do it. I’m not scared.”
“Scared of what?” Damien asked Frank.
“There could be some retribution at school. But we’ll keep Jenna’s name out of it as long as possible. In fact, this thing probably won’t even go to trial until next year. A lot of emotion will have passed by then, so I don’t anticipate any problems. The DA and the department understand the sensitivity of the situation.”
“A lot of people are upset; that’s all,” Jenna said. “I mean, this is hard to take.”
Kay kept nodding with each statement, trying her best to understand that Jenna’s heroic move would not be viewed as heroic by everyone. What had this world come to? She saved a life and now feared for her own?
“There’s a chance the DA might not need her testimony at all. We have confessions from both girls, so they’ll probably enter guilty pleas and be turned over to the court to decide what to do with them.”
“Okay. Sure. We understand,” Damien said, but Kay could see it in his eyes. He was unsure.
Still, to look at their daughter, to know what goodness dwelled deep inside her… it sort of wiped out all the apprehension.
“The state brought in an investigator,” Frank continued. “He’s making some headway into figuring out who is doing the Web site. As long as it’s up, he’s fairly sure he can get who is doing this.”