Jubilee's Journey (Wyattsville #2)(44)

“So this girl was alone when Ethan Allen met her?”

Olivia nodded.

“And she’s seven years old?” Griffin said.

Olivia gave a second nod.

“Seven, huh? That’s awfully young to be traveling alone. How’d she get here?”

Feeling a bit bottled-up, Olivia simply shrugged. “I can’t say. My primary concern is in helping her find her aunt.”

“Maybe we ought to talk to the girl and Ethan Allen both,” Griffin suggested. “Let them tell us exactly how this meet-up happened.”

Olivia glared at Griffin as if he’d gone stark, raving mad. “Absolutely not. The child has been through enough already.”

Mahoney walked over and put his hand on Olivia’s arm. “I know you’re trying to protect the girl, but hiding from the truth never helps.”

Perhaps it was the sincerity in his voice, or perhaps she saw the light of truth in his eyes again. Regardless of what caused it, Olivia’s resolve started to crumble. With a quivering voice that edged close to tears, she said, “Expecting a child to accept that her brother is guilty of shooting a man is asking too much.”

“Maybe he’s not guilty,” Mahoney answered. “We’re not trying to prove anybody did anything; we’re just looking for the truth.”

Truth. The word landed softly on Olivia’s ear. Truth was okay. It was not always pretty or sweet, but it was okay. “Promise me you won’t turn her over to the authorities,” Olivia said. “Promise me that much.”

“Okay,” Mahoney answered. “I give you my word.” He hesitated a moment then said, “But please realize, there may come a time when you’re the one who has to do it.”

“Me?” Olivia gasped. “Why me?”

“Because it might be the right thing to do.”

The thought of a child like Jubilee having no one to love her was almost unthinkable, so Olivia pushed it to the back of her mind and finally agreed to let Mahoney question the children. “Just you,” she said, turning her back to Griffin. “No one else.”

“We’d be more likely to get at the truth if one of us talks to Ethan Allen and the other talks to the girl,” Mahoney argued, but Olivia stood firm on her decision and told him to come back at three-thirty when Ethan Allen got home from school.





As they left the building Griffin nodded knowingly to Mahoney. “Right,” Mahoney answered. They parked the car in front of the building and sat there waiting to catch Ethan Allen on his way home from school.

Twenty minutes later Mahoney spotted the boy coming down the street. He stepped out and called to him. After a few minutes of chit-chat about Dog and whether Cal Ripkin could carry the Senators to a winning season, Mahoney said, “This girl you brought home, how’d that come about?”

“Does Grandma Olivia know you’re here?” Ethan asked suspiciously.

“She sure does. She’s the one who said it’d be okay to talk with you.”

With the look of doubt spreading across his face, Ethan said, “Grandma wants me to tell you about that?”

“Honest. I was up there a few minutes ago, and she said ‘When Ethan gets home from school you can ask him.’”

“I don’t know.” Ethan shook his head. “That don’t sound like Grandma Olivia.”

“You think I’d lie?”

“I suppose not,” Ethan answered, but the expression on his face argued the point.

Trying to move back to the questions he had in mind, Mahoney said, “About this girl you brought home. She was just sitting on the bench across from Klaussner’s on the day of the shooting?”

“You’re sure Grandma Olivia said I’m supposed to talk about this?”

Mahoney nodded.

“I ain’t looking to get Jubie in trouble.”

“Nobody’s in trouble. I’m just trying to get the facts.”

Ethan shrugged as if he still had some doubt. “I’d feel a lot better about this if we was to check with Grandma first.”

“Okay,” Mahoney relented, “let’s go upstairs. That way I can talk with Jubilee also.”

“Who told you her name was Jubilee?” Ethan asked suspiciously.

“Your grandmother,” Mahoney answered, and the boy smiled.





When they arrived at the apartment, Clara and Fred McGinty were sitting on the sofa. Clara had a notepad and pencil in her lap, and McGinty had a camera.

“I have witnesses,” Olivia warned, “and as I said earlier I will not allow you to badger or scare Jubilee. Right now she has no family, and I feel it’s my responsibility to see to her well-being until we locate her aunt.”

“Agreed.” Detective Mahoney nodded.

Olivia disappeared into the bedroom and came back with the girl. After introducing her to the detective, she sat Jubilee between Clara and McGinty and told Ethan Allen to squeeze in alongside. Olivia sat in her silk chair, which left only the club chair on the far side of the seating arrangement for Mahoney.

He knew it would have been better if he could have sat alongside the girl, close up. He could tell when a person was lying, but across the room could be iffy. Mahoney began with cordialities meant to put the girl at ease.