Jubilee's Journey (Wyattsville #2)(48)

Seventeen years had gone by, but the acid indigestion was still with him. Sometimes he could go for weeks, months even, without a trace of it. But when something was not right there it was, back again. It was a warning sign, a red flag, a smack in the head that said, “Listen up, this is important!” Mahoney stopped at the drug store, bought a roll of Tums, then drove to the Wyattsville Arms apartment building, uncertain of whether what he had to say was going to be perceived as good news or bad.

Ethan Allen was already home from school, and he was the one who answered the bell. “Hey, Mister Mahoney,” he said and yanked the door open. “You here for more questioning?”

“Perhaps,” Mahoney answered, then asked if he could have a moment alone with Olivia.

Ethan yelled, “Grandma!” and moments later, Olivia came from the kitchen drying her hands on a dish towel. She knew by the look on Mahoney’s face he had something.

Turning to Ethan Allen she said, “You and Jubilee scoot on out of here. Go work on that puzzle you’ve been doing.”

“There’s pieces missing,” Ethan answered and stayed put.

“Then go do your homework.”

Ethan gave a disgusted sigh. “I guess we’ll work on the stupid puzzle.” He turned and motioned for Jubilee to go with him.

Jubilee, who had begun to tag after Ethan like a shadow, didn’t move. Instead she narrowed her eyes and looked at Mahoney suspiciously. “You gonna ask me more questions about Paul?”

“Maybe later,” Mahoney answered.

“Scoot,” Olivia repeated. She led Mahoney into the kitchen and closed the door. He settled into a chair, and after she’d poured two cups of coffee she sat across from him. “Have you found Anita?”

“Not yet,” Mahoney answered, “but I’m pretty sure I’ve found Jubilee’s brother.” He went on to tell of the hospital visit and how the mention of Jubilee’s name brought a glimmer of recognition. “Right now he seems to have very little memory of anything, but I believe seeing his sister could change that.”

Olivia gasped. “Absolutely not. The child has been through enough. If he is her brother and doesn’t recognize her…”

“I know it’s chancy, but I think the kid will respond.”

Olivia shook her head. “There’s got to be another way to find Anita. If Jubilee had some real family to care for her, she might be better able to handle her brother going to jail.”

“Whoa there,” Mahoney said. “First off, you’re jumping to conclusions. I’m not even sure the boy was involved in this. And secondly—”

“Not involved? But you said—”

“No, I never said I think he’s guilty. Gomez is heading up the investigation and he thinks the kid is guilty, but—”

“Sargent Gomez? The one with the bushy black mustache?”

Mahoney nodded. “But he’s not Sargent Gomez anymore, he’s Detective Gomez.”

“Oh, dear.” Olivia remembered Hector Gomez all too well and wasn’t eager to have another encounter with him. “We have simply got to find Anita.”

“Yeah, well,” Mahoney said with a sigh, “right now I’m coming up with a lot of dead ends. Your F.M. Jones gave me a lead on a woman in Norfolk who years back rented an apartment to Bartholomew Jones and his wife. Supposedly there was a woman named Anita who visited frequently, but I’ve gotta say this is thin at best; more than likely going nowhere.”

“You never know,” Olivia said hopefully.

For several minutes they sat there saying nothing. Mahoney stirred his coffee three times even though there was not a drop of cream or sugar mixed in. Olivia fussed with folding and refolding her napkin. After a long while she asked, “Do you honestly think there’s a chance Paul’s not involved?”

“Possibly,” Mahoney answered. “But we won’t know anything until we hear Paul’s version of the incident. That’s not going to happen until he remembers who he is.”

“What about Mister Klaussner? What does he say?”

“Unfortunately, Sid is in a medically-induced coma. And the prognosis is iffy.” The last of Mahoney’s words hung in the air weighted with an ominous unspoken question mark.

Olivia thought back to the beginning of their conversation. “Earlier on you started to say secondly. What was that secondly?”

Mahoney rubbed the back of his hand across his chin pensively. “I was gonna say if Paul does get his memory back, maybe he can also tell us where to find the aunt.”

Olivia nodded knowingly.

The coffee was gone, and the cups had grown cold before she spoke again. “I don’t believe in forcing a child to needlessly face the terrible truth of reality, but neither do I want to make a decision that could change her life. I know Jubilee is only seven, but she’s sensible enough. I think we should explain this to her and ask how she feels.”

“That’s a wise decision,” Mahoney said. “A very wise decision.”

After going through what would or wouldn’t be said, Olivia called Jubilee into the kitchen. Ethan Allen was right behind her.

“You don’t really need to be here,” Olivia told him.

“Yeah, I do,” he said. “I promised to stay by her.” Before he sat, Ethan scooted his chair to where it was bumping up against Jubilee’s. Once everyone was settled, Jack Mahoney began to speak. His words were wrapped in a softness only parents are capable of.