Since She Went Away(105)

“They talked about that, huh?” he asked.

“Yes. I heard them.”

“And Natalie told the police this?” Bobby asked.

“She did. She told them a lot of stuff, but that’s the part I noticed. I kind of figured they’d be talking to you and Ursula soon.”

“They did talk to me,” Bobby said. “This morning. But they didn’t push too hard. I told them it kind of made sense my dad might say my name to someone who wanted to kill him. Right?”

“And Ursula’s name?” Jared asked.

“I don’t know if they talked to her yet.”

“What does it mean, Bobby?” Jared asked.

“I think I have to show you something.”

“Do you know why your dad and William Rose mentioned you?” Jared asked. “Or did Natalie hear them wrong?”

“I could drive away,” Bobby said. “Put this thing in drive and just go. I could take you with me, if you wanted. We could get away from it all.”

Jared felt confused. “And go where?”

“Anywhere.”

“What about your family?” Jared asked. “You said your mom, your sister—”

“Yeah. Them. Everyone.” He tapped his fingers on the steering wheel. “Things never really end, do they? Even if you run away.”

“Not really.”

Bobby turned the car around. They headed back toward town, retracing the route they’d just taken.





CHAPTER SEVENTY-SIX


Ian walked into the living room after calling the police. He had reported Ursula missing, a possible runaway. He couldn’t give them a motive or explain anything, but he asked that they inform Naomi Poole.

Then he sat down and looked to Jenna.

A few long moments passed, and then Ian slipped back into the guise of the rational, detached businessman.

“I want to find her first,” he said. “I don’t want my daughter just pursued and questioned by the police. You understand wanting to protect your child, don’t you? She hasn’t done anything wrong. Not that we know of.”

Jenna’s heart beat a bass drum rhythm while she studied Ian’s face. “You should stay here. She might come home. You should be here.”

“No. I can’t do nothing.”

“I’ll go drive around and look for her. I’ll look in the park.”

“Let’s go look for her together,” Ian said. “You and me. We can drive around. The police can call me if they need me. Poole or whoever. We have our phones.”

He sounded so reasonable, so believable, that Jenna found herself nodding before he was even finished.

“Okay,” she said. “Okay. Let’s go look for her.”

? ? ?

Jared recognized the alley they drove down. Bobby moved the car slowly, his forehead creased with concentration. It had only been the previous night Jared was there, moving through the party in search of Ursula.

Kirk Embry’s house.

Jared saw the gate he’d come through at the back of the property, the tall privacy fence that protected the pool. Bobby opened his door and climbed out without saying anything, so Jared followed him.

The back gate hung open. Bobby strolled through and when Jared entered the pool area, he saw a few scattered Solo cups and empty beer bottles. A discarded UK sweatshirt lay next to the thick tarp covering the pool, and Jared wondered how Mike had fared at the party.

Bobby walked over to the side of the pool and crouched down next to one of the thick cords that held the tarp in place. He started unwinding the knot, looking like a deckhand preparing a ship to sail. He sprang a few of the cords loose near the deep end, never once looking up at Jared.

“What are you doing?” Jared asked.

But Bobby kept working, as patient as a carpenter. Jared thought back about twelve hours, to Bobby sitting on the diving board and waxing philosophic about the coming of spring and his desire to get away from Hawks Mill. Jared’s throat felt dry.

When Bobby was half done with the cords, he strolled back to the deep end of the pool and pulled on the tarp, rolling it back.

It looked heavy. Jared saw the strain on his face as he tugged, the tendons in his neck flexing.

When Bobby had it rolled back, he sat down on the side of the pool, his feet dangling above the water, which only reached half as high as it did during summer. Bobby stared into the depths as something grotesque settled over his face. A deep pain and sadness that seemed to age him twenty years as he sat and looked.

“Isn’t this what you wanted to see?” he asked without looking up.

Jared took a couple of steps closer.

No, he didn’t want to see. But he couldn’t stop himself.

He edged toward the lip of the pool.

He saw a human shape, facedown, floating in the scummy water.





CHAPTER SEVENTY-SEVEN


Jared stared into the partially frozen, dirty water.

He saw the back of a head, hair fanning out.

“Ursula?” Jared asked.

Bobby shook his head.

Then it made sense.

“It’s her,” Jared said. “Celia.”

Bobby remained in place, his feet hanging over the water, his eyes vacant.

A cold knot of revulsion and fear grew inside Jared.