Since She Went Away(67)

Jared hadn’t expected that. His mind raced as he searched for the proper response. “Are you sure—”

“He’s sure,” Ursula said. “We talked about it all day. Just tell him what you saw. You don’t have to pull any punches.”

Jared hesitated. Then he said, “I didn’t see too much. It was dark. He, your dad, was on the floor in the living room. On his back by the TV. I could tell he wasn’t breathing, and . . . there was a pool of blood around his head. I didn’t get close and look. If I’d seen his face clearly, I would have recognized him as your dad. I remember him from when we were kids. But I left. The cops showed me a picture and told me who he was.”

“So you didn’t see his face?”

“Not really. Like I said, it was dark.”

“Could you tell if he suffered?” Bobby asked.

Jared knew what the right thing to say was. “I bet not. With the way he was lying there, and the blood on the floor, he probably got hit pretty hard. He was probably out right away.”

“Did he smell?” Ursula asked.

Jared turned a little, but knew he couldn’t see Ursula since she was sitting right behind him. So he looked at Bobby. “Yeah, it smelled. It smelled pretty bad. I had to put my sweatshirt over my face. You know, when people die . . .”

“They shit themselves,” Ursula said.

Bobby winced a little, as if he’d felt a sharp pain in his stomach.

“I’m sorry,” Jared said.

“I asked,” he said.

“I went over there once, a few days ago, and the neighbor next door told me that he’d seen a guy in a suit going into the house. And then he thought he heard people arguing. Maybe that was your dad going in.”

“Probably was,” Bobby said.

“He doesn’t know anything, Bobby,” Ursula said, sounding bored. “Can he go?”

Bobby held out his hand, and Jared shook it. “Thanks, man,” Bobby said. “I appreciate it.”

“I want to ask you something,” Jared said.

His hand slipped out of Bobby’s. Bobby nodded, indicating he could go on.

“Do you know what your dad had to do with Tabitha’s dad?” Jared asked. “Why was he there at all? They don’t seem like they travel in the same circles.”

Bobby said, “I don’t know exactly. That lunatic, Mr. Burke or Mr. Rose or whoever he is, did some kind of work for my dad a few years ago. I kind of remember hearing my dad say his name. Then Dad said something about him coming back to town and they were working together again, although Dad acted kind of weird about it, like he didn’t want to say too much.”

“Mr. Rose was here a few years ago?” Jared asked.

“Yeah. He’s one of those guys who comes and goes. My dad once said he was rootless.”

“But you don’t know what kind of work he did?” Jared asked.

“No, I don’t. Something at the plant, but I don’t know what.”

“I think it was something illegal,” Ursula said. “Why else would he kill your dad? Somebody had dirt on somebody.”

“The point is I don’t know,” Bobby said, speaking to Ursula’s reflection in the rearview mirror. “Neither do the cops. Not yet anyway.” He turned to Jared. “Do you know what he did for a living? Did he ever say?”

“I never really talked to him. I never formally met him. The first time I ever set foot in the house was when I found your dad.”

Bobby nodded as though some profound truth had just been confirmed. “Well, I’m sorry about Tabitha. Or . . . what’s her real name?”

“Natalie,” Jared said.

“I’m sorry about Natalie.” They shook hands again. “The whole town’s kind of gone crazy. I hope they find her.”

He turned and stared out the window, his gaze distant and unfocused. Jared wondered if he was remembering something about his dad, some happy childhood memory like a Christmas morning or learning to ride a bike. Or was he focusing on the bad stuff? Stuff like the soccer game or whatever he was involved in with Natalie’s dad? When his own dad left the family, Jared spent a lot of time thinking about the good stuff. Times they’d gone for car rides together or played a game. And then the more time went by, he stopped thinking about him much at all. It was hard to remember any of the good stuff.

“I have to get back to my mom,” Bobby said.

“Sure,” Jared said. “Take care.”

“If you hear anything,” Bobby said, “will you let us know?”

“I will.”

He stepped out into the cold, expecting Ursula to move to the front seat, but she didn’t budge. He shut the door and watched them drive off.





CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN


Sally insisted on getting a drink after work. A couple of days had passed since the revelations about Natalie and William Rose broke. The news media and the cops seemed to be stuck in a loop, running on a wheel like hamsters. No additional credible sightings of them came in. No one saw Natalie anywhere.

They drove in Sally’s car to Haley’s Taproom, a bit of a dive in a strip mall near the office. The place was rarely crowded, and the owner kept the lights down low. No one had to make eye contact in Haley’s. No doubt most of the patrons didn’t want to.