Since She Went Away(85)

“What form did this ‘self-preservation’ take?” Jenna asked.

“It’s more complicated than that. I want to explain myself.”

“You were worried about an affair, or Celia being in danger. You were also worried about your reputation. The family’s reputation. The foundry. A straying wife in a small town isn’t good for business.”

Ian made an exasperated noise in his throat. “Don’t try to reduce me. Or my family.”

“You weren’t worried about that?” Jenna asked.

“I worried about my family more.”

“So, what did you do with all this worry?” Jenna asked.

“Jenna . . . because of my job, I have access to certain people and things that an ordinary person might not have access to. You’re right, a company needs to protect its reputation. And there are people who can do that for us.”

“You mean PR people?”

“No, I don’t mean that.”

“Then what?”

“I’ve been clear about this with the police,” he said. “I talked to them again when that man died. Henry Allen. His son and Ursula—”

“Holy crap,” Jenna said. She remembered her conversation with Ursula in the park. “Did you know Henry Allen?” she asked. “The guy who was just murdered in William Rose’s house?”

Ian sounded reluctant. “I knew him. Some.”

“Did Celia?”

“No,” Ian said. “He and I were once in a foursome at the country club. Some tournament thing to raise money for charity. Golf and then drinks. The usual bullshit.”

“But you knew him well enough,” Jenna said. “Well enough to enlist his services?”

Ian didn’t respond. A flush rose on his cheeks. He looked down at his folded hands, staring at them as though he could open them up and find some wisdom hidden there.

“So, what happened? You had drinks together at the club and that loosened your tongue?” Jenna said. “And then how did it come up? You started bemoaning the fact that you couldn’t keep your woman at home?”

Ian looked up. “Hold on. You’re making it sound so nefarious. I told you I was trying to keep the family together.”

“So you talked, and he told you what? That he knew a guy? A guy who could do the job for you? And you asked Henry Allen to have someone follow Celia?”

“I did. And yes, Henry did have employees who could follow Celia. It was supposed to be simple. Keep an eye on her when she left the house in the evenings and let Henry know if they saw anything suspicious. I called a number when she was going out and told them. Or I’d call them if I wasn’t going to be home. If they didn’t see anything, they didn’t tell Henry anything. No news was supposed to be good news. I was trying to protect Celia. And the truth is, they never saw anything. Nothing was ever reported back to me.”

“She was right,” Jenna said. “Celia was right. Someone was following her.”

“Maybe. We don’t know—”

“And you trusted these guys?” Jenna asked.

“I trusted Henry. He’s a prominent businessman in town. He wouldn’t hurt anybody.”

“Businessmen never hurt people, do they?”

“Jenna, you know I’d never put my family in danger.”

“What did you tell the police about it?” Jenna asked.

“I gave them Henry Allen’s name, Jenna. I told them the whole thing.” He tapped his fingers against the table a few times. “They questioned him, but I don’t know what he said. And when Henry Allen turned up dead, I told them again. Even though I didn’t need to. They remembered, of course. What are they supposed to think when a guy who might have been involved with having my missing wife followed turns up dead? It looks bad, doesn’t it?”

“Bad for who?”

“Everybody.”

“So they’re all connected. Ian . . . you . . .”

“I was trying to protect all three of us. To ensure that our family would make it. Celia had been wandering. Hell, I thought about having Ursula followed, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. I think kids should be free to make mistakes and learn from them.”

“But not wives?”

Ian started to say something, but then he just nodded, almost like admitting defeat.

“Jesus, Ian. Celia said she thought someone was following her. You know what? I thought she was just being paranoid, seeing shadows that weren’t there. But she wasn’t crazy, was she? She was being followed.”

Jenna was up, grabbing her coat and heading for the door.





CHAPTER SIXTY-ONE


Jared felt as if he was on a wild-goose chase, walking through the streets of Hawks Mill hoping he’d come across Ursula. All he knew from Bobby was that she’d left the party early, possibly heading home. But she could be anywhere in town—another party, a friend’s house, a restaurant, a store. Jared didn’t have a car, didn’t have any easy way to find her.

And once he did find her, then what?

He wanted to ask her about her insistence that he do the interview as well as the information Reena revealed on TV.

Ursula and her family lived six blocks east of downtown in a neighborhood called Teakwood, on the opposite side of the heart of Hawks Mill from where Natalie’s father lived. As Jared walked away from downtown, the houses were newer, built mostly after World War II, and the streets felt more suburban, like something you’d see in a movie about kids who were rich but not too rich. Jared didn’t know, but he suspected Ursula’s family could afford to live someplace more expensive, out in one of the fancier suburbs where the doctors and lawyers—new money, his mom called it—lived with their three-car garages and giant swing sets. But Jared knew Celia’s family lived in Teakwood when she was growing up. She must have felt comfortable there.