Today's Promises (Promises #2)(20)

“Nothing comes to mind,” I’m quick to say.

“Think about places where a body could be stowed away,” he goes on. “Any small cubby holes or secret passages could harbor more than just dust.”

“Secret passages?” I mumble. “This place isn’t that extensive.”

“Besides,” Jaynie adds, “If there’d been a secret passageway, we certainly would’ve used it to escape.”

“Yeah,” I agree. And then I add, ”Wouldn’t you think if a body was buried in the house we would have noticed a smell.”

Jaynie scrunches up her nose. “Flynn,” she chastises. “That’s disgusting.”

“It’s also highly doubtful,” the detective chimes in. “Debbie Canfield disappeared a few years before you or Jaynie lived here. If a body had ever been hidden in this house, it would’ve likely been nothing but bones by the time you got here.”

Jaynie, shuddering, says, “Okay, okay. I still don’t think the body was ever in this house. I mean, look around.” She gestures to the mess about us. “If a body was hidden anywhere in this place, even if it was now nothing but a skeleton, someone surely would have found it by now.”

“That’s a valid point,” the detective agrees as he scans the debris.

“My money’s still on the old barn up in the fields,” I interject.

Detective Silver turns to me. “Yes, you seem so certain that this old barn will hold something. But I wanted to ask you a question before we head up there.”

“Sure, shoot.”

“Don’t you think the newer structure would be a better place to search?” Detective Silver motions to where the work barn, the pole barn where we once made crafts, is located, down a slope just beyond the house. “That newer barn is much closer to this place,” the detective goes on. “And that would’ve made it that much easier for an assailant to transport a body, assuming the murder took place in here. That barn outside was the official workplace, correct?”

I shake my head as I say, “It was our work barn, yes, but that wasn’t where the kids made crafts back when Debbie lived here.”

“What do you mean?” the detective asks.

“The barn where we worked, the one you’re talking about, is relatively new. But the old barn…” I point to an intact window, one with a view up the hill from the house. “See that old structure up there? That’s where Debbie would’ve worked. That’s the barn I have a feeling about. That’s the one we should be searching.”

“It makes the most sense to me too,” Jaynie says, jumping in. “Even though the old barn used to be the work area at one time, not too many people spent any time up there after the new barn was finished. That made it remote and private.”

“Interesting,” Detective Silver muses. And then he asks, “Have either of you ever been inside that structure?”

Jaynie takes the lead in responding to this question, which I welcome. It means she’s growing more comfortable with being back here.

“We would venture up there from time to time,” she tells Silver. “I actually think we were the first kids to play up there in ages. Still, we kept mostly to the outside area. If we did venture into the barn, it was never for more than a minute or two. See, it’s really dark and kind of creepy in there.”

Detective Silver states grimly, “I think we better take a look inside this old barn.”

Retracing our steps over the same fields Jaynie and I ran through our final and desperate night brings up a myriad of emotions. I’m usually good at keeping my feelings bottled up, especially in front of strangers, but this time is different. Those stirred-up emotions get the best of me, and I have to stop for a minute to get a hold of myself.

Bending over and placing my hands on my knees, Jaynie touches my shoulder lightly. “Flynn, are you all right?”

“Yeah, sure, I’m good. Just a little overheated is all.”

I make a production of fanning myself, but Jaynie knows I’m full of shit. I mean, come on. I left my heavy coat in the detective’s car because I was too warm. But it’s not really all that warm today, not when you’re wearing a light T-shirt like I am. Plus there’s the fact that I’m in really good shape. Trekking up a hill would hardly result in me sucking wind and complaining of the heat.

Still, my girl has my back and plays along. That’s what we do—we cover for each other, always.

“Go ahead and rest up for a minute,” Detective Silver says when Jaynie asks if we can have a minute for me to cool down. “I have a quick call I need to make, anyway.”

When he’s a good distance from us, I turn to Jaynie and say, “I think he’s onto us. He’s no dummy. He knows I’m not overheated. I bet he doesn’t even need to make a call.”

“Maybe not,” she says softly. “Maybe he’s just being nice. I think it’s possible. I really do get a good vibe from him.”

I nod. “Yeah, I do too. That’s why I agreed to help in the first place. And, as for you, I could tell you were okay with him when you jumped in the conversation down at the house.”

“I am okay with him,” she confirms. “And aside from him being a decent human being, I think he really does want to solve this case.”