Today's Promises (Promises #2)(21)

“I think he does too,” I agree.

“It’s only right, Flynn. If that poor girl Debbie really is buried up here, she deserves justice.”

“Yeah…” I run a hand through my scruffy hair as I smile over at Jaynie. “She definitely does.”

I love that she is so amped to help. Maybe helping people, even people who are no longer with us, is what she needs to heal.

Peering up at the barn, the rotted wood exterior appearing dark and wet, she says, “So you definitely think that barn is the most likely place for Debbie to have been buried?”

“Well, I don’t know for sure,” I reply. “But yeah, the old barn is where I’d start.”

Her brow creasing, like it does when she’s worried, Jaynie asks, “What if she’s not in the barn, though? What then, Flynn? What if the police can’t find a body up on this property anywhere?”

Jaynie makes a sweeping motion to the acres and acres of fields and forest surrounding us, and I mumble, “It is a daunting task.”

I take it all in for another minute, and finally I say, “I don’t know, babe, but I hope like hell that the girl is buried in the old barn. Otherwise, she’ll probably never be found.”

Jaynie makes a face, a very unhappy face. Her enthusiasm seems to be waning.

In a dull tone, she says, “If that happens, then Allison will be released from prison for sure, Flynn. Possibly as early as this summer.”

“Fuck.”

I wave the detective back over and gesture to the barn, which is only a short distance from where we’re stopped. “Hey, look,” I say. “I’m good now. Let’s go search that goddamn barn for hiding spots.”

“Okay,” he says. “Let’s go.”

Christ, it’s imperative that we find that body, now more than ever. Because now there are two reasons, at least for me. 1) I need Allison to stay in prison. And 2) I need to keep Jaynie safe, physically and emotionally.

Well, she doesn’t know it, but if we fail today I may just have a backup plan.

Of course, it’s a plan I hope to never have to resort to.





Jaynie



Yep, the barn is as creepy as ever, all dark and musty-smelling. Water is dripping from various places, the result of a dilapidated roof. This structure is definitely an unpleasant place in which to walk around.

But walk around, we must.

“I can’t believe Mandy was brave enough to come in here on her own last year to search for candles for the twin’s birthday,” I muse as I step over a fallen rafter.

“She told me she was quick about it,” Flynn, following behind me, replies.

“I bet she was.”

“Don’t worry. It shouldn’t take us too long to go through this place,” he says reassuringly. “It’s not that large.”

Flynn is trying, like always, to make me feel better about what we have to do. But the truth is we can’t simply race in and out. We made a promise to Detective Silver to help conduct a thorough search. And that, unfortunately, is going to require more than a few minutes of traipsing around, looking to and fro.

The detective already told us that first off the entire dirt floor needs to be examined for uneven places. That could indicate an old burial location. Next, there are stalls to check around in. Plus, there’s a few old trunks strewn about that need searching.

One of those old relics is probably where Mandy found those birthday candles.

It’s then that I notice a lid on one of the trunks is not completely closed. Shiny holiday items, various colors of tinsel and a homemade foil star, are spilling out through the opening.

Flynn, following my gaze, says, “Detective Silver said we need to go through all those old trunks.”

“Yeah, I heard him, but I really don’t know why,” I counter. “They’re too small to hold a body.” I motion to the trunk with the tinsel and star. “See, it’s all holiday stuff.”

“I know. But he thinks there could be a weapon, or something relevant, stowed away in all that junk. Or…” He looks away, then mumbles, “Never mind.”

“Wait.” I grab his arm. “What were you going to say?”

Sighing, he says, “He mentioned that Allison could’ve cut up the body and tossed the pieces in a trunk.”

“Ugh! Flynn, that’s a hideous thought.”

He shrugs. “If the girl was killed, then it was obviously a hideous crime. What do you expect, Jaynie?”

“I don’t know. Just…not that.”

“If you ask me, this whole task is disgusting.”

He’s not wrong about that.

“Okay, Flynn and Jaynie.” The detective, thankfully, comes over and interrupts our unpleasant discussion. “Let’s get to work.”

He and Flynn start by canvassing the dirt floor, while I am assigned to go through the musty, old trunks.

Thankfully, I find no body parts.

Aside from some other antiquated holiday decorations, I come upon nothing more than a few ratty blankets and a bunch of old tools.

“Nothing of interest in any of these,” I announce when I’m finished.

“We should check up in the hayloft,” Flynn suggests.

He and the detective have just finished with the barn floor, so up the old rickety ladder the three of us go, with the detective in the lead.