Missing Pieces(60)
“Sarah,” Jack said, a note of desperation creeping into his voice.
“No. End of discussion. I’m leaving.” She tried to step past him, but he slid in front of her, blocking her way. Her breath constricted in her throat. If she screamed would anyone hear her? Would anyone come running? The house seemed a thousand miles away. “Jack, let me by,” she said firmly, trying to keep the panic from her voice.
“I know you’re frustrated and confused. I don’t want you to go, Sarah.” He looked pleadingly into her eyes. “And if I could, I would leave with you, but we can’t.”
“What do you mean we can’t?” Sarah asked in confusion, for a moment forgetting to be afraid.
“The sheriff just called. They found something at Hal’s house during the search. Neither one of us is leaving Penny Gate. At least not for a few days.”
“What did they find at Hal’s?” Sarah asked, thinking about the bloodstains she’d seen on the steps.
“He won’t say,” Jack said, pushing open the barn door. “He wanted to make sure we both knew that we couldn’t leave yet. He had a few more questions for us.”
“Why would he have more questions for me?” Sarah asked heatedly. “Jesus, Jack, I did not sign up for this. All I want to do is go home.”
“I know, I do, too,” Jack said with a raspy voice. Sarah noticed that though freshly showered and shaved, exhaustion pulled Jack’s face downward. Sarah wondered if he got any sleep the night before. “The wake’s tonight. Will you come?” he asked, looking at her hopefully.
Sarah didn’t answer right away. She cringed at the thought of being forced to stay in Penny Gate for even one more day. She was beyond caring what the townspeople would say if she didn’t make an appearance, but she did care about Hal and knew he would be hurt and confused if she didn’t attend the services. Besides, she needed to return the evidence box to Margaret and she was curious as to what the forensic team discovered at Hal’s home. “I’ll go,” she said, walking toward the house. “But I want you to know I’m doing this for Hal and for Julia. You lied to me one too many times, Jack.”
Jack opened up his mouth to protest, but Sarah moved ahead of him toward the house and his words didn’t quite reach her ears. Sarah stepped into the house to find Dean and Hal sitting at the kitchen table and Celia washing dishes in the sink.
“Good morning,” Hal said, pulling out a chair for Sarah to join them. He was dressed for the day, but his pants were wrinkled and his shirt was untucked; dark circles ringed his eyes. A plate of scrambled eggs sat in front of him, untouched. In just the four days they had been there, he appeared to have lost weight.
Sarah rested her hands on the back of the chair but didn’t sit. She felt Celia’s covert glances on her back and Sarah wondered if Jack had told her about their argument the night before. “Jack said that the sheriff found something in the search of the house. Do you have any idea what it is?”
“No idea,” Dean said, dropping his silverware onto his plate with a loud clatter. “He won’t tell us anything more than Dad can’t go back into the house yet. They’re still processing the scene.”
Jack came into the house and leaned against the kitchen counter. “I know it’s frustrating, but he’d tell us if he could. Any evidence that can help clear Amy is a good thing.”
Dean glowered into his coffee cup.
Celia turned from the kitchen sink and laid one hand on Dean’s shoulder as if to calm him. “Julia is being transported back to the funeral home this morning. Someone should be there to greet them.”
“I’m meeting with Amy’s lawyer at eight,” Jack said. Sarah avoided meeting his eyes. She had no intention of going anywhere with him.
“We don’t have time for this.” Dean frowned.
“Don’t have time for what?” Jack challenged. “Don’t have time to make sure that my sister, your cousin, has a good lawyer?”
“Hey, man.” Dean pushed back from the table, causing Celia to stumble backward. “We’re supposed to be planning my mother’s funeral. I can’t be worrying about Amy right now.”
Jack took a step toward Dean. “You know I feel terrible about Julia. I don’t know who did this to her, but I know it wasn’t Amy. She loved Julia.”
Dean stood and Sarah held her breath. “What? Loved her enough to knock her down a flight of stairs?” The room seemed to grow smaller suddenly. Sarah looked to Hal in hopes that he would tell them to knock it off, but he was poking at his eggs with a fork, lost in his own thoughts.
“Dean,” Celia warned and reached for his arm, and he shook her off.
“You want to know what I think, Dean?” Jack stepped close. Dean’s mouth twitched nervously but he didn’t retreat. “I think my sister is in trouble. I think she’s sad, scared and totally messed up.” Jack jabbed a finger into Dean’s chest with each word. “And I think Julia would want us to do whatever we could to make sure she’s okay.”
Dean knocked Jack’s hand away, his face flushed and twisted with anger. “I’ve spent the past twenty years making sure Amy was okay. Where the hell have you been?”
“Stop,” Hal said softly. “Just stop,” he repeated more loudly. Glowering, Dean and Jack shifted away from each other. “Julia wouldn’t want any of this, I’m sure of that.”