Not One of Us(54)

Ardy briefly shut his eyes, then opened them again. “It got ugly. Blows were exchanged,” Ardy admitted. “I grabbed his arm, determined to drag him to the car and return later for his bags of clothing. Jackson hit me in the stomach.” Ardy’s face twisted in pain. “At that point, I lost it. We scuffled and began throwing punches, crashing through the house with Tressie screaming at us to stop. I threatened Jackson that I’d have him arrested for assault, and he threatened to have me arrested for child abuse.”

“Sounds horrible,” I offered. “But you were the adult. You should have kept your temper.”

“You think I don’t know that? You think a day goes by that I don’t remember our fight?”

The anguish in his voice shamed me. What was past was past. I had no right to judge.

He pulled himself together with an effort. “Jackson threatened to run away if I sent him to military school, and he meant it. I realized there was nothing more I could do. He had no respect or love for me. I’d tried showing love, being understanding, talking to him, sending him to counselors, enforcing tough love—not a damn thing worked. It didn’t help that Tressie always took his side and made excuses for his behavior. So I threw up my hands and quit trying.”

“How old was Jackson when this happened?”

“Sixteen. He died one week later.”

Had Jackson’s rebellion led Ardy to kill his own son? To finally end the pain and struggle?

Ardy frowned and shook his head. “I know what you’re thinking. That I had a motive to want my son dead.”

I didn’t confirm or deny his statement.

“I didn’t do it.” Ardy’s voice finally broke, and he drew a deep breath before continuing. “I loved Jackson, no matter how bad he treated me. I tried to blame his bad behavior on the drugs, but he’d been trouble since he was a little kid.”

“How old was he when y’all adopted him?”

“Less than a month old.” His eyes filmed over. “Cute little thing with a mop of dark hair and dark-blue eyes.”

“I understand it was a private adoption?”

The unshed tears quickly dried. “Said who?” Ardy asked sharply.

“I heard it mentioned once. And I saw the birth certificate with the birth mother listed. Tressie still has it.”

“Tressie was infertile from severe endometriosis. Adoption was our only option for children.”

“Why did you go the private route?”

“Because she was adamant that she wanted a baby and wasn’t willing to wait for years.”

“How much did it cost you?”

“Fifty grand.” He stood, collecting his file and laptop. “If that’s all?”

“Who made the arrangements?”

“I don’t remember. It was a long time ago. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to get back to work.”

He was lying. But why? I didn’t budge from my chair. “You keep excellent records. I’m sure you must remember who handled the adoption or have paperwork with that information.”

“I told you I didn’t.” Ardy shoved off toward the door, turning his back to me.

“What’s your hurry?” I asked. “What are you so afraid of?”

“Nothing. Plenty of people go the private route for adoption.”

“Did you know that Jackson’s mother recently died of a drug overdose?”

Ardy stilled, then slowly faced me. “You’re full of all kinds of shocking updates from Enigma,” he said, frowning. “All I want to do is forget that place and everyone in it.”

“You can’t run away from the past or ignore it,” I said. “It always comes back to bite you in the ass.” Lord knows I’d tried to do much the same as Ardy. In my case, it was to block out the sinister mystery of Deacon’s disappearance.

“It’s best to leave some things buried,” Ardy grated out. “Digging it up can be dangerous.”

I rose from the chair. “Is that a threat?”

“A warning,” he countered. “Stay the hell out of it. It’s none of your damn business. No good can come from poking your nose around what happened decades ago.”

“So I should let dead dogs lie?”

“Exactly.” He regarded me evenly, as though those particular words held no special significance to him. Ardy nodded his head once, then left me alone in the room.

I took my leave as well and walked to the parking lot. I’d learned nothing new about the adoption, the whole reason I’d come, but I couldn’t count the trip as a total failure either. My eyes had been opened about Aunt Tressie, and I could never again look into her faded, confused eyes without remembering her vile threats to Ardy and his family.

As I got in my car, I glanced at the front office window of Ensley Construction and noticed the blinds twitch to one side. Ardy stood in the sliver of the opening, watching me take my leave. Despite his protestations to the contrary, the man was scared of something. Or somebody.

Or it could be he was afraid of a murderous past catching up to him at last.





Chapter 21


TEGAN


I checked the notes on my cell phone for the name Jori had provided me earlier when I’d questioned her about the Cormier family. Cash Johnson. Hunters roaming the woods weren’t that unusual in Enigma, but his close proximity to the Cormier’s home with a weapon and the fact that he’d made Jori uncomfortable were enough to raise a red flag in my mind. Might as well run him through our database and see if he had any prior arrests or convictions. I entered his name and checked my email while awaiting the results.