Don't Make a Sound (Sawyer Brooks #1)(23)

“But her children are probably old enough to do things on their own,” Mom pointed out. “What does Harper do in her free time?”

“Taking care of two kids and a husband is a full-time job when you do it right.”

Mom’s gaze tore into hers. “Is there some hidden meaning in that statement?”

“No,” Sawyer said, although there was. Being a good mother was a full-time job. Being a shitty one didn’t take much time at all.

Mom went back to whisking the eggs and milk. “And what about you?” Mom asked.

Sawyer perked up at the thought of her talk with Sean Palmer. With so much going on, she’d nearly forgotten. “I recently got a promotion. I’m working my first homicide.” She sighed. “Well, I will be when I return home.”

Mom’s face fell, her jaw slack. “Homicide?”

Sawyer nodded.

“I thought you wrote for a little local paper over there in that cow town?”

Here we go, Sawyer thought. Did Mom hate her life so much . . . or was there more to it than that? Either way, Sawyer decided to let it go. “It’s the biggest newspaper in the city, and I’ll be working in the investigative field under one of the most respected crime reporters in the country.”

Mom poured the egg mixture into a sizzling frying pan on the stove. “So you write about dead people?”

“Sure,” Sawyer said, already feeling a bit deflated. “I tell a story, let people in the community know what has happened so they can make informed decisions.”

Mom stirred the eggs. “As in?”

“As in there is a killer running loose, so you might not want to let your young children roam freely without adult supervision.”

Silence strangled the air between them.

Sawyer wondered if Mom remembered doing just that? Letting her three daughters run around town alone, knowing that Peggy Myers and Avery James had been murdered? Did Mom ever feel any remorse whatsoever for not being there for her daughters when they needed her? Two young girls brutally murdered, and Sawyer had no recollection of her parents ever warning her to be careful. And what about Uncle Theo, Dad’s brother? Was Harper right when she said Mom and Dad knew exactly what went on under their own roof? Or would Mom go to her grave denying that anything horrid had ever happened in River Rock? A new day and all that bullshit.

“Hello, Theodore!” Mom said.

Sawyer’s body tensed as she glanced over her shoulder toward the kitchen entrance. Knowing her uncle had been released from prison was one thing, but seeing him inside the house where she’d grown up, where he’d abused her, was quite another. “What the hell is he doing here?”

“I didn’t know you were here,” her uncle said, his eyes on Sawyer.

He’d lost a lot of weight. His tattered clothes and scraggly goatee made him look as if he’d been living under a bridge. Sawyer’s hands shook, her insides jittery, as she met her uncle’s gaze. It wasn’t fear she felt, but rage. “I can’t believe you have the gall to step inside this house after everything you did. You’re a sick fucker.”

“I should go,” he said.

Sawyer stood. “Yes, you should.”

Mom clicked her tongue. “Don’t mind her,” she told Uncle Theo. “Stay and have some eggs and coffee with us.”

Sawyer looked at her Mom. “What is it with you? He was sent to prison for rape. Harper told me you know what this man did to me and to this family, and yet you allow him into your house and offer to feed him?” Heat flushed through her body. “Harper was right. You don’t care about your daughters. Today’s a new fucking day. Is that how the saying goes, Mom? Yesterday is behind us. Let it go?”

Mom’s jaw hardened.

The side door behind Mom, the one leading to the backyard, came open. Dad stepped into the kitchen. He looked from face to face, his gaze stopping at his brother. “I told you not to come around while Sawyer’s here.”

“I just wanted to stop by and see if you and Joyce needed help this morning. You know, before the service.”

Sawyer tried to read the silent exchange between her parents, but it was impossible to tell if the dynamics of their relationship had changed. Mom had always worn the pants in the family. She almost always had the upper hand. When they disagreed, she usually won. But Dad surprised her by pointing his finger toward the exit. “Get out,” he told his brother. “Now.”

“I helped take care of Sally,” Uncle Theo argued. “I’m family too.”

“I’m not going to try to stop you from going to funeral,” Dad said. “But you’re not welcome in this house.”

Uncle Theo pouted. “At least tell her how I’ve changed. How I found God and made amends. I’m not who I used to be. Tell her.”

The blood in Sawyer’s veins was boiling. If he didn’t leave soon, she might just strangle him with her bare hands. “I don’t care,” she said. “You ruined my life and my sisters’ lives. Nothing you could say would ever make up for what you did.”

“Go!” Dad said to his brother.

Mom said nothing.

Uncle Theo headed back the way he’d come.

Sawyer heard the door open and close.

She couldn’t breathe. The thought that she might see him during her visit had crossed her mind, but nothing could have prepared her for the outpouring of emotions that threatened to bring her to her knees. Her insides quivered. “I’m going to get dressed and then drive to town,” Sawyer said, afraid she might break down if she didn’t get away. “I’ll see you both at the chapel.”