Locust Lane(91)

“Let’s talk in my car.”

She agreed. She didn’t want to be seen with Alice.

“I can’t believe you cheated on Dad,” she said the moment they were sealed inside the Rover.

The words were clearly rehearsed, but there was still real bitterness and pain there.

“I love Michel,” Alice answered. “I don’t love your father.”

“But you lied to him.”

“I guess that’s the catch-22 of this stuff. You have to start the affair before you know it’s real. You can’t exactly go up to your spouse and say, ‘Honey, I’m thinking about getting involved with another guy, but it might not work out, so just hang tight and I’ll get back to you.’”

“It went on for like months.”

“I know. And that was shitty. You probably won’t believe this, but Michel and I were getting ready to make it official before all this happened.”

“Yeah, right.”

But Hannah’s heart was no longer in it. She’d seen how things had been between the two adults in the house.

“So are you guys getting together now?”

“No. Michel is going back to the Virgin Maryam.”

“Who?”

“Never mind. No, we are not getting together.”

“And that Twitter thread. That was just a terrible thing to do to Jack and me.”

“I know. I guess I saw it as some kind of tough love to shake you out of this huge mistake you were making.”

“Jack didn’t do it. He was with me all night.”

They sat in silence, watching the happy kids gossip and flirt.

“But are you really and truly sure about that, Hannah? He and his parents haven’t worked something out to hide the truth? You can tell me. I’m done. Nobody in this town will ever listen to me again.”

“If I thought that Jack had killed Eden, don’t you think I’d tell people?” Her voice was plaintive now. “I know you think I’m a doormat, but there’s no way I’d do that. But Jack did not do it. She was alive when we left her. He was with me when she was killed.”

“Maybe he didn’t even intend to hurt her. Maybe he just wanted to talk to her and things got…”

“But there was no reason for him to go back. His dad was going to sort everything out.”

“What do you mean?” Alice asked after a few seconds.

“His father said he’d deal with it when he got back. He wanted us to stay away from her.”

“Wait, when was this?”

“When Jack called him.”

“I know, but when?”

“Right after we left Eden’s house. Jack called and told him everything. Mr. Parrish told us to get back to our house and stay there. He said he’d sort it all out once he was home. Until then we couldn’t talk to anybody. And then when he came by school after lockdown he told us what Christopher had done. Jack never even got to talk to her.”

“And you left the Bondurant house, what, before midnight?”

“Yeah.”

“And Jack called him right away?”

“We were still in the car coming home,” Hannah said.

“But Mr. Parrish didn’t come back to Emerson until the next afternoon, right?”

“Yeah, he was out of town. We didn’t see him until just after the lockdown.”

“Did you tell the police this? I mean, about Jack calling him?”

She shook her head.

“Why not?”

“Because he told us not to.”

“Did he explain why?”

“I don’t think so. What difference does it make?”

Alice could see it now. It was so obvious. One moment she didn’t understand anything and the next it was perfectly clear. Hannah wasn’t lying. Of course she wasn’t lying. Jack was innocent. Of the killing, at least. Geoff had the proof; he’d given it to the cops. But Christopher hadn’t done it, either. He couldn’t have. He simply didn’t have it in him. Neither of them was lying. They were both telling the truth. They were all telling the truth. Hannah and Jack and Christopher and Geoff. They were all telling the truth. The little they knew of it.

Hannah’s expression had shifted as well. It looked as if she was thinking the same thing as Alice. The girl was spacey but she wasn’t stupid. The doubt only lasted for a few seconds, however. Her eyes soon hardened. She was once again living in the Parrishes’ world.

“Let it go, Alice. It’s over.”

“No, you’re right.”

Hannah’s eyes filled with tears. Alice spread her arms and she folded into them, like she had a thousand times before. Alice was tempted to lock the door and drive off, taking the poor kid as far away from this evil place as she could, shutting her away until she could make her understand.

“When are you leaving?” Hannah asked as she disengaged herself.

“Later today. There’s something I need to wrap up before I go.”





CELIA


The doorbell rang just after Jack left for counseling. Celia had been driving him for the past few days, but this afternoon he insisted on going alone. He already thought it was a big waste of time. Being escorted by his mother made it downright humiliating.