The detective went to the door, but Flynn held back. He was looking at Jack.
His smirk was gone and he seemed to be sympathetic. “Could have been worse than with that girl. I know a lot of men in this town were waiting for her to follow her mother. Roy told me that—”
Jack came up off the couch, his eyes blazing anger.
Kate stepped between the two men. As before, she put her arm through the sheriff’s. “How was your dinner? I bet your speech was enlightening.”
The sheriff seemed to be glad for a face-saving way to get away from Jack. He quickened his pace to get to the door. “It wasn’t really a speech but the applause was good. It’s nice to be appreciated for all I do.” He glanced over his shoulder at Jack, who was still standing at the end of the couch.
When they were gone, they went back outside into the lovely Florida weather. Jack started eating, but Kate and Sara just stared into space in silence.
It was all so twisted, Kate thought. It looked like there was going to be no further investigation, which meant that Roy Wyatt’s lies were going to win. Based on what she’d seen of the gossip in Lachlan, it wouldn’t be long before everyone knew all the facts. Roy’s death would end anyone’s curiosity about whether he did or didn’t do it. It was going to be Jack who would suffer. He’d be labeled as the son of a murderer. Even worse was that it would be said that Roy was right in killing Cheryl Morris. She was the girl everyone thought was so good, but who was actually a child molester. Kate could imagine the videos going viral. There’d be Cheryl dressed up like someone double her age and wrestling a very pretty little boy who kept saying no.
Jack’s protests wouldn’t drown out a viral video. Besides, didn’t victims often side with their abusers?
She looked at Jack and Sara. His jaw muscle was working and Sara’s face showed her growing sadness. Kate worried that she might be like her mother and never get out of it.
She took a breath. They couldn’t let this beat them. “You sure were the prettiest little boy I ever saw.”
Jack looked startled. “When did you see me?”
Sara smiled in a way that let him know she wasn’t answering that. “For years, he looked like an angel. But then he reached puberty and he went through a gangly stage. He was too tall, too thin, and he had skin problems. But he turned out rather nice.”
Kate looked at Jack like she was a judge in a cattle show. “He’s okay now, but the kid... Wow.”
Jack’s face was beginning to relax. “Cheryl was the beauty.”
“Even when I did TV, I didn’t wear that much makeup,” Sara said. “I can’t walk in heels that high.”
“She was five foot two and she would have worn stilts if she could get away with it,” Jack said.
“The head rub?” Kate asked. “Was that when you gave her the tongue twisters? Rubber baby buggy bumpers? That sort of thing?”
“Yeah. And Peter Piper.”
“Roy must have...” Kate didn’t want to complete that thought.
Sara picked up a piece of cheese. “He probably went to her house and made a pass at her. Wonder what she did to get him to go away?”
“You can be sure that just the wordnodidn’t do it,” Jack said.
“I guess the ‘cock-and-bull story’ she told him was about being a newscaster. And she showed videos as proof.” For all that Kate had tried to lighten the mood, she was thinking about what that poor girl must have gone through.
“He took the camera and all the films away from her,” Jack said.
“When Roy saw that you’d given her something with Henry’s name on it, he probably went berserk,” Sara said. “He was always insanely jealous of Henry. Cal told me of Roy’s threats and complaints about Henry. Sheer jealousy.”
“Who’s Cal?” Kate asked.
Jack smiled. “My grandfather. The love of our Sara’s life. He’s why she puts up with me.”
Kate looked at Sara questioningly.
“All true.” Sara waved her hand. “That doesn’t matter. The problem now is that Jack is going to be the one who is persecuted.”
Kate nodded. “He’ll have to bear the brunt of the rumors that will fly. A father who is a murderer.” She sighed. “And he may be thought to be so damaged that he’s impotent.”
Jack spit out a mouthful of Sara’s green tea. “Like hell I am!”
