Suddenly, Sara was smiling and sounding as though the deputy was the most interesting person she’d ever met.
He was glowing under the attention. “I’m sure he’s not busy. Come on and I’ll show you in.” They followed him.
Kate whispered to Sara, “If you’d given him an autographed book, he might have fainted.”
“Then he’d go online and say that he didn’t like the scene on page 268. The rest of the book was great, but he gave it one star becausethatscene reminded him of something bad that happened to him when he was a kid. Or worse, he found something that wasn’t politically correct.”
She sounded so fatalistic that Kate started to ask questions—but then they saw the sheriff. They’d caught him eating a doughnut and he didn’t like being found out.
Kate expected Sara to use her charming persona, as she’d done with the deputy, but she didn’t. Maybe the contemptible things the sheriff had said before were too much for her.
They sat down and looked at him across his big wooden desk.
“We want to postpone the funeral to next Friday.” Sara’s tone had no softness to it; she was meeting with an enemy.
“No,” Sheriff Flynn replied in the same tone. “Anything else?”
When Sara started to speak again, Kate put her hand on her aunt’s forearm. “We’d like to put on a memorial service for them,” Kate said with a smile. “And Aunt Sara wants to pay for a funeral and a burial site. They deserve that, don’t you think?”
The sheriff turned his chair a bit, as though he was dismissing Sara. “I have to think of the whole town—not just a couple of women no one remembers.”
“You—” Sara’s voice was angry, but Kate dug her fingers into her arm.
“I’m new here,” she said. “Could you please explain to me what’s going on?” She batted her lashes at him.
Frowning, he seemed to debate whether or not to say more. “I know I’m being seen as the bad guy in all this, but I’m trying to protect young Jack.” He ignored the snort of derision that Sara gave. “Roy and I are the same age, and when we were in school, he was the kind of jerk who thought it was funny to shut little kids in lockers. A real bully. Contrary to what some people think—” he cut his eyes at Sara “—I have a reason for being so hard on Jack. I don’t want him to become like his father.”
He narrowed his eyes at Kate, emphasizing what he wanted to say. “Right now the gossip around this town is strong. Roy Wyatt had a big mouth and several people remember him bragging that he had ‘set those Morris women straight.’ Everyone—including me—thought he meant he’d made them leave town. Too many people knew about Verna, so nobody complained when she took her daughter and ran off in the middle of the night.”
The sheriff leaned forward. “They’re not saying that anymore. Now they’re asking what else Roy could have meant. And maybe it’s not a coincidence that Roy’s son bought the property where the bodies were found. I’m being stopped on the street and asked why I haven’t brought Jack in for questioning. And...” He paused. “They’re asking whatreallyhappened that caused Evan to be killed. They’re saying that maybe Jack was drunk and it was actually him doing the driving.”
The sheriff turned his chair around. “The longer it takes to lay those bodies to rest, the stronger the gossip will be. I don’t know how many copies of those videos are out there, but heaven help Jack if one of them goes viral. It would change his life.That’swhy I want to get those bones in the ground ASAP.”
What the sheriff said was making Kate feel queasy. She swallowed. “But a memorial service?” she asked. “Something simple? Maybe it will help.”
He took time to consider. “It might be good if you put that on. Give people something else to think about. And it’ll keep Jack busy. I don’t want that temper of his getting him thrown in my jail.”
He looked at his watch. “I have to go. Work with the secretary to set up a funeral. And keep me informed of everything.” He leaned back in his chair, his face saying that was the end. No more questions; no more answers; they were to leave.
EIGHT
Kate and Sara didn’t speak as they walked to the car. What the sheriff had said was hanging over them.
“Mind if we stop at the café and get something to drink?” Sara asked.
“That would be nice.”
Sara gave directions of where to park and they walked a couple of blocks to a little restaurant. There were outdoor tables under shade umbrellas. They took one and ordered iced tea.
Kate broke the silence. “The town must be really different from when you grew up here.”
“This used to be a grocery store. Cal and I rode our bikes over here.” Sara was moving her straw up and down in her drink.
“Cal. Jack’s grandfather and the love of your—”
Sara looked up. “I feel really bad about all that’s happened. It wasn’t what I’d planned. I thought you and I would be going sightseeing. We’d get on one of those big air boats and search out alligators. Or drive north to see what Disney is doing. There’s a butterfly farm nearby. But...” She looked back at her tea. “I didn’t mean for you to be plunged into all the sordid little bits of this town.”
Kate took her time in replying. “There’s something I really want to know about my parents.” When Sara looked about for the waiter, Kate lowered her voice. “I know you don’t want to tell me about my father, but—Don’t look so shocked. Every time I mention him, you look like you want to run away and hide. Right now I want an honest—and I mean truthful even if it’s bad—answer to one question.” She waited for Sara’s terse nod of agreement. “I want to know if my mother loved my father as much as she says she did. Or is it an illusion she made up?”
