“Ammon was furious.That’s not even the right word.It was—it wasscary.Ammon and I have had our fights—” And now her eyes flicked open, and her gaze locked on Tean.“But I’ve never seen him like that.Never seen him so out of control.”
Her words from a moment before echoed, unspoken, in the air:like he went crazy.
“I got home as he was leaving—storming out of the house, the door hanging open behind him.I tried talking to him; I don’t think he even heard me.I could tell something was wrong, so I went after him, but he started running, and I—I couldn’t keep up.”
“Brennon lives nearby?”
“Two streets over.”
When Jem raised his eyebrows at this, Tean said, “Wards—congregations—are geographic, so in Utah, where you have a high density of Latter-day Saints, they tend to be fairly small, in terms of the area they cover.”
“Just a few blocks,” Lucy confirmed.She was clutching the football again, and when she adjusted her grip, the diamond on her wedding band flashed.“When I got there, he was on top of Brennon, hitting him.No, that’s not—” Her breath caught in her throat.“They were on the ground.On the walk.Right in front of the house.Ammon was on top of him, and Brennon was screaming, and I thought—”
Jem shifted.An old spring chimed, and then the sound died away.In a low voice, he asked, “What did you think?”
She licked her lips, and her gaze, when she met Jem’s, was strangely defensive.“I thought Ammon was going to kill him.”
“But he didn’t.”
From farther back in the house came an excited shout—a pre-teen sound.Lucy flinched, then seemed to realize what she had done.“No,” she said.“He didn’t.”
“What happened?”Tean asked.
“One of the neighbors pulled Ammon off him, and then more people started coming out of their houses.Ammon tried to—to get to Brennon again, but by then, there were more men out there, and they kept them apart.Someone called the police.”She didn’t shrug, not exactly, but it was there in her voice.“Ammon and I came home.”
Jem said, “But he didn’t say anything?”
“Oh yes.He was shouting.Screaming.He must have started before Brennon even opened the door because I could hear him while I was still trying to catch up.”
“What did he say?”
“I don’t know.”Her mouth twisted.“He said, ‘I’m going to kill you.’He said it over and over.”
A door down the hall opened, and another excited whoop echoed toward them.A moment later, a boy who might have been ten or eleven sprinted into the living room.His blond hair stuck up on one side, and he had the same thin, fine nose as Lucy.“Mom, I killed this guy onFortnite, it was so epic, he wasn’t even looking and—” He stopped when he saw Jem, and his expression changed to the transparent wariness of a child.Then his gaze moved past him, and he said, “Oh, hi, Uncle Tean.”
“Hi, Fielding.Long time no see.This is my friend Jem.”
Fielding’s gaze returned to Jem with that same guardedness as before, only now with interest.The hair was darker than Ammon’s, but hints of the man were there in the shape of his face, in his chin.A good-looking kid, no question.The kind that other kids probably gravitated to, and teachers liked no matter how he behaved.Jem had known a number of guys like that in his life.Some of them in Decker.
“Hi,” the boy said, but he draped himself over the back of the sofa to press his shoulder against his mom’s.
Jem gave a little wave.“Nice to meet you.”
“I asked you to stay in your room,” Lucy said.
“I was just telling you—”
“I know.Stay with Eben and Sarah until I come get you.”
The boy gave a groan, slid off the sofa, and stomped down the hall.A moment later, the door thudded shut.
“Nice kid,” Jem said.
Something new rose to the surface in Lucy’s expression, something that had lain hidden until that moment of contact with her child.“I want to tell you something.I’mgladBrennon is dead.I’m happy.He deserved to die, and I’m not going to sit here and pretend I’m sad or act like this is a tragedy.”She drew a deep breath.“I’m sorry for Audra.I’m sorry for their kids.It’s a horrible, horrible thing they have to go through.Buthedid it to them.Do you know what it’s like, to find out someone is—” She fumbled the word.“—abusingyour child?Molestinghim?It’s like—those words aren’t even words.They’re things that happen to someone else’s child.Someone washurtingDaniel.Someone was touching him—”She broke off.“I’m glad he’s dead.I’mgladhe’s dead.Since the minute Ammon told me what happened, all I’ve been able to think about is what that man did to our son, and I wanted him to die.And then he did.I don’t care who did it.I don’t want them to face justice.If it were up to me, they’d get an award.”
Tean nodded slowly.
“When did this happen?”Jem asked.
