Jess grabs Allison a cup, too.
“I thought I heard talking,” she says. “You’re here early. Jess reminded me that this is it. The day after.” She has the same wide-eyed questioning look that Alderson had at the end of the day yesterday—awhat in the world are you going to dolook.
“Yeah, I had some things to tell Jess, but I’m leaving now.” I can’t tell if Jess has filled Allison in on what I told her the other night, and if she has, I wonder what she thinks of me and my actions with Railes, but I’m not going to hang around to find out. I still feel bad about letting our friendship slide, but mostly right now, I feel embarrassed and bruised. My heart aches in a way I’ve never felt before. But this is supposed to be a quick visit. I’ve accomplished my mission to fill Jess in, and now I need to get out of their hair and be on my own for a while to continue to investigate this, to pay very close attention to every single person who approaches me or comes to my house, and to coordinate all my actions with Alderson and Greene so that I have backup for wherever I go, like now. For simplicity, I plan to stay away from my office for the time being.
I hug Sam and snuggle him in close.
“What are you wearing?” Sam asks, wrinkling his nose.
“Oh, just a little armor,” I say. “You know, in case one of your scary monsters comes for me.”
He looks at me funny. My throat constricts. I am raw to my bones, not only from exposing the truth and from hurting Jess, but from knowing I may never see them again if I mess up today or the next. Or ...
Even if I escape this mess and catch the killer, Jess may never forgive me. She may even withhold Sam from me. Sam squirms, and I force myself to let him go.
“Sorry if we woke you,” I say to Allison. “But thanks for staying last night. I appreciate you keeping Jess company.”
“I’m an early riser. Plus, I need to get going, too,” she says, grabbing her purse from the counter. “Got to run home to clean up before I get to work this morning. I can do it again tonight, if you want.”
“Yes,” Sam says. “We had a sleepover.” He smiles. “And Allison helped me with my space station. Willyouhelp me today?” he asks me.
“Oh, that does sound so fun, but you have to go to school.”
Sam groans. “After?”
“We can work on it next time, but right now, buddy, I need to get going, too.” I give him one more hug, but he wriggles away.
“You stay safe.” Allison grabs her keys out of her purse, then seems to realize she’s sleepy enough she hasn’t yet put on her jacket, a thin, shiny little black thing hanging over the back of one of Jess’s stools. A tiny corner of white trails out of one of the pockets.Tissue,I think, and tell myself that every time I spot a tissue, for God’s sake, I can’t get weirded out.
But then she sets her keys down on the counter to put on her jacket. My eye catches on her key chain. Attached to a ring holding a flat plastic rectangle with a metal bottle opener on its end are her keys. And also attached to the ring is a colorful arrowhead made from agate.
I narrow my eyes and cock my head a little, trying to place where I’ve seen it. The plastic rectangle bottle opener faces down, so I can’tsee the picture on it, but the combination of a bottle opener and an arrowhead attached to a set of keys triggers my memory.
Leon.
Leon had the same.
Allison sees my glance and picks up the keys, closing her hand around the plastic.
“That,” I say. “Your key chain. Where did you get it?”
She holds up her hand to show me the tip of the arrowhead. “This?These are so popular now. Got it in Polson at a gift shop there.”
“Allison, did you know Leon Spencer?”
“Leon who?”
“The man involved with the guy Billy shot.”
“Oh, that poor boy? No, why?”
“Your key chain. It’s like his.” I lift my chin, see her hand tightly palming the ring, barely showing the tip of the agate.
She gives me a quizzical look like,What a strange thing to ask.
“No,” she says. “Like I said, they’re popular.”
There may be a gazillion just like it in gift shops around Montana.
