Читать книгу Lies That Bind - Barbara McMahon - Страница 9

CADE WAS THE FIRST to show up later that afternoon. He rang the doorbell, but before April could get downstairs, he opened the door and walked in.

“Hi, Eliza home yet?” he asked when he spotted April.

It was late afternoon. Work had stopped on the renovations. The house was quiet and covered in dust.

April shook her head. “No, she and Betsy had to check out the location of some job coming up. She said they’d be home for dinner.”

“Sounds good. I think we’re grilling outside. Maybe I’ll start the coals.”

April followed Cade out to the backyard. There was a new stainless-steel barbecue grill on the worn, uneven brick patio. She knew Eliza or Cade must have bought it. Maddie would never use something like that.

“What did you do today?” Cade asked as he began to work.

“I went to see Maddie, then stopped at the library to hear Jack Palmer.”

“I wanted to get to that but got caught up in a meeting in New Orleans. I met him at Sam’s the other night.”

“Sam is the sheriff?” April remembered the old sheriff who had questioned Eliza and her years ago.

“Right,” Cade said. “He’s been here two years. Came from New Orleans.”

“Quite a change. Is he as stupid as Sheriff Halstead was?”

Cade glanced over. “Eliza doesn’t hold the old sheriff in high regard, either. Sam’s younger, seems smart enough to me. After he read the files, he told Eliza he thinks Maddie got a raw deal.”

“Well, duh.”

Cade laughed softly. “Can I get you something to drink?”

April looked at him and smiled. “Sure. I’ll go in with you. I’d love some iced tea.”

It was obvious Cade knew his way around the kitchen. He took down four glasses, filled two with ice and then poured tea from the large pitcher in the refrigerator.

“Sugar already in,” he said, handing her the drink.

Taking a long sip, she sighed. “Delicious. Hard to get it this good in France.” She glanced around. “How long will this renovation take?”

“The men should be finished the first floor by the end of next week. We’re starting the second floor next. Depending on how much work we find we need to do on the plumbing, that could take a while. Sooner or later you and Eliza are going to have to vacate your rooms so I can have bathrooms built. I want one en suite between every two bedrooms.”

“So tell me more about this project, and why Maddie is involved.”

“Remember my sister?” Cade asked.

April nodded. She was the one who had committed suicide the same day Jo had been beaten so badly.

Cade explained something that hadn’t been common knowledge at the time. His sister Chelsea had been pregnant when she killed herself. He thought part of her desperation was due to fear of the future and lack of support. He surprised April when he said he’d told Maddie about his proposal for a home for pregnant teens and the older woman had immediately latched on to the idea, offering the house on Poppin Hill as the perfect facility.

“Not everyone in town wants the home,” he added.

“Like the banker. Eliza told me about him. What I don’t understand is why he’s opposing Maddie. They were dating when I last lived here. What happened?”

“No one seems to know. Remember Edith Harper, Maddie’s friend?”

“I do.”

“She might know more, but if she does, she hasn’t told Eliza. Maybe you can get something out of her.”

“I’ll have to go visit her,” April said, looking at her glass. “It’s funny a lifelong spinster like Maddie would be interested in a home for unwed teens.”

“I think it gives her a purpose again. I want her to run it.”

“Even now? After the stroke?”

“If she can recover enough, sure. If not, then we’ll have to cross that bridge when we come to it. The place should be ready by end of July. I’m hoping to get all the permits and approvals by August, so we can open for business.”

April asked him a few more questions, trying to get clear in her mind the scope of the project. She thought of Maddie raising three girls all the same age. Almost like raising triplets. Had she wanted to foster more children? Would the past accusations prevent her from taking charge of the home? She and Eliza were adults now. They could make new statements, and try to clear Maddie’s reputation.

She hoped the stroke wasn’t permanently incapacitating and that Maddie had her chance to run the home, but she had a long way to go before she’d be up to the task.

April heard a car in the driveway and went to the back door. It was a sheriff’s vehicle, pulling to a stop just as she reached the screen. A tall man climbed out, his dark hair gleaming in the sunshine. He looked tanned and fit. A deputy or the sheriff himself, she wasn’t sure, but a far cry from Sheriff Halstead and his paunch.

Cade joined her. “It’s Sam. I asked him if he could speed up the search for Jo. I hoped maybe he’d locate her while you were here.”

“Cops are looking for her?”

“As a favor only. They’ve got contacts unavailable to the rest of us.” Cade walked down to meet the man. “Hi, Sam.”

April stood in the door and watched. She glanced at the patrol car. Jack Palmer sat in the front seat. She turned and went back to the table. She’d had enough of that man to last her forever.

A moment later Cade and the sheriff entered the kitchen.

“April, Sam Witt,” Cade introduced. “Sam, April Jeffries.”

“Pleasure, ma’am.”

“Hello,” she said, wondering what his relationship was with Jack Palmer. The reporter had been in the front seat, so he couldn’t be under arrest. Too bad.

Sam put his hat on the table and pulled out a chair. Cade placed a full glass of iced tea in front of Sam a moment later.

“Guess you heard I’m searching for Jo Hunter,” Sam said to April after taking a swallow of the tea.

She nodded.

“Got any ideas where she might be?”

“I don’t even know where she was sent when we were split up.”

“She went to Meridian,” Sam told her. “Seems strange all three of you were sent so far apart, especially after being raised together most of your lives.”

“Seems strange we were sent anywhere,” April returned. “Jo blamed Maddie initially, but she said she told the truth later and no one would believe her.”

“Who did beat her?” Sam asked.

“I don’t know. She never told us, but she was really angry with Maddie. The next day Social Services came in and we were shipped out. I never knew what happened to either of the others until Eliza called me a few weeks ago.”

“Doesn’t the official report say?” Cade asked, straddling a chair and studying Sam.

The sheriff shook his head. “The entire file is skimpy. Poor practices seemed to have been the norm with my predecessor. The notes only say Jo’s accusations grew more outrageous the more she talked.”

“Did anyone contact her foster family in Meridian?” April asked.

Sam nodded. “Seems Jo ran away within two months. They thought she’d tried to return to Maraville, but there isn’t anything in the records I could find to show that.”

“Maddie said she didn’t,” Cade said. He looked at April. “We talked about you girls a bit before she had her stroke. I didn’t know she’d hired a detective to find you, but I knew she regretted the way things had turned out. And she wanted to see all three of you again.”

“Any special place Jo talked about, where she might have gone?” Sam asked April.

“We all talked about leaving Maraville when we were younger. But New Orleans was our mecca in those days. Could she have gone there?”

Sam shrugged. “Maybe. But if she did, she changed her name or married or something. There are no records for a Jo Hunter in New Orleans that come close to Jo’s description or age. Or anywhere in Mississippi or Louisiana for that matter.”

“So where does that leave us?” April asked.

“Guess we’ll keep trying.” Sam finished his drink then rose. “Thanks for the tea, it hit the spot.”

“Sorry Jack didn’t want any,” Cade said.

“I need to get him home. He gave that talk today, and then did rounds with me. I think he’s tired, though he’d never admit it.”

“From a talk?” April asked.

“He was injured pretty badly in Iraq. He’s still recovering, so he tires easily.”

That explained the cast and cane. She could relate to getting tired easily. Her own recovery from this bug was taking longer than she’d expected.

The sound of tires crunching on the shell driveway could be heard. Cade went out the back door.

“See you around,” Sam said to April as he prepared to leave.

“I hope you can find Jo before I have to return to Paris.”

“I don’t hold out a lot of hope,” he said, “but we’ll keep looking.”

Eliza and Betsy came into the kitchen, laughing. Eliza was holding Cade’s hand.

“Sam, I thought that was your car. Stay for dinner. Cade’s cooking on the grill, and Dex is coming over. We’ll have a party.”

“Thanks, but I have company.”

“I saw the guy in the car. He’s invited, too. The more the merrier. We’re having barbecue chicken, ribs and plain steaks. I’m whipping up a terrific salad and Betsy has the most delicious yeast rolls. And there’s chocolate torte for dessert.”

“I’ve heard about that dessert from Suzanne Canaday,” Sam said with a grin. “I’ll ask Jack.”

April frowned. She didn’t feel up to a party of any kind, much less one where that man would be present.

“April, be a sweetie and help me,” Betsy said, already pulling flour from a cupboard. “I need the oven set at three seventy-five and some muffin tins, please.”

As she rose to help, April hoped Jack would refuse the dinner invitation.

Unfortunately, her luck wasn’t running that way. A couple of moments later he entered the kitchen, leaning heavily on his cane. From the frown on his face, she didn’t think he was enthused about staying, but had gone along for his friend’s sake.

Sam made the introductions and then gestured to the table. “Take a seat and put your foot up.”

“I’ll get you some tea,” Cade said, going to the counter and stopping to give Eliza a quick kiss on the way.

For the next few minutes confusion reigned as Cade and Eliza prepared the meat for the grill, Betsy and April worked together on the rolls and then carried dishes, silverware and citronella candles outside to the picnic table on the flagstone patio.

Glad to have something to do, April was conscious of Jack’s dark mood as he sat and watched the others. He didn’t contribute to the conversations flying around, and looked as if he wished he were anyplace but here.

Feeling perversely uncomfortable about his isolation, April went to sit at the table. She didn’t like the man, but felt sorry he was so alone.

“Need anything?” she asked.

“No.” He didn’t even look at her.

“I have some pain meds if you need them for your foot,” she offered.

“I’m fine.”

The bracket of lines on either side of his mouth belied that statement. The man was in major discomfort. But if he wanted to macho it out, let him.

April watched as Eliza and Betsy worked together in harmony—as if they’d been doing it for years instead of a few short weeks.

She’d have to call some of her old friends in the morning, see if any were still in town. None of them had been as close as Eliza and Jo, however.

By the time Betsy’s husband, Dex, arrived, the preparations were well underway and the group had moved to the patio. At this time of year, the mosquitoes weren’t as bad as later in the summer. Jack leaned heavily on his cane as the men stood around the grill and the women set the table.

“Reminds me of my folks,” Betsy said, glancing at the grill. “As long as I can remember, whenever Mom and Dad had friends over, the men all stood together talking about fishing or bowling or something, and the women got together to talk about children.”

April looked at Eliza. Their childhood had been very different from Betsy’s.

“Reminds me of junior high school dances, boys on one side, girls on another,” April said.

Betsy laughed. “That, too. But they’ll join us when it’s time to eat. I can’t believe Jack Palmer is recuperating here in Maraville. You’d think he’d be in Manhattan or somewhere more exotic than this town.”

“Avril is recuperating here,” Eliza said dramatically, referring to April’s professional name, making Betsy and April laugh.

True to Betsy’s prediction, once the meal was ready, the men joined the women at the table. Cade sat next to Eliza, Dex next to Betsy. April was grateful Sam and Jack sat at the opposite end of the table from her. If she grew too tired, she’d slip away to her room. But to her surprise, she enjoyed the lively conversation, which focused on all the changes in Maraville over the past ten years.

At one point Cade leaned over to address Jack. “Sorry I missed your talk today, Sam said it went well.”

“Good enough.” He flicked a glance at April. “Or would you disagree?” he challenged.

“The talk was excellent. You brought the entire situation in Iraq alive for all of us.” There was no denying he was an inspiring speaker. It was his personality that could use some improvement, April thought.

“I admit I was surprised to see the mix in the audience,” Jack said. He looked at Cade. “The crowd ranged from old-timers to teenagers. They probably cut classes to attend.”

“Probably worth it,” Cade said. “What did I miss?”

“Tell us the highlights,” Betsy urged. “We couldn’t be there, either.”

Jack hesitated a minute, then nodded and began to repeat some of the things April had heard earlier.

A wave of fatigue hit and she whispered to Eliza, “I’m going inside. Stay and listen—he tells a powerful story.”

Eliza nodded, her attention on Jack.

April picked up her dish and utensils and headed for the house. She wanted to get to bed before she collapsed. Ten minutes later she was under the covers, lights out. She could hear the soft murmur of voices from the backyard. It had been an interesting dinner, unlike the ones she’d shared with friends in Paris in recent years. No loud music, no fancy clothes, just friends sitting down to eat together. It had been nice.

“YOU OKAY?” Sam asked Jack as they drove away from the house on Poppin Hill.

“Tired, that’s all.”

“Leg okay?”

“Yeah.” It wasn’t, but that wasn’t Sam’s fault. He’d done too much. Dammit, how much longer before he was back in shape?

“Thanks for giving your talk again. I know Dex and Cade appreciated it. Betsy asked some intelligent questions, I thought.”

“Yeah.” April had left as soon as he started. Was that because she had already heard it?

“What’s the story with April?” he asked.

“She and Eliza grew up together. The detective Maddie hired to find the girls located her some months ago. When Eliza contacted her, she came home. She’s a model in Paris. Ever hear of her? Avril is her French name.”

Figured. With her looks, modeling was right up her alley.

“I don’t associate with models,” Jack said.

“Far as I can tell, old son, you don’t associate much with anyone,” Sam said easily.

“Never in one place long enough.”

Sam turned into his driveway, his headlights briefly illuminating the house. Jack could count the minutes now until he’d be prone, and could take the medication that would ease the pain in his foot. Today had proved how far he was from being ready to return to work.

When they got into the house, Jack looked at Sam. “Thanks for including me. You have good friends.”

“Settle down someplace and you’ll make your own. What are you going to do tomorrow?”

Nothing, was the first thing to come to mind. But he wasn’t going to get better by letting his muscles atrophy. “Take a walk, check in with the news bureau. You don’t have to entertain me, remember?”

“I remember. Stop by the office and I’ll show you what I’ve done so far searching for Jo. You might be interested and catch something I’ve missed.”

“What is this? Do I look like a damn missing persons bureau?”

Sam’s eyebrows shot up. “Whoa, where did that come from?”

“April asked me earlier if I’d help her find her parents.”

“Maybe with your background, we’re hoping you’ll have suggestions for digging out the facts we want. You have more time to devote to the search. As far as I know, Jo hasn’t done anything wrong. Hard to justify spending taxpayers’ money on an extensive search.” Sam looked at Jack with curiosity. “What did you tell April?”

“No, of course.”

“And my request gets a negative, too?”

“I’ll stop by. But if modern police science can’t find a person, I doubt I can.”

Jack headed on to bed, glad to get off his foot. He lay in the darkness, though, unable to sleep. The ache was only part of the problem. His wakefulness had to do with his future. Or perhaps lack of future. If his foot didn’t heal properly, he’d never go on assignment again.

What would he do then?

Maybe he should give some thought to working on locating this Jo Hunter. It would give him something to fill the time until he was in fighting shape again. And keep him from dwelling on what the future might hold.

THE NEXT MORNING April walked into town to go to the sheriff’s office. She wanted to ask Sam if he could help in her search for her parents.

To her surprise, Jack Palmer was ahead of her, ready to enter the building as she approached. She hesitated, but he turned and saw her and held the door for her to enter.

She walked past him into the dimness of the old building. The tall ceilings held lazily rotating fans. The walls needed to be repainted and the wooden desks were gouged and scarred. Artificial lights cast a yellowish gloom over everything, and the few windows were covered with closed venetian blinds.

“Here to see Sam?” Jack asked April, following her to the counter where an officer sat.

“Yes.” Not that it was any of his business.

“He’s in the back. I’m heading that way myself.” Jack gestured toward the rear of the building. He nodded to the man at the desk and held the swinging gate for April to enter.

She matched her stride to his halting one as they silently walked down the long hallway. Rounding a corner, they came into an open area with several more desks. April was surprised to find Maraville had such a large force. There had to be at least a half-dozen desks all told. The sheriff’s department acted as law enforcement for the town and surrounding county. Still, she was surprised there’d be that much crime to deal with.

Jack approached the desk near a partially opened door.

“We’re here to see Sam,” he told the woman seated at the desk.

She smiled at him, then looked at April, her eyes widening. “April Jeffries, as I live and breathe!” She jumped up and came around the desk to hug her.

“It’s me, Marjorie Tamlin. How are you. Wow, aren’t you gorgeous.”

April felt Jack’s gaze, but she avoided looking at him as she hugged Marjorie.

“It’s been too long,” she said, smiling at her former classmate.

“I’ll say. Hold on, I’ll tell Sam you two are here. I have a break at eleven-thirty. Have lunch with me and we can catch up. Remember Lulu? She told me she heard you were back. Staying long?”

“Just a few weeks. I came because of Maddie.”

“How is she? I heard from Sam she was doing better.”

“She is.” April didn’t care to talk about her foster family around Jack, so she smiled brightly, promising to fill Marjorie in when they met for lunch.

“I’ll see if the sheriff is free,” Marjorie said, hurrying through the open door.

April eyed Jack. “You go first.”

For a moment, she thought she saw amusement in his eyes. “Afraid to say something in front of me? I’m not here to report Maraville’s news.”

“What I have to say doesn’t concern anyone but me.”

“You’re looking for help locating your parents,” he said.

“Lucky guess. Didn’t you suggest I try the sheriff?”

Marjorie came out of Sam’s office.

“He’s free. Come on in.”

Neither April nor Jack moved.

“After you,” she said.

“You go first,” he countered. “I’m here to help look for Jo, so I expect to be a while.”

That caught her by surprise. So he’d help out Eliza and Cade, but not her. Fine, she didn’t need his help!

Lifting her chin, she headed into the sheriff’s office, aware that Jack Palmer followed right behind her.

Sam glanced at April then Jack. “You two working together?” he asked.

“No,” April said quickly, frowning over her shoulder at Jack. She looked at Sam and smiled. “I was hoping to see you alone. But some people don’t seem to know when they’re barging in.”

Jack leaned against the door frame and said nothing.

“What can I do for you?” Sam asked, looking back and forth between the two of them.

“I’m hoping you can help me in a search of my own—for my birth parents.”

“Have a seat.”

Sam waited until April sat down before resuming his seat. He flicked another glance at Jack, who had moved beside one of the file cabinets, leaning against it so he could see April better.

“It’s personal,” she said, glaring at Jack.

“Which means she doesn’t want me here,” Jack explained.

“If you don’t mind, it is personal,” April insisted, wishing she could ignore the man. Or that Sam would kick him out.

“I’ll do what I can, but we don’t conduct family searches if no crimes have been committed,” Sam said slowly. “What do you have to go on?”

“Just my birth date. It’s from a delayed birth certificate—one I got when I first applied for a passport. No parents’ names, just Jane and John Doe.”

“The date may not be accurate,” Jack murmured.

“What?” April swung around. “You think that’s not my birth date?”

“If you were abandoned, it’s likely no one knew your birth date. They just estimated how old you were and assigned you the closest date.”

She blinked. She’d never thought of that. So even her birth date could be a dead end.

“Seems to me a hotshot like you could handle this before lunch,” Sam said to Jack. He looked at April. “You might try Social Services. They have the records of your particular case.”

The phone on the desk rang. Sam picked it up. From the one-sided conversation, April knew he had to go somewhere—fast. He stood even as he was talking, and reached for his hat on the hatrack behind him.

“Sorry, I have to leave,” he said as soon as he hung up. “Jack, take care of April, will you? And here’s a copy of all I have on Jo.” He thrust a slim folder at Jack. In a second he was gone.

April could hear him give rapid instructions to Marjorie as he left. A moment later there was only silence.

JACK TOSSED the folder on the desk. The slap it made startled April. Rising, she turned to the door.

“All right, I’ll see what I can do to get you started,” he said. It was clear the news about her birth date had hit her hard.

She studied him for a moment. Jack could tell she didn’t like what she saw. He’d been acting like an ass and wouldn’t blame her if she wanted nothing to do with him. But he was a good bet for finding information about her past. And maybe she’d remember something about Jo that he could check out for Sam.

“Don’t do me any favors.”

“Hey, I’m doing it for Sam.”

She was quiet a moment, then rose.

“Thank you,” April said primly.

He knew she didn’t want to accept his offer. She must want to find her parents badly to put aside her animosity and agree to his help.

“Let’s get a cup of coffee, start over and see where we begin the great parent search,” he said, trying to lighten the mood. He grabbed the folder and headed for the door.

A few moments later they were seated in a quiet corner of Ruby’s Café, Jo’s folder in front of Jack. Coffee had been ordered. He glanced around the room.

“People are staring,” April said, her eyes on the folder.

“You’re a beautiful woman. They probably like looking at you.” He would, if he didn’t feel she was the type to trade on her looks. There was a certain something about her—an air of vulnerability—that had him looking despite his efforts not to.

When the coffee arrived, Jack pulled out a small notebook and tiny pencil. He never went anywhere without it.

“Do we start with Jo?” she asked, looking at the notebook.

“No, I’ll check out the folder later. See what Sam’s done. Between his searches and the detective Maddie hired, I bet they’ve covered all bases. You and Eliza can help by reminiscing to see if you can remember anywhere Jo really wanted to see. Sometimes when life gets too hard, people will bolt for a special place—even if they’ve never been there—in hopes it’ll prove to be the one place on earth that’s right for them.”

“New Orleans was the only place we ever talked about. We couldn’t wait to get there when we were teenagers.”

“Yet neither you nor Eliza settled there after leaving school.”

“True. Do you think there’s a chance Jo did?”

“Sam said he checked the neighboring states. Dead end.”

April sipped her coffee, studying Jack.

“Tell me all the facts you know about yourself,” he said.

“Maddie told me I was abandoned and she stepped in to act as foster mother. I was born twenty-seven years ago on May seventeenth. At least I always thought I was, until you put that doubt in my head.”

“You have a birth certificate, you said.”

She nodded. “A delayed registration they called it. I can dig it up if you need to see it. It doesn’t give much information beyond my date of birth. No parents listed.”

“Born where?”

“The certificate says Maraville.”

He tossed his pencil down. “Too easy. If you were born here in town, we’d be able to locate your parents in no time. Even if the day is wrong, the month has to be close. We could check all live births from April through June of that year and see who’s unaccounted for. Are you sure you were born here?”

“No. I told you it was a delayed birth certificate. Filled out when I was nineteen. Social Services filed it when I needed one for a passport.”

“First stop, then, Social Services.”

“I tried to get them to help me when I was a teenager here,” she said. She took another sip of her coffee. “Dead end.”

For a moment he saw that vulnerability again. It bothered him, since it didn’t fit the mold he’d assigned her. Maybe he needed to do some more digging around to find out exactly who April Jeffries was.

“First of all, I doubt they’d talk to a minor.”

“They acted like they never gave out any information. I was totally stonewalled.”

“I have a different technique,” he said smugly.

“I can hardly wait to see the mighty reporter in action.” She fiddled with her cup, turning it around on the saucer. “How long are you staying in Maraville?”

He shrugged. “Depends on how fast my foot heals.”

“What happened?”

“Land mine.”

“Ouch. You’re lucky it wasn’t blown off.”

He saw the sympathy in her expression and frowned. He didn’t want pity.

“I didn’t step on it, I was just a bystander. But it did enough damage.”

“You’ll be fine again, right?”

“Yeah, as soon as it heals.” He hoped to God that was true.