Читать книгу Final Justice - Marta Perry - Страница 14

“Thanks so much, but I couldn’t possibly eat another bite.” Jennifer shook her head at the slice of moist, rich applesauce cake Kate held out temptingly. “I just wanted to talk. You didn’t really have to feed me, but it’s delicious.”

Kate put the slice of cake back on the platter, smiling. “Brandon will eat it. That boy will eat anything. And I have to confess—I didn’t make the cake. Parker did.”

“You and Parker are getting to be quite an item, aren’t you?” She hadn’t come to talk about Kate’s romance, but she just couldn’t resist. The love between the two of them when they were together would make anyone’s heart warm.

Even at the mention of his name, Kate’s eyes grew soft. “You could say that. You know where he is tonight? Taking Brandon to a scout meeting. Can you imagine how rare it is to find a man who cares that much for my son?”

“You’re lucky.” Her voice softened. Was she ever going to be that fortunate?

“Funny.” Kate picked up her coffee cup and held it between her hands, her blue eyes seeming to look off into the distance. “How much we’ve changed since college. I have, anyway. I want completely different things now than I did then.”

“No big career in music now?” She remembered Kate’s dream of making it in Nashville. And really, she’d seemed to have every chance at success, with her beauty, talent and drive.

“I wouldn’t have it on a silver platter.” The answer was emphatic. “I just want my family and my nursing, and I’ll be happy.”

“I’m glad for you, Kate. And for Parker. You’re going to be great together.”

“We are.” Kate took a sip of the coffee, and her expression turned brisk. “But come on, now. You didn’t come out in the rain tonight just to eat Parker’s applesauce cake and hear me being sappy about my love. What’s on your mind?”

Jennifer smiled. She could just see Kate, running a hospital ward with brisk efficiency. The most popular girl on campus had found her place in life.

“You caught me. I wondered if you’d found out any more about what’s happening with Penny. And that poor little girl. Have they proven yet if she’s really Josie’s daughter?”

“I’m not exactly in the police’s confidence.” Kate made a face. “In fact, I think they’d like it if we’d all butt out of official business. But I think they are trying to locate her and get a warrant for DNA testing.”

“But don’t you think it’s odd that none of us guessed Josie was pregnant that spring semester? We were all in Edith Sutton Hall together.”

“Good old Edith Sutton. Long on Southern charm, short on amenities. I’m certainly glad I’m not living there any longer.” Kate glanced with satisfaction around her spotless kitchen, done in subtle earth tones. “But really, is it so surprising? Senior year we had private rooms, so it’s not as if anyone was with her twenty-four hours a day.”

“Even so, you’d think we would have noticed something. All those nights when we sat around the lounge and talked until one in the morning, all those warm evenings when we went up on the roof.” It came back so vividly—the scent of jasmine in the air, the soft sounds of the women’s voices confiding secrets in the dark. “You’d think she’d have said something.”

“Well, I don’t know about you, but I was totally preoccupied that semester with what I was going to do after graduation. I was probably too self-centered to notice anyone else’s trouble.” Kate sounded almost amused at the girl she’d been.

“Not self-centered,” Jennifer protested. “Just busy.”

“Well, you were, too. As I recall, you went home every weekend to help take care of your mother. I was sorry to hear about her death, by the way. I don’t know that I ever told you that.”

Jennifer nodded, her throat tight. Her mother had made a gallant effort to live a normal life despite her multiple sclerosis. “She insisted I live on campus that semester. She didn’t want to deprive me of that experience, even though they could have used me at home.”

“Mothers have a habit of wanting the best for their children,” Kate said. “I don’t think I really understood that until I was a mother myself.”

“I suppose it’s possible Josie thought she was doing what was best for her child. Maybe she intended to give the baby up for adoption.” She thought about what Mason had said—that Josie hadn’t wanted them to know, hadn’t wanted their help. “Do you think she’d have come to one of us if she’d needed anything?”

Kate tilted her head to one side, considering. “Josie was always a bit of a mouse.”

“She was quiet. So was I.”

“That’s different. You were warmhearted but shy, just like you are now. Josie—I don’t know. She was quiet, as you say, but she could be as stubborn as a mule laying back its ears.”

That startled Jennifer into a laugh. “I guess so. Remember when she was determined to challenge you for the solo at the Christmas choral concert? Everyone knew you were the better singer, but she wouldn’t leave it alone.”

“I remember that I got obsessed about it, too,” Kate said dryly. “Not very becoming for the Christian I professed to be.”

“I guess we were all baby Christians then, for all we thought we knew.” She reached out impulsively to touch Kate’s hand. “I’m sure you’ve thought about it. Do you have any idea who the father could have been?”

Kate shook her head slowly. “I’ve been over it and over it, especially when the police were so sure it was Parker. I just don’t remember Josie even dating anyone that winter. She was friends with Penny, of course, but Penny was never really involved with the rest of us. For the most part, the gang of us from CCF just hung out together instead of pairing off.”

“I wish—” She stopped and shook her head. “It’s foolish to wish to change the past. But I’d like to think I’d been kind to Josie when she was going through all that.”

Kate nodded. “I know what you mean. It gets to me to know that all these years she’s been lying there alone.”

“Same here. But she wasn’t really there. And not really alone.” She blinked back tears. “Would it be awkward if I asked you to pray for her with me?”

“It would be very right.” Kate’s hand clasped hers, and she bowed her head.

Jennifer took a breath, and the words seemed to form in her heart. “Dear Father, we hold up to You our sister, Josie. We know she’s safe in Your hands now, and we ask You to bring her peace.”

“And forgive us, Father, for any chance we missed to show her love and kindness.” Kate’s voice was husky. “Amen.”

Jennifer squeezed her hand before releasing it. “I don’t know that we solved anything tonight, but I have to say I feel better.”

“I do, too.” Kate wiped away an errant tear. “Goodness, I haven’t cried in I don’t know how long. Maybe I’d better eat another piece of cake.”

Jennifer laughed, shoving her chair back. “You do that. Cake is definitely comfort food. I’d better get going or Dad will be worried. He hates it when I drive at night in the rain in that old clunker of mine.”

“Come back anytime.” Kate gave her a quick hug. “I can’t promise it will be this quiet, but I’d love to have you here.”

She nodded, opening the door. A gust of wind blew a spray of rain into her face, and she fought to get her umbrella up. “I’m going to run for it. Good night.”

She raced toward her car, getting soaked but unable to do anything about it, and then fought to get the umbrella down. She’d probably have been better off without it.

Thankfully she slammed the door on the rain and reached for the ignition. A hot shower and a change of clothes would feel good when she got home. Kate’s charming cottage was near the campus, so it was a good five miles to the house in the country Dad had insisted was his perfect retirement place. Her things would be clammy by then.

It didn’t take long to get out of Magnolia Falls, no matter where you were. She was clear of town in a few minutes and onto the narrow county road that led home. Unfortunately the rain showed no sign of lessening. It beat on the windshield relentlessly, with her wipers struggling unsuccessfully to keep up.

She slowed, mindful of the swamp that bordered the road on the right, and squinted. The rain reflected her headlight beams back at her from the black macadam, and she could barely see the edge of the road.

Not much farther, in any event. She’d be home soon, and that hot shower was waiting. She shivered as the damp fabric of her slacks clung to her legs, and she turned the heater on. The windshield fogged up instantly, and she switched it back off again. She’d rather see than be warm. Only a couple more miles—

The engine sputtered, coughed once and died. She glided slowly to a stop, steering to the edge of the road, but not daring to pull off when she couldn’t see what the surface was like.

She pounded her fist lightly on the steering wheel. Dad kept offering to buy her a newer car, but she’d stubbornly stuck to her decision to wait until she could afford it herself.

She’d had a decent savings account once, before the cost of defending herself wiped it out. No one ever mentioned that even the innocent had to pay.

She tried the ignition key again. The electrical system was okay, so what—then she saw the gas gauge, sitting uncompromisingly on empty.

How could she be out of gas? The only thing her little car had going for it was it got good gas mileage. It couldn’t have used a half a tank going from church to home to Kate’s.

A chill crept along the back of her neck. Not unless someone tampered with it.

Shaking off the thought, she grabbed her bag and pulled out the cell phone. She’d worry about how later. Right now she’d call Dad—

A car rounded the bend, coming toward her, and pulled up directly in front of her, its headlights blinding her eyes so that she couldn’t see anything else.

Her heart thudded, deafening her. Think, don’t panic. Check the door locks. Call for help.

Even as she fumbled for the cell phone buttons, it rang. Shaken, she answered.

“Get out of the car.” A woman’s voice commanded in a Southern accent.

“No. What do you want? Who are you?” Please, Lord, protect me. She squinted, trying to make out the color of the car, the shape behind the windshield.

“Why, Jennifer, don’t you recognize your old college friend?” The voice was taunting. “It’s Penny. I just want to talk. Get out of the car, and we’ll reminisce about old times.”

“No.” Penny might be crazy, but she wasn’t. “Leave me alone.”

“Not willing to get out? But I want to be able to see your face. Still, I guess I can manage that.” Another light came on, this one shining full in her face, so bright she put up her hand to shield her eyes. A deer-spotting light, she realized. And she was the deer.

She wasn’t helpless. She might not be able to move, but she could cut the connection, dial 9-1-1—

“Now, don’t be stubborn, Jennifer. You can help my daughter, Alexis. That’s what you’re all about, isn’t it? Helping kids?”

How did she know that? How did Penny know anything about her? She hesitated, pressing the phone close to her ear. “Don’t you mean Josie’s daughter?”

“Now, you don’t want to irritate me.” Penny’s voice went soft with venom. “I just might be tempted to push your little car right off the road and into the swamp if you do.”

Jennifer clenched her teeth. Could she? Would she? She really didn’t want to find out. “Tell me what you want and leave me alone.”

“I suppose I must if you won’t walk down memory lane with me. It’s very simple, really.” Penny sounded satisfied that she was going to get what she wanted. “I want you to carry a message to Alexis’s father. Tell him that for a hundred thousand, I’ll keep quiet about him. No one else needs to know he’s the father. I’ll get in touch with you to tell him how to deliver it.”

She shook her head, trying to make sense of this. “Who? Who are you talking about? I don’t know who the child’s father is.”

For a moment the cell phone was silent. Then Penny laughed softly, and dread pooled in Jennifer’s heart.

“You know, don’t you? You’ve figured it out. Alexis’s father is your good friend. Mason Grant.”