“What is it, baby? Is it what happened? I know some really bad things have happened to people you know and love, and it’s not easy to understand why, but you need to be able to express them. That’s what I’m here for.”
“I know… I’m sorry, Mom. I have a lot of homework to do—I really should get back to it.”
I rubbed her knee and gave it a slight squeeze.
“I would like to ask you something first, okay? Then you can get back to your schoolwork.”
“What is it?” I heard impatience in her voice. As she sat up, her cell phone buzzed, signaling that a text had come in. She glanced down at it.
She looked up at me, her eyes conveying that she wanted to give the person a reply. She must have read me right, because she quickly typed the letters ‘TTYL’ and then turned her attention back to me.
“I’d like to know a little bit about the boy you tutor. Dylan Silver.”
A look of pure panic crossed her face.
“Dylan? Why do you want to know about Dylan? He had nothing to do with Jamie getting killed.”
“I heard that Jamie and Dylan were seeing each other, is that true?” It was obvious to me that I was encroaching on sensitive territory where this Silver boy was concerned. I needed to tread lightly if I was going to avoid her shutting down on me.
The possibility crossed my mind that she was more invested in this kid than just being his tutor. That gave me a sick feeling in my stomach.
She didn’t answer me, but I could almost see the gears in her mind turning as she was trying to formulate an answer that would satisfy me without betraying anyone else.
“Bethany?” Once again, her face was hidden by fallen hair.
“Dylan had nothing to do with Jamie getting murdered,” she insisted defiantly, lifting her head so she was looking at me now.
“How do you know that, Bethany? The girls lied about getting a ride from a hitchhiker. It was Dylan who drove the girls up to the woods that night. Dylan was there when they found Jamie, and then he took off. Dylan and Jamie had an argument that night, it’s why she ran off by herself. That makes him the number one suspect on my list.”
“I just do,” she blurted out. “Dylan wouldn’t hurt anyone. He’s really very sweet.” She turned away so she wasn’t looking at me now. She had found a small thread on her blouse and she was trying to tie it into a knot with just the one hand.
“Look, Bethany, until I get a chance to interview him and find out what he knows and what they argued about that night, I would prefer he get another tutor.”
“No!” She glared at me. “Anybody at my school could have killed her!” she shouted. “Maybe I shouldn’t go to school, ’cause everyone could be a suspect.”
I held my temper, but I wasn’t happy at all about her raising her voice, and I certainly didn’t want to drop the conversation.
“What does that mean, everyone?” I asked, the volume of my words rising as well.
“Jamie was a class “A” bitch. She thought she was the prettiest girl in the whole school and she was stuck-up. She would make fun of everyone, no matter what. Do you know that blind boy Matthew in my class? He’s smart, and he’s in my Advanced Science Class. Do you know that when he first got there, Jamie thought it would be funny to send him into the girl’s locker room, instead of the boys’? He was so humiliated. She did so many mean things to everyone, even people she considered her friends. No one is crying that Jamie Camp got herself killed. I know it isn’t right, but I saw a few kids doing a victory dance when they heard.”
I was mortified, it wasn’t what my daughter was telling me, but how she was telling it. I had always been so proud of my daughter’s ability to empathize with others. I just assumed that she would have felt bad for Jamie Camp, feel compassion for her family, and want the perpetrator to be arrested and brought to justice. It was as if she was sympathetic to the murderer, which made me question her relationship with Dylan Silver even more.
“Bethany, even if Jamie wasn’t a nice person…”
“Bitch,” she said under her breath,
“Okay, bitch. However she acted, no one deserves to die the way she did. Someone hurt not only that young girl, but has broken the hearts of her family who loved her. Think about it, Honey, there is a four-year-old little boy who will never get to see his big sister again.”
I heard the downstairs door slam and the sound of Roxy’s four paws trying to get traction as she flew up the wooden staircase. Seconds later, she was jumping up on the bed, her tongue hanging out. She lifted her left paw, tapping me on the shoulder, requesting a rub. I accommodated her for a brief moment and stood up.
“Finish your homework, Bethany. We’ll talk about this later.”
She turned her back without answering.
I walked downstairs and was greeted by Glenn, sweaty and guzzling down a container of iced tea from the fridge.
He put the container back in the fridge and leaned over to kiss my cheek. Lord knows he smelled like he ran five miles. I pulled back.
“That bad?” He lifted his armpit and took in his own scent. “Yeah I guess it is. Bethany and I ate yesterday’s leftovers for dinner. I left you a plate. Do you want me to heat it up?” He stood there, his right bicep slightly twitching, the sweat glistening on the few graying chest hairs he possessed.
“No, actually, I need to go out,” I said. “Can you hold down the fort for a while?”
“Jean, come on. You just got home, we haven’t seen you in two days. Can’t it wait?” He sounded slightly annoyed with me.
“No,” I said, moving so I was downwind of him. “I really need to do this now. Go take a shower, I promise I won’t be long.”
He said okay, but I could tell he was a little more than ticked off at me. Holding my breath, I leaned in and gave him a kiss on his lips. “Please go take a shower… I’ll be back shortly.”
I grabbed my purse, grateful that I never bothered to change out of my work clothes. Normally, I would have taken off my holster and put my Glock in my lockbox, but for some reason I hadn’t. I grabbed my cell phone as I was pulling out of the driveway and punched in Marty’s number.
“Keal,” he answered, as if he was trying to swallow something.
“Marty, it’s Jean. Can you meet me at 1399 Pine Ave nue?”
“That’s Silver’s residence, I thought you wanted to do that first thing in the morning?”
“Change of plans… are you game? Where are you? If you want, I can run by and pick you up.”
I heard him tell someone he had to go out. “Yeah, sure. I’m at Hope’s. Swing by, I can be ready in ten minutes. What’s this about, Jean? You find out anything else?”
“Not really. I’ll explain when I see you. I hope I’m not interrupting anything.”
I heard him chuckle at the other end.
“No,” he answered.
“Okay, I’ll be there in ten minutes.” I hung up and threw the cell phone onto my console. I hoped that my daughter was right and that Dylan Silver wasn’t a cold-blooded killer. I didn’t want to have to shatter her world and arrest someone she apparently had developed feelings for.
I had to pass my partner Joe’s house on the way to Marty’s girlfriend. The house sat in total darkness. When Joe and Connie were home, the first thing they did when night came was turn on the floodlights that hung on the corner of the house.
Not long after Connie died, Joe added a timer, so the lights would go on automatically. He was afraid that he would forget to turn them on every night, because it had been Connie who made a ritual of making sure they were turned on before they went to bed.
It was one of the small ways he tried to keep his wife’s presence in the home they had shared for so many years. All the things that Connie had nagged him about getting done and he had blown off suddenly became a priority for him. He had made himself a list and, as if he was possessed, he spent hours and sleepless nights completing all the things he had accused her of nagging him about.
He never got to the end of the list, because every time he finished one task, he remembered something else she had asked him to do.
I wondered if he just forgot to set the timer for the light when he left, or if it had burned out.
I wanted so bad to talk to him about Bethany. I wanted to finally show him that she was not perfect, and she was just as normal as any other teenage girl. He would tease me relentlessly about how my children weren’t normal… that they were too perfect, and were probably conceived in a lab.
I was so compelled to talk to him right now that I actually ached inside. I missed him terribly.
***
I pulled up in front of Hope’s house and waved to her as she stood on her tiptoes and kissed Marty goodbye. These two looked so good together. Even though he was at least a foot taller, they seemed to fit like two pieces of a puzzle.
Marty pushed the seat all the way back to accommodate his long legs as he got in the car.
“What’s up?” he asked me as he locked the clip on his seat belt.
“I just want to find and interview this kid Dylan before he gets a chance to lawyer up or take off.”
He looked at me as if he knew I had another agenda, but chose not to say anything.
“Did I interrupt anything? I’m sorry.”
He laughed. A massive dimple appeared on his right cheek.
He reached into his front pocket and pulled out a small jewelry box. He jiggled it around in his right hand.
“Is that what I think it is? Congratulations! Did I interrupt you proposing? Oh, Marty, I am so sorry. I’ll bring you back.” I started to turn the car around, but he put his hand over mine.
“No, it’s okay. Tonight didn’t seem to be the night, anyway.” He opened it up and just stared at the diamond that sat in the center of the box.
I thought it was the most gorgeous piece of jewelry I ever saw. It must have set him back six months’ salary
“It’s beautiful,” I told him, taking my eyes of the road for a split second to admire it.
“Her friend Diane helped me pick it out. She’s on pins and needles, waiting for Hope to call her with the news. There just never seems to be the right moment. Besides, what if she says “no”?” He looked at the ring for the last time before closing the box and putting it back in his pocket.
“Don’t be ridiculous, Marty. Why would she say “no”? That girl is so in love with you, and it’s obvious how you feel about her. You’re made for each other. Besides, you’ll make incredibly beautiful children.”
“It’s not that I don’t think she loves me, it’s just she seems so content the way things are. She had a bad marriage and she never once has even hinted that she wants to walk down an aisle and do the whole white dress thing again.” He sounded deflated.