Buried in Secrets (Carly Moore #4) - Denise Grover Swank Page 0,113

my disappointment. “I need to talk to him about something important. Can you tell him when he gets back? The sooner the better.”

“You want to talk to him tonight?” she asked in surprise.

I would have waited until tomorrow, but this morning’s intruder had made our need to have a discussion much more pressing. “Yeah. Tonight. Tell him it’s about a common goal.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Are you in trouble, Carly?”

“Nah,” I said. “I’m fine, but it is important. Tell him I’m working at the tavern, so he can get ahold of me there to coordinate when and where we talk.”

“Okay,” she said, looking worried.

“I don’t suppose my god-daughter’s awake, is she?”

“I’m sorry. I just got her down for her nap about twenty minutes ago. I’d have kept her up if I’d known you were comin’.”

“No worries,” I said. “I’ll try to come back next week.”

Her eyes brightened. “Maybe we can meet for lunch at Watson’s. I want to hear more about how you and Marco finally hooked up.”

“And I want to hear more about you and Todd searchin’ your family tree.”

Her brow shot up. “You know about that?”

“Carnita told me. She said you’d traced Todd’s family back to the 1800s.”

She smiled. “Todd is more into it than I am. Maybe you should ask him when you talk to him.”

“Yeah. Maybe I will.” I lifted my hand. “I’ll let you get back to your free time while Bea sleeps. I’m off next Wednesday if that works for you for lunch. I’ll be free until my tutoring session at two-thirty.”

A smile lit up her eyes. “Perfect! Meet you there at noon?”

“Deal.”

I left and headed toward the highway. I didn’t need to be at work until five, and I wasn’t sure what to do next. I had plenty of housework at home to keep me occupied for the next few hours, but it wouldn’t feel right to just go home. Something had been weighing on me since our visit to Jonathon Whitmore’s house. I was worried about Ashlynn. I felt like I was part of the reason why she’d run off and lost her job, and I wanted to make sure she was okay.

I turned toward town and headed to the Crimshaw property. The beat-up pickup was there, but the car I’d seen before was gone. I parked in the driveway, then got out to walk over to the trailer.

“She ain’t home,” a voice called out from the house, and I saw Thad standing in the doorway.

“Ashlynn still hasn’t come back?” I asked.

“Nope. She won’t be comin’ back either. Dad kicked her out.”

Was that why she’d been at Jonathon’s place?

I walked toward him. “I heard that she and Chuck broke up.”

“Yep. He ran off with Becca Sloan after he found out the baby wasn’t his.” He slowly swung his head. “Man, was he pissed. Dad was pissed too. He called Ashlynn a slut and told her she had three weeks to get the hell out of the trailer. Mom was upset and tried to get him to let her stay, but he told her no and beat the shit out of her.”

I couldn’t hide my shock, and the small triumph in his eyes told me that he’d hoped to shock me. I decided to take advantage of that. “Did he beat her often?”

“Often enough,” he said, crossing his arms as he leaned against the door frame.

“Does he beat you too?”

His brow lifted like he thought I was stupid to ask something so obvious.

“What did he do to Ashlynn when he found out?”

“He tried to beat her too, but Mom stopped him. She was scared he’d hurt the baby.” Disgust washed over his face. “He should have done it and killed her baby. Then that poor bastard wouldn’t have to live in misery like the rest of us.”

I sucked in a breath. “Thad, I can get help for you.”

He released a bitter laugh. “Yeah, I tried that a couple of times and it bit me in the ass every time.”

“I know a teacher reported abuse…”

“I got an extra beatin’ for that,” he sneered. “Several, actually.”

“And the other time?”

Disgust filled his eyes. “Jim Palmer ain’t the saint everyone made him out to be.”

“I’ve gathered,” I bluffed, hoping to keep him talking.

“I bet you don’t know everything,” he said defiantly. “I bet you don’t know why my mom killed him.”

Oh God. Did he know? Had Jim Palmer impregnated Ashlynn like we suspected?

“No,” I said. “I don’t. Honestly, I’ve been trying to figure it out. I think she