Lucy told Jesse everything that she knew. He deserved the truth. Not only because he was nearly fourteen, but because Sean had promised Jesse he would never lie to him—even when the truth was difficult.
They were alone in Sean’s den. While the police had been mostly respectful of their house, they had still left many things out of place. Lucy couldn’t worry about that now. She was glad that they hadn’t taken more than they had, and in the back of her mind she wondered why they had such a restricted warrant. Did they not want to ask for too much and have the whole thing tossed?
Ultimately, it wouldn’t matter. If one of the guns they found was the murder weapon, they’d be back with an expanded warrant, including for Sean’s computer.
She watched Jesse. He looked so much like Sean, it melted her heart. She wanted to protect him more than anything, but life wasn’t always pretty. He didn’t say anything at first, and Lucy didn’t have anything to add. She didn’t know much and it was driving her up a wall. She wanted to be doing something, not sitting here waiting for permission to see her husband.
She wanted to reassure Jesse that his family would fix this, but she couldn’t.
Especially since she had doubts.
Small doubts.
Not about Sean’s innocence, but that they would be able to prove it. And that troublesome voice in her head that kept telling her what was happening to Kane, Nate, and Sean were all related. That someone was out to destroy them.
She couldn’t tell Jesse that. She shouldn’t tell him that.
But was keeping him in the dark more dangerous?
“What are you doing?” Jesse asked.
“Everything I can.”
“Which is?”
“I told you. Jack is in Mexico working on something with Kane, and Nate’s on his way—he was detained. Nate will stay here with you.” She didn’t want to tell him Kane was missing. She’d already put a huge weight on Jesse’s shoulders. “Jack and Kane will be here as soon as they can. Hopefully by tomorrow.” She really had no idea. Maybe Sean was right—full honesty was the only way to go. But to tell him his dad was in jail and his uncle was missing in Mexico? It was too much.
“I want to go with you to Houston. I want to see my dad.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“Yes! Please, Lucy?”
How did she explain it? Maybe just tell him what Sean was feeling. What she knew Sean would be feeling.
“It would tear your dad up if you saw him in jail. This is hard on him—really hard.”
“Have you talked to him?”
“No. They wouldn’t let me. I’m working on going to visit, it might not be until tomorrow.”
“And why can’t I come? I want to tell him I believe him.”
“I’ll tell him.”
“It’s not the same thing.”
“Jesse, we don’t have a lot of details right now, and it’s safer for you to be here.”
“It’s not fair.”
“I know. I’m hoping all this will be resolved quickly.”
“You don’t think he did it, do you? Killed that woman?”
“No.” She shouldn’t ask him questions, but she couldn’t help herself. “What happened on Monday? Sean went to Houston—did he tell you why?”
“He said he had to do something and to have leftovers for dinner, and he might not be home until late. I tried to stay up, but went to bed at ten. I didn’t hear when he came in.”
“He was here when I got home at eleven ten.”
“I can say he was here.”
“No,” she said emphatically. “Jesse—you cannot lie. It’s better to remain silent than to lie. But you’re not going to have to talk to the police. I won’t allow it, and I don’t think they can compel you. Don’t say anything to them related to this situation or even something you think is totally innocuous.”
“But you believe he’s innocent?”
“Of course I do.”
“Then why are you asking questions?”
He was genuinely worried that she thought Sean might be guilty.
“Because if I’m going to find out who killed Mona Hill and get Sean out of this, I need all the information I can get.”
“I want to help.”
“I know.”
Jesse looked at his hands.
“What is it?”
“Is he okay? I mean—there are bad people who hate my dad.” His voice cracked. He was worried. He’d lost so much in his young life; Lucy couldn’t stand for him to lose anything else.
“JT and Rick and everyone at RCK and the FBI is working to keep Sean safe. I trust