great environment. My dad wasn’t the only psychopath in our family. Zella has a mean streak. It’s the reason her ex got full custody of her older kids before they were adults.” Anna shook her head. “I know she isn’t a good person. I also know I’m worried about her and little Gordy.”
“Anna, did you hear anything about Nancy receiving payments?” Reid asked.
Anna’s lips came together as she paused to give his question thought. “I don’t recall specifically. I think there was a time Nancy was receiving some money.” She looked at me. “It was when you were younger, but it ran out when you got older.”
“That could just be SSI,” I said, a bit disappointed.
“Yeah, it could,” Anna replied, “but for some reason I think it was more. I can’t say for sure. I’ll be honest, Lorna, I never liked her. Well, until the night she clobbered my dad with that baseball bat.”
I sat taller. “You knew about that?”
“I never said anything. After you all left, I cleaned the bat. When dad woke he thought he’d fallen. I was glad all of you were gone.”
It made me laugh. “I was glad too.” I looked over at my husband. “I think that’s it.”
We both stood.
Before I could put on my coat and say goodbye, Anna asked, “Is Nancy still...alive?”
“No,” I replied, placing my arms in my overcoat. “I hadn’t seen her in nearly twenty years. I was eighteen, right before my graduation from high school, she got in the cab of a semi-truck, and that was it.”
Anna stood and walked to a table near the door. It was covered with small framed pictures and had an oval mirror over it. She opened the drawer and pulled out an envelope, an everyday letter envelope. When she turned, her expression was one of uncertainty. “I debated about this.”
“What is it?” Reid asked.
Anna shook her head. “A few months ago, Zella brought this to me, asking me to give her money for it. She said it would be valuable because one day you or Nancy would come to get it.”
It was my turn to shake my head. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“That’s the thing. When I got the call from” —she tilted her chin toward Reid— “your associate, I remembered this necklace.”
“Necklace?”
Anna unfolded the envelope, opened the flap, and shook the necklace into the palm of her hand. “It’s not fancy.” She shrugged. “It seems cheap.” Anna lifted the gold-colored chain. The pendant was shaped like a wispy leaf with small green gemstones. “Does it mean anything to you?”
“No.”
“It’s so odd that Zella predicted you or Nancy would come here.” Anna grinned. “I’m glad it was you.”
“Keep it,” I said. “Maybe Zella is right and you can get money for it.”
She extended her hand toward me. “I don’t want money. I mean, everyone does but not for this cheap old thing. You can take it. Maybe it was Nancy’s.”
I reached for the chain and dangled the pendant before me. “How about Julie? Does she like jewelry?” I asked.
Anna shook her head. “Julie doesn’t need anything to tie her to that world. Keep it. Throw it away. Sell it. I really don’t care.” She smiled. “You know for the first time in my life, I’m content and” —she nodded toward the necklace— “I don’t want anything tying me to the past.”
Nodding, I placed the necklace in the pocket of my coat.
“I don’t know,” Anna said, “but looking at the two of you, I get the sense that you’re content too. I think we’re both much better off than we could have been.”
“I agree.”
Her countenance fell. “Didn’t I hear that Mason died?”
“You might have heard that,” Reid replied.
“I’m sorry.”
“Thank you again, Anna. I’m glad we came even if we didn’t learn much.”
Anna looked at Reid. “Your associate has my number. I think it would be nice to stay in touch.”
I smiled. “We’ll see.”
As Reid and I settled into the back seat with our Sparrows in the front seat and in the car behind, I sighed.
“Sweetheart, I’m sorry you didn’t learn more.”
“But I tried.” I leaned over and kissed his cheek. “And for that, I’m thankful.”
Once we were on the highway headed back to the city, I asked, “Where is little Gordy?”
Reid
“I think he’s better off with a stranger,” Mason said.
“It’s not your decision to make.”
Mason ran his hand through his hair as he paced to the weight bench and back. “You have one meeting and suddenly you think Anna will make a