Evidence of Life - By Barbara Taylor Sissel Page 0,94
people for anything. “I look like an ass,” she said. “It’s a mystery how you’ve kept from laughing.”
“Nick’s the fool,” Kate said. “But honestly, Abby, would you have believed me or Dennis if we’d told you what the boy at the gas station said?”
“Whether I would believe you or not, whether I could handle it, that wasn’t for you to decide.”
“You’ve been through so much,” Kate said. “I couldn’t see adding to it. Even if Nick was up to something, he’s still gone along with whatever his reasons were for his behavior.”
“She’s right, Mom.”
Abby switched her glance to Jake. She was angry enough to kill. But whom? “I want to go home,” she said.
“Now?” Jake said.
“Yes,” she said. “Now.”
* * *
On the way home from the ranch Abby told Jake to stop at the sheriff’s office in Bandera.
“Dennis won’t be there,” Jake said. “It’s too late. He’s gone home by now.”
“I’ll take a chance,” she said. “You can wait in the car.”
“I won’t ask what you’re planning.”
“No,” Abby said. “Don’t.”
Dennis was on his way out of the building, and when he saw her, his face opened with such pleasure that Abby felt herself nearly come unhinged from her purpose.
“Is there somewhere we can talk?” she asked.
He motioned her into a nearby office and closed the door. A desk and three filing cabinets nearly filled the tiny space. The only decoration was a row of black-framed certificates that hung in a crooked line on one wall.
Dennis offered Abby a seat.
“I’ll stand, Sheriff, thank you,” she said, and his eyes widened as if her formality surprised him.
“What’s wrong?”
“Why didn’t you tell me what you learned from the attendant at the gas station?”
Dennis frowned.
“My husband was traveling with a woman last April. The gas station attendant told you that, but you didn’t tell me. Why?”
“You were under a lot of strain. Kate was worried about how much more you could stand, and, in any case, it was hearsay.”
“I’ve heard all that, but you’re the police. You’re supposed to report the facts, and you didn’t. You asked me a lot of questions, you came into my home, you got plenty of information out of me. You knew where I stood, how I felt about everything, and you let me go on thinking—believing—” That my life was real, that my marriage was solid. She wanted to say it, but if she did, she would lose her composure. She walked toward him, intending to move around him. He caught her arm. “Don’t,” she said, and he let her go, stepping aside.
“You didn’t deserve this,” he said.
“Which part?” she asked. “Being lied to or being kept in ignorance?”
Dennis didn’t answer.
She had nearly reached the exit when he said her name, and she stopped.
“You’re right,” he said. “You were entitled to the facts. I just couldn’t find a way to say them. I don’t think Jake could either,” he added.
She waited a moment and then walked on. She didn’t look back.
* * *
Jake and Abby didn’t speak until they reached the Houston city limits and then she gave Jake directions to Hank’s house where she’d left Nick’s car. Nick’s car that was hers now. She was his widow. Everything was hers. If he’d lived, she would be his ex-wife instead of his widow. To think that less than a year ago, she had thought their troubles centered on their finances, the length of Nick’s commute, all the upkeep on their property. She’d thought a move into town would fix their lives right up. It was laughable, heart-wrenching. He’d made such a fool of her. But if only she’d known, if she’d been told the truth about Nick and what he was doing, she would have kept Lindsey home with her that weekend. She would still have her daughter. Abby bit her teeth together to keep from crying out.
Jake pulled into Hank’s driveway behind the BMW, and Abby got out. “Hold on a second, Mom.” He fished around in the backseat and handed her Nick’s jacket through the open window. “Hank gave it to me this morning.”
Abby folded it over her arm.
“Will you be all right? Can you drive?” he asked.
She nodded and glanced toward Hank’s house that was dark except for a solitary lamp burning in one window. Her heart constricted. Caitlin’s beacon. She was still waiting for her mother. Dennis had promised they would search the area where Abby’s Jeep had been found for Sondra’s remains. He would do it because Abby had told him about Caitlin,