When he got no reaction, Max said it louder: “Mr. Johansson.”
Still no response, until Reba reached across Carl and grabbed her husband’s arm. “Michael, he’s talking to you.”
“Yes.” Michael jerked to attention. “Oh, Max, it’s you.”
“You looked as if you were in another world,” Max said.
Michael’s white hair was flattened at the back from resting his head against the wall as he sat in the chair, and he had tears gathering in his eyes that he wasn’t bothering to wipe away. “I was remembering how just last Wednesday, six days ago, we went to the ranch and had dinner with all of them.” He sniffled a bit, and Reba handed him a handkerchief. “Jacob, the women, they were all content, the children playing. Reba held Jeremy while Anna and Laurel cooked. Jacob and I talked about expanding one of the feed lots, buying more bison. It was… a good time… peaceful.”
Max thought about that. “Carl mentioned that this past Sunday, the evening before the murders, Jacob appeared upset. Carl said it appeared something wasn’t right at the ranch. Enough so that he didn’t stay for dinner.”
“It wasn’t anything big—” Carl started to object.
Max shot him a look to quiet him. “Mr. and Mrs. Johansson, do you have any idea what that was about?” he asked.
Michael chewed on the inside of his mouth, apparently thinking, and then said, “Nah, nothing I know of. They were fine. A happy family. Couldn’t have been anything at all.”
Max turned to Reba, who stared down at her hands. “Mrs. Johansson, what about you?” Max asked. “Do you know what was wrong?”
She pursed her lips far to the right, as if deciding how to answer. “No, not really, but I bet it was about Myles.”
“Why?” Max asked.
“I don’t know what Jacob could be upset about. That’s the truth,” Reba admitted. “But I never trusted Myles. As much as he loved Laurel, I never thought he was going to let things be. That’s why I told Clara Jefferies about him, because he had to be the one who did it.”
As if uncomfortable, Michael squirmed in his chair, and it made a squeaking noise. Max thought about how Reba seemed hell-bent on the idea it had to be Myles Thompkins who murdered their family, and looking at Michael, well, Max had the impression that Jacob’s father wasn’t anywhere near as convinced.
Wondering what it all meant, Max looked over at Carl, who stared back at him, a look of contempt on his face.
As their eyes met, Max reconsidered Mullins’ allegations and the album with the photos of Laurel. He wondered if Reba Johansson could be offering up Myles to push the blame off Carl. A son critically injured, Reba could be protecting a man she considered nearly another son. I should get Carl off by himself and see if he’ll talk more, Max thought. Maybe now that he thinks Myles is the prime suspect, he’ll open up.
“Carl, I—” Max started.
At that moment, a red warning light on the wall above their heads lit up and an alarm blared. The Johanssons jumped up, and Max followed them into the room. The machines beeped, the lights flashed, and Max was stunned to see Naomi Jefferies at Jacob’s bedside with the call button in her hand.
“He’s awake,” she cried. “Praise the Almighty! Jacob’s awake.”
Taking in the scene, Max had the strangest feeling. Jacob, eyes wide, struggling to breathe through the slit in his throat, stared up at Naomi with admiration. Something about the way he looked at her, something about the connection between the two of them, struck Max as peculiar.
A pack of nurses and a doctor dressed in scrubs dashed in through the door. “Everyone outside,” the doctor ordered. “Everyone out, now, so we can examine our patient.”
“I need to talk to Jacob, to find out—” Max objected.
“Cops. Everyone. Get out!” the doctor shouted. “All of you. Now!”
Jacob’s parents bustled out of the room followed by Carl, but before Max turned to go, he glanced back one more time at Naomi. She lingered, and when he looked down at the bed, he saw that she’d dropped the call button and held Jacob’s hand.
Moments after the Johanssons and Max left the room, Naomi joined them in the hallway. For a few minutes the family peppered her with questions, and she smiled graciously and answered, “I was whispering a prayer to the heavens to heal Jacob, when all of a sudden I realized that his eyes had opened.