“And it’s human nature,” Jem said. “People will believe anything if they want it to be true, or if they’re afraid it’s true—or if they expect it to be true, in this case.”
Caleb’s hands went to his forehead, massaging, and he groaned.
“When did she leave?”
“I don’t know. I came home from work. She wasn’t here. I waited. She didn’t come home. I texted. Nothing. I called. She didn’t answer.”
“Do you know the police are looking at Hannah for a missing-person case?”
“What? What does that mean?”
“It means they think she’s holding back information about someone who’s gone missing.”
Shaking his head, Caleb looked like he was struggling to find words. Finally he managed, “Who?”
“Joy Erickson.”
“You’re kidding.”
“No. Do you know Joy?”
“I know—I mean, I know Hannah used to know her. A long time ago. But that’s over. And she hasn’t done anything like that for a long time.”
“Anything like what?” Jem asked.
Caleb glared at him.
“Like what?” Tean asked.
“The stuff that Joy does. Did. The ecoterrorism stuff. You know about her, right? And Hannah never did anything bad, nothing really bad. She swore she hadn’t.”
Jem was thinking about what Leroy had said: bombs, gun, a murdered delivery-truck driver.
“When were they friends? Are they still friends?”
“No, they are not still friends. Don’t you know Hannah at all? She wouldn’t have anything to do with someone like that. This was a long time ago. A long, long time ago. Hannah was just back from her mission. She was struggling, ok? She’s always been, I don’t know, liberal.” He said it like she’d been kicked in the head by a horse as a child—tragic, but not her fault. “And she was having a hard time trying to figure out, you know, how these different parts of her life were going to fit. She wasn’t active in the church for a while, I know that. And she was friends with Joy. But that’s as far as it went. Just friends.”
Jem’s first thought was of Hannah in her Merrells, all the outdoor work she did, her love of camping and hiking and fishing. Stereotypes were just stereotypes; he knew that better than most. But stereotypes also existed for a reason. And Joy Erickson had a wife. And Hannah’s husband was using the word friends a lot. And Leroy Erickson had said something about people having affairs.
“What kind of stuff did Joy get involved with?”
“I don’t know.”
“Her dad mentioned—”
“I don’t know. I’m not—I don’t even want to know.” Caleb got up from the sofa and stalked to the other side of the living room. “She did bad stuff, ok? She’s a bad person. But that’s not Hannah. Hannah never did that stuff. She never would do anything like that. They were friends, and then Hannah got her head on straight—”
Interesting choice of words, Jem thought.
“—and she hasn’t had anything to do with Joy in a long time. So I don’t even want to talk about it, ok? I shouldn’t have brought it up.”
“You didn’t bring it up,” Tean said. “I brought it up. I told you the police think she’s withholding information.”
“She’s not,” Caleb snapped. “She’s a good person. She’s kept her covenants.”
“That’s not really the point right now,” Tean said.
“Of course you’d say that. Of course someone like you would say that.”
Tean let out a slow breath, his gaze settling on the floor. The house creaked and settled. Rocking back and forth, Caleb wiped his face. His breathing sounded like he was on the verge of tears again.
Jem had one hand in his pocket, coiling paracord around his fingers, imagining what it would sound like when the hex nut whacked the side of Caleb’s head.
“But the police think she’s hiding something,” Jem said. “That’s what matters. It doesn’t matter if you think she walks on water. Why do the police think that?”
“I don’t know.”
“Sure you do.”
“I don’t know!”
“Come on, buddy. You’re out of practice. You probably haven’t told a decent lie since you spied on Aunt Suzy getting out of the shower. Try one more time. Tell me you don’t know why the police think Hannah’s hiding something. It’ll be more convincing if you look me in the eyes when you say it.”
“Get out! Get out of my house! I’m calling the police right now.”
“Good energy,” Jem said. “Good projection. A little