Sisters in the Wind(92)

She finds Miss Lonnie, who will return from Costa Rica as soon as she can make arrangements.

“She said you were not responsible for the fire that burned her home on Beaver Island,” Daunis assures me. “She observed you closely during your time with her. You had a healthy respect for fire. Hauling firewood and relying upon a woodstove for survival, it didn’t trigger any concerning behaviors. She included her assessment in your file with social services and will testify in person.”

“Daunis, you’re amazing.”

“I am tenacious,” she admits. She still smiles.

Just as I leave her to the files on the table, a name on a label catches my eye: ROBERTS, HARLEY.

“Oh, you interviewed my friend Harley,” I comment.

“Yes. She was one of the customers on the day of the bombing.”

“Yeah, but she’s a friend.” I don’t want Daunis to get the wrong impression of Harley. She’s a good person. “I’ve been to her apartment. I was there on New Year’s Eve. Harley and Max threw a party. They’re ‘good peoples.’ That’s what Tim calls honest, hardworking, normal folks.”

Jamie calls out from his room. “New Year’s Eve is when you thought I started following you.”

“Yeah, but you said you hadn’t started yet,” I say back.

“Why’d you think you were being followed?” He stands in his doorway now.

“I don’t know. I just had a feeling I was being watched. Like the hair stood up on the back of my neck. That was the first time. Then, like, every other day or two, I’d get the same feeling.”

“Do you remember where you were the other times?” Jamie asks.

I shrug. “Just ordinary places I always went to—grocery store, Target, the library.”

“How many people were at the party?” Daunis chimes in while reaching for Harley’s file.

“It wasn’t a huge party. Just, like, thirty or so people coming and going. They live past West Campus Drive. Off Broomfield. Bunch of cheap rentals for students, mostly.”

“How many people did you know at the party?” She doesn’t look up from the file.

“Really just Harley and Max. They have lots of friends. It was just me from the diner; like, that’s the only place I interacted with them.” Then, because I don’t want to cause trouble for Harley and her husband, I add, “They really are good people. Normal people. Trying to buy a house. They work at the casino. They came in on their days off. They always left a tip.” I try to think of what else I can say to prove they aren’t suspicious. “Remember when you said you were tenacious?”

Daunis finally looks up from the file and gives me her full attention.

“The word you meant to use was ‘zealous,’” I say. “Extremely—and sometimes annoyingly—overly zealous.”

Jamie laughs until Daunis turns to look at him. I don’t need to see stink eye to know it’s been thrown. He mumbles something about needing to call Hazel and backs into his room.





WITHOUT A TRACE


2008

Devery and I laughed and sang along to the radio. The drive to Alpena seemed to take longer than usual. It wasn’t until I glanced around that I realized we were driving in circles.

“What’s going on, Devery?”

“I think I got turned around.”

“Definitely,” I said. “I’ll drive. It’ll be dark soon.”

“Let me pull over,” she said, glancing in her rearview mirror.

We got out to switch places. Devery dropped the keys. As she reached for them, her “balance” tattoo was visible. Happy. Sad. Happy. Sad.

“I’m such a klutz,” she commented.

Happy. Sad. Right. Wrong.

“Hurry up, someone’s coming,” I said.

A set of headlights was in the distance.

Happy. Sad. Right. Wrong. Good. Evil.

“Devery, why were you so determined that I go to town with you instead of Jennifer?”

“Clancy, you’re being loopy.”

As the headlights grew closer, I closed my eyes and recognized the sound of Mister’s truck.

“Devery.” It was a punch to my gut. “What did you do?”

“Just give them what they want,” she said. “They want the stuff you stole. Whatever it is, give it to me and I’ll stall them. You can run away.”

“Don’t you get it!” I shouted. “I told you they were a baby farm. They do illegal adoptions. Girls like me go missing. I needed proof so they will leave Luke alone. They can’t disappear me if they don’t know what I’m going to do with the evidence.”

I spin frantically, trying to decide my way out. Devery drove me to the middle of nowhere.

“Missus wants me to marry Bruce,” she explained. “She wants me for her daughter-in-law. She trusts me more than she trusts Jennifer. Someday it can be my house and my farm and my family. Please, Lucy, just give me the stuff. This is my one chance.”

“Do you hear yourself? Me. Me. Me. My. My. My. That’s the difference between us, Devery. I’m doing what I have to do to protect my son. You’re doing it for yourself.”

I grabbed my backpack and ran into the woods.