No. If he had been, he was long gone with his money now.
“I have nothing to do with Jones,” she explained, her words distant in her own ears. “I divorced him. He left us with nothing but heartache. I abandoned his name. He’s had no contact with his son.”
“Hmm.”
“Detective Mendelson, I’m still trying to claw my way back up from the hole he left us in. If he is here, and I have no idea if he is, he’s not welcome near my property or near my child.”
As if her words had summoned Everett, headlights appeared on the road, tiny, then small, then growing larger, until she could make out Barbara Woodbridge’s car.
Shit. A pain lanced through Lily’s chest. She didn’t want this for Everett, to pull up with his new friend and discover his mom being questioned by a cop. Mendelson had turned off his red and blue lights, thank God, but he could make it look bad if he wanted to. And Everett had just had those awful dreams.
Mendelson smiled in a deliberate way, and a new fear blossomed in Lily’s heart and quickly took over all the others. What if he mentioned Jones to Everett?
Her feet were moving before she could think, and suddenly she was at the curb, flagging down Barbara so she could open the back door and usher Everett out. “Thank you so much for taking the kids! Sorry to be rushed, there’s a security thing with one of the customers.” She waved her hand toward Mendelson, who stared hard at her.
“Oh my gosh, no worries. We had a great time. Thank you for having Josephine over so often!”
Lily got her arm around Everett’s shoulders and leaned close as she shut the door. “Just go straight in. No stopping, all right?”
“Mom, what’s wrong?”
“Everything’s fine. Straight inside, okay?”
She subtly pushed him toward the gate, offered Barbara a wave and a wildly fake grin, then hurried back toward Mendelson, putting her body between the detective and her child.
Barbara pulled away, and Lily could hear Everett’s footsteps behind her, moving far more slowly than she wanted. She didn’t dare look at him, as if Mendelson would somehow notice him only if Lily drew his attention.
Her caution didn’t pay off. “How are you doing, Everett?” Mendelson called.
Her son’s footsteps didn’t stop, thank God. The pedestrian gate rattled loudly before banging shut. The security lights gradually glowed to life above her, casting them into a strange and seamy vignette.
“He has nightmares,” she said quietly. “I don’t want him hearing anything about his dad. Please. I’m begging you. He’s just a little boy.”
Mendelson held up his hands. “Listen, I’m out here trying to find a missing woman. What I want from you is some honesty.”
“I am being honest, and I’d help if I could.” An outright lie, but Amber had a right to disappear if she wanted to.
“You didn’t see her?”
“I don’t know anything about her. And Jones has nothing to do with us, with our family, and I have no idea where he is. I swear.”
He stared at her. She held his gaze until he finally shrugged. “You have my card. Call me if you see anything. I’ll be sure to check on you and your boy soon.”
She watched him walk back to his car. She waited, making sure he started the engine, eyeing him as he pulled away. She didn’t want to go inside, didn’t want to lie to her son. And she certainly didn’t want to tell him the truth. Full darkness had fallen suddenly, and spring frogs sang somewhere beyond the buildings, living whole lives in rain puddles that would disappear by summer.
She heard a door open, and then Everett’s small voice. “Mom?”
After taking a deep breath, she set her face into cheerful calm and turned toward him. “How was dinner?”
“Um . . . good. What’s wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong.”
“That was a cop?”
Clearing her throat, she pushed through the gate and locked it behind her. “Yes, just some stuff that was stolen from a unit. No big deal.”
His eyes went wide as she moved past him to the door. “You’re acting weird,” he said to her back. “What’s wrong?”
“Just worried about the theft, that’s all.”
“What was stolen?” His voice had turned slightly squeaky, so Lily held up her hands.
“Sweetie, it was only a divorce dispute. Furniture, that kind of thing. There aren’t dangerous thieves around.”
He visibly deflated, his shoulders lowering from around his ears to their normal place. Determined to change the subject, Lily unlocked the apartment and said, “Barbara texted that she took you two to the library. Did you get anything good?”