Since She Went Away (37 page)

CHAPTER SIXTY-NINE

B
ut his mom pierced the bubble.

“How did you manage to get here?” she asked. “Somebody spotted your dad in Louisville, and everybody’s been looking for him. And you. But to be honest, a lot of people thought you might be dead. It’s kind of amazing you’re not.”

“Do you think I can have more tea?” she asked.

“Sure.” His mom took her mug and filled it at the stove. She dropped a new tea bag in and brought it back. “There you go.”

“I haven’t been very warm lately.” She sipped the hot drink, her cheeks flushed. When she spoke her voice was as flat as the tabletop. “My dad killed that man in our house. Mr. Allen. I don’t know what they were fighting about. It was something to do with the work my dad was doing for him.”

His mom perked up. “Yeah, what was he doing for Mr. Allen?”

“I don’t know.”

“Was your dad following people?”

Natalie looked confused. “Following people? Like who?”

“Anyone,” his mom said. She tried to sound casual, but Jared could
tell she knew more than what they’d heard in the park from Ursula. “Anyone like maybe my friend Celia.”

“Where did that come from, Mom?”

“Let her answer.”

“It’s okay, Jared.” Natalie shook her head. “I swear I never heard anything about your friend, Mrs. Barton. I got the feeling they were doing something that might have been illegal. I’m pretty sure my dad knew Mr. Allen from some time before. My dad lived here once and came back because he knew Mr. Allen. My dad wasn’t always with us when I was growing up. There were long stretches when I didn’t see him, so he could have lived anywhere.”

His mom leaned forward. She started to ask another question but stopped. Natalie knew what she wanted to ask. “I was there when it happened,” she said. “I was locked in my room. He did that sometimes, just to control me. He didn’t trust me because technically he had kidnapped me. He didn’t have custody of me. He wasn’t supposed to have me, but I went along with him. He’s my dad. I didn’t feel like I could say no or run away. That’s why we lived under the other names. That’s why he never let me out. I was locked in my room that night, and I heard them arguing. And then I heard them struggle like there was a fight going on. Then it all went quiet.” She swallowed. “They didn’t mention Celia. Not that I could hear. But I think I heard a couple of names mentioned. I’m almost positive.”

“Who?” his mom asked.

“Ursula and Bobby.”

Jared watched his mom’s face. She looked as if she’d taken a blow, something sharp and unexpectedly painful. “But you’re not sure?” she asked.

“I’m pretty sure. About an hour later, my dad came into my room. He told me to pack, and he told me I couldn’t go in the living room.
I didn’t think there was a body there, but it didn’t surprise me when I heard it on the news.”

“Where did you hear about it?” Jared asked.

“He kept the radio on in the car sometimes,” she said. “We knew people were looking for me. For us. Dad had some cash. He used that for shitty little motel rooms and fast food restaurants. We hung out in rest areas and mall parking lots a lot. It was scary. Terrifying at times, running around like criminals, looking over our shoulders no matter what we did. But it was boring too. Just amazingly boring. I didn’t have my books or anything. It was just driving around and driving around, like we were in a maze with no exit.”

She sipped more of the tea, holding the mug with two hands. “Dad drove west for a while, like he was going back to Nebraska. And then he turned around and came back toward Kentucky. I didn’t know what his plan was. I don’t think he had one. I don’t know that he was thinking clearly. He was floundering, I think.”

“Why didn’t you run away earlier?” Jared asked. He’d watched enough crime shows to know what Stockholm syndrome was and that kidnappers could exert such fear and control over someone that they wouldn’t even attempt to get away. But Natalie seemed so clearheaded and logical, he didn’t think she’d been completely controlled or subjugated by her dad.

“He promised me something, something I couldn’t say no to,” she said. Her eyes filled with tears again, and she let go of the mug and wiped them off her face. His mom stood up and found a box of tissues. She brought them to the table, and Natalie thanked her while she cleaned her face. “He told me my mom was still alive.”

“And you believed him?” his mom asked.

“Mom.”

“I’m sorry,” his mom said. “Go on, honey.”

“It’s okay,” Natalie said. “He told me he’d take me to her, that I
could see her again. He kind of hinted she lived here. And then he hinted she lived somewhere else, somewhere back East. Maybe that’s why he came back this way, to make me think I was going to see Mom.”

“You must have asked a lot of questions,” Jenna said. “You must have been curious about what was going on.”

“I was,” Natalie said. “You have to understand something about my dad. He can be very charming. Persuasive, you know? He knows how to talk. And he knows how to intimidate people. I didn’t want to ask too much. He told me my mom was having problems. He hinted she was involved with drugs.”

“Was she?” Jenna asked.

“I don’t know. I doubt it. But she was depressed a lot. She tried to kill herself once after Dad left. I was really young, but I remember when she was in the hospital. I stayed with my grandma, who was alive back then.” She swallowed. “What I’m saying is my mom wasn’t really stable either. I know she loved me, but when Dad told me she’d left, it wasn’t far-fetched. My mom hadn’t been home for a couple of days. That happened sometimes. I just took care of myself.”

“Really?” his mom asked. “You stayed alone?”

“I could cook. And wake up on time. I did my homework. And she always came back. She did. I didn’t ask where she went. I figured she partied or was with guys.” Natalie shivered. “I didn’t ask.”

“That’s smart,” his mom said.

“But this time Dad showed up at the house, and he said we needed to leave. He said Mom was gone, and we needed to go find her. I hadn’t seen him in about six months. But he said he had a job, and he thought he knew where Mom was. That’s why I went. She always had problems, and I thought we’d be helping her if we found her.”

“But the police thought your mom might have been dead. They thought your dad—”

“I know.” Natalie looked down at the table for a moment. She
looked back up and said, “When I heard about your friend disappearing, about Celia, it just hit me in a strange way. I knew what that was like. My mom was gone, and I didn’t know where she was. You were all going through the same thing. I understood. I really did.”

“I wish we had talked about it,” Jenna said.

“But I held out hope I’d see Mom again. He kept me in check that way, making me think there was a chance I’d see her. He said he hoped that someday we could all live as a family again. God, I wanted to believe it. I really did. Even though I was never able to call her or talk to her, I wanted to believe it.” She looked at both of them and regained her composure. “Once we were out there on the road, and he kept promising without delivering, I knew he was lying. It hit me like a ton of lead one day. He was just lying. I started to believe Mom was dead. Gone.” She stared ahead, her eyes flat, the emotion gone. “When I realized the truth a few days ago, I felt lower than ever. I didn’t care if I died or not. I kind of accepted that I was going to die out there somewhere, that he’d kill me and just leave me on the side of the road. I thought it was all over.”

“So what made you go on?” Jared asked.

“I had a dream about my mom,” she said. “I saw her face. She told me to keep fighting. So I did. I decided I needed to get back here to see you. My dad was so tired from the driving and the sneaking around, he started falling asleep all the time. And when he slept he slept really deep. A couple of nights ago we were in a shitty motel, and he zonked out. It was about a four-hour drive from here. I just walked out. I didn’t look back. And he didn’t come after me. Some part of me kind of thinks he wanted me to get away. He could have killed me at any time. He could have tied me up. But he didn’t. So I just got away.”

“And how did you get from there to here?” Jared asked.

“I walked. I got a ride once from a trucker. He was nice, but he wanted me to pray with him. He brought me most of the way. I snuck
into town here once it was dark. I didn’t want anyone from school seeing me. Not the police or anybody else. I came here, and I saw that guy creeping around out front.”

“He’s harmless. I think,” his mom said.

“Once you left with the guy, I saw my chance. I hoped Jared was home, so I went to the back door and knocked.”

“And there you were,” Jared said.

CHAPTER SEVENTY

J
enna sat back.

She felt a terrible and profound sadness. This girl—and at age fifteen she was still very much a girl—had been through so much and lost so much. And somehow she’d survived it all.

And the girl loved her son. Jenna could see that. As much as two fifteen-year-olds could be in love, they were. And maybe someone like Natalie, someone who had seen so much of life so fast, understood the value and the meaning of love better than anybody.

Jenna wanted to protect them both, to wrap them both up and hide them away.

But Jenna couldn’t hide from what Natalie had just revealed: William Rose and Henry Allen argued before Henry Allen’s death. And the men mentioned Ursula and Bobby.

“You know, they think your dad might have killed my friend Celia.”

“Mom—”

Jenna held up her hand, asking for silence from Jared. Jenna wondered if the girl knew anything about it. “I’m not sure they have any hard evidence, but they want to talk to him because he’s been involved with some other things.”

“I know,” Natalie said. “Like that woman they found. The body in the woods.”

“Holly Crenshaw.”

“Dad always had girlfriends. Younger girls usually. I don’t know if he was involved with this Holly Crenshaw lady. He didn’t tell me much of what he did. But my mom always told me he had a perverted streak, that he liked to hurt women. I guess both my parents sound like real winners, don’t they? But I don’t know anything about your friend, Mrs. Barton.”

“Jenna.”

“Jenna. I don’t know your friend. I never saw her, and I never heard my dad mention her. But I didn’t know everything he did or everyone he talked to. I knew very little about him. He wasn’t always a big part of my life. My parents were off and on. And Dad just kind of came around when it suited him. When he wanted or needed something. Mom had a hard time saying no to him when he did show up. She couldn’t turn him away. I guess I couldn’t either.”

Jenna tried to focus. She had so many things she wanted to ask the girl, so much she wanted to know but couldn’t push. She remembered that kiss Jared had witnessed, the one that prompted him to throw a rock through their window. Jenna wanted to know exactly how much the girl had suffered at the hands of her father, but that was all too much and too soon. She might never know what went on between the two of them. And maybe that wasn’t what Natalie needed from her.

She looked at the clock. It was nearing midnight. She felt newly tired from the long day, wrung out and empty.

But the day wasn’t finished. Not close.

“It’s time we called the police and let them know you’re here,” she said.

“Mom, no.” Jared was up out of his seat so fast he sent it tumbling backward to clatter against the floor. He moved next to Natalie,
placing his hand on her shoulder as though protecting her from attack. “You can’t do that. Not now. It’s so late.”

“Jared, the police need to know.”

“And they can’t wait until morning?” he asked, his face indignant.

“No, they can’t. They’re the police. And Natalie is involved in a crime. She’s a witness. She knows where her dad was last. The man’s dangerous, Jared. What if what she tells the police prevents him from hurting someone else?”

Her words brought him up short. He stood frozen in place, his hand still resting on Natalie’s shoulder.

Natalie looked up. “She’s right, Jared. The whole time I was coming here, I knew I was going to have to face this. I’ve been preparing for it.” She made a sound like a short, bitter laugh. “I guess I’ve known my whole life I might have to testify against my dad. It was always going to come to this.”

“Are you ready now?” Jenna asked. “Do you want to eat something else?”

“I’m good. I’m tired, but I’m good.”

“You’ll like Detective Poole,” Jenna said. “She’s very understanding.”

“As understanding as the two of you?” Natalie asked.

“She’s pretty good. But she might not heat up leftovers for you.” Jenna reached for her phone and dialed.

CHAPTER SEVENTY-ONE

I
t was nearly four in the morning by the time Detective Poole finished with Natalie. The detective conducted most of her questioning in the kitchen, after Jenna brewed a pot of coffee and she and Jared retreated to the living room to give them space. Jenna turned the TV on, and the two of them channel-surfed, breezing past shows about dolphins and biplanes and priceless junk people found in their attics. They settled on a soccer match, the endless bouncing of the ball from one side of the green grass pitch to the other soothing their minds.

Jenna saw the tension and sadness on Jared’s face, even as her own eyelids grew heavier. She tried to say something to soothe him, something that would make the whole thing easier, but the right words didn’t come.

She dozed off at some point. She came awake with Naomi Poole standing over her, the detective’s large glasses pushed up on top of her head and resting in the cottony billows of her hair. Jenna looked over and saw that Jared was gone. The TV still played, only it showed an infomercial for a chicken roaster.

“He’s in the kitchen with Natalie,” Naomi said. “They’re having a moment.”

“Are you finished?” Jenna asked, stretching.