Part 25 (1/2)

Tess ran the gauntlet of a bunch of reporters who, despite the police warnings, had rea.s.sembled outside the Stone Hill Inn. She avoided making eye contact with any of them.

”Do you know who took your son?” one of them shouted.

”Any news yet, Tess?” another called out.

”Do you feel you're being punished because of Lazarus Abbott?” cried a third.

Tess jerked open the door to the inn. She was shaking as she entered the foyer. Officer Virgilio was leaning against the sitting room door frame, talking on his cell phone, while the other larger man, Officer Swain, stood in the library, jiggling one foot as he leafed through the newspaper. He looked up as Tess appeared in the hallway.

”Is there any news, Officer Swain?” Tess asked.

”Sorry, ma'am,” he said putting down the paper. He sounded sincerely sorry.

Tess nodded and sighed. ”Those reporters are back. My nerves are really on edge. I can't stand much more of this hara.s.sment.”

Mac Swain set the paper down on the table. ”I'll get rid of them for you, ma'am,” he said with quiet determination.

He walked outside and Tess could hear him ordering the reporters to vacate the premises. Tess shook her head. It was like trying to chase away a swarm of gnats. They might disperse for a moment, but she knew they would be back. Still, the sound of their grumbling retreat made her feel slightly better. Mac Swain opened the door and came back into the house.

”Thank you, Officer,” she said.

”Happy to do it,” he said.

”Have you seen my mother?” Tess asked.

Swain shook his head. ”Sorry.”

”Never mind,” said Tess. She walked back to the kitchen and then over to her mother's quarters, tapping on the voile-curtained French doors. ”Mom?”

Julie opened the French doors, clutching a wadded tissue in her hand. She was wearing a s.h.i.+rt-style jacket of colorful squares of fabric. Her eyes were red-rimmed and angry. ”Oh, it's you,” she said in an accusing tone.

”I'm looking for Mom,” said Tess.

”She went out. With Mr. Phalen,” said Julie.

”With Phalen?” Tess cried. ”What is she thinking? Didn't you try to stop her?”

”She's a grown woman, for G.o.d's sake. Besides, I have my own problems,” Julie said petulantly.

”What happened at the police station?” Tess asked. ”Is Jake still there?”

”Yes, he's still there,” said Julie, shutting the door behind Tess. ”Of course he's still there. Why in the world did you send that attorney down there with him?”

”Because I thought they were going to arrest him. You know Jake publicly threatened Nelson Abbott. He needed an attorney.”

”Maybe so. But not that Ramsey guy,” Julie insisted. ”The police absolutely loathe him. It's doing more harm than good to have him there.” Julie collapsed in a patchwork heap on Dawn's couch. ”Jake would have been better off on his own. He's known most of those cops for years. They probably would have been nice to him if he hadn't come in with that shyster lawyer. They blame that lawyer for everything that's happened.”

Tess dug her nails into her palms and counted to ten. ”Look, I'm sorry you feel that way. I was just trying to help Jake.”

”Some help.” Julie sniffed.

Tess raised her hands, palms out. ”I can't...I don't know what to say. I'm a little preoccupied right now. My son is missing. He's out there all alone with a killer...”

Julie's eyes watered again and she immediately looked sheepish. She dabbed at her red nose with the mangled tissue. ”I know. I didn't forget Erny. I never would.”

Tess realized that this was true, but still, she felt a little bruised. She glanced at the door to be sure it was shut and then spoke in a low, angry voice. ”I'll tell you something else. I know who is responsible for all of this. The chief of police is responsible, so if you want to blame someone, blame him.”

Julie blinked away her tears and stared at Tess. ”What are you talking about? Are you crazy?”

”No, I'm not crazy.”

”Then where did you get an idea like that?” Then she frowned in disapproval. ”Is this why you wanted Rusty Bosworth's address?”

Tess sighed. ”Yes. And I got it from Charmaine. I went to his condo but Erny wasn't there. That would be too easy. He's put him somewhere else.”

”Put him...? What are you talking about? Now you think that Rusty Bosworth killed Nelson? And took Erny? Did you tell that to the police?” Julie asked.

Tess looked at her balefully. ”Sure,” she said. ”Tell them I suspect the chief.”

Julie shook her head. ”I don't know, Tess. I can't picture Rusty Bosworth doing something like that.”

”Yeah, well, I'm sure you can't...” Tess said dismissively.

”I mean, the last I knew, you were blaming it all on Nelson Abbott,” said Julie.

Tess turned on her sister-in-law. ”I wasn't blaming him. I had information.”

”Well, it couldn't have been very good information.”

”It was incomplete,” Tess snapped.

”Wrong, you mean,” said Julie. ”Just like with Lazarus.”

Tess gasped, as if she had been slapped. ”Thanks, Julie. Thanks a lot. You're a big help.” She turned on her heel and left the apartment, slamming the French doors behind her. She felt cornered, with nowhere to turn. The police were still camped out down the hall. And outside the reporters were, no doubt, still lurking. Tess went to her room, opened the door, and looked at the two beds. Hers was neatly made while Erny's was thrown together, the bedspread lumpy, the pillow askew. Tess went over to his bed and sat down on the edge, taking his pillow up and holding it to her heart, burying her face in it, rocking back and forth as the tears she had tried to hold in all day began to fall. Tess felt as if she couldn't breathe, as if she couldn't catch her breath any longer. In her heart she kept saying his name: Erny. Where are you? Are you still alive?

As a child, she had only told the truth as she knew it. The adults around her had done the rest. But perhaps the perverse order of the universe had ruled that she had not yet suffered enough for her unwitting part in the injustice done to Lazarus Abbott. How much, she wondered, do I have to lose before my debt is paid? Where is my boy? she thought.

She felt as if Julie had attacked her when she was at her weakest. Attacked her when she didn't need reminding of her failings. She never forgot, not for one moment, that it was her word that sealed the fate of Lazarus Abbott. She may have ignored those reporters, but she had heard their insinuations.

They had no idea what was in her heart. None of them. They did not know what it was like to grow up in the aftermath of such a crime. Tess remembered the day of the execution with utter clarity. The family had been told they could attend the actual execution at the prison, but they all declined. Even Jake. When Lazarus was executed, Tess was at college, hiding in a library carel pretending to study, waiting for the news to come that would ”end” her family's suffering.

But after it was over, long before she learned that Lazarus might not be guilty, Tess learned the sorry truth about vengeance and closure. After the execution was done, Tess realized that she felt no better for it. No less guilty for having stayed quiet as her sister was stolen in the night. No less secretly angry at Jake for having left them alone in the tent that night to go to a dance. Vengeance would not bring back her innocent, lovely sister or spare her father from the anguish that had led to his fatal heart attack. Or heal her family. She understood, too late, that the execution of Lazarus Abbott, even when she believed him to be guilty, had done no good. No good at all.

The bedroom door opened and Dawn came in wearing her car coat with the collar turned up. ”Tess, are you all right?”