22
Rob sighed as he crossed out the name on the
whiteboard. It was late afternoon, and his shift was almost over.
Despite the blinds being closed, it was still way too hot in his
small office, and he was sweating. He and Jackson were staring at
the incident board on the wall. He crossed out the name, Ted.
“That’s the last of Ruth’s lodgers accounted for. He’s in San
Quentin.”
Jackson frowned at the board. “So who
does that leave us with?”
“No one—or the whole town. Take your
pick.”
“This makes no sense at all, does it?”
Jackson looked. “We’ve eliminated all the suspects, including your
sister, and we’re still turning up blank.”
Rob sat down heavily behind his desk
and shoved a hand through his damp hair. “Maybe it is just random
acts of vandalism after all. Some kids who’ve heard the old stories
and thought it would be fun to mess around with Ally now that she’s
back.”
“I suppose that could be it, but it
feels way more personal to me. Do you get that?”
Rob nodded. “Yeah, like someone really
wants to hurt her.” He grabbed his hat. “I’m going to talk to
Lauren one more time, and then I’m going to take Ally her
keys.”
“Try and persuade her to come to our
place tonight.”
“I already asked her.” Rob paused in
the doorway. “You okay with that?”
Jackson grimaced. “I’m hoping she
didn’t mean that shit she said about me.”
“I don’t think she did. She was worried
about you this morning.”
“Yeah?” Jackson smiled. “Good to know.
I can work with that.”
“Then I’ll catch you
later.”
Ally swallowed hard and stared at
Jane’s smiling face. “Um, Jane? What’s with the
knife?”
“Oh, I brought that because I thought
you might not want to talk to me. It’s quite sharp.”
Ally retreated slowly toward the back
door. “I’m happy to talk to you, so could you just put it
away?”
“The back door is double locked, Ally,
and you don’t have the key—Rob does. I saw him leave with it. You
won’t be able to unlock it before I get to you.”
Ally went still. “Okay, so can we just
talk?”
Jane patted the table. “Come and sit
down, then.”
Ally didn’t really want to go anywhere
near Jane, but she had little choice. As she took her seat, she
scanned the countertops again for her cell.
“Ally, I’m not stupid. I took your cell
phone when I broke the glass last night. I wasn’t very happy to see
you’d changed the locks, but at least I got that. I thought it
might come in handy.”
Ally studied Jane’s pleasant face. “So
this was about Rob all along?”
Jane smiled. “Not all of it. He’s
obviously not the man I took him for if he’s hooked up with you
again, is he?”
“So, what else?”
“I think you know, Ally. Why else did
you mention ghosts on the phone? Taunting me
like that was not a good idea. I refuse to be blackmailed by scum
like you.”
Fear curdled in Ally’s gut, but she
concentrated on looking relaxed. Surely the longer she kept Jane
talking, the more likely she’d find a way out of this nightmarish
situation.
“I’m not sure what you
mean.”
Ally jumped as Jane pointed the knife
straight at her. “Don’t lie to me.” Jane paused to push a stray
hair back from her face. “Rob was coming around to the idea of
marrying me quite nicely before you turned up with your slutty
ways.” She sniffed. “I’m not surprised Jackson was sniffing around
you, but I thought better of Rob.”
“Why don’t you like
Jackson?”
Jane opened her eyes wide at Ally. “I
told you why. Because he wants Rob all to himself.”
“You also told me you hated him because
he killed Susan.”
Jane shrugged. “Well that was just to
make you suspicious of him. Unfortunately, it didn’t work, but I
had to try.”
Ally bit down hard on her lip. She felt
as if she’d strayed into an alternate universe. Jane seemed far too
calm and relaxed to be contemplating harm, but she had a knife. . .
.
“So this is all
about Rob. Don’t you think you’re being a bit overdramatic? Can’t
we all just sit down and talk it through like adults?”
Jane’s smile disappeared. “It’s about
my life and my future with the man I love, Ally. I don’t think
that’s being melodramatic at all.”
“I really don’t know what you’re after,
Jane. If you wanted to scare me into leaving Spring Falls, you’ve
pretty much achieved your aim. I’m terrified.”
Jane leaned forward. “You’ll be
leaving, one way or another, but not until you give me what I’m
looking for.”
“Which is?” Ally hissed when the tip of
the knife cut her cheek. She instinctively recoiled and pushed
herself away from the table.
Jane stood up and looked reproachful.
“I want the journal.”
Ally held her hand to her burning cheek
and edged away from Jane. “Didn’t you already take
that?”
“I took your mom’s journal where she
talked about that night, but the pages I wanted were ripped
out.”
“What pages?” Ally glanced at the
doorway into the hall. Could she reach that before Jane and get to
the front door? She wasn’t sure.
For the first time, Jane looked
agitated. “Your mom was writing stuff about me and what happened to
Susan.” Her frown deepened. “After Susan’s death, I came back here
and told your mom that if she talked to the police about me being
there, I’d tell them that you were with
Susan when she died.”
Ally stretched out her hand for a piece
of paper towel to mop up the blood rolling down her face. “But I
had an alibi.”
“Your mom was so drunk, she didn’t know
anything, so she agreed to keep quiet. But now you’re back
disturbing everything, and I just know you’re going to find those
pages and give them to Rob, and I can’t have that.”
There was a slightly hysterical note in
Jane’s voice that made Ally want to run like hell. Instead, she
edged toward the doorway. “Then I think I might’ve found what
you’re looking for in the dining room. You can have the pages,
okay? I don’t want them. I really don’t care what they say either.
My mom wasn’t exactly the most reliable witness in the
world.”
Jane blocked her path and brought the
knife up to Ally’s throat. “Nice try, Ally, but I’m coming with
you. We’ll retrieve the pages together.”
Keeping the knife angled against Ally’s
neck, Jane picked up her purse and nudged Ally forward. “Where
exactly did you find them?”
“They were down the back of the
drawers. I found them when I was putting all the stuff back after
you broke in.”
Jane stiffened. “I didn’t ‘break in.’ I
just borrowed your back door key in case I needed to get my pie
dish and you weren’t home.”
Ally had nothing to say to that.
Apparently Jane could justify the craziest actions
imaginable.
“Did you read them?” Jane
asked.
“No.” Ally tried to sound relaxed. “I
only found them this morning, so I haven’t had a chance. If you
take them, you’ll be the only one who knows what’s written
there.”
“I can’t take that chance, Ally. Your
mom probably told you all about it.”
“I haven’t spoken to my mom in ten
years.”
Jane put her purse on the now-cleared
table, right next to the monitor and keyboard. She gestured Ally
forward to the desk. “Give them to me.”
Ally hated having to turn slightly away
from Jane, who was fishing for something in her purse again. It
seemed that no one was coming to save her, so she’d have to do
something to help herself. She opened the second drawer, which was
full of her mother’s black journals.
“Give me a minute, Jane. I put it right
under all these books.”
She picked up a stack of about ten
journals, spun around, and threw them at Jane’s face. As Jane
shrieked and lunged for her, Ally shoved the nearest chair across
Jane’s path and ran for the front door. She flung it open and
spotted Rob’s patrol car pulling into the drive.
Jane was behind her now, the knife
blade glinting in the sun as she raised her arm. Ally saw Rob’s
startled face as he flung open the door of his car and faced them,
his gun leveled at Jane.
“Put the knife down,
Jane.”
“Or you’ll shoot?” Jane smiled and
grabbed Ally’s braid, yanking her closer. “Shoot Ally. She deserves
it, not me. I’m just trying to clear up a few things around
here.”
Rob remained still, his pale gaze fixed
on Jane. “Let Ally go and drop the knife. Then we’ll talk,
okay?”
Ally swallowed convulsively as Rob’s
gaze flicked over her and then fixed unerringly on Jane. “Drop the
knife, Jane.”
“Well, for goodness’ sake, there’s no
need to get so serious, Rob!” Jane tossed the knife away and
released her hold on Ally’s braid. Ally fell to her knees and
forced herself to breathe. “Ally’s just overreacting!”
Another patrol car rounded the corner
at speed, and Jane’s gaze narrowed. “I hope that’s not Jackson. If
he’d gotten here sooner, I might have held on to that knife so he
could watch me stick it in you, Sheriff.”
Rob moved forward and kicked the knife
away toward the gutter. “You going to come down to the station
quietly, Jane?”
Jane frowned. “Why do I need to go
anywhere? Ally’s going to give me the pages, so everything’s okay
now. I didn’t really hurt her. It’s just a scratch.”
Rob stared at Jane. She sounded so
normal, it was downright weird. He held open the door of his car.
“Humor me, okay?”
Jane sighed. “Well, can Ally get my
purse? I left it in the dining room on the table, and I hate not to
have it with me.”
“I’ll make sure you get your purse.”
Rob motioned her toward the car. “I just want to ask you a few
questions.”
Jane got into the back of the car and
then froze and tried to grab his arm. “But Ally hasn’t given me the
pages. I can’t go yet.” Rob pushed her back into the car, expertly
handcuffed her wrists behind her, and shut the door. Her face
contorted with rage as she realized she couldn’t get out, and she
started banging her shoulder against the glass.
Rob moved to where Ally still sat on
the driveway, hugging her knees. “You okay, honey?”
“I . . .” She looked at him and shook
her head. “What the hell is up with that woman?”
“I have no idea, but she sounds
completely nuts to me.” He touched Ally’s bloodied face and
realized his fingers were shaking. “Do you need to go to the
ER?”
A shadow loomed over them, and, thank
God, Jackson was there. He had the knife in a plastic evidence bag,
which he handed to Rob. “Take Jane in. Ally can fill me in on the
details.”
Rob helped Ally stand up. Despite the
heat, she was shivering. He didn’t want to leave her, but he knew
he had no choice. “Yeah, take her inside, Jackson, and look after
her. She needs it.”
“Sure.”
Jane was red-faced and screaming now,
all composure gone as she banged on the window. When he got into
the car, Rob braced himself for a tirade of abuse, but Jane seemed
perfectly normal again. He kept himself busy on the short drive,
arranging for immediate backup from the county mental health
department.
Jackson put his arm around Ally and
walked her back into the house. She was shaking so violently he
wanted to take her someplace quiet and just hold her. But he knew
Rob would expect him to get some of the official details out of the
way before he succumbed to his softer side.
She paused at the door of the dining
room, and he noted the overturned chair and the journals scattered
all over the floor. A big flowery purse sat on the table next to
the computer. “So Jane had a knife, and you threw the book at her,
literally, right?”
“I threw a whole pile of books at her,
and then I blocked her by pulling the chair over. It gave me just
enough time to get to the front door before she could get to
me.”
Jackson squeezed her shoulders. “You
did great, Ally. The worst thing to do is to try and get the knife
off someone. Unless you know what you’re doing, you usually end up
hurting yourself.”
She gulped in a breath. “I remembered
something about that from the self-defense classes I took when I
lived in New York. I knew the best thing was to keep her away from
me and run like hell.”
Jackson kissed the top of her head and
set the chair upright. He pulled a thin pair of gloves out of his
back pocket and opened Jane’s purse. He took out a heavy plastic
bag and showed it to Ally.
“Hell, she had a gun in here too.” He
realized he sounded almost as shaken as Ally did. All-too-familiar
gruesome images of what he and Rob might have found at the house if
they hadn’t gotten there fast enough flashed through his
brain.
“Somehow that doesn’t surprise me.”
Ally sat down with a thump on one of the chairs. “She’d probably
worked out a plan to shoot me and make it look like suicide or
something.”
Jackson left the purse and turned back
to Ally. She looked exhausted and no wonder. She’d had a hell of an
afternoon. He crouched down in front of her and touched her knee.
“I know you probably don’t want to talk about this right now, but I
need to know what she was after.”
“I understand.” Jackson waited as Ally
visibly composed herself. “At first I thought she just wanted to
run me out of town because she’s obsessed with Rob.” She glanced
down at him. “That’s why she doesn’t like you either, Jackson. But
then I realized it was a lot more complicated than that. She thinks
my mom wrote incriminating stuff about her and Susan in her
journal.”
Jackson frowned. “But didn’t she take
that journal?”
“Apparently my mom had already ripped
the crucial pages out, and Jane wanted them back.” Ally shook her
head. “I feel like such a fool. I invited
Jane in this afternoon. I had no idea all this crazy stuff was
floating around in her head. She thought I’d found the pages and
was trying to blackmail her.” Jackson winced as her grip tightened
on his fingers. “It’s got me wondering about whether my mom
deliberately made me leave that night.”
“Your mom?”
“Jane said she threatened to tell the
police that I left this house with Susan on the night she died.”
Ally studied his face. “Maybe Ruth tried to drive me away to keep
me safe.”
Ally got up and headed for the
boarded-up fireplace. “My mom left me a message in her last journal
asking me to set the past straight.” She studied the painted-over
boards. “When I was a kid, she used to pretend to play
hide-and-seek with me so that I learned how to stash her drugs.”
She winced, and inwardly Jackson cringed with her.
She gestured at the fireplace. “Do you
think you could break this open for me?”
Jackson eyed the plywood. “Sure. I’ve
got a pry bar in my car.”
It took him less than five minutes to
pull the old plywood away from the gaping hole. He stood back to
let Ally kneel on the brick hearth. She reached her arm up inside
the chimney and felt around for something.
“There’s a little ledge right here. . .
.” Her expression changed. “Oh God . . .”
He moved closer as she pulled down a
faded pink backpack and laid it on the brick.
“This was my backpack when I was a
kid,” Ally whispered.
Jackson touched her shoulder. “Let me
open it, okay? I have gloves on.” He unzipped the top all the way
around and peered into the pinkish glow of the interior. He
carefully drew out an old teddy bear and a plastic
container.
“That teddy was mine,” Ally said. She
sounded resigned. “It’s probably got my mom’s drug supply still in
the back.”
Jackson turned the teddy over, undid
the buttons on the back of the dress, and slid his fingers into the
cavity beneath.
“Not drugs, Ally. Money.” He showed her
the thick roll of one-hundred-dollar bills tied with an elastic
band. “Interesting place to keep your savings.” He put the teddy
down and rested the rolled bills on its chest. He turned his
attention to the sealed container, which seemed to contain lots of
smaller bagged items. When he opened the lid, he grimaced at the
faint smell. “That’s definitely weed, but it doesn’t smell too
fresh to me.”
Ally squeezed his shoulder. “That’s
probably why my mom agreed to go along with Jane. She didn’t want
the police in the house anyway because of the drugs. Is there
anything else?”
Jackson refocused his tangled thoughts
and picked up the teddy bear again. Something crackled and he
pulled out two folded pieces of paper.
Ally let out a long breath. “That must
be what Jane was looking for.”
“I’d say so.”
Jackson got up and grabbed the evidence
bags he’d gotten from his car when he got the pry bar. “Let’s put
all this stuff away until we can get it to Rob.”
“Yes.” Ally sounded dazed. “I’m not
sure I want to deal with it at the moment.”
Jackson took her hand and drew her into
his arms. “It’s okay, Ally. Everything will be all right
now.”
She didn’t say anything, just buried
her face into his shoulder and held on. Jackson drew her even
closer and rested his cheek on her hair. He was quite happy to stay
like that for the rest of his life. Eventually she looked up at
him, her expression rueful.
“I’m sorry. I’m behaving like a girl,
aren’t I?”
“You are a girl, and considering what
you’ve had to deal with recently, you’ve done good.”
She let go of him and headed for the
kitchen. “Do I need to go down to the sheriff’s department and make
a statement?”
“Yeah, at some point that would be
great, but there’s no rush.”
She swung around to look at him, her
face resolute. “I’d like to get it over with as soon as
possible.”
He nodded. “I’ll call Rob, tell him
what we found and ask him what he’d like us to do.” He paused as
she kept staring at him. “What?”
“You’re always so nice to me, Jackson,
and I really don’t deserve it.”
“I like you.” He shrugged, still unable
to use the other L-word and not sure she could handle hearing it
right now. “I always have.”
She reached for him and cupped his
cheek, her gray eyes full of tears. “Weird, because I like you
too.”
He briefly touched her fingers in
response and struggled to find the right words. “How about you put
on some coffee? Seeing as neither of us can drink responsibly, we
need something to get us through this.”
Her smile flickered out. “Sure, that’s
a great idea.”
He went to leave and then turned back
to her and yanked her right into his arms. He kissed her with a
thoroughness that drew an instant response from her, making him
hard and ready to fuck her until she clung to him and begged him
never to stop.
He managed to pull away. “Shit, I’m
sorry. That’s not exactly appropriate, is it?”
She licked her lips. “You behaving like
a caveman and staking a claim on your woman? Sometimes you and Rob
are just the same.”
He nipped her lower lip. “I want you to
be my woman—mine and Rob’s. Do you get that? Do you
understand?”
She stared into his eyes. “I hear you,
Jackson, but we’re all so emotionally screwed up at the moment,
what with Jane and my mom and everything. . . . I can’t bring
myself to just let go, because at this moment if I did, I’d just
want you to take me to bed, strip me naked, and fuck my brains
out.”
Jackson’s cock kicked hard against his
uniform pants. “Don’t say things like that, Ally,” he said
hoarsely. “Not fair.”
“Because you’d do it, wouldn’t you? And
that goes against everything you’ve been trained to do, which just
illustrates my point that we’re not emotionally ready to deal with
this yet.”
Jackson took some long, slow breaths.
“Okay.”
“Okay?” Ally raised her
eyebrows.
“I’m going to let you go and I’ll call
Rob right now.” Jackson took himself back into the dining room and
radioed Rob. The scent of coffee drifted down the hallway to him as
he waited to be patched through.
“Hey.”
Rob’s calm voice steadied Jackson
immediately.
“Boss, we found a whole bunch of stuff
hidden up the chimney, including pages from Ruth Kendal’s journal.”
Jackson glanced at the bagged-up items on the table and saw the
teddy bear. Emotion clawed at his throat at the thought of Susan,
who hadn’t deserved any of this, hadn’t deserved to be treated like
shit by him and certainly hadn’t deserved to die. . .
.
“Jackson?”
He tried to turn his focus back to what
Rob needed to hear. “Yeah, so Ally wants to come in and give you
her statement. Do you want me to go ahead and bring
her?”
“Sure, if that’s what she wants. We
have Jane secured, so Ally won’t have to see her.”
“Okay, we’ll be there in about half an
hour.” Jackson shut off the connection and went back to the
kitchen. Ally sat at the table drinking her coffee. She looked up
at him when he came in.
“Jackson, what’s wrong?”
He sat down heavily in the chair and
covered his face with his hands. “What the fuck do I know about
loving someone? Look what I did to Susan. How the fuck do I dare think I can love you?”
He was aware of Ally moving and then
felt her hand on his knee as she knelt in front of him. “Jackson,
it wasn’t your fault.”
“I let her down, Ally. She was so mad
at me, and she was right to be mad. She told me that she’d figured
out I wanted Rob and that I should’ve been brave enough to stand up
for what I wanted and not drag you and her into my mess.” He forced
himself to look at her. “She was so fucking smart and honest and
funny. I can’t believe she went and killed herself. I just
can’t.”
“Susan made her own choices, Jackson.
And whatever really happened that night, we can be sure Jane had a
hand in it somewhere.” Her eyes widened. “Hell, Jane was here,
wasn’t she? My mom must have written about her. She’s the person Susan was seen with.”
“Yeah, but . . .” Jackson swallowed
hard. “Shit, I . . .”
Ally wrapped her arms around him, and
something inside him, something he’d held so deep through all the
long, lonely years, seemed to shatter. He leaned into her shoulder
and allowed himself to cry.
“It’s okay, Jackson,” Ally whispered as
she stroked his hair. “It really is going to be okay.”