Bobby didn’t look surprised or offended. He waved his hand. “Get in.”
Bobby looked as tired as Jared felt. As he drove, he gave off a jittery energy, the kind kids had when they’d been up all night studying and throwing down coffee to stay awake for a test. Jared chalked his behavior up to the weird aftereffects of grief.
“Where are we going?” Jared asked.
Bobby stared straight ahead. “That depends on what you ask me.”
The first budding of fear sprouted in Jared’s chest. Bobby drove downtown and around the square. He did it once and then he did it again, circling while Jared sat in the passenger seat.
Jared started. “Okay, so Natalie—”
“Your girl.”
“Right.”
“And the daughter of the guy who killed my dad.” They were starting a third circuit around the square. “My mom told me they caught him today, by the way. At your house.”
“Yeah,” Jared said. “I’m glad they did.”
“I was supposed to have gone somewhere sooner, but when that news broke . . . well, my mom was kind of upset. My sister too. I had to stick around, and then the cops came by again.”
“You have somewhere to be?” Jared asked.
“It’s probably too late,” Bobby said. “I was meeting a chick.”
“Ursula?”
“The cops say this guy William Rose is claiming he’s innocent, that he didn’t hurt anyone, including Ursula’s mom.”
“No surprise, I guess,” Jared said.
“There could be a trial,” Bobby said. “That would be shitty for my mom.”
“Yeah, right.”
“Your mom too.”
Bobby left the square, heading west. No music played, and he seemed to be driving faster than the speed limit.
“Do you need to call your friend?” Jared asked.
“She keeps calling me. I turned the phone off.”
Jared went ahead and asked the question on his mind, the one that had driven him to leave his warm bed when he was dead-dog tired and trudge over to Bobby’s house in the late-winter cold.
Jared said, “Your dad, the night he was killed . . . you know, Natalie was in the house. She heard it happen. She heard them arguing and then fighting.”
Bobby’s lips were pressed tight. He stared straight ahead.
“You see, Natalie swears she heard your name come up. And Ursula’s. During the argument. She told this to me and then to the police. Maybe she misunderstood, but I was just wondering if you thought that was possible.”
Bobby didn’t answer right away. They were out near the old state road, the one people used to take to Lexington before the interstate went in, leaving this one kind of forgotten. They came to a four-way stop, and Bobby let the car sit there, the heater humming softly, the engine a low purr.
“They talked about that, huh?” he asked.
“Yes. I heard them.”
“And Natalie told the police this?” Bobby asked.
“She did. She told them a lot of stuff, but that’s the part I noticed. I kind of figured they’d be talking to you and Ursula soon.”
“They did talk to me,” Bobby said. “This morning. But they didn’t push too hard. I told them it kind of made sense my dad might say my name to someone who wanted to kill him. Right?”
“And Ursula’s name?” Jared asked.
“I don’t know if they talked to her yet.”
“What does it mean, Bobby?” Jared asked.
“I think I have to show you something.”
“Do you know why your dad and William Rose mentioned you?” Jared asked. “Or did Natalie hear them wrong?”
“I could drive away,” Bobby said. “Put this thing in drive and just go. I could take you with me, if you wanted. We could get away from it all.”
Jared felt confused. “And go where?”
“Anywhere.”
“What about your family?” Jared asked. “You said your mom, your sister—”
“Yeah. Them. Everyone.” He tapped his fingers on the steering wheel. “Things never really end, do they? Even if you run away.”
“Not really.”
Bobby turned the car around. They headed back toward town, retracing the route they’d just taken.
CHAPTER SEVENTY-SIX
Ian walked into the living room after calling the police. He had reported Ursula missing, a possible runaway. He couldn’t give them a motive or explain anything, but he asked that they inform Naomi Poole.
Then he sat down and looked to Jenna.
A few long moments passed, and then Ian slipped back into the guise of the rational, detached businessman.
“I want to find her first,” he said. “I don’t want my daughter just pursued and questioned by the police. You understand wanting to protect your child, don’t you? She hasn’t done anything wrong. Not that we know of.”
Jenna’s heart beat a bass drum rhythm while she studied Ian’s face. “You should stay here. She might come home. You should be here.”
“No. I can’t do nothing.”
“I’ll go drive around and look for her. I’ll look in the park.”