Bobby winced a little, as if he’d felt a sharp pain in his stomach.
“I’m sorry,” Jared said.
“I asked,” he said.
“I went over there once, a few days ago, and the neighbor next door told me that he’d seen a guy in a suit going into the house. And then he thought he heard people arguing. Maybe that was your dad going in.”
“Probably was,” Bobby said.
“He doesn’t know anything, Bobby,” Ursula said, sounding bored. “Can he go?”
Bobby held out his hand, and Jared shook it. “Thanks, man,” Bobby said. “I appreciate it.”
“I want to ask you something,” Jared said.
His hand slipped out of Bobby’s. Bobby nodded, indicating he could go on.
“Do you know what your dad had to do with Tabitha’s dad?” Jared asked. “Why was he there at all? They don’t seem like they travel in the same circles.”
Bobby said, “I don’t know exactly. That lunatic, Mr. Burke or Mr. Rose or whoever he is, did some kind of work for my dad a few years ago. I kind of remember hearing my dad say his name. Then Dad said something about him coming back to town and they were working together again, although Dad acted kind of weird about it, like he didn’t want to say too much.”
“Mr. Rose was here a few years ago?” Jared asked.
“Yeah. He’s one of those guys who comes and goes. My dad once said he was rootless.”
“But you don’t know what kind of work he did?” Jared asked.
“No, I don’t. Something at the plant, but I don’t know what.”
“I think it was something illegal,” Ursula said. “Why else would he kill your dad? Somebody had dirt on somebody.”
“The point is I don’t know,” Bobby said, speaking to Ursula’s reflection in the rearview mirror. “Neither do the cops. Not yet anyway.” He turned to Jared. “Do you know what he did for a living? Did he ever say?”
“I never really talked to him. I never formally met him. The first time I ever set foot in the house was when I found your dad.”
Bobby nodded as though some profound truth had just been confirmed. “Well, I’m sorry about Tabitha. Or . . . what’s her real name?”
“Natalie,” Jared said.
“I’m sorry about Natalie.” They shook hands again. “The whole town’s kind of gone crazy. I hope they find her.”
He turned and stared out the window, his gaze distant and unfocused. Jared wondered if he was remembering something about his dad, some happy childhood memory like a Christmas morning or learning to ride a bike. Or was he focusing on the bad stuff? Stuff like the soccer game or whatever he was involved in with Natalie’s dad? When his own dad left the family, Jared spent a lot of time thinking about the good stuff. Times they’d gone for car rides together or played a game. And then the more time went by, he stopped thinking about him much at all. It was hard to remember any of the good stuff.
“I have to get back to my mom,” Bobby said.
“Sure,” Jared said. “Take care.”
“If you hear anything,” Bobby said, “will you let us know?”
“I will.”
He stepped out into the cold, expecting Ursula to move to the front seat, but she didn’t budge. He shut the door and watched them drive off.
CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
Sally insisted on getting a drink after work. A couple of days had passed since the revelations about Natalie and William Rose broke. The news media and the cops seemed to be stuck in a loop, running on a wheel like hamsters. No additional credible sightings of them came in. No one saw Natalie anywhere.
They drove in Sally’s car to Haley’s Taproom, a bit of a dive in a strip mall near the office. The place was rarely crowded, and the owner kept the lights down low. No one had to make eye contact in Haley’s. No doubt most of the patrons didn’t want to.
Sally went to the bar and brought back two bottles of beer. Budweiser. Cheap. Jenna took a long swallow, and it tasted like liquid heaven. She enjoyed the sting of the alcohol against the back of her throat, the tingling in her bloodstream as the buzz started.
“I shouldn’t be here,” she said.
“Why not? You’ve earned a drink. And so have I.”
“I should be home with Jared.”
“I thought you called him,” Sally said.
“I did.”
“And?”
“And he’s home,” Jenna said. “His friend Syd came over. They’re playing video games.”
“And probably looking at porn. Normal boy stuff.”
“Sally, that’s gross.”
“Honey, every boy does it. They can’t get enough of the stuff.”
“Not Jared.”
Sally raised her eyes. “All of them, Jenna. Even the pope. All of them.”
Jenna took another drink. She’d spent the week lying low at work, trying to stay out of the way of patients who had once again seen her all over the news. She wished more than anything her life could return to being normal. No chance of that, she thought. No chance of that any time soon.
“See,” Sally said, “you wanted that beer. And to think you said you didn’t want to come out.”