“Listen to me, Mom.”
“Who told you about that? Did Becky call you?” Her voice rose with every word.
Jared felt as if he were trying to outwit a Jedi master. “No, Ursula did.”
“Ursula? What does she have to do with it?”
“She heard they wanted me to go on. They called her too, but her dad won’t let her. But she wants me to go on. She thinks it will be more emotional, more real if I’m on there. And it will keep the story alive.”
His voice sounded weak and unconvincing. Even though he was a teenager, his mom could make him feel like a little kid if she wanted to just by looking at him the right way.
“And what do you know about Henry Allen and William Rose?” she asked.
“Ursula . . . she came to the house the other night. She and Bobby Allen. And I went out and talked to them.”
“What did they want to talk about?” she asked.
“Bobby wanted to talk about his dad. About what I saw in that house. His body and how he died.”
“Shit.” Her eyes widened. “I guess I understand the curiosity. It’s a little morbid. . . .” She looked as though she wasn’t sure what to say next. “I really don’t like you having to keep thinking about it.”
“It’s fine, Mom.”
“But what is this about Bobby Allen and William Rose?” she asked. “They know each other? And what does that have to do with Ursula?”
“William Rose worked for Bobby Allen’s dad. That’s what I found out when they came to the house.”
Confusion crossed his mom’s face first, and then she looked determined.
“And they just came to the door? Out of the blue?” she asked.
“They hang out in the park a lot,” he said. “They’re always just kind of around.”
His mom looked distracted. She talked almost to herself. “I could call Ian and ask to talk to her.”
“Talk to Ursula?” he asked.
“Or . . . Get your coat.”
“Why?”
“I want to talk to these kids. If they’re in the park, it’s a sign I was meant to find them. Otherwise, I’ll call Ian.”
“Mom, don’t embarrass me.”
“You want both of us to go on TV with Reena? Then you’ll be embarrassed.”
She had him there. Check.
“What about Domino fifty-five?” he asked.
“If the guy’s dangerous, then it’s better if we’re gone. Right?”
He couldn’t argue with her logic. He put his coat on.
CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR
Jenna opted to drive instead of walk. It was cold, too cold for her to be wandering around in the evening. And what if the kids weren’t there? It seemed easier to jump in and out of the car.
Jared rode slumped down in the passenger seat, embarrassed. If there had been a hole in the floor of the car, something he could slip through and disappear into, he would have done so. But Jenna was tired of hearing pieces of the story from a lot of different people. She could wait for the information to filter to her through the police, or she could go straight to the source. Bobby Allen. She barely remembered him from when he and Jared had played sports together.
And Ursula. Shouldn’t she be reaching out to the girl more? They hadn’t spoken in weeks, and she was spending her time hanging out in the same park her mother was kidnapped from. Jenna imagined it made sense—someone might go to the last place their loved one was seen alive. Someone might feel a connection that way, a bond to a place in the absence of the actual person.
As she thought those things, she rolled past the corner where she was supposed to pick Celia up on that November night. They found the earring there, but no one heard a scream. No one saw anything. People drove or walked by places where unspeakable and awful events happened all the time. A spot where someone dropped dead of a heart attack. A place where one lover told another he or she was leaving. Those spots weren’t marked. Nobody knew. Life went on.
Her body tensed as they went past, but Jared didn’t say anything. He stared out the window, the back of his head toward her. She let the scene go by without comment.
“Where are they?” she asked.
“By the band shell. Usually.”
Jenna went around to the far side of the park and pulled into the small public lot over there. The place had always held happy memories. She had brought Jared there when he was little, and her father had brought her before that, pushing her on the swings and watching her chase butterflies. And she and Celia—the park had been their spot. Where they met, where they planned.
“It looks empty,” Jared said. “We should go.”
“Hold it.”
“If you want to talk to Ursula, just call her. Or Bobby.”
“I don’t want to wait.” Jenna paused. “If you’re going to sit here, I’ll leave the car on.”