Kate’s response was reasonable. She was looking at Ken, maintaining eye contact with him, but something was off.
Dru remembered the Christmas a few years ago when Rob had bought Shea an iPad. It had gone missing the following New Year’s Day after Shea hosted a holiday sleepover for several girlfriends, including, of course, her best friend, Kate. Shea had thought at first she’d lost it. She’d been reluctant to tell Dru, or Rob, for fear she’d be blamed, so she’d waited a couple of days to confess it was gone, and then she’d insisted someone must have broken into the house, that none of her friends would steal from her.
When Charla had found it a week later at the bottom of Kate’s overnight tote that had been stuffed under her bed since the night of the sleepover, Kate had looked Dru right in the eye and claimed she’d picked it up by accident, without realizing it, and she’d apologized profusely. Dru knew if she thought about it, she’d remember other incidents when she’d felt Kate wasn’t telling the truth. She’d assumed Kate had outgrown the tendency to lie, but maybe not.
Ken said, “The Dallas police might want to interview you. They might want to check out your phone.” He seemed suspicious, too.
“Why?” Kate was visibly alarmed. “I’ve told you everything Becca said, everything that went on. I don’t know anything else.”
“We’ll be in touch,” Ken said. He switched his glance to Dru. “A word?” he asked, and it was clear that he meant for her to follow him, that his intention was to speak to her alone.
She walked with him and Daryl onto the front porch, her stomach in a fist.
The sun was down, the light uncertain. Dru couldn’t read Ken’s expression, but when he spoke, his voice was grave.
“I didn’t want to say this in front of the girls—they’re spooked enough—but there was a break-in out at the xL late this afternoon.”
“Oh, no. Is everyone okay?” Dru thought of Jeb, the way he had collapsed earlier.
“Yeah. Neither Jeb nor Lily was there.” Ken looked off into the street at a car that passed.
“You think it was AJ?” Dru asked.
“Whoever it was knew where the safe was and the combination. No muss, no fuss. In and out.” Ken swiped one hand with the palm of the other.
“Along with the cash Jeb Axel kept in there, they took his late wife’s jewelry,” Daryl said.
“We think they were probably staked out close by and saw Lily and Jeb leave,” Ken said. “They knew the house was empty, that it would be for a while.”
“They knew the family hardly ever locks the doors,” Daryl added.
“I bet they will now,” Dru said.
Down the way, someone shouted for Angie. Dru recognized Angie’s mom’s voice. It was that time, dark thirty. Mothers wanted their kids home. It passed so quickly, Dru thought, the years when you exerted a measure of control over your children’s lives. One day you were changing their diapers, and the next, with those same hands, you were giving them the keys to the car.
“We can’t be sure it was AJ,” Ken said.
“But it could have been,” Dru said.
“If it was, he’s got the resources now to leave the area, leave the country, if he chooses. He knows his way around international travel. He could even have connections—”
Dru interrupted, “You’re—the police are watching the airports, I guess.”
Ken nodded.
Daryl said, “They’re stretched pretty thin in Dallas, like our department here in Wyatt. They’re handling a big case involving a councilman up there, but there’s a BOLO out on AJ. Law enforcement across the state is on the alert for him.”
“That’s not to say we’re looking only at AJ,” Ken said.
“So I heard,” Dru said, and when Ken raised his brows, she said, “The detective from Dallas who questioned Shea made it seem as if they suspect her. I heard it from Joy Westin, too, that the Dallas police asked her about Shea, but she was here, Ken, with me, all night on Tuesday. She had nothing to do with what happened to Becca, no knowledge of it whatsoever.”
“It’s procedure,” he said, “questioning those closest to the victim.”
“But you know Shea’s not involved, right?” Dru wanted Ken’s affirmation, his support. He didn’t give it to her.
“It’s not my call,” he said, and then, perhaps relenting, he said, “Look, it’s too early in the investigation to rule out anyone at this point, but AJ Isley is the main focus, okay? You should keep an eye out.”
“You think AJ may come here for Shea.” Dru felt a renewed jolt of alarm.
“It’s possible,” Ken said. “You and Shea should be vigilant, which is good advice in any case. Keep your doors locked. Be aware.”
“The note Leigh found, it’s written in the same lip liner as the note that was on Becca’s body, isn’t it?” Dru hadn’t wanted to mention it in front of the girls. “Joy told me.”
Ken looked annoyed. “It’ll take the proper testing to determine if the two were written with the same material, and only an expert can say if they’re the work of the same person. You just need to take care of yourself and your daughter—”
The front door opened. “Sergeant Carter?” It was Leigh’s voice. “Van and I didn’t want you to leave without us.”
“No,” he said. “If you’re ready, we can follow you home now.”
Once they were gone, Kate and Shea went with Dru into the kitchen. She wished she could keep going, out the back door, into the oncoming night. But she stopped and turned to face them, leaning against the kitchen counter, waiting for the question that was inevitable.
Why did Ken want to talk to you?
Shea was the one who asked.
“Y’all were out there a long time.” Kate’s observation was oh-so-casual.
Or was Dru imagining that? Her mind scrambled for clarity, direction. What could she say but the truth? But did she want to repeat what she’d been told by Ken in confidence in front of Kate, whom she was unsure she could trust?
“Mom?” Shea mixed an element of warning into her query.
“There was a break-in at the Axels’ this afternoon. Someone took a lot of cash and jewelry.”
Shea’s eyes widened. It was a moment before she took it in, before surprise hardened into accusation. “By someone you mean AJ, right?” Her voice shook. “Did his granddad or his mom see him?”
“No. They were out. Ken said they don’t have enough information yet to say who it was.”
Shea put her fingertips to her temples, dragging her hair behind her ears.
Kate put an arm around her waist, pulling her close. “It could have been anyone.”
“If it was AJ,” Dru said, “he’s got what he needs now—the funds to leave here, the state—the US, if he wants to. It’s possible he’ll try to contact you, Shea, that he’ll try to talk you into leaving with him.”
“Well, he hasn’t, if you’re asking,” Shea said, “and you can tell that to Ken for me.”
“AJ may not be himself, honey. The man you remember, that you fell in love with—”