by Lisa Regan
Heidi bowed her head. A few seconds later, Josie noticed tears dripping from Heidi’s chin. Her thin shoulders quaked. Josie knelt next to her and touched her arm. “Hey,” she said. “I’m sorry. Why don’t you come and sit in our car? We’re going to need to get you out of here right away. I’m sure you know we’ll have to call your dad, though.”
Heidi nodded. With a sniffle, she looked back up at Josie. “That’s fine. If you can even get in touch with him.”
Josie glanced up at the truck. “How did you learn to drive?”
“Mrs. Tenney,” Heidi said. “She taught me. But don’t blame her, okay? I don’t want her to get into trouble because of me. I’ve already caused her enough problems. Did you know her husband left her because of me?”
“What?”
“Yeah,” said Heidi. “She’ll never say it but I know it’s true. I heard her husband yelling at her once when they thought I couldn’t hear. He said it was sick what she was doing with me. Like she was trying to replace Gail with me. He left for good after that fight.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Josie said. “But grieving people say a lot of things they don’t mean, Heidi. It’s not your fault that their marriage broke up. I’m sure there were a lot of things going on. Most marriages don’t survive the death of a child.”
Another car pulled into the now very crowded clearing and Noah and Mettner hopped out. Gretchen waved them over to where she was and began gesturing animatedly.
“Whatever,” Heidi said. “You can give me that adult bullshit all day long. I know what happened.”
Josie turned her attention back to Heidi. “I didn’t mean—”
“Forget it,” Heidi said, cutting her off. “My point is that Mrs. Tenney is the only person who’s treated me like a regular human being since the accident. She was only trying to help me. I was terrified of being in any vehicle after the accident. All those doctor’s appointments I had to go to afterward? Back and forth, back and forth. I couldn’t go more than a minute in a vehicle without a major panic attack. My dad didn’t know what to do. Then one day Mrs. Tenney saw us on the side of the road on the way home from the doctor. I was sitting on the curb hyperventilating. That’s when she offered to help. Which turned into her basically taking me in, you know?”
“I got that sense,” Josie admitted.
“Earlier this year, I was having my usual panic attack in the car and Mrs. Tenney, she just stopped. I thought she was going to kick me out of the car. Like she was done with me or something. But she said, ‘This isn’t working so we’re going to stop doing it.’ Just like that. Then she took me to an empty parking lot and made me get behind the wheel.”
Unexpectedly, tears sprang to Josie’s eyes. Lisette instantly came to mind. Josie had had many fears as a result of her traumatic childhood, and Lisette had helped her face each one head-on. Sometimes it helped, sometimes it didn’t, but Lisette was willing to try anything, and she never stuck with something that simply wasn’t working, even if it meant bending some rules.
Heidi went on, “We started trying every day until I was good at it. Then I stopped being afraid. She made me swear I would never tell anyone though, so you have to promise you won’t, like, arrest her or anything, okay?”
“I can promise not to get her into any trouble if you promise to stop driving without a license.”
Heidi frowned but said, “Deal.”
“Why were you following us?” Josie asked. “You never said.”
Heidi stood and looked around, as if trying to decide where to go. Josie touched her arm. “We should take you to the hospital to get checked out.”
“No,” Heidi said. “I’m fine. I feel fine. I can make my dad take me later if you’re worried, but I can’t go now. I came because of Mrs. Tenney. She won’t tell you but she’s afraid.”
Gretchen walked back over. “It’s going to be a few hours here with processing and everything else. I’ve got to get in touch with Heidi’s dad, and we’ll probably need a tow truck.”
“You won’t get him,” Heidi said. “He’s on some job site somewhere. Anyway, I was just telling Detective Quinn that Mrs. Tenney needs help.”
Josie said, “Why do you think she needs help? What is she afraid of?”
“She’s been acting really weird. Like, always looking out the windows and double-checking that her doors are locked. This morning she was freaking out about something to do with her checking account and then I heard her on the phone talking to Mrs. Cammack.”
“Gloria Cammack?” Gretchen said.
“Yeah. She said something about being watched and wanted to know if she could stay there for a few days. Then she told me to go to camp and that she would meet me at my house afterward instead of her house.”
“Who does she think is watching her?” Josie asked, wondering why Dee hadn’t called the police. Had she seen someone or was she just spooked by Krystal’s death and Faye’s disappearance?
“I don’t know,” Heidi said. “But if someone is really watching her, then she needs help. She won’t ever ask for it, though. You have to protect her. What if she ends up like Ms. Duncan or Mrs. Palazzo?” A sob erupted from Heidi’s throat. “Please.”
She dissolved into tears. Josie reached out to touch her arm again but Heidi threw herself into Josie, wrapping her arms tightly around Josie’s waist. Heidi cried into Josie’s shoulder. “It’s okay, Heidi. We’ll talk to her,” Josie said as she wrapped Heidi in a hug and rested her chin on her head. From across the clearing, Josie saw Noah staring. She managed a weak smile.
Gretchen said, “How about this, Heidi? We’ll have one of the patrol units take you to the hospital while we go speak with Mrs. Tenney?”
Heidi lifted her face from Josie’s shoulder. “No. I want to go with you. I want to make sure she’s okay.”
She held on tightly to Josie. Gretchen said, “Boss?”
Josie looked around. “You said yourself it will be hours. Noah and Mett are already here. Let them take over and we’ll go to Gloria’s house. Heidi can come with us until we reach her dad.”
Heidi let go of Josie and used her bloodied tissue to dab at the tears spilling down her cheeks. “Thank you.”
Josie smiled. “At least this way I know you won’t be stealing cars.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
On the way to Gloria’s house, Josie left two messages for Heidi’s father, Corey Byrne. Heidi suggested she text him instead. “He never answers calls,” she told Josie. By the time Josie had fired off a number of texts to him, they were out front of the Cammack home. Gloria was at work, but Dee Tenney let them into the house. This time, they gathered in the living room with Dee curled on the couch, her feet tucked under her. Heidi sat beside her and Dee drew her in for a hug. As Josie and Gretchen explained the morning’s events—from finding Faye Palazzo’s body to nearly being killed by Heidi driving her dad’s truck—Dee’s expression went on a roller coaster of emotions: shock, grief, fear, anger, concern. Finally, she touched Heidi’s hair, smoothing it back away from her face and gingerly touching the cut on her forehead. “Honey, you can’t ever do that again, do you understand? I taught you to drive to help you get over your fear, not for you to take your dad’s truck without permission.”
“I promise it will never happen again,” Heidi told her.
Dee smiled, though Josie saw tears welling in her eyes. She kissed Heidi’s forehead. “I’m sorry that you were so worried about me. It’s not your job to worry about me, or any adult, but I appreciate that you care for me so much. The feeling is mutual.”
Heidi beamed. Josie tried to speak but her throat had closed up. She felt Gretchen’s eyes on her. Taking over, Gretchen said, “Heidi, we really need to talk to Mrs. Tenney about our investigation and—”
Heidi cut her off. “You don’t think it’s appropriate that I hear what you have to say.”
Gretchen said, “It would be better if we talked to Mrs. Tenney in private.”
Heidi thrust her chin
out. “Know how many dead bodies I’ve seen? Six. I saw five of my best friends die in that bus crash and today, I saw Mrs. Palazzo’s body. Do you even know what that’s like?”
Gretchen raised a brow, and Josie could see she was fighting not to laugh. Gretchen had probably seen more dead bodies than the entire Denton PD force combined. But she didn’t laugh. Heidi was being earnest and trying to make a point. Gretchen sighed. “Well, I guess if you’re mature enough to ride around town in your dad’s truck with no license and no supervision, then you’re mature enough to listen to this conversation. Unless Mrs. Tenney objects?”
Dee shook her head. “She’ll hear it all anyway when I fill her father in later.”
Gretchen took out her notepad and pen. “Let’s start with Faye. Your daughter’s name was found written at the crime scene.”
“It was?” Heidi blurted. “I didn’t see it.”
Gretchen gave her a hard look.
“Oh right,” she said. “Because I was speeding past in the truck. Sorry. I’ll shut up now.”
Josie found her voice. “Dee, is there any reason you can think of why Gail’s name would be found at the scene?”
Dee shook her head. “My God, no. I have no idea.”
“Were Gail and Nevin Palazzo close?”
“No, not really. I mean Gail had been to his house a few times and vice versa. All the kids grew up together, but no, they weren’t particularly close.”
“When is the last time you spoke to Faye Palazzo?” Gretchen asked.
“At the last support group meeting.”
Josie asked, “Was there any bad blood between Gail and Nevin?”
Dee laughed. “Bad blood? They were kids!”
“No,” Heidi interjected. “I know, I know, I said I’d shut up but I saw Gail and Nevin when they were just being kids, and they got along fine. Nevin was sweet. Everyone liked him, and Gail could be really sassy—and crazy funny—but she wasn’t mean. She wouldn’t take any crap, but she was kind.”
A small gasp escaped Dee’s mouth. One of her hands flew up and covered it. Heidi turned toward her, face filled with apprehension. “I’m so sorry, Mrs. T. So sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you. I—”
Dee removed her hand from her mouth and grabbed Heidi’s hand, holding so tightly that her knuckles went white. “Thank you,” she said. “For talking about her. I never get to talk about her. No one ever tells me things about her. Things I didn’t know. I mean, at the support group we talk about our kids, but not like this. Outside that group, it’s like I’m invisible. No one wants to hear about your dead child.”
Heidi said, “We can talk about Gail any time you want.”
Josie and Gretchen let the two of them have a silent moment while each of them fought to compose themselves. Then Josie jumped back in, changing the line of questioning. “Why are you staying here, Mrs. Tenney?”
“I didn’t want to make a big deal out of it but yesterday I thought I saw someone at the side of the house. Through the dining room window. I went out and crept around that way. I didn’t see anyone but I heard footsteps—or what I thought was footsteps—running through the trees behind my house. Then today, when I let Heidi in for breakfast, my screen door lock was… well, it was destroyed. Like someone had tried to pry the door open.”
“Why didn’t you call the police?” Gretchen asked.
“I was going to, I was, but then the bank called to tell me that my account was overdrawn and I just, well, I got swept up in that. Since Miles and I separated, he deposits money into the account, and I take cash out from the ATM machine and buy myself gas and groceries and whatever else is needed. That’s the agreement we came to. I tried calling him but I couldn’t get in touch with him. I just—I was having a bit of a meltdown, okay? I couldn’t get in touch with my husband; I thought someone had tried breaking into my house. I got afraid. I thought I’d call Gloria and ask her if I could stay here and then at some point, I would call the police, and I meant to, I really did.”
Josie said, “Mrs. Tenney, both Krystal Duncan and Faye Palazzo were murdered this week. I don’t need to remind you that both of them were members of your support group. If you feel anything is amiss—absolutely anything—you need to call us immediately. In fact, if you’re going to stay here a few days, I am sure I can get approval from my chief to have a car stationed outside.”
Dee put her hand to her chest. “Oh. Do you think that’s really necessary?”
“Yes,” said Heidi.
Gretchen said, “I think everyone concerned would feel better if we did that.”
“Well, okay. I can let Gloria know.”
Josie said, “Have you noticed anything missing from your house lately?”
“No, nothing.”
Gretchen said, “What about something reappearing?”
Dee’s brow furrowed in confusion. “Reappearing?”
Josie said, “Maybe some item that went missing a long time ago that suddenly turned up again?”
“Oh, no, nothing like that,” Dee answered.
“If you don’t mind me taking you back to before the bus crash,” Gretchen said. “We have reports from several people that for a period of between six months and a year before the accident, valuables were going missing from their houses. Did you happen to experience that?”
“Oh,” said Dee. “Um, yes. Sort of. Someone stole all of Miles’ tools from the garage. It was about four or five months before the accident. I remember because it was freezing. It must have been after Christmas. Or maybe right before. Anyway, he reported it to the police.”
Josie and Gretchen exchanged a curious look. Josie said, “Are you sure?”
“Yes, I’m sure. He said he’d get an insurance payout for it.”
“Did he?” asked Gretchen.
“I’m sure he did.”
“But you don’t know,” Josie said.
“Miles handles all our finances. That was the agreement when we got married. He was a hot-shot car salesman making a lot of money, and he wanted me to be able to stay home and take care of Gail. When we separated, as angry as he was, he didn’t want my life to be turned upside down by having to move and support myself, he said.”
“Did the police come to your house that day?” asked Gretchen.
“No. Miles went to the police station. He said he didn’t want to tie up 911 for something that wasn’t an emergency. Tools could be replaced.”
“Did he replace them?” Josie asked.
Dee took a moment to think about it. “No, not right away. Well, no, not at all, now that I think about it. He meant to but then the crash happened and… well, it was hard enough for us both to just breathe in and breathe out all day. Tools were the furthest thing from Miles’ mind. He barely used the ones that were stolen.”
Josie’s phone chirped. She took it out to find a text message from Corey Byrne. Sorry. On job site. Can’t talk. Can meet you at my house after work. Five p.m. Josie shook her head as she pocketed her phone. His daughter had been in a car accident with his truck, and he was too busy to talk, or couldn’t be bothered. No wonder Heidi had bonded so much with Mrs. Tenney. Josie had to wonder what life had been like for Heidi before the accident.
Gretchen said, “Mrs. Tenney, what if I told you that Miles never filed a report?”
“How do you know?” she asked.
“Because we were checking over all police reports made in this area going back three years. Your husband never made any police reports.”
“I don’t know,” Dee said. “You’d have to ask Miles. I’ll give you his phone number. Maybe he’ll answer for you. I can give you his address as well. If you talk to him, tell him to call me.”
“Going back to Faye Palazzo,” Josie said after Gretchen had jotted down that information. “Her husband said that she didn’t have friends anymore but that the two of you used to get coffee sometimes. Is this true? Is there anyone else you can think of that she would have spent time with? Or anyone she might have been having t
rouble with?”
Dee’s mouth firmed into a thin line. She sat forward, unfurling her legs and glancing at Heidi as if she regretted her decision to allow her to stay. Finally, she said, “We used to have coffee, yes. Before the accident, not so much after. Both of us were stay-at-home moms, and we were both heavily involved in the PTA. Faye is a great organizer—was a great organizer. She always put everything together.”
“Like vigils?” Josie said.
“Yes, exactly. She liked to organize those after the accident. I know she was planning one for the eve of the trial, but we had only talked about it at group. The only times we met for coffee after the accident were to discuss the vigils. That was it.”
“Is there some reason you didn’t continue to be friendly after the accident?” Gretchen asked. “Other than meeting in group?”
Again, Dee looked at Heidi who was now focused entirely on chewing the fingernails of her left hand. Dee lowered her voice even though Heidi could still hear her. “I shouldn’t say. I don’t want to say. It’s—I don’t think it matters, especially now.”
“Please,” Josie urged. “Why don’t you tell us and we’ll decide whether it’s relevant to our investigation or not.”
Dee closed her eyes and took several deep breaths, as if shoring herself up for something. They snapped open and she blurted, “Faye was having an affair.”
There was a beat of silence in the room. Heidi’s gaze moved to the side of Dee’s face, but she continued to chew on her nails. She didn’t look shocked or surprised, Josie noted.
“How do you know that?” Gretchen asked.
“She told me.”
“When?” said Josie.
“A few weeks before the crash. We had met for coffee as usual to plan some PTA stuff. She was distracted and upset. I badgered her into telling me what was wrong. She said she had been having an affair, but that she wanted to end it. The guilt was consuming her. Sebastian is very devoted to her. She thought—and I must admit that I believe she was right—that it might literally kill him if he found out.”