‘I just wanted to point out, before I leave for the hospital, that Ms Flores’s actions should serve as a reminder to us of how we have failed our veterans in this country, even though they have never failed us. They respond on our behalf, no matter what, every time they are called.’
Dominga looked embarrassed but also proud. Hannah’s stomach was churning but she tried to smile. Maybe no one will see it, she told herself. It’s a local news item. It will come and go in a day. What are the chances that anyone a thousand miles away would see it?
‘How do you feel, ma’am?’ asked the reporter.
Hannah nodded. ‘Grateful. Very grateful,’ she whispered, although, in truth, she felt sick to her stomach, her heart was hammering, and she wished that the ground would open up and swallow her, and Adam and Sydney, so that they vanished completely, and no one could ever find them again.
THREE
Eighteen months earlier
Hannah Wickes stuck her trowel into the soil and gently waggled it until she had a shovel full of dirt. ‘Now,’ she said to the toddler who crouched beside her, ‘have you got your flower?’
Sydney nodded gravely and lifted the little cup-shaped mound of dirt with one blooming red impatiens in the middle of it. She handed it to her grandmother.
‘No, you do it,’ said Hannah, smiling. She wiped her forehead with the back of her hand as Sydney carefully placed the seedling into the hole Hannah had dug.
‘Now we pat,’ said Hannah.
Sydney obediently pushed soil into the hole around the seedling, and patted dirt down on it with her tiny palms.
‘Good,’ said Hannah. ‘And a little drink …’ She gave the toddler the plastic watering can, and Sydney poured out a stream of water on the seedling.
‘Hold up,’ said Hannah, laughing, and tilting the spout of the watering can up into the air. ‘Not too much.’
Sydney nodded gravely, then rose from her crouch and looked up at the deck which ran along the back of the house. ‘Mama!’ she cried. ‘Look what I did. I planted a patient.’
‘Impatiens,’ said Hannah, smiling, and kissing the top of the child’s head.
Hannah’s daughter, Lisa, was seated at the table on the deck, her pale skin shielded by the umbrella anchored in the center of the table. Her dark hair, a mass of unruly curls, was tied back with a shoelace. Her laptop was open in front of her, and she was making notes on a pad beside it. Lisa lifted her head and gazed at her daughter through her narrow black-rimmed glasses. ‘That’s wonderful, Sydney,’ she said.
‘Come and look,’ Sydney insisted.
‘I will. Just give me a minute,’ said Lisa.
Hannah spoke softly to the child. ‘Mommy’s got a lot of work to do. You have to study a lot if you want to be a doctor.’
Lisa continued to peer at the computer screen and jot down notes. ‘It’s all right, Mother,’ she said with a sigh. ‘I’ll come and look. I just need to finish this chapter.’
‘It’s all right, honey. You finish your chapter.’
‘It’s not a problem,’ said Lisa. She got up from the chair, slipped her feet back into her rubber thongs and walked down to the little flower garden. She crouched down beside Sydney and said, ‘Let’s see.’
Sydney pointed to the newly planted flower with a pudgy finger. ‘Look. I did that.’
Lisa nodded approvingly. ‘You’re doing just great,’ she said. ‘Mommy loves you.’
Sydney beamed. ‘You can plant one,’ she said.
Lisa frowned. ‘Not right now, darlin’,’ she said. ‘Can’t take the time.’ Sydney’s dark eyes lost their gleam. Hannah was tempted to urge her daughter to take a break and plant a flower. But she knew better than to interfere. Lisa was nothing if not focused on her work. It wasn’t as if she wasted a lot of time on herself. She wore no makeup and was indifferently dressed, as usual, in a baggy shirt and cut-off jeans, which did nothing to enhance her slender frame. When they had offered to get her contact lenses, Lisa said she didn’t have time to go for appointments and make the necessary adjustments. Glasses were fine.
Climbing back up the steps to the deck, Lisa turned and blew Sydney a kiss. Sydney hesitated, and then blew her a kiss back. Cheerfully the child crouched down again and renewed her attack on the dirt while Lisa resumed her place at the table beneath the umbrella. Hannah looked from one to the other, thinking that, as a child, Lisa would never have been appeased as easily as Sydney was.
Lisa had always been headstrong, and daring to the point of recklessness. At the age of eighteen she announced that she was pregnant. She refused to give up the baby, or name the father. Hannah feared that someone older at college had taken advantage of her daughter, who, thanks to her intellect, was always attending school with people much older than herself. Lisa was somewhat plain, and she had had very little experience with boys. But Lisa insisted that she had not been assaulted, and that she wanted to keep her baby. Adam said that if Lisa insisted on being careless she was going to have to take care of Sydney on her own. Hannah had reminded him gently that she had become pregnant with Lisa when she was only eighteen; Adam fumed that it was different for them. They were ready, even at that young age, to accept responsibility.
But Hannah knew that Adam was really more disappointed than angry. He had had boundless hopes for his only child. At the age of four, Lisa could multiply and divide, and her IQ tested off the charts. With her pregnancy, Adam saw all Lisa’s prospects vanishing into a fog of single motherhood. He needn’t have worried. In fact, despite her pregnancy, and the birth of Sydney, Lisa barely skipped a beat. She, who had finished high school at sixteen, was able to get through a pre-med program in college in three years, despite her pregnancy, and was accepted to medical school at Vanderbilt, near their home in Nashville. She had grants and scholarships but her hours were long and erratic and she still needed help from her parents. Hannah put Sydney in daycare several hours a day while she worked part time at social services, but she spent the rest of her time looking after her granddaughter.
‘I need another patient,’ said Sydney, tugging at Hannah’s work shirt.
‘Well, let me get one,’ said Hannah, clambering to her feet. She turned abruptly toward the backyard picnic table where she had placed the flat of seedlings. As she did she saw her neighbor, Rayanne Dollard, gazing at them across the low hedge which separated their yards. Hannah waved and walked over to the hedge to speak to her.
They had been friends and neighbors for years. When Lisa and Rayanne’s son, Jamie, were small, he and Lisa had worn a path through the hedge, crossing to one another’s houses. Lisa was a tomboy with enormous energy. Jamie, though older than Lisa, was always shy, and glad to follow her lead. Their friendship lasted until high school when Jamie became interested in NASCAR while Lisa loved drawing in the style of Japanese anime and reading essays in German. The rift between them, though sad, seemed inevitable. Throughout high school they said hello across the hedge, but never visited. Jamie now worked for a logging company out in Oregon. He’d recently announced to his parents that he’d met the right girl, and a wedding might be on the horizon.
‘How are you?’ Hannah asked.
Rayanne frowned. ‘Oh, I’m fine.’
‘You don’t look fine. You look worried.’
‘I am. It’s Chet,’ she said, referring to her husband. ‘He just doesn’t seem himself these days. He’s very tired.’
‘Has he had a checkup?’ Hannah asked.
Rayanne rolled her eyes. ‘You know men and doctors.’
‘I do,’ said Hannah.
‘How’s your doctor holding up?’ Rayanne asked, nodding toward Lisa.
‘It’s been tough,’ Hannah admitted. ‘Medical school is hard enough. But losing Troy has really hit her hard.’ Lisa’s first real boyfriend, Troy Petty, was a licensed practical nurse at the hospital. He had lived in a rented bungalow out by J. Percy Priest Lake. When he first came around, calling on Lisa, Hannah and Adam had to stifle their desire to object. At
twenty-six, he was nice-looking, if not handsome, and five years older than their daughter, whose life experience was in no way equal to her academic accomplishments and her status as a second-year med student. But they knew from long experience that any objection would have been met with stubborn insistence from Lisa. Luckily, though he was of average intelligence and far from prosperous, Troy was certainly a gentleman, and even Sydney seemed to like him. Adam and Hannah liked him themselves. Then, two weeks ago, he was alone in his bungalow when a gas leak from a propane heater caused an explosion which leveled the little fishing camp. Troy was killed in the blast. Adam and Hannah just thanked their lucky stars that Lisa and Sydney weren’t visiting him at the time.
‘Such a shame,’ said Rayanne, shaking her head. ‘A young man like that. He really seemed like a nice guy. I’m sure you were hoping it might turn into something serious.’
‘Well, we want to see her happy, of course. And they did seem happy together. But we never thought it would be something permanent. She’s only twenty-one, and we’re not all that eager for Lisa to leave us. We’d miss her and Sydney so much.’
‘Oh, I know you’d miss that little one like the very devil.’
Hannah followed Rayanne’s gaze to Sydney. ‘It’s true,’ she said. ‘I can hardly imagine life without Sydney anymore.’
‘I don’t know how Lisa even found the time to date anybody,’ Rayanne marveled.
‘She does have a punishing schedule. I imagine it will take her a while to get over this loss. She keeps it to herself but I think she’s been very upset. Still, she’s young. She has plenty of time to find someone.’
‘I’m sure she will,’ Rayanne agreed.
Hannah heard a familiar voice from inside the house.
‘Hey, where is everybody?’
‘Oh, Adam’s back. Listen, honey, I hope Chet gets to feeling better.’ Hannah reached over the hedge and squeezed her friend’s hand. Then she started back toward her house. ‘We’re out back,’ she called.
Adam came out the patio doors onto the back porch, still wearing a dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up, and his loosened tie. ‘How are my girls?’
‘Hi, Daddy,’ said Lisa, hopping up from her chair to give her father a hug.
‘Pop-pop,’ Sydney exclaimed. ‘I planted patience!’
‘Did you now?’ Adam asked. ‘Look at that.’ He gazed in admiration at the lopsided red flowers planted in the new dirt then came down the steps and hugged his wife, as Lisa settled herself back down to her computer and her notes. ‘You two have been busy, I see.’
Hannah smiled and gazed down at Sydney. ‘She’s quite the little gardener.’
‘Sydney, you are doing a fine job.’ He crouched down to the toddler’s level. ‘Any chance you got a hug in there for your old grandpa?’
Sydney threw her arms enthusiastically around his neck, her muddy hands leaving pudgy palm prints on his Tattersall shirt. Hannah looked fondly at the pair of them. Despite his grandparent status, Adam was still youthful looking. His hair was sprinkled with gray, and he wore his glasses a lot more these days. But in many ways he still looked like the sturdy football linebacker she had met on her first day of college. He could still make her heart flip when he kissed the back of her neck.
Adam straightened up.
‘How was your trip?’ Hannah asked. Adam was a supervisor in the IT department of the phone company. His job required continuous updating on innovations, which required that he be on the road a part of every month, meeting designers and programmers.
‘Good. Good,’ he said. ‘It’s still cold in Chicago.’ He shivered playfully.
Hannah hugged him with one arm. ‘Glad you’re home.’
‘I see you were talking to Rayanne.’
Hannah nodded. ‘Chet’s under the weather,’ she said. ‘She seems worried about him.’
‘You know, when I saw him the other day I thought he looked like he was dragging a little,’ said Adam. ‘I hope he’s OK.’
‘I hope so too. Rayanne’s trying to make him get a checkup.’
Adam nodded. Then he cocked his head toward the porch. ‘How’s our girl doing?’
Hannah glanced at Lisa. ‘A little bit better, I think. She has been getting some rest, which doesn’t hurt, with her schedule.’
‘Good. She needs that. Hey, I think I’ll have a beer to celebrate being back home. Can I get you one?’
‘No thanks. After I get cleaned up,’ said Hannah.
‘I’ll have one,’ said Lisa, not lifting her gaze from the computer screen but obviously hearing every word they said.
Hannah could tell that Adam was about to protest. She gave him a meaningful look of reproval. Lisa had only recently turned twenty-one but she was a medical student and a mother and there was no rational reason to deny her a beer. The problem was, Hannah thought, that Adam still saw her as his little girl. Hannah’s warning glance said, without words, that it was high time he began to treat Lisa as the woman she had become.
‘Two beers coming up. I’ll be right back,’ Adam said, climbing the steps up to the deck and letting himself into the kitchen. Hannah sank down on the picnic table bench in the shade of a tall evergreen. The late afternoon shadows were beginning to stretch across the yard. Sydney had resumed her digging, and seemed to be covered in dirt almost from head to toe. Hannah figured she would put her casserole in the oven and then pop Sydney in the bathtub before dinner. She did not have the heart to ask Lisa to bathe her. Lisa seemed so overwhelmed lately between work and the loss of Troy. Hannah suspected that she was barely holding herself together.
‘Almost time for you to go in and get washed up for supper, pumpkin,’ said Hannah to her granddaughter.
Sydney shook her head. ‘No. More patients!’
Just then the back door opened and Adam stepped out onto the porch. He was not carrying any beers. Behind him there was a man in a suit and a uniformed police officer following him.
Hannah frowned and stood up. ‘What’s going on?’ she asked.
Adam studied his daughter for a moment. Lisa seemed to feel the weight of his gaze. She looked up, her expression inscrutable behind her black-rimmed glasses.
‘These men want to talk to you,’ Adam said. ‘They’re from the police department.’
Lisa closed the laptop and rested her hands on it. ‘To me? About what?’
‘About Troy,’ her father said.
Lisa shook her head. She looked genuinely perplexed. ‘What about Troy?’
The man in the suit stepped forward. He had a bushy mustache and a sheen of perspiration on his forehead. ‘Ms Wickes? I’m Detective Hammond. Perhaps you remember me. We spoke when I questioned everyone at the hospital after the explosion.’
Lisa shook her head impatiently and then seemed to reconsider. ‘Oh sure,’ she said.
‘You were the last person to see Mr Petty alive?’
‘Well, I guess I was,’ said Lisa. ‘I was just lucky I didn’t stay over that night. I had a really early class so I left. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be talking to you here today.’
‘So you claim that you were with Mr Petty on the night of the explosion but that you left his house before it occurred.’
‘Well, obviously,’ said Lisa. ‘I’d be dead if I were there when it occurred.’
‘You two parted on good terms?’ asked the detective.
‘Yes, why?’ asked Lisa.
‘No argument between you. No harsh words.’
Lisa’s eyes narrowed. ‘Why are you asking me this?’
‘Did you have an argument?’ Detective Hammond persisted.
Lisa shook her head. ‘I don’t know. We might have had some … words. So what?’
‘Words about what?’ asked the detective.
Lisa lifted her chin. ‘I don’t remember. Anyway, what difference does it make?’
‘We have received all our lab results back now. It seems that the explosion in Mr Petty’s house may not have been accidental after all.’
/> Lisa stood up and came around the table. ‘What? You think he blew himself up on purpose? That’s ridiculous. Why would anyone do that?’
‘No, we don’t think that.’
‘Well, then, I don’t understand,’ said Lisa, frowning.
Hammond looked at her impassively. ‘The coroner’s report indicates that Mr Petty may have been unconscious at the time his house blew up.’
‘Well, he was certainly conscious when I left him!’ Lisa exclaimed.
‘We thought you might know something about it.’
Lisa regarded the detective with narrowed eyes, her arms crossed over her baggy shirt. ‘How would I know anything about it?’
‘Now, wait just a minute,’ said Adam. ‘That’s ridiculous. How can you even say such a thing? My daughter had nothing to do with that explosion.’
Detective Hammond continued staring at Lisa. ‘That last paycheck the hospital sent Troy Petty – he was able to cash that check. Sign it and cash it. Just hours after his cabin blew up. That’s quite a trick, for a dead man.’
Lisa stared back at him. ‘That would be,’ she said.
‘We have security-camera footage from the store where it was cashed. Care to take a guess who really cashed it?’
Lisa lifted her chin defiantly and did not reply.
Leaving Sydney digging in the flowerbed, Hannah mounted the porch steps, looking from the cold-eyed detective to her daughter in frantic confusion. ‘Wait a minute. What are you talking about? This has nothing to do with Lisa.’
‘Lisa Wickes,’ said Detective Hammond, nodding to the uniformed officer, who pulled a pair of handcuffs from his belt. ‘We’re here to arrest you on charges of larceny and suspicion of murder in the death of Troy Petty. I must caution you that you have the right to remain silent …’
‘Wait! What?’ Hannah cried. She turned to her husband. ‘Adam, stop them. Tell them they can’t do this!’
I See You Page 3