She couldn’t help glancing out her office window. The room had once been a back parlor, and it had the same view as the kitchen window from which she’d spotted Laura last night. A shiver traced its way down her spine.
Was Laura recovered today? Would she even remember the things she’d said in Meredith’s presence? Somehow she doubted it.
Jeannette’s reaction hadn’t surprised her. She’d been protective of Laura for as long as Meredith could remember. It was second nature for her to spring into action at the sight of her friend.
As for the discovery that Zach had been watching them... Well, she wouldn’t have to explain the situation to Zach, because the chances were that she wouldn’t see him again. He’d find some way of getting rid of the house that seemed such an albatross around his neck, and he’d leave.
If she did run into him— The pealing doorbell cut into her thoughts. She closed the file automatically, always aware of her clients’ privacy concerns, and hurried toward the front door.
Victor Hammond stood on the porch, his image distorted and magnified by the glass medallion in the front door. Meredith’s breath caught. Maybe she should have expected a visit from him after the incident with Laura. An echo of the panic she’d felt at the dam shivered through her. What was she going to say to Victor? Awkward didn’t cover it, even with someone she’d known as long as Victor.
She swung the door open, mustering up a smile. “Victor, good morning.” She stepped back. “Please, come in.”
He stepped inside, running his finger around the collar of his sport shirt. His round face wore an expression of reluctant determination, like a kid about to climb into the dentist’s chair.
“Thank you, Meredith. I won’t take up much of your time. I noticed your mother was already at the stand when I dropped off the flowers.”
“Yes. She always enjoys working the opening. I’m scheduled for a little later.”
Was the implication that he wouldn’t have stopped by if her mother had been here? Meredith led the way into the living room and gestured toward the sofa.
Victor adjusted the knees of his slacks as he sat, and then linked his hands loosely in a posture that should have looked relaxed but didn’t.
“I wanted to thank you. Jeannette told me that it was you who found Laura last night.” Somehow his tone invited her to explain just how that had come about. Well, that was natural enough, she supposed.
“I happened to glance out the kitchen window when I was doing the dishes, and I saw her going down the path.” She paused. Explaining why she’d followed Laura was a bit touchier. “I was concerned. The dam...” He could fill in the blanks, couldn’t he?
“The dam.” He said the words heavily, and his somewhat pudgy face was drawn with strain. “I was afraid of that. It’s always a sign that her condition is worsening when she becomes obsessed with the dam again.”
“I see.” Well, she didn’t, not really. How could she? The only things Meredith knew about Laura’s condition were the things everyone whispered about—the drugs, the alcohol, the visits to the rehab center.
Victor took out a handkerchief and mopped his forehead, then stared blankly at it as if not sure how it had come to be in his hand. The gesture shook Meredith. She’d been guilty of thinking about Laura as a piece of the puzzle to be solved, disregarding the widening circles of pain that still radiated out from Aaron’s death.
“If people knew what grief their suicide would cause, they’d never resort to it.” His words were nearly an echo of Meredith’s thoughts.
A wave of sympathy had her reaching across the space between them to pat his hand. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t realize Laura was still so affected by Aaron’s death.”
That wasn’t entirely true, was it? Well, she’d wondered about it, but she hadn’t known for sure until last night.
“Is that what Laura said?”
The question had a sharp edge that startled Meredith, and she drew back. “She...she didn’t really say anything that made much sense. I just had an impression that she was grieving.”
“For Aaron?” Victor’s jowls still drooped sadly, but his eyes focused on her with laserlike intensity.
“Well, I...” Careful, she told herself. Tread lightly. In addition to his place in a difficult situation, Victor was also one of her most lucrative accounts. “She didn’t actually say that, but of course I know Aaron Mast died there, and that they were close at the time.”
“Yes.” Victor’s gaze dropped, and he contemplated his hands. “Yes, they had a little romance that last summer.”
A little romance. Laura and Aaron would have hotly denied that description, she suspected, sure that theirs was a love that would last a lifetime.
“It does seem odd that Aaron would kill himself, doesn’t it?” she said tentatively.
Victor drew himself back against the sofa cushion. “No one knows for sure that it was suicide. But if it was, it certainly wasn’t Laura’s fault.”
“No, of course not,” she said hastily. “But you know how intense teenagers can be. If she felt she had to break up with him—”
“Laura had nothing to do with it.” Victor’s eyes flashed. “If anyone is saying she did, that person is lying.”
“I’m sure you’re right,” she murmured, more than a little startled by his reaction. In company with the rest of Deer Run, she’d always thought Victor a bit inane—diffident and never quite sure of himself, either in regard to his wife or the business he’d inherited.
“Yes, well...” Victor seemed to subside into his usual vacuity. “I suppose it’s possible that Aaron himself realized their relationship would never work. Amish and English isn’t a happy mix.” He stopped, flushing slightly as he obviously remembered that her parents’ had been just such a mixed marriage. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean—”
“It’s all right. Believe me, I know my parents’ marriage wasn’t entirely successful.”
Victor fidgeted, as if he’d gotten himself into a situation he didn’t know how to get out of. “If you do remember anything specific that Laura said, please give me a call. Her doctor would find it helpful, I know.”
“Of course I will.” Meredith’s heart twisted for him. Poor Victor. He might seem ineffectual in most areas of his life, but who was she to make a judgment like that? At least Laura had inspired his devotion.
Victor stood. “Thank you, Meredith. I knew I could count on your good sense and your discretion.”
Was that a plea? She had a feeling it was. “You can trust me not to gossip about Laura’s visit to the dam.”
“Thank you,” he said again. He seized her hand quite suddenly and squeezed it, tears forming in his eyes.
Shame flooded through Meredith when she thought of the questions she’d asked Laura. She couldn’t go on like this, creating problems for people who already had enough of their own. She’d have to tell Sarah that finding out more about Aaron’s death was impossible.
* * *
THE FLOWER BOOTH was a good vantage point from which to watch all the comings and goings at the auction, Meredith realized. She perched on the kitchen stool someone had brought and propped her elbows on the booth’s counter. During the morning rush there’d have been two or more people working, but the auction was in full swing now and she was alone in the booth. Things would pick up later, as people stopped to buy flowers on their way home.
Gawkers and serious bidders alike crowded the auction tent, leaving few customers at the moment for any of the other booths. Across from her, the white-haired woman running the Civic Club’s hot dog stand was working a crossword puzzle, and the two teenage girls who’d been left in charge of the PTA’s soda booth had their heads together, giggling.
Meredith could easily hear the rhythmic tones of Timothy Byler, the auctioneer, carried by the loudspeaker system. The two
Amish schools would be well provided for if Timothy had anything to say about it.
The Amish bishop had thought long and hard before he’d given the okay for an Amish auctioneer to use the speakers. New technology was always studied carefully for its possible negative effect on the family or the church. But eventually the bishop had agreed, and Timothy’s cheerful banter echoed through the fire hall grounds.
A couple walked slowly from the parking area toward the auction tent, and Meredith blinked. Victor and Laura—that was a surprise. She hadn’t anticipated seeing Laura out in public after last night’s misadventure.
Dismay flickered through Meredith at the thought of speaking to her. But after a quick glance, the couple started around the semicircle of booths in the opposite direction. Laura was probably no more eager for an encounter than she was.
There was a flutter of movement at the open flap of the auction tent—an Amish woman, tossing a quick word over her shoulder to the person behind her.
Not just any Amish woman. It was her cousin Sarah. She stopped a few feet from the tent, seeming intent on saying something to Samuel, her next older brother. The family always teased the two of them about being twins, close as they were in age.
Samuel would have known Aaron Mast well, having been in the same rumspringa group as the teenager. He’d probably be as disappointed as Sarah when Meredith told her there weren’t going to be any answers about Aaron’s death.
Still, it had to be done, and the sooner the better, so she could stop brooding about it. She was trapped in the flower booth at the moment, but if Sarah looked her way...
She didn’t. Instead, Sarah turned sharply away from her brother and disappeared back into the tent. Samuel, his face set in a frown, followed her.
“What’s wrong? Flower sales in the pits?”
Meredith jumped at the sound of the once-familiar voice. While she’d been concentrating on Sarah and Samuel, Zach had appeared, seemingly out of nowhere.
“Don’t sneak up on me.” She’d have busied herself with the flowers, except that it was painfully obvious that there wasn’t a thing to do.
Zach’s eyebrows slid upward. “Walked, not sneaked. There is something wrong, isn’t there?”
“No.” She brushed a dried leaf off the counter. “Can I sell you some mums to brighten up your room at the Willows?”
“It’s bright enough already, thanks.” He gave a fleeting grimace. “Does your problem have anything to do with what happened last night?”
“What do you mean?” She tried looking innocently unaware and suspected he saw right through her attempt.
“You and Jeannette—an unlikely pair if ever I saw one. You were helping a woman into Jeannette’s car.”
Her mind scrambled for a convincing story. Unfortunately she’d never been very good at lying. But if he didn’t know who it was...
“Is this a sample of your police interrogation skills?” Maybe offense was the best defense.
Her question didn’t seem to bother him. He just responded with the smile that still slid under her guard.
“A little friendly interest, that’s all. What was Laura Hammond doing at your place, anyway?”
He’d seen them come out of the driveway, then. “I’m surprised you recognized her after all these years.”
He shrugged. “I didn’t at first, but it came to me after I thought about it. She and Jeannette were always great friends. Why was she at your house?”
“Were you watching my...my house?”
Zach’s eyes flickered slightly at her question. “She wasn’t at the house, was she?” He seemed to be putting the pieces together at lightning speed. “Was she at the dam?”
“How did you know? You’ve been gone for years. Has someone been talking?” Victor would hate it if word got around about Laura’s visit to the dam, and he’d probably assume the rumor came from her.
“Relax, Meredith.” He eyed her quizzically. “Even I remember where Aaron Mast drowned, and you told me once about the world you and Rachel created around him and Laura when you were kids.”
She could feel her cheeks grow warm. “I can’t believe I told you about that. It’s like talking about an imaginary friend.”
That made him smile again, and something that had been tense inside her began to relax.
“We told each other a lot of things,” he said. He spoke lightly, but a shadow crossed his face, and she knew he was thinking about his father.
He’d talked, only once, about his father’s abuse. They’d gone swimming at the county park, and she’d noticed the scar on his upper arm when he came out of the water. She’d asked him about it, lighthearted, expecting some tale of a crashed bicycle. The truth—that his father had slashed at him with a steak knife—had stunned her into silence. She’d been naïve, hardly realizing that such things happened, let alone in Deer Run.
“I guess we did.” No doubt he still had that scar. If she touched his arm, she might feel it through his sleeve. She restrained herself, not sure where that simple gesture might lead.
“So Laura’s still obsessed with Aaron’s death after all this time.” Zach would no doubt rather talk about Laura and Aaron than the other secrets they’d once shared. “I take it she has problems? Drugs? Alcohol? Psychological?” One eyebrow arched.
“I’m not sure what it is. Victor pretends she’s going to a spa or to visit friends, and we all play along. She’s been in some sort of treatment facility I don’t know how many times. She’ll seem all right for a while, and then something trips off the memories, and she slips back into whatever hole she’s dug.”
“What did it this time?” Zach was interested. He couldn’t know that his question caused her pain.
“I did, I’m afraid.” She took a breath, steadying herself. “Rachel and I, actually. Rachel came back to town in the spring, and when we got reacquainted, we started talking about that summer. Wondering about Aaron’s death. There seem to be so many unanswered questions.”
A frown wrinkled Zach’s forehead. “The cops called it an accident, right?”
“They did.” She shrugged. “When you’re ten, you accept what grown-ups say at face value. But once Rachel and I started remembering that summer...well, it just seemed so unlikely. What could Aaron possibly have been doing alone there that would result in his drowning? It would be understandable if it was a gang of kids partying, maybe daring each other to do something stupid, but there was never a hint that anyone was with him.”
“What was his blood alcohol?”
She blinked, staring at him. “I have no idea. No one ever said he’d been drinking. We certainly never saw him take a drink. After he was found, Chief Burkhalter called it an accident.”
“Surely there must have been some investigation. I know Deer Run doesn’t have the most up-to-date police force, but even so...” He stopped and gave her an apologetic smile. “Sorry. I’m reacting as a cop instead of a friend. Even if you and Rachel started talking about Aaron’s death, I don’t see how you can blame yourself for Laura’s problems.”
“We asked questions.” Her fingers linked together, twisting. “And Rachel found a note someone had left for Aaron in the hiding place he and Laura used, telling him that Laura was going to break up with him. We tried to keep it quiet, but you know how word gets around in Deer Run.” She pressed her hands flat on the counter, forcing herself to stop twisting them. “Sometimes I think there must be microphones in the walls.”
“I could almost believe it.” His lips curved just a little. “But even if word got out about the note...”
“It seems to give Aaron a reason for suicide, you see. Sarah, one of my Amish cousins, says that now his parents fear he killed himself, and it’s causing them so much pain. She wanted me to try and find something that would reassure them.”
“You talked to La
ura?” His cop’s mind leaped ahead of hers, following the trail to its obvious conclusion.
“I’m afraid my meddling stirred it all up again for Laura. When I found her at the dam last night...” A shiver went through her despite the warmth of the afternoon sun. “Honestly, she was talking so wildly it frightened me. I can’t do it. I’m going to tell Sarah there’s nothing else to try.”
“There’s always something to try, even in a cold case,” he said, and she could practically see his mind ticking away. “I’d love to get my hands on whatever records exist from the time.”
“I’m afraid that will never happen.” She could just imagine Chief Burkhalter’s response if she asked for such a thing. But still, Zach’s expression of interest moved her. “And I can’t be responsible for hurting anyone else. But thanks.” She smiled at him, all the enmity vanished and she actually thought they might be friends again.
A flicker of movement caught her eye, resolving itself into Jeannette Walker, who was bearing down on them intently. Zach seemed to sense her approach at the same time and drew back from the counter.
“I see you two are getting reacquainted.” Jeannette’s comments always sounded acidic, and this was no exception.
Meredith gave her a cool smile. “It’s always nice to renew old friendships.”
“Victor stopped to see you today.” Jeannette was abrupt. If she intended to repeat Victor’s thanks, she was going about it oddly. “If he didn’t tell you this, I will. Leave Laura alone.”
Meredith could only gape at her for a moment, unprepared for a frontal attack. “I don’t know what you mean. If I hadn’t gone after her when I saw her headed for the dam last night—”
“She wouldn’t have been there at all if you and that friend of yours hadn’t stirred up memories that are better forgotten.” Jeannette clutched her oversized bag in one hand as if she’d like to take a swing with it. “I’m warning you. Stop poking your nose into what happened to Laura and Aaron, or you’re likely to find out something you won’t want to know.”
Meredith stiffened. “I’m sorry if I reminded Laura of a painful episode in her life.” She ought to tell Jeannette she had no intention of pursuing the subject, but Jeannette might think she’d succeeded in intimidating her. “But there’s nothing I fear about the past.”
Marta Perry Page 6