If You Ever Tell

by Carlene Thompson

  Although Daniel seemed to enjoy the music, he was elated when the concert ended and it was time for the fireworks display. He reached for Teri’s hand, then wisely gave the move a second thought and took his mother’s as they eddied toward the four-acre Tu-Endie-Wei State Park, located on the point where the Ohio and Kanawha Rivers meet. The site of the Battle of Point Pleasant, fought in 1774 between the Virginia militia and Native Americans under the leadership of Chief Cornstalk—the same Shawnee chieftain who was said to have placed a curse on the area before he was killed in 1777—was commemorated by an eighty-four-foot granite obelisk. Children played on the steps leading to the obelisk, but Sharon held Daniel’s hand tightly, preventing him from joining the crowd.

  If Teresa had not been so concerned about how this evening was going to turn out for Carmen, she could have laughed at the elaborate casualness between her and Gabe. Carmen barely looked at her fiancé, sticking as close to Teri as possible, making inane conversation, laughing too loudly, while Gabe concentrated on Sharon, acting as if she were the only person he could see.

  Suddenly Gabe boomed, “Hey, Daniel, see the Mansion House over there?”

  Daniel looked in the direction his grandfather pointed and said, “It looks like a little old log cabin to me.”

  “Well, it’s called the Mansion House,” Gabe said insistently. “Walter Newman built it in 1796.”

  “Oh. Was Walter Newman a friend of yours?” Daniel asked.

  Teresa heard Kent choke back laughter. Gabe’s expression reflected a mixture of insult and amusement. “I’m not that old, Daniel.” Gabe then adopted the tone used by adults when trying to make children interested in a subject. “The Mansion House is the oldest hewn-log house in the Kanawha Valley. Back in its day, the place was a tavern. Now it’s a museum. I’ll bring you down someday.”

  “Okay,” Daniel answered vaguely, clearly not at all interested in visiting a museum. “Is it time for the fireworks?”

  “They should start in a few minutes.”

  Everyone turned to look at Mac, who’d gotten separated from them and obviously had nearly run to catch up, dragging his mother along with him. Emma appeared winded and annoyed as she pulled her arm free of Mac’s hand and said, “For heaven’s sakes, Jedediah Abraham, what’s gotten into you? I haven’t seen you so excited over fireworks since you were ten.”

  “Sorry, Mom,” Mac said contritely. “I’d just like for us to get near that low wall surrounding the park like we used to do. You could sit on it and catch your breath.”

  “I wouldn’t have to catch my breath if you’d stop dragging me,” Emma returned crossly. “If you’re so anxious to be with Teresa, then go with her. I’ll catch up.”

  When they finally reached a spot everyone deemed suitable, Teri felt as breathless as Emma. I won’t have fond memories of this Fourth of July, Teri thought in despair. So far, every member of this unlikely group looked tired, slightly sweaty, irritable, and ill at ease. Everyone except Daniel, who paid no attention to the adults droning about a museum and griping about walking too fast.

  Teresa had smacked at the third mosquito to bite her arm in the last two minutes when the first firework went off in a blaze of red, white, and brilliant blue. Everyone oohed and aahed and clapped raucously, as if they’d never seen fireworks before tonight. Daniel jumped up and down in excitement. Teresa breathed easier. At least everyone’s attention would be diverted for a while, she thought in relief. She was already exhausted.

  As the fireworks burst in gorgeous jewel-toned patterns in the night sky, Teresa’s gaze wandered around the crowd. She was startled to see Josh Gibbs standing a few feet away, his arm draped over the shoulders of a slender blonde. He smiled at the fireworks, leaned down while the girl whispered something in his ear, then laughed and gave her a lingering kiss. He looked happy and carefree—not like a young man whose father had been brutally murdered just days earlier. Anger rushed through Teresa. Josh had no right to be having so much fun when poor Gus—

  She immediately stopped her train of thought. People reacted to shock and grief in different ways. Just because she was frantic when Marielle disappeared, and inconsolable for months when the woman never came back, didn’t mean that Josh had to behave the same way in order to prove his love for his father.

  Teresa abruptly looked away from the young man, not liking the path her thoughts were taking. She’d been unfairly judged so often in the past, she had no right to judge anyone else, she told herself firmly. Josh had loved Gus, of that she was certain.

  Another firecracker went off with such a resounding blast the ground shook and Carmen let out a loud, startled cry, then immediately clapped her hand over her mouth when people turned to look at her. Carmen was never soft-spoken, but tonight nerves had turned her voice up a notch. Teri gave her a reassuring smile as a second spectacular green and orange firework immediately followed. In its light, Teresa caught sight of Jason, Fay, and Celeste Warner.

  Again, Teri was shocked. She hadn’t seen any of the Warners at the Fourth of July celebration since the murders. Celeste—dressed more fashionably in jeans and a T-shirt—stood between Fay and Jason. In fact, they stood so close to the girl, Teresa had the fleeting image of two Rottweilers guarding their charge. No one was going to get near that girl, Teresa thought, and was glad. Celeste might be on her way to recovery, but she definitely needed to feel safe. After all, she still thought someone wanted to kill her. And me, Teri thought. And I’m not so sure she’s wrong.

  Abruptly, the sheriff loomed in front of Teresa. She blinked and took a step backward in surprise, a move for which she could have kicked herself. She didn’t want the man to know he intimidated her. She mentally scrambled for composure and managed a casual, “Hello, Sheriff. Enjoying the show?”

  “Very much,” he said, glancing at Mac, who was almost imperceptibly moving closer to Teri, as if to protect her, just as Jason and Fay were protecting Celeste. “How about you, Miss Farr?”

  “I love the fireworks. I come every year.” She thought she sounded overly cheerful and almost childlike. “I’m sure you know my brother and his wife and their son,” she said, motioning at Kent, who looked daggers at the sheriff. Sharon literally pulled Daniel against her as if the sheriff were going to whisk her child away from her. “And Sharon’s father, Gabriel, is with us tonight.”

  “Gabe,” the sheriff said, touching the brim of his hat. Gabe nodded and quickly looked away.

  Carmen burst out with a hearty, “Hello, Sheriff. I haven’t seen you in Trinkets and Treasures for ages!”

  “Hello, Miz Norris,” he said. “I don’t do a lot of shopping except at Christmas. You already getting your stock for December?” he asked.

  Carmen laughed stridently. “Well, not this early. It usually starts arriving in early November, though. I’ll be putting it on display around Thanksgiving, if that makes any sense. The holidays are so close together, you see.”

  “Yes, I see.” The sheriff’s cool gray gaze returned to Teresa. “Any more trouble at your place today?”

  “No. Thank goodness.” Teresa told herself to stop being frightened. No matter how hard she tried to hide it, she knew the sheriff could nearly smell the fear emanating from her. “Can you tell me when the barn will be released as a crime scene? I board other people’s horses, you know. They want to ride them. I haven’t let anyone in the barn except the boys who feed the horses, though. I’ve been very careful.”

  The sheriff’s mouth quirked in a half smile at her breathless assurances. “Tomorrow you can start conducting business as usual,” he said. “But I’d appreciate it if you didn’t leave town.”

  “I’m not leaving town,” Teri said hastily. “I’m much too busy.”

  The sheriff nodded again and drifted away. Teresa felt a momentary wave of dizziness, wondering why she couldn’t conquer her ridiculous fear of the police.

  Then she glanced over at Celeste Warner, who stared in her direction with big, haunted eyes. Teresa had thought the
girl was enjoying the fireworks show—just a couple of minutes earlier, she’d seen Celeste clapping and smiling—but now she looked positively terrified. Teresa couldn’t tear her own gaze away from Celeste’s eyes—the eyes that had seen the murderer of her mother, the eyes that had seen someone plunge a knife into her own abdomen. In spite of the warm evening, Teresa felt chilled as memories of walking down the dark hall and bumping into a murderer before she found the small, slashed body of Celeste washed over Teresa as if it had all happened yesterday.

  And she knew she would never stop being afraid.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  1

  CELESTE WARNER HUDDLED IN the backseat, trembling. Her grandmother had chattered all the way to the car, then asked her why she was so quiet. Celeste had merely shrugged her shoulders, too shaken to trust her voice, and Grandma had begun talking again, fast and steady, the way she always did when she was excited about something. She’d loved the fireworks display, which she hadn’t attended since Celeste had stopped talking.

  I shouldn’t have started talking again, Celeste thought in agony. If I’d stayed quiet, I would have been safe. And I could have thought of some way to keep Teri safe, too. I’m smart—smarter than anyone knows. I could have come up with a plan to protect Teri and me. If only I hadn’t started talking!

  And now she’d seen Death. At the fireworks display, when she’d looked around, she’d seen it. No, she’d seen the person who killed her mother. All along, Celeste had known a person had killed her mother and tried to kill her. She had known, but she hadn’t wanted to believe a person would do such a thing, so she’d turned the person into an it—Death. But she was a kid then. She was almost an adult now. Besides, she knew she couldn’t pretend any longer, because she’d seen the killer—a person—in the park tonight.

  Celeste had tried to look away and couldn’t. She’d willed her gaze back to the fireworks, but she didn’t seem to have any control over her own body. She could not turn away. She could not look away. And then her gaze had met another’s. The gazes locked. Finally, the other set of eyes had narrowed slightly and Celeste had felt a cold wind wrapping itself around her heart. When she’d finally managed to tear away her gaze and stare up at the sky where the fireworks had turned into a garish blur, it was too late. Celeste could feel Death watching her.

  “Honey, does the cat have your tongue?” Fay craned her neck and looked in concern at Celeste curled into a ball in the corner of the backseat. “Celeste, baby, what’s wrong?” she demanded in alarm. “Dear God, what’s wrong?”

  “We have to leave here,” Celeste ground out in a barely audible voice. “We have to leave town tonight.”

  Fay frowned. “What are you talking about?”

  “We have to leave!” Celeste cried. “I saw the person who killed Mommy!”

  Jason whipped the car to the side of the road, ignoring the blasting of a car horn behind him. Fay slammed against the door and cried out, but Jason paid no attention, turning to face his daughter. “You saw the person tonight?” Celeste nodded, tears running down her cheeks. “Who was it?”

  Celeste shook her head violently. “No. I can’t… can’t…”

  “You have to tell me,” Jason said loudly. “Who was it?”

  “No… no… can’t…” Her voice faded even lower. “No… can’t…”

  “You can’t what? Talk?” By now Jason was shouting, making Celeste cower. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you, sweetheart, but you have to tell me who you saw!”

  “Leave… must leave.”

  “Celeste—”

  “Leave!” Celeste whisper-screamed. “Have to leave!” Suddenly her eyes seemed to glaze, and she shrank into herself, her face beginning to go blank.

  “Jason?” Fay asked fearfully. “Jason, what should we do?”

  Jason looked at his horrified mother, then at Celeste, who once again seemed to be completely withdrawing from the real world, burying herself in the shelter of silence and total passivity. “All right, honey. Don’t be afraid. We’ll be out of town by morning,” Jason said soothingly. “Just let me know one thing. Did the person who killed your mommy see you?” Celeste barely nodded. Jason hesitated. “Do you think the person knew you remembered?”

  Celeste shuddered uncontrollably, thinking of those eyes—those knowing eyes—fixed on her, and nodded yes. Yes. Yes!

  2

  “Mom isn’t feeling well,” Mac murmured in Teri’s ear. “I have to take her home before I can come to your house.”

  “Oh no!” Teresa felt complete despair. Carmen and Gabe wanted to make their big announcement, and Sharon was going to take it badly. Teri knew she would take it badly. There might be a scene. Teri had been counting on Mac to help her smooth things over if the situation got out of control. “Mac, I need you!” she hissed.

  “I’ll be there just as soon as I take Mom home,” he said earnestly. “Have you looked at her? Something just came over her. I think she might pass out if I don’t get her home.”

  Teresa covertly peeked at Emma, who indeed looked tall and bleached and rigid, as if she were using every ounce of her strength to hold herself together. “You’re right. Get her home,” Teresa said. “If you can’t come tonight, I’ll understand.”

  “I’ll be there,” Mac assured her. “Just try to keep Carmen and Gabe from saying anything until I arrive.”

  He took his mother’s arm and led her gently away from the group. Sharon looked at them. “Emma isn’t feeling well,” Teresa explained, although Sharon hadn’t asked for an explanation. “He’s just going to take her home and then—” Teri realized she’d slipped and almost said, And then come to my house for the party. She still hadn’t mentioned the get-together to her sister-in-law and now she couldn’t put it off any longer. “Sharon, I bought some cakes and pastries and champagne. And juice for Daniel, of course. I thought it would be fun if we had a little after-fireworks party tonight.”

  When Sharon didn’t answer, Teresa looked at her more closely. Sharon’s face had turned pale as parchment, making her freckles stand out sharply, and her eyes seemed almost to jitter in their sockets. Teresa had never seen her sister-in-law look so strange, and alarm instantly flooded through her. “Sharon? Are you all right?”

  Sharon’s odd, nervous gaze fastened on Teresa and she almost hissed, “What is going on tonight?”

  “I don’t know what you mean.” Teresa knew how unconvincing she sounded. “I just thought I’d like to put everything that’s happened this week out of my mind. And I’m sure Kent wants to celebrate our finally selling the house. I thought it would be nice to have an impromptu little gala,” Teresa ended lamely.

  “A gala?” Sharon repeated.

  “Well, yes. Just a kind of mini-party, our own Fourth of July celebration. Nothing special—”

  “That is a damned lie,” Sharon returned in a steely voice. “Something has been wrong all evening. I’ve felt it for hours. Now you come up with this absurd idea for a party that will keep Daniel up until midnight, which you know I won’t allow!” Kent and Gabe had drawn closer to Sharon, Kent looking bewildered, Gabe looking apprehensive. “I know there’s some kind of conspiracy going on.”

  “A conspiracy?” Teresa tried to laugh, but nothing came out. “I don’t know what you mean.”

  “Yes, you do!” Sharon’s face had turned from white to almost scarlet. “Teresa, you’ve never been a good liar. I want to know what’s going on and if you don’t tell me—”

  “Carmen and I were going to announce our engagement,” Gabe said.

  Carmen gasped and muttered, “Gabe, don’t.”

  But Gabriel rushed on. “We’ve been seeing each other for months. I proposed in the spring and we’re getting married in September. We delayed telling you because we knew you wouldn’t be happy about me getting married again. Anyway, Carmen and I put Teresa up to having this get-together at her house. We thought we’d tell you there, but I haven’t been feeling right about the whole thing. It isn’t
fair to put Teresa on the spot like this. So I’ll just say it plainly, Sharon. I’m marrying Carmen.”

  Sharon looked as if someone had dealt her a crashing physical blow. She literally staggered and swayed as if she might faint. Kent reached for her, but she jerked away from him. She pinned Carmen with an almost frightening slit-eyed look and said savagely, “You bitch!”

  “Sharon!” Gabe said loudly, although Teri thought he sounded more concerned than angered.

  Sharon rushed on. “I’ve suspected for months something was going on with Dad. He hasn’t acted like himself. At first, I thought he was sick. That’s why I’ve been so nervous, as all of you have so tactfully pointed out to me. Finally, I realized there was a woman. I told myself it was something extremely casual. But his behavior, his seeing less and less of Daniel and me—well, I knew there was something more serious going on with him.

  “For about a week, I thought the woman might be you, Carmen, but then I told myself Dad couldn’t be so stupid as to get involved with you! Years ago, one evening my mother attended a meeting in the conference room at a motel about ten miles from here. Afterward, when she got in her car, she saw you coming out of a room. She said your hair was mussed and you had this sickening lovey-dovey look on your face. You got in your car and drove off. Mom was curious, so she stayed and watched. Five minutes later, Hugh Farr came out of the same room. It was obvious you two were having an affair.

  “She told me and I promised not to tell, not even Kent. But Mom would understand my not keeping the secret now, not when Dad is involved with you, Carmen. He’s too good, too naive, to imagine what you really are, so it’s up to me to protect him. Do you understand me, Carmen? I will do anything not to have my father involved with you!”