“Was he?” Nora asked quietly.
“For the last time, no! At least, not anymore,” Jess said. “Besides, like I said, James is the kindest, sweetest man I know. He is not a murderer. You know what, it was a mistake coming here. I don’t know what I hoped to achieve. Brooke was right - talking to you is a mistake. Goodbye, Nora.”
“Hang on.” Nora reached out and caught Jess firmly by the elbow. She yanked her a little closer. “You can’t leave.”
Jess stared at her open-mouthed. “Get your hands off me or I’ll-”
“Or you’ll what? Go home and write how much you hate me in your diary? The way you did with Maybelle?” Nora asked.
Jessica’s eyes widened and she stepped back, her mouth open in shock. “What did you say?”
“You heard me just fine,” Nora said. “You just admitted something without saying a word, too.”
“Go to…you have no right-” Jess looked nearly tearful and suddenly pale.
“Another step and I’ll go to the sheriff with what I know,” Nora said.
“You’re a witch,” Jess said. “How else could you know that? How could you possibly know?”
“So you admit you wrote an entry like that,” Nora said. “You hated May.”
“I didn’t hate her, she was my friend!” Jess exclaimed.
“Then why write what you did in your diary?” Nora asked.
“It was a mistake, okay?” Jess said. “I made a mistake writing that. And I wanted to tear it out when I realized what a big mistake I’d made! Have you always been perfect all your life? Haven’t you ever gotten angry at someone and then cooled down? May was my best friend, Nora! Of course we fought, but we were like sisters! She just…she had a way of making me so mad sometimes.”
“By not giving you the money she’d promised?” Nora asked.
“I…” Jess shook her head. “No. I won’t say a word more. I won’t stand here and take this from you, either. You know what? You’re bluffing. I don’t know how you found out about my diary, but you’ve got nothing on me. Nothing. I won’t say a single word more.”
“Ok.” Nora shrugged. “If not to me, then the sheriff.”
“Why are you so set on harassing me?” Jess had tears in her eyes. “Tyler’s the one who killed her. Everyone in town knows it. I heard he even ran away last night. Just let the rest of us get over it in peace, won’t you?”
“I’m not convinced Tyler killed her,” Nora said.
“Well, then why did he run away?” Jess asked. “Yeah, I heard all about it from one of the deputies. He ran away last night.”
“A deputy told you?” Nora frowned. “Sheriff Ellerton won’t like that.”
“Well, the deputy came to my house officially, so I’m pretty sure the sheriff knew,” Jess shot back.
“Why did the deputy come to your house?” Nora asked.
“I...” Jess hesitated. “Look, I was walking my dog last night. I guess I decided I’d walk by May’s house. I wanted to see it again. It’s only a short walk from my place.”
“I thought her nearest neighbors were quite far away?” Nora frowned, remembering what the police had told her.
“Yeah, if you’re taking the regular roads,” Jess clarified. “But they’re on the other side of the mountain from my house. If you don’t mind a bit of an uphill climb and a hike through the woods, it’s not far at all.”
Nora nodded. “I see. And you and Nat are neighbors, aren’t you?”
Jess nodded. “We are. Brooke lives just a street away from us, too. It’s really convenient, having such good friends close by. We often go jogging in the woods together, too.”
Nora nodded. Suddenly, the thing Tyler had said made sense to her - all three were close enough to have hiked through the woods, killed Maybelle, then run away. If Tyler was innocent, it had to be one of those three. But, of course, Tyler was guilty. He had to be guilty. Why else would he leave town so suddenly?
“I saw him,” Jess said. “Last night.”
“You saw Tyler?!” Nora asked excitedly.
“Yeah.”
“What time?”
“About eleven,” Jess said. “He was driving like a maniac. He didn’t even see me wave at him. He just ran into his house, then ran back out and drove away again.”
11pm! That would be right after he had finished talking to Nora and Harvey. So he’d driven back to his house in a hurry after leaving their place. Interesting.
“Was he in there long?”
“No. Barely a minute. I’m not even sure he bothered to lock his door,” Jess said. “He just screeched out of there the same way he’d come in. Full speed ahead.”
“Did he have anything in his hands?” Nora asked. “A backpack? A duffel bag?”
“Nothing like that. Although…” Jess frowned. “He had something black and square in his hands, now that I think of it. It was too dark to see exactly what he was holding, but I’m sure of it. I should tell the deputy!”
“You’re the last person to see him in Milburn,” Nora mused. “The next time someone saw him, he was crossing state lines.”
“Look I have to go,” Jess said suddenly. “I promised to go sleep over with Nat tonight. She tries to act strong but she’s really affected. I don’t think she’s eating right or sleeping right. She’s got black circles like a raccoon under her eyes and her hair’s turning gray.”
Nora looked at Jess, not really believing her. Was Jess going to see Natalie out of concern? Or because Nora had mentioned the little rendezvous Natalie had with James? Either way, Nora knew not to push Jess too much. She’d already gotten some information out of her and she wanted to mull it over before asking more questions. Besides, Jess looked as though she were breaking under the strain. Although, whether it was guilt or grief that was making her break, Nora could not say.
*****
Chapter 14
Rumor Has It
By 8pm that night, Hazel’s party was in full swing. Nora had fully intended for it to be a quiet affair but, somehow, people kept showing up and the party just got larger and larger. At first, it had just been the family, and then a few of Hazel’s friends arrived. After that, people had begun trickling in unannounced…and uninvited, though certainly welcome. Before Nora knew it, her house was full.
Harvey had strung up some fairy lights between the trees in the backyard, surrounding the dining table Jacob and Austin had moved outside. Kaylee’s big idea had been to buy plastic glasses and plates that looked like fancy crystal and silver cutlery. The result was surprisingly magical.
Grace had brought along her guitar and was playing an old Joni Mitchell tune in one corner, surrounded by couples dancing. Kids were running around, in and out of the house in an elaborate game of hide and seek. Everyone was having a blast.
Nora wandered around, making sure plates were full and that people were comfortable.
“We ended up buying a minivan after all,” Tina was telling someone. “But Sam agreed that I get to paint a nice racing-stripe down the middle.”
With a pang, Nora remembered when she’d last been caught in between Sam and Tina’s argument on which car to buy. It had been at Coach James’s party - one of the last times Nora had seen May alive. That seemed so long ago now.
She looked at the door, and was surprised to see that Coach James had wandered in. He had freshly shaved and looked as clean-cut as ever - except for a rather large bruise on the side of his face. Nora walked up to greet him and pointed to it.
“Need some ice?”
“Oh, that?” James laughed. “It’s nothing. Just the result of an over-enthusiastic kid with terrible ball-throwing skills.”
“Must have hurt,” Nora said. “Hope you didn’t throw him off the team or something.”
James shrugged. “I’ve taken worse punches, so to say. Kids will be kids.” He strained his neck, looking around the crowd, and asked Nora, “Say, is Natalie here?”
“No, sorry,” Nora said. “I think she, Jess and Bro
oke are avoiding me right now.”
James looked embarrassed, his face flushing. “No, nothing like that. I’m sure she’ll be here. I asked her to come.”
Nora raised an eyebrow. “Did you now?”
“Yes. I thought she should. She had some silly idea in her head that talking to you would ruin the case against Tyler somehow. But, well, looks like Tyler killed any doubts about his guilt by running away.”
“It’s not like him, is it?” Nora asked.
“I wouldn’t have said so.” James looked sad. “I thought I knew him, you know? We’ve been friends for so long. I guess you just really never know a person. Tyler was the last guy I thought...” He shook his head. “Never mind. I don’t want to talk about it. It’s too fresh.”
Austin wandered up with two glasses of sangria in his hand, and handed one to each of them. “You heard about Tyler’s disappearance too, huh?” he asked James.
“Yeah. Looks like we were both wrong about his being innocent, doesn’t it? That ba-” James cut himself off before he could start cursing. “I’m sorry. I’m just so angry at him. He was a monster in human form all along. I can’t believe he killed May. Our May!”
“You were fond of her, weren’t you?” Nora asked.
“Who wasn’t? Back in high school, Tyler and I both competed to get her. Tyler won…and I lost,” James explained. “I know it was just a teenage crush but…May was special. She was so full of life, like a thunderbolt. She’d liven up any party just by entering a room. You know, in high school, if someone ran out of the room crying, she’d always be the first person to follow and to try to cheer them up. She was always so sympathetic to other people’s problems. She always wanted the best for them. That was her - she wanted the best for people, always.”
Nora frowned. “That got her in trouble sometimes, though. Didn’t it? I heard she worked one girl on the cheering squad so hard that the girl was injured and had to drop out of competing.”
“Cynthia? That was a long time ago,” James said. “Poor May felt horrible about that. Jess and I were dating at the time. We tried our best to console May, but we failed.”
“You failed to teach her anything, either,” Nora said. “She was apparently still as pushy as ever.”
“She was only pushy out of love,” James said. “That’s not a bad quality to have, is it?”
Nora shrugged. “I’ve realized in life that people will always do what they want, no matter how much good advice or motivation you give them. Pushiness never works.”
“Oh, but it did. May could really convince a man to do things he never even thought of,” James said. “It was her idea for me and Jess to start dating in high school, you know.”
“Did it work?” Austin asked.
James gave a wan smile. “Clearly it didn’t. I’m still single, aren’t I?”
“What was her fatal flaw?” Austin grinned. “Was she not pushy enough for you?”
“Jess? Jess was flawless. Still is.” James grinned. “I was the one who couldn’t handle commitment. I loved to flirt with anything on two legs. Still do, I guess. Jess would get so jealous. She’d fly off the handle if I so much as looked at a girl. We lasted two years, but then I had enough. We decided we both needed to go our separate ways.”
“Did Jess take it hard?” Nora asked quietly.
“She was the one who dumped me in the end, actually,” James said. “Pity, too.” He shrugged. “May was so good to me, though. She phoned me each day and counseled me. She’d spend hours convincing me to go back to Jess. Only it backfired - I decided I wanted to be with May instead.” James laughed. “Of course, that didn’t work out, either. She was set on Tyler. All this was so long ago...” James shook his head. “I can’t believe we’re talking about high school.”
“Are we?” Nora asked gently. “Did you ever get over her, James?”
“Get over May?” James looked surprised. “I suppose nobody ever gets over their teenage crushes. A tiny part of me still loves all those women just the same.”
“Actually, people do get over it,” Austin disagreed. “I had a big, big crush on the class valedictorian when I was in high school. I saw her again at a reunion, and I really didn’t know what I was thinking back then. She and I would have been disastrous together.”
James shrugged. “Maybe it’s different for different people. I just…you know, I always felt content because I thought that, even if I didn’t get May, the right guy got her. Tyler seemed so in love with her. But now…this happens. He murdered his own wife.”
“I know,” Austin agreed. “I can’t believe I defended him when all the evidence pointed to him being the killer. He really had us fooled.”
“Yeah. But I’m no fool anymore. The faster he hangs, the happier I’ll be, to be honest. I’d do it myself if someone gave me a length of rope. Whatever May’s flaws, she didn’t deserve what he did to her,” James said. He raised his glass and said with some force, “To the police. I hope they catch him fast and make an example out of him.”
Austin raised his own glass and drank it down in one gulp. “Hear, hear.”
“It’s just...” James shook his head. “I feel like the world has suddenly stopped making sense, you know? May was a good friend of mine. I asked her for dating advice so many times. She leaned on me, too, and she never once mentioned anything alarming about Tyler. I’d have offered her help if she needed it.”
“May asked you for advice?” Nora’s voice was sharp. “What about?”
“Nothing serious,” James said. “She’d mostly worry about her friends. She wanted to see them happy. She’d ask me what kind of advice she should give them, or how to make them see the light on certain things.”
“Which friends? What advice?” Nora asked.
“Well...” James lowered his voice. “Stupid stuff. She’d moan about how Natalie’s latest boyfriend was a total idiot and that Natalie needed to stop reading romance novels because they gave her wrong ideas about love. Things like that.”
“Did she ever mention Brooke to you?” Nora asked.
“Not really,” James said. “She mentioned that she hoped she’d be as good a mother as Brooke one day. That’s about all.”
“And never anything about Tyler?”
“Well, she and Tyler had fights now and then, but it was about stuff like where they should go on vacation or what car they should buy. Nothing serious,” James explained. “Tyler and I were good friends, too, and I never heard anything serious from him, either. So, yeah, I really thought that they were happy together.” He shuddered. “The whole thing really turns me off romance, you know? I knew them so well and I know they loved each other. If they couldn’t make it, what chance do any of us have?”
“Don’t say that,” Austin said. “We’re all going to make it, man. It’s all going to work out eventually.”
“I don’t know,” James considered. “I really don’t.”
“I forgot to ask about Jess,” Nora said. “Did May ever worry about Jess? They were best friends, after all. I know they’d had a fight recently.”
“Jess?” James shook his head. “May was always praising Jess around me. She kept pushing for me and Jess to get together, even after all these years.”
“Didn’t you want to?” Nora asked.
“I don’t know,” James considered. “Sometimes you build a thing up in your head so much that you get afraid to touch it again, you know? Jess is great and all but…maybe some things are just not meant to be. Maybe it’s too late to revisit history.” He thought for a moment. “Not that May would agree with that. I told her once that I’d rather start dating Natalie, but May just laughed and told me it would be a terrible match. According to May, Jess was the only one for me.”
“I suppose Jess put her up to it?” Austin asked.
“What?” James looked startled, as though the thought had never even occurred to him. “Jess? You think Jess told May to get us together?”
Austin laughed. “Man, for someo
ne who’s dated so many women, you don’t know anything about how their minds work, do you? Obviously Jess was behind it.”
“No. Jess doesn’t care about me. She won’t even look at me,” James said. “You’ve got it all wrong.”
“She doesn’t care about you? What gives you that impression?” Austin asked.
“Well…she was pretty mad back when she broke things off with me in high school.”
“She was jealous,” Austin pointed out. “I’d wager she still cares. A lot.”
James looked disturbed. “I don’t think so. She was so cold to me the last time we spoke.”
“And yet her best friend urged you to get together with her,” Austin said. “Think about it, man. There are feelings there.”
James stared at Austin, nonplussed, then looked at Nora. “Do you think so, Nora?”
“Hmmm,” was all Nora could muster as the thoughts spun around in her head. She was focused on what James had said about Jess being jealous of other women. Had she been jealous of May, as well? Women could have strange undercurrents in their relationships sometimes - especially where a man was involved. Was pushing Jess and James together May’s way of showing Jess that she didn’t mean to impinge upon her, so to say, “territory”? Just how possessive was Jess? One thing was for sure - Nora didn’t believe her feigned disinterest for a single moment. Jess wanted James still, she was sure of it.
The question was…how far would she go to get him?
*****
Chapter 15
Cliff Hanger
“Parties are always so lovely, aren’t they?” Grace asked. She had her feet up on the coffee table with a snoring Kaylee on her lap. She was stroking Kaylee’s blonde hair idly and smiling up at the ceiling.
“Speak for yourself.” Hazel was upside down, with her head touching the floor and her feet on the headrest of her armchair. It was a position she’d favored as a child, and never quite grown out of.
The men were all in the garage where Harvey was showing off the new motorcycle he’d bought last year.
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