“No!” she screamed. She tore free from his arms and jumped up, so shocked she was shaking. “Who told you that? Why would you believe it?”
Mack stood. “I overheard Jessica and another girl laughing about it. I didn’t want to believe it. I kept telling myself you couldn’t do that. I drove all the way to your house, so numb I couldn’t think.”
Lissa moaned, and when he reached for her again, she moved back.
He felt sick. The look of disbelief on her face was as painful for him now as the day he’d thought she was admitting she’d killed their child.
“I asked you if you were still pregnant. You said no so quickly, I thought—”
“But Mom and Dad called you the night it was happening. You knew! You already knew!”
He stood there for a moment, absorbing the words that had just come out her mouth and trying to find a way to answer without damning people she loved, but there was no way to make that happen.
“No, Lissa, I didn’t get any phone call about you. Not from them or anyone else.”
Lissa was screaming inside, but her voice was devoid of emotion.
“It was my first prenatal appointment. It rained all the way to Summerton. It was raining so hard that I took a really bad fall in the doctor’s parking lot. I started bleeding in his office. They carried me out on a stretcher and took me to the hospital. That’s how Mom and Dad found out. That’s how Mrs. Shayne even knew I’d been pregnant, and then her bitch of a daughter spread the word and twisted the knife with the lie.”
“Why didn’t you call me?” he asked.
The question angered her. “I was in labor, delivering what would have been our baby. Mom and Dad were furious that I was pregnant, even though they knew I was losing the baby. I was crying for you. I asked them to call you. I thought they did. I stayed overnight in the hospital wondering why you didn’t come. It never occurred to me they didn’t tell you. They brought me home the next day, and then you showed up a couple of hours later and put an end to what was left of us.”
The emotional knife drove deep into his heart. Could he die from this much pain? He wanted to hold her, but she’d made it plain she didn’t want him to touch her.
“I’m sorry. I was a stupid kid, and I’m so sorry,” he said.
Lissa lifted her chin. “We stopped being kids when we made a baby.”
He took the criticism with his head up and tears on his face. “You’re right. I can’t imagine how abandoned you must have felt, and I will be sorry until the day I die that I wasn’t there for you. I’m even sorrier about how I behaved. You didn’t deserve that, but you were my world, and in an instant I believed I’d lost the girl I thought you were and the chance to be a father. I went crazy. That’s my only excuse. Forgive me, Lissa. Forgive me for hurting you that way.”
He walked out of the house, and she didn’t try to stop him, but her head was spinning.
Her parents had lied—to both of them.
Eight
The killer found out that Jackson’s death had been ruled a homicide while he was having lunch at Charlie’s Burgers. He was smiling at the waitress who was topping off his glass of sweet tea when he keyed in on the conversation in the booth behind him.
“...said it was murder. No, they don’t have any leads. Who would want to kill him? Paul Jackson was an upright guy.”
The waitress glanced down at him and smiled. “Do you want dessert? Our pies are great. We have lemon, chocolate, coconut cream and peach.”
He patted his stomach as he leaned back. “I think I’ll pass today, but thanks.”
She left the tab on the table and moved on as he pulled a handful of bills from his wallet, making sure to leave her a big tip. He had no qualms about the outcome of his handiwork. He’d known they would figure it out once they discovered the lift hadn’t failed, and he left with a confident stride. He had no reason to assume he would ever be found out.
* * *
Betsy Jakes was sitting across the table from Trey, watching him finish off a piece of pie. When he reached for his coffee cup, she jumped up and refilled it before he could ask. She was anxious. She might even say nervous. He had yet to mention one thing about why he’d showed up in the middle of a workday and stayed to eat lunch with her. She was always happy to see him, but something felt off. She gave his shoulder a quick pat as she topped off his coffee.
He looked up, the smile gone from his face. “We need to talk,” he said.
Her heart skipped a beat. Her instincts had been right. Something was wrong.
“Well, sure, honey. You can always talk to me about anything. Is everything all right with you and Dallas?”
“We’re fine, Mom. I need to tell you something, and then I need you to hear me out afterward, okay?”
“Okay, I’m listening,” Betsy said.
Trey saw the smile on her face, but it never reached her eyes, and her hands were shaking.
“Paul Jackson’s death has officially been ruled a homicide.”
“I guessed as much,” she mumbled.
He was surprised she was so forthcoming. “Why would you think that?”
She reached up to push a wayward curl from her forehead and then started to cry. “It’s connected to Dick’s murder, isn’t it? It’s about that wreck, right?”
Trey reached for her hands, but she pulled them back. He hated to push, but he had to ask.
“Do you remember anything about that wreck, Mom?”
Her fingers went straight to the scar along her hairline. “No. Not really. At least I don’t think so.”
“What do you mean, ‘not really’?” Trey asked. “Please. If you remember anything, even if you’re not sure it pertains to the wreck, you need to tell me.”
“I’ve been having dreams about stuff, but none of it makes any sense,” she said.
“Tell me,” he said.
Betsy flinched. The hard edge in his voice surprised her. “It’s just stuff that’s all mixed up,” she said.
Trey reached for her hands again, and this time he caught them and wouldn’t let go.
“Look at me, damn it! Do I look like I’m kidding? Two people are dead, Mom! Three counting the girl who died the night of the wreck, and you’re the only one still breathing. I’d like to keep it that way.”
Betsy moaned. “I’m going to be sick,” she whispered, and she got up and ran out.
Trey silently cursed the situation and followed her, stopping outside the bathroom door. She came out a few minutes later, pale and shaken.
“Mom?”
She walked into his arms and laid her cheek against his chest. The hopelessness she exhibited was scaring him, like she’d already given in to the inevitable.
“I’m sorry, Mom. I’m sorry I upset you, but I have two dead men, no suspects and a gut feeling that you’re the next target. I’m trying to help you, not scare you.”
Her voice was faint and shaky, but her hold on him was fierce. “I know, son. You didn’t scare me. I’m scaring myself. I dream and see blood. I dream I’m back in that car and I think we’re being chased. That’s all I know. I swear.”
Trey rocked her where they stood, wondering how their calm and ordinary lives had so quickly been turned upside down.
“I don’t want you staying out here by yourself,” he said.
All of a sudden the mother he knew was back as she pushed out of his arms with an angry frown on her face.
“And where would you have me go? Trina is here with me every night, so I’m not by myself.”
“You are here alone every day, and expecting Trina to be your safety net at night is only putting both of you in danger.”
“Then, she can go stay with you and Dallas. You don’t even have a suspect, so if I went somewhere and hid, there’s no way to say when I could come back. I won’t be run out of my home! Do you hear me, Trey? This is my life. My choice. I’ll keep the rifle loaded and nearby. That is my only concession.”
Trey heard anger in her voice but knew it wasn’t directed at him. She was angry with the situation and how it was messing with her life. She’d never abided change well, and now was no exception.
“I hear your words, now hear mine,” he said. “Before this day is out, someone will be here to install a security system, and I expect you to use it. If I ever come out here and am able to walk into this house without setting off an alarm, I will physically move you into my home with me and Dallas, whether you like it or not. Understood?”
She glared.
He glared back.
“Fine,” she muttered.
“I’m going back to work. I love you dearly.”
Betsy sighed. “I love you, too. You really are your father’s son.”
Trey sighed. If she was talking about Dad, she was giving in.
“I have one thing to ask of you,” he said.
“What?”
“If you think of anything else, promise you’ll tell me immediately. Finding this killer fast is crucial. Since we don’t actually know his agenda, there could be others besides you, understand?”
Her shoulders slumped. “Understood.”
“Thank you for lunch,” Trey said, and then he was gone.
Betsy watched him driving away and then went through the house locking every door and window, something she hadn’t done since the month after she’d buried her husband, Beau. She got the rifle out of the closet and loaded it, then carried it to the kitchen and put it in the corner close to where she was working.