A knock at the door drew his attention. Lynn’s robust figure filled the space between the doorframe. Her white hair and smooth skin didn’t give away her age, except to say she was older than everyone in the sheriff’s office. He figured her age around sixty. A nice enough woman, great assistant, but she tended to be nosy as hell and talked a lot. She knew everything about everyone in town.
Right now, he wanted thirty uninterrupted minutes to mine his computer’s knowledge and find the information he needed to know about Jessie under whatever name she’d been using, because he’d never found anything in her name.
“What now?” He hadn’t meant to snap it out like that, but damnit he needed some peace and quiet.
“In a foul mood, I see. You often get this way after a long day, or something’s on your mind. Word is Jessie Thompson showed up out of the blue this morning. Most of the town is talking about it. Marilee told the cashier at the grocery store Jessie got Brian a job.”
When he didn’t remark, she continued. Who could stop her?
“I also heard you arrived at the house shortly after Marilee left. If memory serves, you and Jessie used to be close friends. You took her to the prom and disappeared just days later. Sure, everyone found out you’d joined the military, but Jessie had already disappeared herself by then.
“So, Sheriff. Did you see Jessie Thompson this morning? Is it true she’s back?”
Jessie wouldn’t like him, or everyone else in town for that matter, talking about her. They’d done enough of that over the years. Not one of those people, himself included, ever tried to help her. As far as he knew, no one knew what was happening at the Thompson house.
“She came by to visit Brian this morning and make arrangements for Buddy’s funeral tomorrow.”
The best course, keep it simple and not give out too much information. Lord knew, if Lynn had already gotten wind of Jessie’s miraculous return, then the whole town already knew about it. Hell, Lynn probably knew more about it than he did, and he was there this morning.
“I heard from Frank, who lives two doors down from Brian, he saw you two talking in the yard for quite some time, and she flew out of there driving one of those fancy cars. A Porsche,” she said and nodded with her lips pressed tight together.
He neither confirmed nor denied anything about his conversation with Jessie. “She does drive a Porsche. It’s nice. Black.” He wondered how she could afford such an expensive car.
Drunk most of the time, Buddy had scraped by on construction jobs, always riding the line between prosperous and poor. He might have done better if he didn’t drink away his profits.
Ten minutes, that’s all he needed alone to find out about her past and present. Then he could decide what to do next. How to approach her and get her to talk about what happened, why he left, and apologize for being a dick and what his mother did, sending her that email. Jessie had something to tell him too. Something big. The stress settled firmly between his tense shoulder blades. His mind told him he’d failed her somehow and it had nothing to do with Buddy Thompson.
“Sooo, give,” Lynn prompted. “What’s she been doing all this time? Where has she been?”
“She didn’t say.” He wasn’t going to say any more. Unfortunately, Lynn had other ideas.
“You know, some folks thought she left to find you. I think most people dismissed that notion when your mama told everyone you’d joined the military. Seems she told everyone just a couple weeks after Jessie up and left.”
Interesting. Jessie called his mother after she’d left town. Maybe his mother wanted everyone to know she wasn’t with him. Had to keep up appearances and propriety. That’s why she constantly told him to “stay away from that no-good girl. She’s nothing but trouble.”
“Other folks said she ran off with a boyfriend she’d met on one of those construction jobs she worked with her daddy. Course, no one said who that might be. She tagged along after you and her brother. Seems she stayed real close to you two as much as possible.”
He knew, now, why. She wanted to be safe with them. In the end, she hadn’t been. They’d both walked out on her. He couldn’t believe he’d been that guy. Stupid, idiot, teenager. Well, he’d never be that guy again. This time, he wanted forever.
“Most folks believed her daddy finally killed her.”
“Finally? What does that mean?” Lynn held his full attention now. “As far as I know, no one knew Jessie was being hurt. At least, that had been my perception.”
Lynn let out a incredulous laugh. “You were just a kid, engrossed in your own life and teenage dramas. Sports, school, girls. Those things held your attention.”