What Janie Saw(37)

                “Got a call about some guy who has a black panther as a pet. Guy can’t keep him anymore. Luke thinks we can afford him.”

                Luke thought they could afford elephants and rhinoceroses, too. Until Katie talked him down. That was something she did for both of them. Through Janie’s whole life, Katie had been the beacon keeping her sane. There’d been one year, though, when Janie had been alone with Aunt Betsy, and no one had been there to save her.

                Closets.

                Cigarette smoke.

                Not enough food.

                “Janie,” Katie said. “Did you hear what I just said?”

                “No.”

                “Stop worrying,” Katie advised. “You turned the art book over to the police, told them what it said. It’s their job now to figure out the truth.”

                Janie nodded, gazing past Katie to the Santa Catalina mountains, the blue sky and the white clouds. Everything about Scorpion Ridge, Arizona, appeared perfect.

                But appearances were deceiving.

                Both Candy and Jeff Summerside were again on duty, each popping in at the gift shop every hour or so to check on her.

                It annoyed Janie to no end that she looked for Rafe from the moment she left the house. It annoyed her even more that she was disappointed when she didn’t find him.

                This time when Janie asked, she was informed that “Rafe has the day off.”

                Janie didn’t get the day off. And she certainly didn’t get a day off from being scared. Maybe she wouldn’t ever stop feeling scared until she was far, far away from here, in South Africa.

                She needed to remember that and work harder toward her goal.

                On Monday things went back to normal. Janie spent the day working on the bear mural. Crisco didn’t seem to mind being her subject and ignored her. The zoo’s visitors didn’t. They stopped, asked questions, and mostly complimented her work. At noon, the bear exhibit emptied as mothers took their children to the food area. Janie figured she’d have quiet for about thirty minutes—kids didn’t waste much time eating when they were at a zoo—but instead a lone man came to lean against the edge of the bear exhibit.

                Used to be, Janie wasn’t spooked by lone men.

                This one looked vaguely familiar, but Rafe wouldn’t assign a cop she didn’t know. She certainly didn’t recognize the man from school; he was just attractive enough that she’d remember him. After a moment, he rolled his shoulders and then made his way to her.

                That’s when she recognized him.

                “You’re Derek’s brother.”

                “I am. I wanted to come by and thank you.”

                “Thank me? For what?” She doubted he wanted to thank her for bringing the art book to light. After all, that art book was a journalist’s dream. Once it hit the evening news, the Chaneys would have the media camped in their yard, clogging their telephones and digging for any secrets the Chaneys had, whether they were related to Derek’s story or not.

                “My mom said you told her Derek was talented. It really meant something to her. She’s pretty convinced that everyone will think she was a poor mother. She wasn’t. She was a great mother. Derek just...”