Faithless (13 page)

Mary had been sitting quietly in the chair, but she stood abruptly, her hand to her chest, then ran from the room. Seconds later, they heard the kitchen door slam.

Lev had remained silent as he watched his sister go, and though Lena couldn’t read his expression, she got the feeling he was angered by Mary’s melodramatic exit.

He cleared his throat before asking, “Chief Tolliver, could you tell us what happened?”

Jeffrey hesitated, and Lena wondered how much he would tell them. “We found her in the woods,” he said. “She was buried in the ground.”

“Oh, Lord,” Esther breathed, doubling over as if in pain. Rachel rubbed her sister’s back, her lips trembling, tears streaming down her face.

Jeffrey didn’t offer specifics as he continued, “She ran out of air.”

“My baby,” Esther moaned. “My poor Abigail.”

The kids from the pigpen came in, the screen door slamming closed behind them. The adults all jumped as if a gun had been fired.

Ephraim spoke first, obviously struggling to regain his composure. “Zeke, what have you been told about the door?”

Zeke leaned against Lev’s leg. He was a spindly kid, not yet showing signs of his father’s height. His arms were as thin as toothpicks. “Sorry, Uncle Eph.”

“Sorry, Papa,” Becca said, though she hadn’t been the one to slam the door. She too was stick-thin, and though Lena wasn’t good with ages, she wouldn’t have put the girl at fourteen. She obviously hadn’t hit puberty yet.

Zeke was staring at his aunt, his lips trembling. He obviously sensed something was wrong. Tears sprang into his eyes.

“Come here, child,” Rachel said, dragging Zeke into her lap. She put her hand on his leg, petting him, soothing him. She was trying to control her grief, but losing the battle.

Rebecca kept to the door, asking, “What’s wrong?”

Lev put his hand on Rebecca’s shoulder. “Your sister has passed on to be with the Lord.”

The teenager’s eyes widened. Her mouth opened and she put her hand to her stomach. She tried to ask a question, but no words came out.

Lev said, “Let’s pray together.”

Rebecca breathed, “What?” as if the air had been knocked out of her.

No one answered her question. All of them but Rebecca bowed their heads, yet instead of the booming sermon from Lev that Lena expected, they were silent.

Rebecca stood there, hand to her stomach, eyes wide open, while the rest of her family prayed.

Lena shot Jeffrey a questioning look, wondering what they should do now. She felt nervous, out of place. Hank had stopped dragging Lena and Sibyl to church after Lena had torn up another girl’s Bible. She wasn’t used to being around religious people unless they were down at the police station.

Jeffrey just shrugged, taking a sip of lemonade. His shoulders went up, and she watched him work his jaw to get the sour out.

“I’m sorry,” Lev told them. “What can we do?”

Jeffrey spoke as if he was reading from a list. “I want employment records on everyone at the farm. I’d like to talk to anyone who had contact with Abigail at any time over the last year. I want to search her room to see if we can come up with something. I’d like to take the computer you mentioned and see if she’s been contacted by anyone through the Internet.”

Ephraim said, “She was never alone with the computer.”

“Still, Mr. Bennett, we need to check everything.”

Lev said, “They’re being thorough, Ephraim. Ultimately, it’s your decision, but I think we should do everything we can to help, if only to eliminate possibilities.”

Jeffrey seized on this. “Would you mind taking a lie detector test?”

Paul almost laughed. “I don’t think so.”

“Don’t speak for me, please,” Lev challenged his brother. He told Jeffrey, “We will do everything we can to help you.”

Paul countered, “I don’t think-”

Esther straightened her shoulders, her face was swollen with grief, her eyes rimmed red. “Please don’t argue,” she asked her brothers.

“We’re not arguing,” Paul said, but he sounded like he was spoiling for a fight. Over the years, Lena had seen how grief exposed people’s real personalities. She felt the tension between Paul and his older brother and wondered if it was general sibling rivalry or something deeper. Esther’s tone implied the pair had argued before.

Lev raised his voice, but he was talking to the children. “Rebecca, why don’t you take Zeke into the backyard? Your aunt Mary’s there and I’m sure she needs you.”

“Hold on,” Jeffrey said. “I’ve got a couple of questions for her.”

Paul put his hand on his niece’s shoulder and kept it there. “Go ahead,” he answered, his tone and posture indicating Jeffrey was on a short leash.

Jeffrey asked, “Rebecca, did you know if your sister was seeing anyone?”

The girl looked up at her uncle, as if asking permission. Her eyes finally settled back on Jeffrey. “You mean a boy?”

“Yes,” he answered, and Lena could tell that he saw this as a fruitless exercise. There was no way the girl would be forthcoming in front of her family, especially considering she was a bit rebellious herself. The only way to get the truth out of her was to get her alone, and Lena doubted very seriously that Paul- or any of the men- would allow that.

Again, Rebecca looked at her uncle before answering. “Abby wasn’t allowed to date boys.”

If Jeffrey noticed that she didn’t answer the question, he didn’t let on. “Did you think it was strange when she didn’t join you at the farm when your parents were away?”

Lena was watching Paul’s hand on the girl’s shoulder, trying to see if he was exerting pressure. She couldn’t tell.

“Rebecca?” Jeffrey prompted.

The girl’s chin lifted a little, and she said, “I thought she’d changed her mind.” She added, “Is she really…?”

Jeffrey nodded. “I’m afraid she is,” he told her. “That’s why we need all your help to find out who did this to her.”

Tears flooded into her eyes, and Lev’s composure seemed to drop a little at his niece’s distress. He told Jeffrey, “If you don’t mind…”

Jeffrey nodded, and Lev told the girl, “Go on and take Zeke out to your aunt Mary, honey. Everything’s going to be okay.”

Paul waited until they were gone before getting back to business, telling Jeffrey, “I have to remind you that the employment records are spotty. We offer food and shelter in return for an honest day’s work.”

Lena blurted out, “You don’t pay anyone?”

“Of course we do,” Paul snapped. He must’ve been asked this before. “Some take the money, some donate it back to the church. There are several workers who have been here for ten, twenty years and never seen any money in their pocket. What they get in return is a safe place to live, a family and the knowledge that their lives are not wasted.” To put a finer point on it, he indicated the room he was standing in, much as his sister had done before in the kitchen. “We all live very modest lives, Detective. Our aim is to help others, not ourselves.”

Jeffrey cleared his throat. “Still, we’d like to talk to all of them.”

Paul offered, “You can take the computer now. I can arrange for the people who’ve been in contact with Abby to be brought to the station first thing tomorrow morning.”

“The harvest,” Lev reminded him, then explained, “We specialize in edamame, younger soybeans. The peak time for picking is from sunrise to nine A.M., then the beans have to be processed and iced. It’s a very labor-intensive process, and I’m afraid we don’t use much machinery.”

Jeffrey glanced out the window. “We can’t go over there now?”

“As much as I want to get to the bottom of this,” Paul began, “we’ve got a business to run.”

Lev added, “We also have to respect our workers. I’m sure you can imagine that some of them are very nervous around the police. Some have been the victims of police violence, others have been recently incarcerated and are very fearful. We have women and children who have been battered in domestic situations without relief from local law enforcement-”

“Right,” Jeffrey said, as if he had gotten this speech before.

“It
is
private property,” Paul reminded him, looking and sounding every bit the lawyer.

Lev said, “We can shift people around, get them to cover for the ones who have come into contact with Abby. Would Wednesday morning work?”

“I guess it’ll have to,” Jeffrey said, his tone indicating his displeasure at the delay.

Esther had her hands clasped in her lap, and Lena felt something like anger coming off the mother. She obviously disagreed with her brothers, just as she obviously would not contradict them. She offered, “I’ll show you to her room.”

“Thank you,” Lena said, and they all stood at the same time. Thankfully, only Jeffrey followed them down the hall.

Esther stopped in front of the last door on the right, pressing her palm into the wood as if she couldn’t trust her legs to hold her up.

Lena said, “I know this is hard for you. We’ll do everything we can to find out who did this.”

“She was a very private person.”

“Do you think she kept secrets from you?”

“All daughters keep secrets from their mothers.” Esther opened the door and looked into the room, sadness slackening her face as she saw her daughter’s things. Lena had done the same thing with Sibyl’s possessions, every item conjuring some memory from the past, some happier time when Sibyl was alive.

Jeffrey asked, “Mrs. Bennett?” She was blocking their entrance.

“Please,” she told him, grabbing the sleeve of his jacket. “Find out why this happened. There has to be a reason.”

“I’ll do everything I can to-”

“It’s not enough,” she insisted. “Please. I have to know why she’s gone. I need to know that for myself, for my peace of mind.”

Lena saw Jeffrey’s throat work. “I don’t want to make empty promises, Mrs. Bennett. I can only promise you that I’ll try.” He took out one of his cards, glancing over his shoulder to make sure no one saw him. “My home number’s on the back. Call me anytime.”

Esther hesitated before taking the card, then tucked it into the sleeve of her dress. She gave Jeffrey a single nod, as if they had come to an understanding, then backed away, letting them enter her daughter’s room. “I’ll leave you to it.”

Jeffrey and Lena exchanged another glance as Esther returned to her family. Lena could tell he was feeling just as apprehensive as she was. Esther’s plea was understandable, but it only served to add more pressure to what was going to be an incredibly difficult case.

Lena had walked into the room to start the search, but Jeffrey stayed outside the doorway, looking toward the kitchen. He looked back to the family room as if to make sure he wasn’t being observed, then walked down the hall. Lena was about to follow him when he appeared in the doorway with Rebecca Bennett.

Deftly, Jeffrey led the girl into her sister’s bedroom, his hand at her elbow like a concerned uncle. In a low voice, he told her, “It’s very important you talk to us about Abby.”

Rebecca glanced nervously toward the door.

“You want me to shut it?” Lena offered, putting her hand on the knob.

After a moment’s deliberation, Rebecca shook her head. Lena studied her, thinking she was as pretty as her sister was plain. She had taken her dark brown hair out of the braid and there were kinks of waves in the thick strands that cascaded down her shoulders. Esther had said the girl was fourteen, but there was still something womanly about her that probably drew a lot of attention around the farm. Lena found herself wondering how it was Abby instead of Rebecca who had been abducted and buried in the box.

Jeffrey said, “Was Abby seeing anyone?”

Rebecca bit her bottom lip. Jeffrey was good at giving people time, but Lena could tell he was getting antsy about the girl’s family coming into the room.

Lena said, “I have an older sister, too,” leaving out the fact that she was dead. “I know you don’t want to tell on her, but Abby’s gone now. You won’t get her into trouble by telling us the truth.”

The girl kept chewing her lip. “I don’t know,” she mumbled, tears welling into her eyes. She looked to Jeffrey, and Lena guessed the girl saw him as more of an authority figure than a woman could be.

Jeffrey picked up on this, urging, “Talk to me, Rebecca.”

With great effort, she admitted, “She was gone sometimes during the day.”

“Alone?”

She nodded. “She’d say she was going into town, but she’d take too long.”

“Like, how long?”

“I don’t know.”

“It takes around fifteen minutes to get downtown from here,” Jeffrey calculated for her. “Say she was going to a store, that’d take another fifteen or twenty minutes, right?” The girl nodded. “So, she should’ve been gone an hour at most, right?”

Again, the girl nodded. “Only, it was more like two.”

“Did anyone ask her about this?”

She shook her head. “I just noticed.”

“I bet you notice a lot of things,” Jeffrey guessed. “You probably pay more attention to what’s going on than the adults do.”

Rebecca shrugged, but the compliment had worked. “She was just acting funny.”

“How?”

“She was sick in the morning, but she told me not to tell Mama.”

The pregnancy, Lena thought.

Jeffrey asked, “Did she tell you why she was sick?”

“She said it was something she ate, but she wasn’t eating much.”

“Why do you think she didn’t want to tell your mother?”

“Mama would worry,” Rebecca said. She shrugged. “Abby didn’t like people to worry about her.”

“Were you worried?”

Lena saw her swallow. “She cried at night sometimes.” She tilted her head to the side. “My room’s next door. I could hear her.”

“Was she crying about something specific?” Jeffrey asked, and Lena could hear him straining to be gentle with the girl. “Maybe someone hurt her feelings?”

“The Bible teaches us to forgive,” the girl answered. From anyone else, Lena might have thought she was being dramatic, but the girl seemed to be relaying what she thought of as wise advice rather than a sermon. “If we cannot forgive others, then the Lord cannot forgive us.”

“Was there anyone she needed to forgive?”

“If there was,” Rebecca began, “then she would pray for help.”