From the Heart: Romance, Mystery and Suspense a collection for everyone (41 page)

She dried her face and scooted up her chair, looking across the table at Richard. His eyes softened, and he reached across the table, linking his fingers with hers. “No Harper, we’ve come a long way. We can’t hide from what happened. Ryley, your Mom will be okay. Won’t you, Maggie?”

She held tight to Richard and wiped her nose with her other hand using a tissue Diane handed her. She breathed deeply, finding her voice. “Ryley, don’t be afraid. I don’t remember much from those days, but I love you and always have. Losing Lily the way we did, took something out of me. If it wasn’t for you, I don’t think I would have wanted to go on. Those pills drowned my pain. I cooked for you, cleaned the house, did your laundry, and I know now I was just getting through the day. We never talked, and for that I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay Mom, I knew you were sad. But you scared me, I had a bad dream. I went into your room to wake you up. I even shook your arm, you wouldn’t wake up. My teacher knew I was upset at school, and Mrs. Johnson would come in and talk to me. She was really nice. She talked to me a lot after Lily died.”

Maggie couldn’t help the way her spine stiffened. Richard must have known it by the way his face hardened.

“Ryley, did you ever tell Mrs. Johnson your mom was taking medicine?” Richard asked.

He slumped in his chair the way a boy does when he thinks he’s done something wrong. “It’s okay, Ryley,” said Maggie. “I understand you needed someone to talk to, but it’s really important for you to tell us everything you said to her. We won’t get mad.” She didn’t know where those rational words came from. And the hesitant glance Ryley fixed her with let her know he wasn’t sure she really meant what she said.

He stuttered, and then swallowed. His big eyes still held a touch of innocence she hadn’t managed to shred. “I told her you took something to make you sleep. That you were always taking some kind of pill, but I didn’t know what it was.”

“Ryley, how often did Mrs. Johnson pull you aside and talk to you?” asked Harper.

He shrugged his shoulders the way a boy does when his head doesn’t hang onto those important little details the way an adult does. “I don’t know. Lots, I guess.”

“Are we talking less than five times or more than ten?”

“I think more. Why does that matter?”

Harper simply laughed in exasperation. “I have a boy your age, and I forget sometimes what it was like to be a boy. Not much sticks in your head, and you sure don’t remember details, do you?”

Ryley looked confused and furrowed his brows as if he was worried he was about to get in trouble.

“Relax. Now let’s see how much I’m able to squeeze out of that head of yours. I bet I get lots.” Harper surprised all of them with how animated he could be when he squeezed his hands around an imaginary head and slipped his tongue out the side of his mouth.

For the next thirty minutes, Harper dragged all kinds of details from Ryley’s memory. And what they realized was what he said to an adult in the school who should know better, had been twisted. Ryley had told her about the police involvement, before Lily was killed and how it cool it was to have police officers and DEA agents at their house. He said Mrs. Johnson had asked many times why they were there, were his dad and mom in trouble? Did they have a greenhouse, what kind of things did they grow, were there guns in the house, did he know about drugs, and who were his parents’ friends?

Maggie blinked, and her gaze never left Richard’s as she tried to absorb this absurdity. “She asked me if I always had to look after Lily, and what were Mom and Dad doing when I had to watch her? If they left us overnight, how often, and did they leave me alone with Lily.”

“When we were in her office one day, she said she knew Dan and his family. She also knew friends of his, one lady named Sandra. She asked if we ever met. I didn’t know her, but it was cool when we got to talk about Dan and how much fun he is.”

Maggie wondered if the strangled sound she made was just in her head. But no one looked at her, except Richard, whose eyes flashed as he made a tight fist with the hand he rested on the table. Harper snagged her attention when he got up and walked over to the door and opened it.

“Marcie, there is a great coffee shop on the main floor. Why don’t you pop on down there with Ryley and just give us a minute here.” Harper was direct and didn’t wait for an answer as he held open the door.

“Sure. Come on, bud. Let’s see if they have something with chocolate.” Marcie guided Ryley out, and Harper shut the door. And thankfully, Kyla was still sound asleep in her car seat on the floor behind Sam.

Everyone looked for a moment as if they were going to a funeral until Sam’s phone rang.

“Sam here.” He said nothing for a long time, as he listened. He pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and index finger. “Get back to me when you find out more.” That was all he said before disconnecting and slipping his cell phone into his dark jacket pocket.

“Wow.” Harper strode to the credenza and poured a coffee, dumping in cream and sugar. He grabbed a muffin and took a bite. “I don’t know about you guys, but sitting here listening to Ryley, I was starting to wonder who this Mrs. Johnson is in the school, and what motivation she has to be questioning Ryley the way she did. A school district employee?
Highly
inappropriate.”

Sam swiveled in the high back leather chair. “Well, we now have a starting point. My phone call just now? It appears Alison Johnson’s the sister-in-law to our esteemed congressman, Fred White. But wait, it gets better. Alison was friends with Sandra in high school, and guess who Sandra introduced her to? Dan McKenzie, and he was her high school sweetheart.”

Chapter Forty-five

Harper’s face flushed a rosy color as he threw down his pen, pressing back in his chair, and then gazed up at the ceiling as if trying to figure out why he was the butt of a sick joke. He removed his glasses and rubbed his eyelids with his thick fingers.

Diane spoke when she had something to say, otherwise she gave everyone her undivided attention. Studying everyone in the room. Her way of getting into their head—generally putting her one step ahead of everyone. “We need Marcie here. She knows some of Dan’s friends from high school. Maybe she could shed some light on that connection. There’s one thing you and I know, Sam: there really is no such thing as coincidence. This whole thing smells, and a big old red flag is waving.”

Richard sat up straight and tall, his back pressed into the soft leather of the high back chair. He breathed deeply and quietly in way Maggie could only describe as eerie. What was he thinking?

“Dan had a lot of girlfriends. There must a hundred women ready to do something… anything for him. This can’t be any surprise, although it is.” Richard didn’t move as he spoke, he didn’t look at anyone but instead at a spot on the wall above Maggie’s head. “Sam, whoever your contact is, they’re good. Tell me this much. Am I way off base in thinking this personal attack against Maggie is payback? And how likely is it that Sandra and Alison Johnson are still friends? And what is their connection to me and whoever set me up for murder?” Richard was in his protective role again. He didn’t look at Maggie as he addressed Sam.

“Richard, whatever this cosmic web, Dan McKenzie’s involved. Alison Johnson and add in Fred White too, and what’s their agenda?” Sam sounded even more irritated than circumstances required, if such a thing were possible.

Harper tapped his pen on the table. Lost in deep thought, his mind appeared to be wrestling with something. “Okay, we got a lot to work with, first things first. We have two hours before Ryley has to be at the courthouse. And as I said, I’ll take him because it’s imperative the judge knows you two had no influence over him. Let’s hope Ryley has enough common sense, Maggie, to not bring up those times he couldn’t wake you. Is it enough to take your kid away? No, not technically. But this whole situation against both of you has someone’s personal agenda stamped all over it. Ryley’s loved, I can see that. I’ll talk to him about how to talk to the judge, and what to expect. But judges are unpredictable. And they don’t like to be second-guessed. I’m pretty sure this judge has not been influenced by Fred White, but that’s a gray area always. Judges are politicians, too, and Cooper is no exception. Maggie, Richard, go home. I’m going to take Ryley for lunch, and then to the courthouse. Sam, I’m going to get you to tag along. We’ll bring Ryley home after he meets with the judge. Then tomorrow morning at nine, we’ll have her decision.

Chapter Forty-six

“Come in young man and have a seat.” Judge Cooper was dressed casually in a pair of tan slacks and a cream-colored sweater. She closed the door, leaving Sam and Harper outside her chambers. Ryley was an eleven-year-old boy, and, in her mind, one who was old enough to understand right from wrong with clarity.

Her chambers were far from sterile as she guided him to one of the wing back chairs beside an electric fireplace. A homey feel to give her peace to ponder her difficult decisions undisturbed. Ryley looked around as he fidgeted in the dark green chair, his feet barely touching the ground when he slid back and then forward, perching awkwardly on the edge as if he didn’t know how to sit. His face paled when he finally glanced in her direction. She leaned back and propped her elbow on the arm on her chair.

“Take a deep breath, relax. I promise I won’t bite.” If she wasn’t going about this the right way, her experience with children was admittedly minimal in her newly appointed position.

“Ryley, do you know why you’re here?”

He nodded in response and appeared to have trouble swallowing. Those wide fearful eyes on any child were never good.

“I’m not going to hurt you. I’m on your side. I want to hear from you how you’re doing. You’ve had a rough go of it. Can you tell me about Lily?”

Tears glazed his eyes, and he folded both hands together in his lap. Looking down, he spoke so low she had to lean forward to hear his words.

“She was my sister, but she couldn’t do anything. She screamed a lot, banged her head.”

“Did you spend a lot of time with her?”

“Mom and me and Lily were pretty much always together.”

“I don’t know any autistic children, so I can only imagine how difficult it must have been. I was an only child. My mom and dad were never around. So I never had a brother or sister to play with. I had nannies who raised me. A new one every few years. My parents traveled a lot.”

“Didn’t your parents love you?”

She nearly choked and wondered for a moment what he picked up from that small snippet of her childhood. She knew she was a burden to her parents and wondered growing up why they had her. “Oh, they loved me in their own way. Just sometimes parents can’t give you what you need. Mine were too busy with their own lives. And sometimes parents get an older brother or sister to look after the younger kids. Some parents even leave their kids alone, and no child should ever be left alone. Did you look after Lily for your mom?”

Ryley shrugged his shoulders. “Sometimes.”

What did your mom do when you looked after Lily?”

“Oh, we’d be outside playing, she’d go in the house and get something or answer the phone.”

“Did your mom ever go out and leave you alone with Lily?”

“No, Mom was always with us. She was so worried about Lily, both of us. When she went to the bathroom she’d leave the door open, so she could hear us. When we were outside, Mom mostly took Lily inside with her. Lily would always get into stuff. She climbed on the counter and turned the tap on, the water ran and ran and flooded the sink and floor. After that, Mom wouldn’t let Lily be in any room alone for any long time. She’d color the walls if she found a pen you left out, and you didn’t stay with her.”

“That’s a heavy burden to put on you. To watch your sister all the time. How long would you watch her for your mom? A few hours?”

He frowned, and the skin at the bridge of his nose creased. “Is that a long time?”

She smiled. “It’s like watching two of your favorite TV programs.”

His eyes widened in horror. “No way, my mom would never leave us
that
long! She’d get a coffee and be back, even when she talked on the phone, she stood over us. Why would you ask that?”

She realized something wasn’t quite jibing.

“Can I ask you what happened the day your sister died? Do you think you could tell me how come you were outside alone with her?”

His reddened eyes filled with such pain, for a moment, she wanted to take back the question.

“It was my fault.”

“What was your fault?”

“That Lily ran out onto the road. I turned my back, and she was running. I couldn’t catch her. I just turned for a second. I was mad because I wanted to play with my Gameboy. I didn’t want to watch Lily.”

“How long were you outside watching your sister?”

“We just went out. She ran outside after she climbed down from the table. Dad told me to watch her till they came out, Sam and Marcie were there. We just ate.”

“Oh, I see. What happened next?”

“I couldn’t catch her. She never
takes off
like that. I yelled at her, and Dad ran past me to get her, but it was too late. That car came so fast, it hit her, and she fell so hard.”

Ryley cried, covering his face with his hands. What a horrible thing to witness. She leaned forward and rubbed his arm. “Did your Mom and Dad blame you or tell you it was your fault?”

He couldn’t speak he was sobbing so hard.

“Do you think they blamed you?”

Ryley used his sleeve to wipe his tears, his nose. “Dad talked to me about it, and Dad cried. He felt so bad. He told me it wasn’t my fault, that it was his job. He should have been with Lily, and none of us knew she’d take off that far up to the road. She’s never done that before.”

Joan Cooper got up and opened her little bar fridge behind the desk and pulled out a can of soda. She cracked it open and divided it in two glasses. She was glad now she’d sent her clerk out to buy soda before Ryley came. She handed him one of the glasses. “I hope you like root beer.”

He took the glass and shrugged. But as he sipped, they chatted about his Gameboy—and his favorite games. They talked for over an hour. He finally relaxed and told her about moving to town with his mom and those days after Lily. How his mom looked right through him. His mom and dad fought a lot until his dad brought his mom home.

“Did you ever see your mom take medicine?”

Ryley was slumped in the large wing chair. “She had bottles of pills the doctor gave her, but she doesn’t take them anymore.”

The judge stretched out long bare fingers and examined them. “How is at home now with your mom?”

Ryley shrugged. “It’s better, I love being back home. She still cries sometimes. But she sees me now, and I know she loves me. Dad’s always there. He won’t let me do anything alone. He takes me out with him on the ATV, in his shop, and even to the site to work sometimes. He taught me to cook! And he listens to me. I love my Mom and Dad. Please don’t take me away.”