The Redemption Game Page 24

  “Please,” Jamie added, when Julie remained on the fence. After another moment of hesitation, the girl nodded.

  “Yeah, okay. Sure. What can I tell you?”

  Jack led her inside, and into his office. She looked around with a critical eye, but seemed to find nothing overtly offensive about the decor. Though Jack noticed that she didn’t fall over herself to compliment him on the place, either.

  He offered something to drink and was surprised when Julie asked what he had, then listened as though getting the drinks list at a fine restaurant before settling on lemonade. Once they were seated, Jack with tea in front of him and Julie with the requested lemonade—Jamie had somewhat impatiently refused refreshments—Jack got started.

  “Can you walk me through what happened for you the night Nancy Davis was killed,” he asked. Julie eyed the tape recorder at the edge of his desk suspiciously.

  “Why?” she asked, eyes narrowed. “I already told the police. I went home. Had dinner with my mother. Watched a little TV. Went to bed.”

  “What did you watch?” Jack asked. She looked confused.

  “Huh?”

  “On TV. You said you watched something?”

  “Oh—yeah, I don’t know. YouTube stuff, whatever.”

  “With your mother?”

  No, in my room. Mom was downstairs watching Downton Abbey—again. She loves that show.” The way she said it, eyes rolled heavenward, Jack assumed Julie didn’t share her mother’s opinion.

  “And what time did you go to bed?”

  She shrugged, eyes darting away. “I don’t know. Like eleven, maybe?”

  “Was your mother still up at that point?”

  “No. She was in bed by that time.”

  “Ah. Okay.” Jack paused for a moment, studying the girl as she fidgeted under his gaze. “And you’d met Bear before?” he asked finally. “Before the day everything happened with the animals?”

  “Sure,” she said. She looked thrown by the question, which had of course been Jack’s intention. “He came around to help Nancy sometimes, and I saw him then. He was always with that black girl, though—Robin, or whatever.”

  “Ren,” Jamie said.

  “Right,” Julie said, waving the distinction off with a wave of her hand. “Whatever. But about a month ago he started coming around without her.”

  “And you talked to him then?” Jack asked.

  Her cheeks colored. “I guess a couple of times, maybe. He seemed sort of…I don’t know, lonely. I guess his girlfriend moved away or something?”

  “He told you that?” Jack asked.

  “Yeah. We got to talking one day, and I asked. Some girls can be so bitchy, they’ll just steal a guy right out from under you. But I’m not that way—I just wanted to make sure he really was single, you know?”

  Jack struggled to keep his face impassive, despite the revealing statement. He was pleased to note that Jamie had also managed to keep from reacting visibly to the girl’s words.

  “Did he ever ask you out?” Jack asked. “Once you had established that he was single, I mean?”

  Her blush deepened, and she rolled her eyes. “What, you mean like on a ‘date’ or something?” Her fingers came up in air quotes around the word ‘date.’ “Kids don’t really do that anymore.”

  The phrase “Netflix and chill” popped into Jack’s head, though he said nothing. The world seemed like a foreign place to him sometimes these days.

  “No, I suppose not,” he agreed. He hesitated one more moment before he wet his lips and sat forward incrementally in his chair, fixing Julie with a pointed gaze.

  “I’ve been trying to figure something out ever since this whole thing started,” he said to her. “You know what that something is?”

  “No?” she said—the word a question, her eyes locked on his own, seemingly unable to look away. “What?”

  “Why did Bear come back to the mainland that night? He’d had a long day with the animals, he must have been tired. Did he really just come out here to fight with Nancy again, when he knew they were coming back for the animals in the morning?”

  Her eyes slid from his to the floor, hands knotted in her lap. “Oh. I—I don’t know. I guess so.”

  Jack frowned. “Did you know Bear called his girlfriend when he got back to the island the second time, and told her he couldn’t talk to her anymore?”

  Julie’s eyes shot to his, widening slightly. The first honest reaction he’d seen from her. “Really? He said that?”

  “Do you know why he would have told her something like that?”

  Mute, the girl shook her head. Jack’s frown deepened. Time to bring it home.

  “Can I tell you what I think happened that night?”

  She nodded wordlessly, hands still gripped tight in her lap.

  “I think earlier in the day, you and Bear talked. And he suggested, or maybe you suggested, that you meet up later that night. And that was why he came back to the mainland. That was why he was here and ended up fighting with Nancy.”

  Julie’s voice was brittle, barely audible, when she spoke. “You’re wrong.”

  He studied her quizzically. “Why won’t you tell the truth about this? Because you’re afraid your mother will find out you lied to her?”

  Nothing.

  She sat there, hunched and miserable, wrestling with herself.

  “Don’t you think your mother would want you to tell the truth about something like this? This could mean Bear’s future…” he pressed. Jamie remained silent, intractable, in her seat, but Jack could feel her tension.

  Finally, Julie broke.

  Her eyes welled.

  “I snuck out,” she said miserably. “I talked to Bear earlier that day, and… I mean, I’ve kind of had a thing for him for so long. And we were talking that day, and I said maybe we could go for a walk or something.”

  “So he met you,” Jack summarized.

  “Yeah. We met out at the end of my driveway, and he took me to this place where you can see the stars—like, millions of them, up on Blueberry Ridge. He knows every single constellation. All the stories behind them and everything.”

  Jamie smiled sadly, but said nothing. Jack nodded.

  “And then…?” he prompted.

  Julie blushed. “I mean—well, you know. We kind of started…fooling around. Not sex or anything,” she added hastily, looking at Jamie. “But—O.M.G. Maybe it’s gross to say this to you, but your son is a really good kisser. Like…wow. Really good.”

  Jamie managed a somewhat sickly smile. “Great. I’m so proud.”

  “You should be,” Julie said sincerely, totally missing the sarcasm. “I mean…wow. So, we’re just up there in his truck making out and whatever, and it’s getting kind of…um, you know. Hot, or whatever. And all of a sudden, he just stops. Gets out of the truck, kind of worked up, and walks away, says he’s got to work something out and he can’t do this and…” She frowned.

  “Most guys, I would have been so pissed if they pulled something like that, you know? But I really felt bad for him.”

  Her frowned deepened, lips tightening.

  “What happened after that?” Jack asked, careful to keep his voice neutral. “After he said he needed to stop.”

  She took a deep breath. “We decided it was late, so he drove me back to my house. And then we were just coming up over the hill to our property and he was like, ‘Do you know where your dad is?’” She dabbed at her eyes, the motion reminding Jack of her mother once more.

  “I mean—I know Bear isn’t the best with social graces, but it was, like, completely out of the blue. And given the fact that my dad walked out on us just a few months ago, it was totally not a cool thing to ask.”

  “What did you say?” Jack asked.

  “I said I didn’t know and I couldn’t care less, which is the truth. He can rot in hell for all I care.”

  “And what did he say to that?”

  “He said I shouldn’t talk like that—that my father pr
obably loved me a lot, and I couldn’t know what really happened. He was staring up at the top of the hill the whole time, and he was totally freaking me out. I don’t know. It was creepy.”

  “So you said goodnight then,” Jack guessed.

  “Yeah. It was about midnight by that time. I told Bear he could call me if he wanted to go out again. I mean, he’s tortured and kind of creepy, but…” She sighed. This time, the eye roll seemed to be directed at herself. “I can’t help it. He’s really hot.”

  “Plus a great kisser,” Jamie said dryly.

  “Right. Yeah, that too. And then I went inside.”

  “But Bear didn’t drive away after that?” Jack asked.

  “No. He parked at the end of my driveway, on the side of the road by Nancy’s house, and then it got really weird.”

  “How so?”

  “He got out of the truck, and it looked like maybe he was talking to somebody. The animals, maybe? He kept talking, the whole time while he walked up the hill to the spot he’d been staring at.”

  “And then…?”

  “I went to bed,” she said, with a shrug. “I put my headphones on because that’s how I sleep best. So, whatever fight my mom saw with Nancy, I missed. That much at least was true.”

  Jack nodded. He paused a moment, waiting for her to volunteer anything further before he wrapped things up. “Is there anything else you’d like to say about this?”

  “Not really,” Julie said. She looked miserable, but a little bit lighter than she had when she’d first arrived. “Except, I’m sorry I didn’t say anything sooner. I’m not sure how my story could have helped, but if you need me to testify or whatever… I mean, I’d definitely do that. Whatever you need. I’ll deal with my mom, if I have to.”

  “I appreciate that,” Jack assured her. “I’ll let you know if I have any more questions.” He handed her his business card. “Here’s my phone number. Call if you think of anything else, all right?”

  She nodded. “I will. Definitely.”

  Chapter 26

  WHEN JACK FINISHED HIS IMPROMPTU interview with Julie, he and I walked her to the door together. None of the information she’d given us was really all that mindblowing—apart from my newfound knowledge of my son’s kissing prowess, which I could have done without. The rest, though, gave pause for thought but hardly busted the case wide open.

  “I should get going, too,” I told Jack at the door. “We have a million things to get done out on the island, and with Bear gone and Monty out...”

  “If you ever need any help out there,” Julie said, surprising me, “I’m good with animals. I mean, not as good as Bear, but they usually like me all right. And I’m a hard worker. I wouldn’t mind mucking out stalls or whatever once Bear’s out of jail. I’m sure he could use the help, now that his girlfriend’s gone.”

  And there was the rub. She really didn’t seem as bad as I’d thought at first—she was just seventeen, that agonizing in-between. Add to that the fact that her world had shifted completely off its axis when her father went missing, and it was no wonder she was a little bit horrible.

  “I’m not sure how much Bear will be around,” I said. “But it would be great to have someone cover for him while he’s away.”

  Jack looked at me, surprised, but I knew Julie would turn me down. As expected, her face fell when she realized she would be stuck out on the island with a million animals and no Bear to keep her company. “Oh. Well… I should probably ask my mom first. Things might get kind of busy this summer.”

  “I understand,” I said. And I did. I’d been seventeen once too, after all. Of course, I’d been seventeen living on my own with a toddler, but I got the gist. “Just call if you change your mind.”

  She left, and I went to retrieve my jacket only to have Jack beat me to it. He picked it up, but held onto it rather than handing it over.

  “I really do need to get back,” I said again. It’s not like I was happy about it. I would have much preferred staying over with Jack Juarez to going back to the chaos on the island. He didn’t relinquish the jacket, however.

  “I was hoping you and Phantom could give me a hand with something.”

  “And what would that be?” I asked, immediately curious.

  He hesitated. “Julie said she saw Bear out in the fields the other night talking to someone,” he began.

  “Someone who wasn’t there—at least, not someone Julie could see.”

  “And he did ask some fairly pointed questions about her father…”

  I’d had the same thought. In fact, it was one of the first things I intended to talk to Bear about just as soon as he was out of that damned cell.

  “The police seem to believe they’ve found all the bodies they’re going to over at the Davis place,” Jack continued. “I think they’re wrong. I’d like to go out to the property and search again.”

  “For bodies,” I clarified. “After you were already bludgeoned and nearly burned alive over there, now you want to go back and take another look.”

  “I was hoping this time I wouldn’t be alone.” He paused. “Phantom is trained to find human remains, right?”

  “She is, but we usually do so with the police and a search warrant and a whole team of law enforcement on board.”

  “Sure, I understand,” he said, in a way that implied that was the end of the conversation. He wouldn’t push any further, I knew. He handed over my jacket. “I’ll walk you to your car.”

  I stared at him, unclear on what had just happened. “Wait—so that’s it? What are you going to do?”

  “Go by myself.”

  I frowned. “Jack—”

  “It’s all right,” he assured me. “I’ll be fine. Fred and Albie are gone—”

  “You think. And you still don’t know for sure that Fred was the one who attacked you the other night.”

  “I’ll be careful.”

  Cash and the kittens had settled down, Cash and the little black kitten on the sofa together while the other four kittens were with Phantom. It was only five-thirty, the sun still bright outside Jack’s window—it wouldn’t go down for hours yet.

  “I should go back to the island first. I’m assuming you don’t want to do this in broad daylight.”

  I caught the flash of his smile, and just managed to suppress my eye roll. He’d known all along that I’d give in.

  “I’ll go with you,” he said. I started to object, but he shook his head. “No arguments. I can help out there. And unlike Julie, spending time with your son is not a condition of my service.”

  #

  As soon as we hit the island, we set to work feeding and exercising the animals and cleaning out the pens. Therese and Sarah and a few other volunteers had done an admirable job keeping up, but there was still no shortage of work to be done.

  After the other dogs had been fed and were in their outside pens, I brought a bowl of food to Reaver. The kennel was eerily quiet now that the other twenty dogs were outside, and I reveled in the peace as I walked along the concrete walkway with Phantom by my side, Jack walking a couple of steps behind. As we approached the kennel, I could tell that the pit bull already looked a thousand times better than he had when he’d first come in. His head came up at my approach, though there was clearly tension in his frame.

  “Maybe I should stay back,” Jack said, remaining a couple of paces behind me.

  “That would be good,” I agreed. “Don’t go far, though. I’d like to see how he is with men other than Bear. You mind just staying here?”

  “Sounds good to me.”

  We continued on down the row of kennels. When we were two pens away, Reaver’s ears pricked up when I spoke to him. Slowly, his tail began to wag.

  His body changed completely the moment he saw Phantom, though. The slow tail wag became an all-out whipping, his entire body shimmying with it. He hopped forward with a few frantic, high-pitched woofs. Beside me, Phantom—usually completely intolerant of the multitude of dogs desperate to befriend
her—was far from passive now that she’d caught his scent. She remained in the heel I’d ordered her into, but I could feel how desperate she was to break it. Tail waving, we approached the kennel.

  Reaver greeted us with a play bow on the other side of the kennel door, then rolled over onto his back with his belly up, legs flailing.

  “Wow,” Jack said, still several paces back. “Have a little dignity, huh, guy?”

  Reaver ignored him, which was good—it was what I’d been hoping. I was afraid the presence of a strange man would trigger the dog, but now that he’d been removed from Nancy’s care and seemed to know he was safe, I’d yet to find anything that triggered this boy.

  Each kennel had a small latched window that greatly simplified the process of feeding everyone, since it meant we didn’t have to actually open up the kennel. I set the bowl of food inside Reaver’s kennel, and he scrambled to his feet. I held onto the bowl for a moment longer than I needed to, again gauging the dog’s reaction. He sat down politely, and waited.

  No doubt about it, this dog had had some training.

  “Good boy, Reav,” I said. “Eat up.”

  I set the bowl down, but he still didn’t move. I hesitated. “Go on, Reaver. It’s okay.”

  At the word ‘okay,’ he sprang up. That must have been his release word, once upon a time—the command that signaled he could stop whatever command he’d been holding.

  We stood by as he gobbled his food. His ribs were still visible and it would take time before he reached a healthy weight again, but he was well on his way. Once he was finished, I went into the kennel and snapped Reaver’s leash onto his collar, and set out for a quick walk around the grounds. He and Phantom fell in together immediately, and he barely missed a step when Jack joined us.

  “He’s better,” Jack noted.

  “A lot better,” I agreed. “I wish I knew what happened to him. I was hoping to talk to Albie, ask some questions now that I have a better sense of him. I’m almost positive that my theory is at least something along the lines of what happened: he was in the hands of a group that would have fought him, and Nancy got hold of him before they could actually do anything.”