False Pretenses - Kathy Herman [31]
“Because the candy man can dipsappear.”
Vanessa smiled at her son’s mispronunciation. “How do you know he can disappear?”
“He told me.”
“Did you see him do it?”
“He was in the closet. And then he was all gone.” Carter pushed back and looked up at her, his eyes sparkling, his cheeks dimpled. “It was a magic twick.”
“It’s okay for you to have a friend that’s make-believe. But it’s important not to pretend when the sheriff is trying to find him. Sweetie, are you absolutely sure the man you saw in the closet is real and not make-believe? I won’t be mad. I just need to know the truth.”
Carter sighed. “Mommy, I alweady told you.”
“I just need you to be absolutely sure because it’s very important to the work the sheriff is doing.”
“Is the candy man bad?” Carter ran his thumb and forefinger along the hem of her tank top.
“No one said that. But the sheriff needs to find him and talk to him.”
“Well, maybe if we call him, he will come out of the closet.”
Vanessa picked up Carter’s hand and studied his little fingers. If only it were that simple. How would she ever feel safe at Langley Manor until this mystery was resolved?
“Mommy, what is lynching?”
How had he overheard Ethan and her talking? They had tried to be so careful.
“It’s a mean thing some people do to hurt someone else. It’s a word for grown-ups, not little boys.”
Vanessa held her son snugly and rocked him in silence, her arms around him like a soft blanket. His innocent little mind didn’t need to know details, didn’t need to see that horrible image.
She still wondered if he’d been affected on a subconscious level when Ethan’s cousin, Drew, was shot. Could a ten-month-old be just feet away from the blood spatter and see his mother’s frantic response and not be traumatized?
Vanessa sighed. Could people in heaven see what was happening on earth? Did Drew know that his dad and uncles gave the deed to Langley Manor to Ethan and her as a wedding gift—and the money in Drew’s trust fund for the refurbishing? At least something good had come out of Drew’s senseless murder. She hoped he knew.
The last thing she wanted was for the lynching to be in any way associated with Langley Manor. Didn’t the locals have enough generational resentment toward the Langleys without adding this to the mix? Vanessa sighed. Lord, please don’t let the Langley name get pulled into this terrible hate crime.
Carter looked up and held her face in his hands. “Don’t be sad, Mommy. Jesus is your fwend.”
She smiled. “Yes, He is. Thank you for reminding me.”
“Can I go play now?”
“Of course you can.” She gave him one last hug and then helped him down. “I love you so much.”
“I love you, too. Bye. I have to go find Georgie.”
Zoe drove north on Interstate 49, a downpour impeding her vision. She stayed focused on the taillights of the car about fifty yards in front of her. Remy Jarvis’s murder weighed heavily on her, but could she allow herself to deal with that reality before she finished what she had come to do? Wouldn’t whatever happened today impact the rest of her life?
She glanced at her odometer. She had about forty miles to go before she arrived in Alexandria. For a split second she was tempted to withdraw all the money from savings and disappear. But how could she walk away from her marriage? From the only man she had ever loved?
No. She had to do this. She had to set the record straight. Wasn’t Adele a merciful person—and religious? Surely she could convince the woman that desperate people do desperate things. Surely she could work something out with her so that Pierce never had to know.
God, if You’ll just help me get through this, I promise never to tell another lie.
She remembered the first serious conversation she’d had with Pierce shortly after they met, and the lies that had rolled off her tongue.…
“So, Zoe Benoit, are you ever going to tell me about yourself?” Pierce had said. “Where are you from? You’re no Looziana Cajun. You sound Texan.”
“Good ear. I’m impressed. I was born and raised in Dallas.