No Time for Goodbye - Linwood Barclay [146]
Walking to school alone was at the top of Grace’s agenda. We were surprised, frankly. After what she’d been through, we thought she might actually be happy with an escort. The fact that she still wanted her independence seemed to me and Cynthia a hopeful sign.
We both gave her hugs goodbye, and we stood in the window watching her as long as we could, until she turned the corner.
It seemed like we were both holding our breath. We hovered over the phone in the kitchen.
Rolly was still recovering from one hell of a concussion. He was in the hospital. That made him easy to find when Rona Wedmore showed up to charge him in the deaths of Tess Berman and Denton Abagnall. The Connie Gormley case had been reopened, too, but that one was going to be a bit trickier to prove. The only witness, Clayton, was dead, and there was no physical evidence, like the car Rolly had been driving when he and Clayton staged the hit. It was probably rusting away in an automobile graveyard someplace.
His wife, Millicent, phoned and screamed at us, said we were liars, that her husband hadn’t done anything, that they were just getting ready to move to Florida, that she was going to get a lawyer and sue our asses off.
We had to get a new number. Unlisted.
It was just as well. Just before we did, we were getting several calls a day from Paula Malloy at Deadline, wanting to do a follow-up story. We never returned her calls, and when we saw her through the window standing on the front step, we didn’t answer the door.
I had to get my ribs all taped up, and the doctor says Cynthia will probably need plastic surgery on her cheek. As for emotional scars, well, who knows.
Clayton Sloan’s estate is still being sorted out. That could take a while, but that’s okay. Cynthia’s not even sure she wants the money. I’m working on her about that.
Vince Fleming was transferred from the hospital in Lewiston to the one here in Milford. He’s going to be okay. I visited him the other day and he said Jane better end up with straight As. I told him I was on it.
I promised him I’d keep tabs on Jane’s academic career, but I might be doing it from a different school. I’m thinking of putting in for a transfer. It’s not many teachers end up getting their principal charged in two murders. It can get a bit awkward in the staff room.
The phone rang. Cynthia had the receiver in her hand before the first ring finished.
“Okay…okay,” she said. “You’re okay? No problems? Okay…Let me talk to your teacher…. Hi, Mrs. Enders. Yeah, no, she sounds fine…. Thank you…. Thank you so much…. Yes, we have been through a lot, it’s true. I think I might still go over and meet her after school. At least today. Okay…Thanks. You too…. Okay…Bye.”
She hung up. “She’s okay,” she said.
“That’s what I figured,” I said, and we both shed a couple of tears.
“You okay?” I said.
Cynthia grabbed a tissue, dabbed at her eyes. “Yeah. You want some coffee?”
“Sure,” I said. “Pour us some. I have to get something.”
I went to the front hall closet, dug into the pocket of the sport coat I’d been wearing that night when everything happened, and pulled out the envelope. I came back into the kitchen, where Cynthia was sitting with her coffee, a mug sitting across the table at my spot.
“I already put your sugar in,” she said, and then she saw the envelope. “What’s that?”
I sat down, holding on to it.
“I was waiting for the right time, and I think this is it,” I said. “Let me give you some background.”
Cynthia had the look you get when you’re expecting bad news from your doctor.
“It’s okay,” I said. “Clayton, your father, he explained this to me, wanted me to explain it to you.”
“What?”
“That night, after you had that big fight with your parents, and you went up to bed, I guess you kind of passed