Until Dark - Mariah Stewart [74]
“This was the summer of 1990. Ian had just turned eleven,” she began.
“How old were you, that year?” Miranda asked.
“Twenty.”
“So you were nine years older than your brother?”
“Yes. I wasn’t home a lot that summer. I came back from college in May, spent a few weeks at home, then visited my roommate in Maine for a week. We did some hiking with a group from school. I didn’t arrive at home until the middle of July. Zach was already there when I got home.”
“That’s your cousin, Zachary Smith,” Adam stated for the record.
“Yes. He’s the son of my father’s sister, Lorraine.” Kendra smiled wryly. “Excuse me, Sierra.”
“You’ve mentioned her before. I take it you and your mother were not close to her?”
“Sierra wasn’t close to anyone. She certainly wasn’t close to my father. But when the boys were about eight or nine—Zach was a year older than Ian—Mom started having Zach come East for a visit every summer, and Sierra reciprocated by having Ian out at her ranch. Mom felt strongly that the boys should know each other. Regardless of what she may have thought of Zach’s mother, my mom felt a responsibility to Zach.”
“In what way?”
“She thought Zach should be aware of his heritage, should know his family. He was my dad’s only nephew.”
“What about Zach’s father? And his family?” Miranda asked.
“We never knew who Zach’s father was,” Kendra said as she shook her head. “No one’s ever talked about him. When Sierra was young, she was a bit . . . free-range, my mother called her once.”
“Promiscuous?” Miranda offered.
“I think that may be an understatement, but we’ll settle for promiscuous.” Kendra’s jaw hardened visibly. “At one time she lived a really free and easy lifestyle.”
“Of which your parents disapproved?” Adam asked.
“I don’t think they cared what she did with her own life, but I think they felt that she should have provided more structure for Zach.” Kendra curled her legs beneath her and settled back into the sofa cushions. “I should explain here that both my father and my aunt came into a great deal of money when they each turned twenty-one, then more when they turned thirty-five. Sierra used a bit of hers to buy the ranch in Arizona. Free spirit that she was, she had a steady stream of visitors, some who stayed for months, years, maybe.”
“And she supported this group?” Miranda asked.
“Yes, food, shelter, and later, we found out, all the drugs they could consume.”
“Sounds like a commune from the 1960s.” Miranda put her feet up on the end of the table.
“Except there was no contribution from anyone except Sierra,” Kendra said. “Several of the women who showed up had children of their own, and my aunt supported them, too. Most of those kids, we learned at the trial, were younger than Zach. All in all, I think he was a really lonely kid.”
“He must have had friends from school,” Adam noted.
“Zach was home-schooled.”
“I guess he must have looked forward to coming to stay with your family in the summer. If for nothing else, the change of scenery,” Miranda said.
“Yes, as much, I suspect, as Ian looked forward to going to Arizona. He was fascinated by the terrain, by the culture. The lure of the Old West.” Kendra smiled, remembering. “Ian was always fascinated with the whole cowboy thing. Wanted to live a rugged life on a ranch, like his cousin did. In a way, I think he envied Zach as much as Zach envied his lifestyle.”
“If your aunt was doing drugs, as you say, why would your mother permit him to go there and stay for two weeks every year?”
“At the time, Adam, we had no idea. Sierra had sworn that she’d been clean and sober for years, and was just living the simple, natural life in the hills,” Kendra told them. “She was apparently fine whenever my mother spoke with her on the phone. If Mom had known the truth, she never would have permitted Ian to go.”
“Did they communicate? Sierra and your mother?” Miranda asked.
“Only by phone. And then only when they were making arrangements for the boys’ trips. After the trial, my mother washed her hands of my aunt completely. Once she found out what had really been going