Where the Darkness Goes

Chapter 10

CHAPTER TEN

GARRETT — PRESENT DAY

She’s quiet on the way home, staring out the window, and she keeps wringing her hands together like she always does when she’s stressed.

“I’m sorry.” My voice feels foreign cutting through the silence. “I just assumed you knew. Kristy must’ve, too.”

“I just saw her obituary on Facebook. It never mentioned…” She isn’t looking at me as she says it.

“Right.” Will should’ve told her, but I’m honestly not sure if he knows. He’s gone so often now—only home on the weekends—that he doesn’t really talk to anyone around town except when he runs errands, but most weekends he’s too exhausted to get out much at all. I should’ve mentioned it to one of them, I guess, but how do you even bring that up? It’s been so long since the last murder, I guess we’re out of practice. “I forget the rest comes with being in town. The gossip spreads here, but Justin and Kristy fought to keep the details out of the paper to protect the girls. Perks of being in a small town, I guess. You know Ray down at the paper will do anything for Kristy.”

I don’t know if that was meant to be a joke—the small-town bit—but I want her to smile again. It’s horrific seeing her sad, always has been. I can’t imagine anything worse than the look on her face right now, the devastating truth that there’s nothing I can do to take her pain away. Being useless is not something I handle well, especially when it comes to Tessa. It makes my skin crawl.

“Without Mom around to talk to, I’m pretty out of the loop, I guess,” she says eventually. Adjusting in her seat, she tucks her hands under her thighs. “It’s true, then? They’re saying someone killed her? Do they think it’s somehow related to all those girls when we were growing up?”

“I don’t know,” I admit. There’s a balloon of air in my chest that I can’t quite breathe out. With every new breath, it seems to grow bigger, more uncomfortable. “Her family would know more than I do, but what I’ve heard around town is that she died”—I wince as I say the word, hating the way it feels on my tongue—“by gunshot.”

“She was shot.” She winces, then eyes me. “Where? At home? Where was Justin?”

“I haven’t spoken to him directly. I called and left a message with my condolences once the news got out, but he hasn’t responded. Understandably. He’s got so much on his plate right now, I can’t imagine having time to return calls. And the house has been so busy with people visiting I haven’t wanted to intrude. But, from what I’ve heard, he was on a business trip, and Britney was home with the girls. Justin’s dad, Anthony—I don’t know if you remember him, but they still live next door to Brit and Justin—he woke up and said he thought he’d heard something, but he couldn’t be sure it wasn’t a dream or a car backfiring or something. His wife was out of town visiting Justin’s aunt, so he couldn’t check with her to see if she’d heard it. He looked outside but didn’t see anything. At that point, he wasn’t even sure which house the sound might’ve come from, you know? The next morning, he went around to check and make sure everything was okay, and he, well, he found her. The girls were still in bed, thankfully.”

“He waited all night? Seriously?”

“He just didn’t know.” I can’t blame her for the judgment in her voice, but if he hadn’t checked at all—like none of the other neighbors did—those girls might’ve been the ones to find her. I can’t imagine anything worse. “Based on what other people are saying, he thought he’d dreamed it, but it was still bothering him when he woke up. He couldn’t shake the worry.”

She turns her head to look out the window, clearly annoyed. “So do they have any suspects? Surely someone knows something. Whose gun was it?”

“I think I heard it was registered to her dad, but it was passed down to Britney when he died a few years ago. Like I said, this is all rumor-mill whispers, but the police seem to think it was self-inflicted?—”

“She wouldn’t.”

“Yeah, her family doesn’t think so either.”

She inhales sharply, then bites her bottom lip in thought. “How is it possible we still don’t have answers about everything that happened back then? Six people died in less than a year, all moms and daughters, and we never got answers. We all just…moved on.”

I swallow, gripping the steering wheel. “There were suspects, but not enough evidence. Anyway, whoever it was, I think we all assumed they were long gone. Until now. And we still don’t know if it’s even connected.”

“No one else has ever died here. Not violently like this. There are twelve hundred people in this town. How big of a chance is there that there’s not some connection between what happened back then and what’s happening now?” Her eyes pinch, and she massages the place between her brows before looking my way urgently. “Someone needs to protect her daughters.”

“Kristy is staying at the house for now to help Justin. I think everyone had the same thought, but they’re much younger than any of the other girls who were killed. Plus all of those daughters were murdered on the same day as their mothers. There really doesn’t seem to be a connection between then and now, but I agree it’s unsettling. I don’t want this to all start up again.”

“Well, we can’t just let this go. We have to…to do something. Someone has to know something about this case and all the others, too. I owe it to Britney to get answers.”

“You’re stubborn enough. If anyone can figure out what’s going on around here, my vote would be on you.” I hope I sound as if I believe what I’m saying. I just don’t know how any of us can find out more than the police. Then again, I also don’t see how we could find out less than the police.

She gives me a small smile. “Thanks, but this has been going on for years. As much as I want to get to the bottom of everything, I just don’t see how I could with only a few days left here.”

That’s right. She’s leaving. She’s going away again, and I can’t stop her. “When do you leave?”

“I’m freelancing, so technically I can stay for a while, but I don’t like to leave my house for too long. Realistically, I plan to leave in a day or two. I just want to see Will before I go back.”

“Maybe a day or two is all you’ll need.” I bump her arm with mine. “Either way, you have a place here as long as you need it.”

She draws one side of her mouth in. “Britney wouldn’t have done this.”

She doesn’t seem to be looking for a response to that, and I’m not sure I have one, so I just reach across the console and squeeze her hand. “You know I’m here, right?” I’ll leave it at that, let her take what meaning from it she will.

Her smile is soft and sad when she looks up at me, her hazel eyes locking with mine. “I know.”