Chapter 13
Tori looked toward the house. “Where’s Drew?”
“Inside. He seemed glad to know you were coming.”
That was her Drew. Her nephew had always gravitated toward her, probably because there was only eleven years difference in their ages.
He had always seemed older than he was, and she figured it was because of what he’d been through with his mother dying and his father’s drinking—something they had in common. “Has he told you anything?”
Erin’s shoulders dropped. She shook her head. “But I’m hoping since you two are close, he’ll talk to you.”
“Give me a little background first. Why was he at Jenny Tremont’s house that time of the morning?”
“I don’t know. But they were tight after Jenny was there for the worst of Beth’s cancer.” Erin glanced toward the road. “After she died, it was Jenny he turned to.”
Instead of Tori. She hadn’t been here, so he turned to his mother’s best friend, who had been. Maybe she could make it up to him. Tori grabbed her computer. “Let’s go talk to him.”
“You want me to take in anything?”
“I’ll get it later.” She turned toward the house, and her sister placed her hand on Tori’s arm, stopping her.
“Thanks for coming home. I know it’s hard.”
She gave her sister a curt nod. Erin had that right, and Tori didn’t want to discuss the reason why.
“Look, not talking about the issue with Dad isn’t going to make the problem go away. Will you at least be civil?”
She turned and studied Erin. “When have I not been?”
“Oh, you’re polite enough, but one look at your face tells everyone how you really feel.”
So now she had to wear a mask as well?
“He’s really struggling. He can’t forgive himself.”
“Good.”
“Tori!” Erin shook her head. “Can’t you remember all the years he stayed sober? We had a great childhood.”
“A great childhood doesn’t erase the fact that Mom died because of him.”
“I don’t know why you say that. He wasn’t drinking the morning the accident happened.”
“But he had the night before—got roaring drunk, somebody said.”
Erin caught her eye and held it. “You act like you’ve never made a mistake.”
“At least my mistakes never killed anyone.”
“Don’t be so quick to say that. You don’t know what the future holds.” Her sister took a deep breath. “Please . . . your forgiveness would mean so much to Dad . . . and it would set you free—’cause don’t tell me you have any peace with all that anger in your heart.”
Tori hadn’t had peace in seven years. Anger was better than the overwhelming grief that swept over her when she thought about her mother. She turned as Erin’s front door opened and the object of her anger appeared.
“Y’all going to stand out there jawing all day?” her dad yelled, teasing in his voice.
He didn’t look or sound like he was struggling to Tori.
“Coming,” Erin called back. Then she turned to Tori. “Please don’t ignore him like you usually do.”
“No promises.” When they reached the door, she managed to nod at him, but she couldn’t bring herself to speak and especially to say Dad. That didn’t stop her father.
“Victoria,” he said. “I’m so glad you came home.”
She bit back the “whatever” on the tip of her tongue and gave him a smile she knew didn’t reach her eyes. “Where’s Drew?”
“In the den.”
Tori followed Erin and her dad to the back of the house. Drew sat in the small, darkened room, the glow from his phone the only light. Erin flipped a switch, dispelling the darkness.
He looked up, and Tori saw desperation in his eyes. “How’re you doing?”
Her question brought a grimace, then Drew shifted his gaze back to his phone. “Been better.”
“Me too.” She’d had to strain to hear his words. This was the Drew she remembered from after his mom died. Tori glanced at Erin and her father. “Mind leaving us alone for a few minutes?”
“I don’t think—”
“Sure,” Erin said, overriding their dad. “Dad, you can help me make us a snack.”
Once they were alone, Tori sat on the sofa, catty-corner from Drew, their knees almost touching, and waited. At first the silence was tense, but as the seconds passed into minutes, he relaxed. After five minutes, a smile quirked Drew’s lips.
“I know what you’re doing. You’re waiting for me to start talking.”
“Always said you were a smart kid.”
He actually laughed. “I don’t know about that. If I was, I wouldn’t be in this mess.”
“Want to talk about it?”
“Not really.”
“I don’t think the mess is going away,” she said. “Let’s start with something easy. Why are you staying with Erin instead of your dad?”
He made a face. “Me and Dad had a big blowup after he had to go with me to the sheriff’s office Sunday.”
No surprise there. “So you came here instead of going home?”
“Something like that.”
Talking to him was like digging a ditch in concrete. “What were you doing in Jenny Tremont’s neighborhood at that hour?”
His mouth twitched. “I couldn’t sleep.”
She waited for him to say more. When he didn’t she said, “So you walked over to her house?”
He shrugged.
“You’re telling me you walked over two miles and just ended up at her house because you couldn’t sleep?”
Drew gripped the arms of the chair as Erin’s grandfather clock ticked the seconds into minutes. Tori waited, and when the silence grew longer, still she waited, fearing he’d shut completely down if she pressed him harder.
“Drove my truck part of the way.” He chewed his thumbnail then locked gazes with her. “How long are you staying in Logan Point?”
Tori hadn’t expected that. “My plans are to leave Saturday.”
“No!” He jumped to his feet, his hands spread. “You can’t leave that soon.”
Her heart sank. “I—”
“Please! You can’t leave.” Drew paced the den then stopped in front of her. “If they arrest me, you’re the only one who can find out what really happened. I . . . I need you.”
The fear in his voice ripped her heart out. Tori and Drew had always been close, so close he’d never added Aunt to her name—it’d always been Tori. Her mother had taken care of Drew when Beth had complications from the C-section, and eleven-year-old Tori suddenly had her own real-life doll to love.
She stood and put her arms around his tense body. “It’s okay,” she said, trying to calm him. “I can’t promise how long I’ll stay, but to help you, I need to know what happened.”
Drew collapsed in the chair and held his head in his hands. She couldn’t make out what he was saying. “You want to talk about it instead of muttering words I can’t understand?”
He shook his head, wiping the tears that leaked from the sides of his eyes.
“Like I said, if I don’t know what happened, I can’t help you.”
“But you got that other person out of jail.”
“I had something to work with there. He told me his side of the story, and if I’m going to help you, Drew, you’ll have to tell me what happened.”
He turned his gaze toward the fireplace. When he looked at her again, he said, “I didn’t kill Jenny, but I think I know who did . . .”
She gave him a minute to finish the thought. When he didn’t, Tori leaned forward. “Who?”
For a second, she thought he would answer, but then he shook his head. “I can’t.”