Chapter 3 #2
“It was ours,” Josh said solemnly. “Will’s body was found in one of our barrels of sap. They cracked it open at the sugar house to do the first demonstration, and he was just…” He shook his head. “In there.”
My stomach dropped.
Jenn paced to the end of the room and back. “Inventory logs, transport manifests, and a timeline of where we all were. Everything needs to be airtight. If we don’t push our own narrative, the rumor mill will do it for us.”
“Narrative?” Josh snorted. “The only narrative here is a dead kid.”
Gabe let out a weary sigh. “Listen, this is a shitshow for the whole town. The rest of the festival has been canceled. Vendors packed up and the tourists scattered like pigeons. Folks are canceling reservations at the inn, and I’m trying to find out if we’ve got a murderer on the loose.”
He put his head in his hands and groaned.
“Everyone wants a throat to grab, and guess who’s stuck his neck out?” He straightened, his face suddenly looking older. “Me, the fucking mayor.”
“Aw, fuck,” Jenn said. “Everything’s on fire.”
“Figuratively,” I added. I disliked jokes about fire.
How the hell did a body end up in our sap?
We’d started tapping in March like we always did.
We sugared a small amount ourselves, but most of it was sold to the co-op our grandfather had founded.
The co-op set the prices and negotiated on behalf of the farmers.
And Josh was on the board. Most of the stock was sold to Sugar Moon, which had a massive factory on the outskirts of town.
“Have you spoken to Nolan?” Josh asked. “He told me to be available for the next few days, but nothing else.”
Gabe shook his head. “He’s using that ‘ongoing investigation’ bullshit.”
Nolan Foster, the Maplewood police chief, had been friends with Gabe and Josh since they were kids. They still played in an old man hockey league together every winter. But clearly he wasn’t giving anything up, even to his closest friends.
Jess’s breath hitched, making the phone line crackle. “Do they know how he died?”
“No.” Gabe pressed his lips together. “The state medical examiner’s office was here, but it’ll be a couple of weeks before we get a full report.”
“It’s so sad,” she said. “He was so young.”
“There’s no way this happened on the farm,” Josh said quietly. “I oversee everything. We loaded those pallets last weekend, and Will signed for them.”
“Did he do any work for us this season?” Jess asked.
We hired seasonal workers each year, and Will had helped in the past.
“No. He got a full-time job at the co-op,” Josh said. “We hired him to replace Bob last year. He was handling deliveries and managing the storage warehouse.”
“So he was here on the farm for pickup?” Gabe said. “Do you know when exactly? And you’ve got cameras, right?”
Josh straightened, his muscles going rigid. “We have them, mostly near the main house. But one of them may have caught the truck coming up the road.”
“Okay. Get the footage.” Gabe drained his coffee and checked his watch. “Here’s the plan. Our focus for now is damage control and helping the police do their job. The sooner they lock up the person who did this, the sooner life here can go back to normal.”
“Agreed.”
“I’m issuing a mayoral statement at noon and have a couple of interviews scheduled for later. This is a terrible tragedy for our town and Will’s family. We can’t forget that.”
My chest ached at the thought of what his family must be going through.
“Jenn and Josh,” he continued, “inventory statements and delivery and tracking info. And get a list of everyone who could have touched those pallets.”
“I’ll see if we can pull footage from the co-op cameras too,” Josh said. “We’ve technically got legal counsel, but I’m not sure how much help he can be here.”
“Keep the circle tight,” Gabe warned, his expression stony.
“Jasper.” He turned to me. “Keep an ear to the ground at work, learn as much as you can from those who responded to the scene.”
Jess exhaled over the line. “After this is over, I’m going to buy the baby the tiniest Carhartt overalls, and we’ll do cute photos in the barn. Consider yourself warned.”
I smiled at the mention of Vincent. Of course he’d need overalls. He’d be a farm boy like me. Or would he? The realization hit me like a brick to the head. He was my son, but he probably wouldn’t live with me. At least not right now. He wouldn’t get to grow up on this land like we had.
Gabe pocketed his phone and picked up his briefcase. “We’ll get through this,” he said firmly. “Just be careful. Things will work out.”
He took a step back, but before he turned toward the door, he pointed at me. “And you need a paternity test.”
Anger flared in my chest again.
Maybe they didn’t believe Evie, but I did. We barely knew each other, but I trusted her. And I’d held that baby. In my bones, I knew he was mine.
Fists clenched, I worked to formulate a reasonable response. Tensions were running high, and despite the way their demands pissed me off, they just wanted to protect me.
“Paperwork is protective,” Jenn said. “Tell him, Jess.”
“Brian can help,” Jess said.
Jess’s boyfriend, Brian, specialized in family law in New York but had recently gotten licensed to practice in Vermont too.
“He can talk to you when you’re ready.”
Gabe clapped me on the shoulder. “In the meantime, I’ll draw up some papers. There is no rush, but it’s the right thing to do.”
My gut churned. Nothing about this felt right.
The only thing that felt right was getting back into my car and driving to the hospital.
After Gabe left, I stepped into the mudroom, needing a moment. The house smelled like woodsmoke and maple, and Josh’s and Jenn’s voices sawed through the door of the small room while they argued about murder, manifests, and liability.
As if the universe knew I needed an update, my phone lit up in my hand.
I reread the text I’d sent when I got home, then I smiled at Evie’s response.
Jasper:
How’s Vincent?
Evie:
He hates his hat and just got hiccups for the first time. It’s adorable.
The knot in my chest eased a notch. A few feet away, my siblings were still parsing the worst day of the year into bullet points. I didn’t want bullet points. I wanted the warm weight of my son against my chest and the noisy world turned down to a whisper.
Jasper:
I’m gonna jump in the shower. I’ll be back to visit before my shift.
Evie:
You don’t have to. I’m sure you have places to be.
Jasper:
I do. With you.
I slid my phone into my pocket, strode through the kitchen without looking at my siblings, and headed upstairs to clean up.
The farm could have me later. My son needed me now.