Chapter 12 #2
Immediately, I shake my head no. “Connor isn’t a criminal. If I believed that for even a split second, I’d go to the house, pack up my things and the girls’ things, and leave him today.”
Again, she nods. “Okay, then. That being settled, now the police just need to catch up with what you know. Have they questioned you at all? Maybe if they heard that from you it could help.”
“No, they haven’t talked to me at all. I’m guessing they figure since I wasn’t there that I wouldn’t know anything that would help the case.”
That I might know something isn’t wrong, but that it’s a detail that could hurt my husband is a problem.
Kelsey seems to pick up on my apprehension about Connor and says, “If you tell me anything, I promise I won’t tell a soul. Trust me. I know how it feels to be involved in something you had no part in starting.”
Maybe it would be okay to tell her and only her. She has been very nice.
I lean close to the table and whisper, “I don’t know if this is important, but when I checked my husband’s storage box for his guns yesterday, one was missing.
I thought the police would figure that out by now, but nobody’s mentioned that at all.
They’re all talking about him being a murderer, and they don’t even know one of his guns is missing.
If they knew, I can only imagine what they’d say. ”
Knowing that makes my stomach clench from stress. All of these people we considered friends of ours already believe Connor is a killer. Just wait until the cops find out one of his guns is gone.
“Forget them, Jamie. People love to gossip. I swear it’s the most popular thing in suburbia. The gun being gone is concerning, though. You don’t think he had that gun on him when he went for the hike with that poor man, do you?”
I want to shake my head. I want to definitively say there’s no chance in this world that Connor would have taken a gun with him on a simple hike around our community. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him do anything with any of the guns he owns.
But I can’t say without a shadow of a doubt he didn’t have that gun on him Saturday.
Quietly, I give voice to the worst thing I’ve ever thought about Connor. “Kelsey, I don’t know. Why would he take a gun on what was basically a nature walk?”
She shrugs and shakes her head. “I don’t know. I’m not from around here, so maybe he thought there may be some wild animals he’d see that he might need protection from?”
Even as she says that, I see she doesn’t believe it any more than I do.
“Wild animals on what’s basically a trail in a park? We all call it a hiking trail, but the HOA handles the upkeep, so it’s not like it’s exactly a wild area. Oh, God! What was he thinking?”
Suddenly, my emotions get the better of me, and I begin sobbing quietly again.
Am I saying I think Connor possibly used his gun to kill that poor man?
I don’t know. All I do know is none of this looks like it’s going to get better anytime soon, and that means I have to figure out what I’m going to do to protect my girls.
As if she’s reading my mind, Kelsey says, “Maybe you should take your daughters away for a little while. Can you go to a relative’s house to visit? You wouldn’t have to tell them why you’re going away. It can just be a little trip out of town.”
I think about that for only a second before I know I can’t. “No, the girls have their big meet coming up next week. They can’t miss practice at all before that.”
While I’m telling her that, all I can think about is the team shunning Cassandra and Danielle just like those kids at school did.
Neither one said yesterday’s practice was bad in that way, but the longer this mess goes on, the bigger the chance is that even with as talented as they are, gymnastics is going to be ruined by the horrible rumors going around about their father.
Damn Connor! I could just scream when I think about what this is doing to our children.
Worry settles into Kelsey’s expression, making her mouth turn down so lines form. Added to her scars that are ever present, they show how worried she is about me.
“I know what I’m about to say is unnerving, but hear me out. If you believe your husband is innocent, maybe you should tell the police about his gun being missing. They’ll do a ballistics test on the gun they found at the scene, and hopefully, that will clear him.”
As much as I know that sounds like a good idea, I don’t know if I can do it. “What if it turns out to be his gun?”
Kelsey sighs. “That would be bad.”
When I don’t say anything, she asks, “So you do think there’s even the tiniest possibility that he could have done this?”
I can’t bring myself to answer her. All I can do is nod, and even that feels like a betrayal of my husband.
She sets her jaw and nods like she knows what will fix this for me. “Then I believe you have to think about yourself and your girls now, Jamie.”
I start to defend Connor, so she quickly says, “I’m not saying you shouldn’t stand by him.
I’m just saying your daughters need you to protect them now.
People can be very cruel. Your girls did nothing wrong, but you know how things go.
Children overhear their parents talking, and although they may not understand what’s going on, they follow their parents’ lead.
It’s wrong, but it happens. I don’t want to see you or your daughters hurt by this. ”
She’s right. I know she is. But abandoning Connor isn’t something I’m prepared to do. We may have had our ups and downs over the years, but he’s my husband.
I belong at his side, just as our daughters do.
Kelsey gives my hand a sympathetic pat and then writes something on her napkin. Handing it to me, she says, “If you ever need me and I’m not here, just call that number, okay?”
I smile, thankful for a friend in this horrible time. “I appreciate that. I worry things are going to get worse before they get better, so I just might be calling.”
“Good. I told you before. I have two good ears to listen to whatever you need to talk about, so call whenever you need to.”