Chapter 4
After the cops left, my family quickly dissipated.
Dad headed out in his car to go “get gas,” which I knew meant he was defying the cops’ orders and continuing to search for Hazel.
Mom promptly gathered Steve and her yawning children to head back to their hotel, giving the others hugs goodbye and me a huffy wave. That left me with Tommy and his family.
“What now?” I asked, turning to Suzannah, who had put her arm around me.
My sister-in-law was a naturally comforting person, and she seemed to have that effect on everyone around her.
Just feeling her fingertips on my shoulders was enough to calm me down.
Suzannah was barely two years older than me, but she seemed so much wiser, more together.
Meanwhile, Tommy looked completely lost standing next to her, mirroring how I felt.
“Tommy, why don’t you start up the fire pit? We’ll get the kids to bed and meet you out there,” Suzannah directed, and I watched as my brother immediately strode toward the back door, not bothering to answer.
Once the glass door closed behind him, she turned to me. “He’s been like this all day.” Suzannah shook her head.
“This feels like a nightmare,” I added. “It doesn’t feel real.”
Suzannah wiped her eyes. “You should have seen him the first few hours. After your dad called and told him that Hazel was missing. He was a complete wreck. I’ve never seen him like that before.
” Her eyes looked lost in the memory. “Even though it’s only been a day, this has been so hard on him. You know how close they are.”
I bit the inside of my cheek, the residual guilt from my police interview crashing over me.
In the years since I had left for college, Hazel and Tommy had stayed close.
Their relationship surpassed anything I’d ever had with my baby sister.
I wish I could say proximity was the reason for their closeness, Tommy living just a town over, but it was more than that.
Tommy, and Suzannah, made a big effort to really get to know her.
There were constant photos on social media of them all hanging out: barbeques in their backyard, Hazel tagging along on day trips to Disney.
Tommy always went to her soccer games and took her to the annual horse races in Wellington.
It didn’t surprise me that he was taking this hard.
They were probably each other’s favorite siblings at this point.
It wasn’t as if there was much competition in that department.
The twins were too young, I was never around, and, well, Will was incarcerated.
Suzannah moved to where the kids were sleeping on the couch and reached for Daisy. She nodded her head toward Felix. I followed her lead and scooped my sleeping nephew into my arms. He was so much heavier than I was expecting. They grow fast at that age.
We headed to the back of the house and Suzannah placed Daisy’s delicate frame on Tommy’s old flannel bedspread.
I put Felix down beside her. Suzannah flipped the covers over both of them, taking a second to admire her children.
After today, I couldn’t blame her. When kids start going missing, you want to make sure you know exactly where your own are.
“We thought she was just out with her friends at first,” Suzannah said as we headed back to the kitchen.
Suzannah went right for the fridge, opening the door with an ease that reminded me how much time she and Tommy spent here.
She had married into the family but seemed to know more about us now than I did.
“This whole thing is just …” She shook her head.
The fridge was packed with casserole dishes and Tupperware. Suzannah fished out three bottles of Corona, my father’s favorite beer, and handed one to me before we went out the patio door.
“Here,” Suzannah said, handing Tommy a beer and giving his shoulder a soft squeeze. “You look like you could use one of these.”
He gave her a small smile. “Thanks.”
My eyes cut across the dark yard, looking past the trees to where the Hopelys’ house lingered behind. Tommy’s gaze followed mine and he seemed to understand. “Mrs. Hopely still owns it,” he confirmed. “Still living there too.”
I tried not to let my unease show on my face. Well, that answered that question.
Tommy took a long swig from his beer, still staring at me. “You know how weird it is to see you sitting here, Rose?” He shook his head. “It’s been like a decade.”
“Well, I wouldn’t be here under any other circumstances.”
Tommy looked defeated. “I know.”
“It’s not you,” I told him, clutching the beer bottle tighter in my hands. “You know that. It’s being back in this house, where, you know.” I shuddered. “And seeing mom isn’t making it any easier,” I added darkly.
“You could try to be nicer to her,” Tommy said, taking a swig from his bottle.
He had a different relationship with our parents than I did.
It seemed to be easier for him to forgive them for abandoning Will.
Perhaps it was because he naturally spent more time with them down here, had given them their first grandkids, but I’d always felt a little betrayed by it.
“I could,” I said sarcastically.
“But you’re not going to, are you?”
I smirked. “Of course I’m not.”
Tommy sighed. “I wish you two would work it out. This isn’t worth fighting over anymore. She’s your mother.”
“She lost that right once she stopped being a mother to Will when he needed her the most. She can kiss my ass.”
“But you put up with Dad,” Tommy reasoned.
“He’s not my favorite person on earth either, but at least he didn’t immediately start a replacement family.”
“And yet he doesn’t support Will either, Rose. You know that. He’s made that very clear over the years, but still you cut him slack and vilify Mom for the exact same thing.”
“It’s different.”
“Is it?” Tommy shook his head, and he looked so much like Will that it felt like a knife to the chest.
“Why are you playing devil’s advocate right now, Tommy?
” I asked. Yes, he had stayed close with my parents, but he had also supported me in my tireless crusade for Will.
And he was in touch with him too. He wasn’t as devoted as I was—it wasn’t his full-time job, and he had the responsibilities of a family that I didn’t have—but his support was there.
I didn’t like the insinuation that that might have changed.
“Rosie, I’m on your side,” Tommy assured me, his face turning soft. “And I admire your loyalty, but right now we have to focus on finding Hazel. That might mean working with Mom. Despite her flaws, you know she’s hurting.”
“Yeah, well, karma’s a bitch.”
“She’s really not so bad when she’s got Steve around,” Suzannah piped up, her hand reaching over to grasp Tommy’s once again. “He grounds her. And she’ll probably be too preoccupied with looking for Hazel to get under your skin much.”
“I would love to believe that,” I said, taking another sip of beer.
I could hardly taste it, but I liked having something to do with my hands.
My mind was swirling with thoughts of my younger sister, wondering where the hell she could be.
It felt wrong to be here having a beer with Tommy, knowing that half of our siblings were currently incarcerated or missing.
Our already-fractured family was now in pieces.
“So what’s the plan for tomorrow? We’ll keep looking, right?”
“Definitely. They might want us to sit back, but none of us can do that,” Tommy said indignantly. “We’re going to go out again first thing in the morning. Should be easy enough to avoid the cops given they’re starting with—”
He stopped abruptly, his face going white as his hand squeezed Suzannah’s. He was holding something back.
“What is it?” I asked, afraid of the answer.
I watched his bottom lip tremble. He started shaking his head, and gave me a look that suggested he would rather undergo surgery with no anesthesia than finish his previous thought.
“Seriously, Tommy,” I pressed. “Tell me.”
He sighed, giving in. “They’re putting a team together to search Grassy Waters.”
A wave of nausea rolled over me so strongly, I had to hold my fist to my mouth.
“I know,” Suzannah whispered. “I reacted the same way.”
Grassy Waters was the natural preserve that lined Loxahatchee, twenty- two acres of swampy water and woods, brimming with alligators and snakes.
Parts of it were open to the public for canoeing and sightseeing, but locals knew to otherwise avoid it.
It was not somewhere Hazel would have gone willingly.
If they were searching Grassy Waters, they were searching for a body.