Chapter 60
Chapter
Sixty
Wren had the receipts in her lap and the dome light on, and she’d been reading the same four lines of print for six miles.
She ran her thumb beneath the faded date again, as if it might change this time. “Roy’s alibi . . . it isn’t so much of an alibi anymore, is it?”
“No, it’s not.”
Wren clicked off the dome light. Darkness closed around the truck again, broken only by the headlights and the occasional reflector along the road.
“Faye said he’d been bringing her gas for six years.” She looked down at the receipt she could no longer see. “So whatever started these trips, it wasn’t her.”
“No.”
They passed the Route 9 Fuel Stop. The building was dark now except for a security light over the pumps.
Nash slowed and turned onto the road Roy had taken week after week.
Within half a mile, the pavement narrowed.
Wren watched the trees crowd closer on either side. A mailbox appeared ahead with a gravel drive disappearing behind it.
This was Faye’s place. It had to be.
She thought Nash might stop, but instead he kept driving.
Wren glanced at him. “You’re not stopping?”
“Luke already talked to her.” Nash switched on his high beams. “I want to know what else is out here.”
She could understand that.
She watched the road. There wasn’t much else out here.
A couple of trailers sat well back from the road. They passed a gated dirt track marked PRIVATE PROPERTY, then another road that disappeared into the trees.
Nash tried that one.
It dead-ended less than a mile in.
The next did the same.
By the fourth turnoff, Wren had stopped expecting to find anything.
Nash backed onto the main road again.
Wren pressed her hand against her chest. “I’ve been praying all day.”
She wasn’t sure where the words had come from, but they slipped out.
Nash glanced at her, then back at the road.
“At the school. In the parking lot. At that gas station.” She rubbed the edge of the receipt between her fingers. “I don’t think I’ve prayed this much in years.”
He let that sit a moment. “Why not?”
“I don’t know.” She watched the headlights sweep around another curve. “I think after Christian disappeared, I got tired of asking God for things that He wouldn’t give me. He didn’t give me back my brother. My parents. My childhood.”
Nash didn’t interrupt.
“Then I got pregnant.” She swallowed. “My parents’ marriage fell apart. Dad left. Mom could barely get out of bed. Everything just kept happening, and somewhere in there I stopped expecting God to fix any of it. And if He wouldn’t fix things, then why believe in Him?”
The words sounded harsher once they were outside her head.
She stared down at the receipts. “I guess it wasn’t so much that I stopped believing. I just stopped talking and believing that God cared.”
Nash was quiet for a few seconds. “I get that.”
Wren looked at him.
His jaw tightened. “I’ve had a few conversations with God lately that were pretty one-sided.”
Something about the way he said it made her chest ache. “Did you get any answers?”
“Not the kind I wanted.”
Wren looked back at the road. “That’s encouraging.”
A faint smile tugged at his mouth. “I do what I can.”
Despite herself, a tiny laugh escaped her. It disappeared almost as quickly.
“I don’t know what I’m supposed to pray now.” She rubbed her thumb over the faded date. “I keep pleading with God to bring Mason home. That’s pretty much all I’ve got. I want to believe He’s listening, but I’m not sure.”
Nash nodded once. “That’s all God wants, right? For us to talk to Him. To believe Him and follow Him. To come to Him with our burdens.”
Ahead of them, the road crested a rise and stretched empty into the darkness.
No houses.
No lights.
Nothing.
“Something brought Roy out here every week,” she murmured. “Something besides Faye.”
“Yeah.”
“Which means there was something out here worth coming back for.”
Whatever it was, they hadn’t found it.
Not yet.
Wren came through Nora’s back door at 2:50. Nash had taken her to pick up her car before they both headed back.
Bo met her before she’d gotten both feet inside, and the dog pressed against her legs hard enough to nearly throw her off balance.
She bent automatically and buried one hand in the fur at his neck. “Hey, buddy.”
He whined and pushed closer as if he knew something was wrong.
Nash stepped in behind her and shut the door.
The kitchen light was on. Nora sat at the table in a sweatshirt and pajama pants, one hand wrapped around a glass of water. Jacob stood beside her with his jacket draped over the back of a chair.
Marlowe was curled up in an oversized chair in the adjoining room, asleep beneath one of Mom’s crocheted blankets.
She’d called her sisters earlier to give them an update on where she was and what she was doing. They knew about Junction Market.
Nora saw Wren and jumped to her feet. “Anything?”
Wren straightened and shook her head.
Nora closed her eyes and almost looked as if she were deflating in front of her.
Jacob touched her shoulder then looked toward Wren. “Nora called me earlier. I hope you don’t mind that I’m here.”
“Of course not.” Wren rubbed Bo’s ears once more before letting him go.
Nash stepped forward first and held out his hand to Jacob. “Nash Hendricks.”
“Jacob Morgan.” Jacob shook it. “Nora’s boyfriend.”
Nora sank back into her chair. “Christian’s upstairs. He’s been up and down most of the night.”
“Still not sleeping?” Wren asked.
“Not really.” Nora rubbed both hands over her face. “Mom finally went to bed a couple hours ago.”
Wren pulled out the chair beside her and sat.
Jacob looked between her and Nash. “Did you find anything at the store?”
“Not much.” Wren rested her forearms on the table. “Better footage. Still no face.”
Nora’s mouth tightened. “Anything else new?”
Wren hesitated. Then she looked at her sister. “Nash and I went to see Paige again. We found more receipts.”
Jacob’s gaze shifted toward her. “More gas receipts?”
Wren looked at him.
He seemed to notice the question in her expression. “Nora told me about the ones from the truck.”
Nora gave a tired nod. “I did. I hope that was okay.”
“Of course.” Wren looked back at Nora. “Paige had boxes of them. Roy kept everything. They went back farther than we expected. Luke’s looking at them in the morning.”
Jacob nodded slowly. “So you think they matter?”
Wren shrugged. “We don’t know yet.”
Nora reached across the table and took Wren’s hand. “You should sleep.”
Wren almost laughed. Instead, she squeezed her sister’s fingers. “I don’t think that’s happening.”
Jacob pulled out the chair across from them but didn’t sit. “Can I ask you something?”
Wren glanced up. “Sure.”
He rested one hand on the chair back. “Does everyone really believe this guy is your brother? What do the police say? Nora keeps going back and forth. I don’t know what to tell her.”
Wren rubbed her thumb along the edge of the table. “Nobody knows for sure yet.”
“The DNA test hasn’t come back?”
“No,” Wren said. “Prine said it could take weeks.”
Jacob’s fingers tightened slightly around the chair. “Weeks?”
“Apparently.”
He nodded and looked toward Nora. “I thought maybe it would be faster with everything going on.”
“So did I,” Nora whispered.
Jacob sighed and glanced toward the clock on the microwave. “I should probably get out of here and let everybody try to rest.”
Nora stood with him. “You don’t have to leave.”
“I’ve already kept you up long enough.” He leaned down and kissed her forehead. “Call me if anything changes or if you need me for anything.”
“I will.”
Jacob picked up his jacket.
At the door, he looked back at Wren. “I’m sorry about Mason.”
Wren swallowed. “Thanks.”
Tears began running down her cheeks again.