Truth Be Told

Five minutes later April and Jo were working together to make the single bed in the small upstairs room. It had not been used when the girls lived in the house. The windows looked over the backyard. The entire room wasn’t much bigger than a closet, but it would be fine for one short-term visitor.

“Okay, so bring me up to date,” Jo said, sitting on the newly made bed.

“You first. Whatever in the world possessed you to tell Sheriff Halstead that Maddie beat you?” Eliza asked, standing at the foot of the bed, her hands on her hips.

Jo glanced at April, who also stared at her. They did know! She hated to talk about it but knew she had to offer some explanation. She glanced at her finger.

“Remember this?” She raised the finger and showed her scar.

Eliza stepped forward and touched her finger to Jo’s. “I have a scar, too.”

“Me, too,” April said, reaching over to complete the ritual. “All for one and one for all.”

Jo heard the echo of younger voices. They’d become blood sisters that day.

“I messed up,” she said, slowly bringing down her hand.

“I’ll say,” Eliza concurred. “Why?”

“I told Maddie what happened and she didn’t believe me.” Even after all these years, Maddie’s refusal to believe her had the power to hurt. “Accused me of lying, of trying to protect one of the boys from school, of trying to—” Jo stopped. The words would resound in her mind forever. “Never mind. I need to talk to Maddie. I was punishing her by telling the authorities she’d beaten me. When I tried to tell the sheriff the truth later, he threatened to put me in jail for lying. How could I know back then that it was a bluff? I believed him.”

“We wondered why nothing beyond sending us away had happened,” April said. “Eliza had Sam look into it.”

“I say we use the fund-raiser in July to set the record straight,” Eliza said.

“What do you propose—a banner declaring Maddie innocent?” April asked.

“So she didn’t get into trouble for my lies?” Jo asked. The fear that Maddie had gone to jail or lost her home or worse had always hovered over her.

Eliza sat cross-legged at the foot of the bed. “Nope. We got sent away, and that seemed to be it. And we don’t need a banner. We just need to be ready to answer questions.”

April nodded, perching on the other side of the bed. “Sam told Jack that the whole thing was badly documented. There didn’t appear to be any attempt to make an arrest. And who, even back then, would believe Maddie beat you up? You were taller, younger, athletic.”

“What really happened? Who beat you?” Eliza asked softly.

Jo looked at them, then shook her head. “Let me talk to Maddie first. Then I’ll tell you everything.”

“She’s at the hospital. We can go over now if you like,” April said, reaching over to grab a pillow and stuff it into a case. “Or after dinner, so we can stay and visit longer.”

“I need to go by myself,” Jo said.

The other two looked at each other and nodded.

“We know you didn’t stay with your next foster parents,” April said, tossing the pillow at the head of the bed and leaning back on the footboard. “What happened?”

Jo flipped open her ID case and lobbed it onto the center of the bed. The golden badge gleamed. Her photo on the identification card stared up at them.

“You’re a cop!” Eliza said, grabbing the ID and reading the card. “A Los Angeles police officer.” She burst out laughing and handed the card to April.

April grinned as she took it. “We all thought you might have been in jail somewhere, a criminal—not arresting criminals.”

“A criminal!” Jo felt offended.

Eliza nodded, her eyes brimming with laughter. “You were always getting into trouble—skipping school, hanging out with those guys who were bad news.”

“Hey, Josiah Heller is the one who told me about Maddie.” Not that his revelation was altruistic.

“Can you arrest whoever attacked you?” April asked, handing back the leather case.

“The statute of limitations has run out, and I’m not living in this jurisdiction. I’m here to apologize to Maddie, nothing more.” Though she had thought over the years how she’d like to make the man pay. Maybe something would come of her visit, but she didn’t have high hopes.

“Mending fences is a good thing, especially now that we’re all together again,” Eliza said. “You’ll have to stay for the fair.”

“And my wedding,” April said.

“What are you talking about?” Jo asked.

“Which, the fair or the wedding?” April asked.

“You told me about the fair. Are you really getting married that quickly?”

“As soon as Maddie’s able to attend. Doesn’t seem quick to me.”

“And everyone in the county shows up at the fair, making it the perfect place for you to show your support by helping out, and making sure anyone who asks knows Maddie never beat you,” Eliza said. “That’s even better than we planned. Since you gave the false information, you can set the record straight.”

“Like anyone is going to listen to me,” Jo muttered. No one had twelve years ago.

“I bet people in L.A. listen to you,” April said. “How else could you do your job?”

“They don’t know the situation.”

Eliza frowned. “Well, I’m thinking we don’t know it, either.”

Jo nodded. “Just let me talk to Maddie and I’ll tell you everything—if it’s okay with her.”

Jo leaned back on the pillow propped against the headboard and looked at the two women who’d once been closer to her than sisters. “So tell me all that’s been going on with you two,” she invited.

In the time before dinner Eliza filled Jo in on her move to Boston and becoming a chef. April regaled her with her account of becoming a model in Paris and then startled Jo when she told her she’d been married twice. But the biggest surprise was that she’d just discovered Maddie was her biological grandmother!

Jo listened, glad her friends’ lives had turned out so well. She would have felt far worse than she had if other lives had been ruined because of her. She’d always figured she deserved what she got, but Eliza and April hadn’t.

They were still talking when Cade arrived. Eliza dashed downstairs the moment she heard his voice, though Jo didn’t know how she could distinguish it from the voices of the construction workers.

“Jack’ll be here soon,” April said, rising. “Freshen up and come meet him.” Spontaneously, she reached over and hugged Jo. “I’m so glad you’re here!”

Jo watched April go, closing the door behind her. She was back in Maraville, but nothing was as she’d thought it would be.

How amazing to find both April and Eliza here. And both engaged to be married. When she’d allowed herself to think about them over the years, she’d always envisioned them married with the families they used to talk about having one day. In her case, she had no dreams of building a family. There was plenty to do on her job. The fact she’d never met a man she felt she could trust also played a big part in her decision. She’d leave romance to April and Eliza.

Jo went to the bathroom at the end of the hall. The construction crew had finally left. Dust wafted in the air. She peeked in the door of the room Eliza had always had and saw a new connecting bath between her room and the room she herself used to use.

She moved to the door of her old room and went in. Surprised to see everything almost as she’d left it except for the new door to the connecting bath, she studied the posters and announcements on the old bulletin board. Together they captured moments of time in a teenage girl’s life.

At last she pushed away and went to freshen up. She wasn’t that same girl. Time had moved along and so had she. After seeing Maddie, she’d have to decide if she would stay for Independence Day. Small towns had long memories. Jo knew she didn’t want to be the focus of gossip and speculation for days on end. Yet…she owed Maddie. It would be little enough to endure if the record were set straight.

Where was Allen McLennon these days? He and Maddie had been dating for several months before Jo’s attack. Maddie had believed Allen, not Jo. Was he still lording it over people? Wouldn’t the town be shocked to learn the truth about the lofty town banker?

When she entered the kitchen a short time later, Eliza was dishing up some delectable sauce and spreading it over pasta. April poured iced tea into tall glasses. Cade Bennett was setting the table. He looked older, of course, and had filled out nicely. There was another man Jo didn’t recognize, undoubtedly April’s fiancé.

“Here she is,” April said, spotting her. “Come and meet Jack.”

Introductions were made. Cade greeted her, and before long all were seated at the old table enjoying Eliza’s cooking.

Jo felt odd sitting with the two couples. Eliza and April bubbled with excitement at her arrival. Cade seemed as easygoing as always. Jack Palmer, on the other hand, studied her as if he didn’t trust her. No biggie. She was used to going it alone. And she did not begrudge Eliza or April their happiness. She just felt like a fifth wheel.

“Seen Maddie yet?” Cade asked.

“Going after dinner,” she said. “She’s still at the hospital, April said.”

Cade nodded. “Want a lift?”

“Thought I’d walk.”

“We’ve been doing a lot of that lately,” Eliza said. “It’s nice to be able to walk so many places without needing a car.”

“Be strange for an Angeleno, I expect,” Jack said.

“Right. I always drive everywhere. Usually on my Harley.”

Jack’s eyebrows rose.

“Motorcycle?” Cade asked with a grin. “Do you really have a Harley?”

She nodded. “Traffic is a bitch, so I have a bike. I can weave through the stopped cars to get to where I’m going faster.”

“Dangerous,” Eliza murmured.

Jo shrugged. “So far so good.” She was a careful driver, but liked the mobility the bike gave compared to cars in the L.A. freeway traffic. When she’d first bought the bike, it was used, and the only thing she could afford. But she didn’t need to share that—not with Jack looking like he wanted to dissect her every word.

“Tell me about Paris,” she said, hoping to turn the attention away from herself. She felt uncomfortable with everyone watching. April took the bait and Jo began to relax as she listened to her friend talk about her career, her apartment on the Left Bank, and the fun of visiting European capitals on someone else’s tab.

Dinner ended with strawberry shortcake eaten on the porch. The evening stayed light late at the end of June, and the citronella candles kept the mosquitoes at bay. Jo felt suddenly very grown-up, sitting on the porch as Maddie and some of her ladies’ club friends had done. Talking with other grown-ups. What would life have been like if that night had never happened? Once again she regretted not handling things differently. But it always got back to Maddie’s not believing her, then her anger, and her fear.

Time ticked by. Jo finished her coffee and put the cup down with a click. Conversation stopped and everyone looked at her.

“Guess I’ll be heading for the hospital.” She felt like she was heading for an execution. But she couldn’t put it off any longer.

“She’s on the second floor,” Eliza said. “She’s going to be so happy to see you.”

Jo doubted that. But this was something she needed to do. To make amends if she could, to apologize at the very least.

She headed out, enjoying the evening air. It felt strange to be walking. Even stranger to see so few cars on the road. Where she lived in L.A., she couldn’t even get to the store without driving through heavy traffic.

Jo turned onto Main Street. It looked the same, except for a few changes in storefronts. Ruby’s Café was bustling with teenagers and a handful of older folks. She’d have to stop in and have a burger before she left Maraville.

The video store was open, customers wandering through the rows of movies. Most of the other stores had closed at six. She wondered if there were any all-night places in town, then had to remind herself this was Maraville, not L.A.

Moments later Jo approached the hospital. The parking lot was less than half full, the emergency entrance quiet. The brick building was small compared to the hospitals she frequently visited in the line of duty. This one had been built to serve the county and was rarely used to capacity.

She reached the wide double doors and stopped. Beyond the threshold she could see the brightly lit lobby, with a woman at an information desk. A couple sat near the elevators as if waiting for someone. A man passed her and held the door.

She took a breath and shook her head. She wasn’t ready.

She had come from California for this express purpose, and yet she couldn’t make herself walk inside.

Jo wasn’t sure how long she stood outside the doors before turning and retracing her steps. She would have to come back tomorrow. Tonight was impossible.

When she reached the town square, she found an empty bench and sat. In the playground area of the nearby park, children laughed and shrieked as they slid down the slide or were pushed higher and higher on the swings by indulgent parents. A woman walked her dog on the far side. The scene was…peaceful. Unlike her neighborhood in L.A.

Jo had a thousand memories of Maraville. Many good. She should focus on those. It had been a quiet, sleepy, Southern town. Nothing inherently bad. All places had bad people living in them. She couldn’t condemn an entire town because of one man.

“Taking a walk down memory lane?” a familiar voice asked.

She looked up and to her left. Sam Witt stood there. She hadn’t noticed his arrival.

“Sort of.”

He sat on the bench beside her. “Nice time of day,” he said, taking off his hat and putting it on the bench between them.

“Mmm.” She wasn’t up to small talk with the sheriff. Her own badge was burning a hole in her back pocket. She should give him the courtesy of identifying herself. But right now to do anything seemed too much effort.

“Been to see Maddie?” he guessed.

“Went there, didn’t go in,” she confessed.

“Tough visiting someone sick,” he said.

“I screwed up. I need to apologize.” She could never make up for the damage her accusation caused. Was it that thought that kept her from going in tonight? Or fear of the repudiation she expected from Maddie?

She hated knowing she was just plain scared.

“I looked into your file, you know,” he said. “Sloppy piece of police work. There was never a resolution to the crime. No charges were filed, no suspicions even noted.”

“I’m sure there weren’t. Sheriff Halstead didn’t believe me.”

“He didn’t even report the person you accused,” Sam said.

Jo knew he was fishing. Maybe it was too late to do anything about the crime against her, but she hated that the man had gotten away with it. What could she do to let people know the truth? Had he tried to rape other young girls since she’d left? The thought made her shudder. Yet when she’d told the law, nothing had been done.

She needed to talk to Maddie first, then she’d open up to Sam Witt. A sheriff ought to know what was going on in his jurisdiction.

SAM LEANED BACK ON the bench, wondering why he was trying to make conversation with a woman who obviously didn’t want to talk. His effort wasn’t all about trying to learn what really happened twelve years ago. He sensed an aloneness in her that was at odds with her attitude. He chastised himself. So now he was playing Dudley Do-Right? Trying to make everything okay for this stranger? Patty would say it was like him.

The thought of his wife brought the familiar ache into focus. Three years and he still missed her.

“Seem odd to be back?” he asked, refocusing on the situation at hand.

She nodded, not looking at him, her gaze on the children in the park.

“Staying long?” Getting her to talk was worse than interrogating hardened criminals.

She turned and looked at him. “I’m here for as long as I want to be. You have a problem with that?”

He recognized the cocky attitude as a cover-up. Touchy. “Not as long as you don’t cause any problems.”

She reached in her back pocket and pulled out a leather wallet, flipping it open with practiced ease.

The gleam of the gold badge caught his eye. He took the wallet and read the identification card. Jo was a detective with the LAPD. That did surprise him. He tossed it back to her and studied her for a moment.

Just to yank her chain, he said, “Still, don’t be causing trouble in my town.”

CHAPTER TWO

“YOUR TOWN?” JO SAID, replacing the wallet.

“Adopted town.”

“Where are you from originally?”

“New Orleans before here. Born in Baton Rouge.”

“Quite a change of venue,” she said.

“I worked in the Big Easy PD a number of years.”

“Been here long?” she asked.

“A little over two years now.”

“And compared to New Orleans, this is satisfying?” she asked.

“It suits me. I worked the narcotics detail. It’s a never-ending battle.”

“But it’s a battle that has to be fought. I’m in drugs myself.”

Sam knew what she meant. It even made sense, remembering the dossier he’d read on Jo Hunter. Her mother was an addict. Kids often became crusaders against drugs—if they didn’t start using themselves.

“If you’re not going to the hospital, I’ll give you a ride home,” he said a few moments later. She seemed at a loss and Sam’s instincts rose. Part of the job of a cop was to help people, not only to catch criminals. He wanted to help this young woman, even though she probably didn’t feel she needed help. The attitude of hers would only cover so much.

She slanted him a glance. “Won’t that look great, first night home and already riding in a cop car.” He caught the hint of amusement.

“I’ll turn on the siren if you like,” he said.

She laughed at that and his breath hitched. She was lovely when she wasn’t trying to look and act like a street punk.

“Are you in disguise?” he asked.

“Undercover detail. I infiltrate high schools. Classy, huh?” she asked in self-mockery.

“You look young enough for it. Any luck?”

“Oh, yeah. More than I want. Several busts in the past couple of years. So three high schools and a junior high are safe for a little while. Until the next slimeball starts up trafficking. It’s a never-ending war, but one I’m willing to wage forever to rid the world of such bastards.”

“I felt that way.”

“Burned out?” she guessed.

Sam shrugged. Partially that, of course. But Patty’s death had been the final straw. He’d tried hard to make the world a better place, and lost his wife along the way. If he’d listened to her, they would have moved to a place like Maraville long ago, established comfortable lives, and Patty wouldn’t have been on that road the night the drunk careered into her.

“I’ll take you up on that ride, then screw up my courage to see Maddie in the morning.”

He rose. “Sounds like a plan.”

She stood beside him, coming to his chin. She was slender, almost boyish in figure. But strong-looking. Her bare arms were toned and tanned, probably from spending time at the beach in Southern California. He wondered what her hair looked like when it wasn’t spiked. Shorter than he liked on a woman.

He shook off the thought. He wasn’t interested in Jo Hunter as a woman. Was he?

She climbed into the passenger’s side of the car while Sam got behind the wheel.

“Was Jack over to dinner tonight?” he asked.

“Yes. He and Cade both. I felt the odd man out.”

“Yeah, I know that feeling. Eliza’s a great cook, and she’s always asking me over, but then it’s always the two couples and me.”

“Well, if I’m here next time you’re invited, you know you won’t be the only odd man out.”

“Staying long?” he asked again. She wasn’t coming on to him, was she?

“I wasn’t sure how Maddie was. I thought she was at death’s door. So I planned a flying visit to say I’m sorry. Now they want me to stay for the fund-raiser and to tell anyone who asks that Maddie never beat me. Then for April’s wedding. Sheesh, I could end up staying more than two weeks.”

“If you’re saying Maddie didn’t do it, who did?” Sam asked.

Jo wasn’t surprised at the question. He’d want to know. Everyone else would, too. Not that they’d likely believe her. Maddie hadn’t twelve years ago, and she knew Jo better than anyone.

“I have no problem telling everyone. But I want to talk with Maddie first. I wish the authorities had believed me twelve years ago. The bastard got away with criminal assault and I’m the one who got the shaft.”

“From what I can tell about my predecessor, he had trouble finding the office every day. Not a sterling example of law enforcement. But you can set the record straight with a name.”

She laughed softly. Sam liked hearing it.

The trip to the house on Poppin Hill ended too soon. One place wasn’t far from any other in Maraville. He stopped near the front porch, still occupied by April and Jack.

“Come up for a minute,” Jo invited.

“I’ll see if Jack wants a ride home. He’s staying with me, you know.”

“I didn’t know that.”

“We go way back. When he was injured by a land mine a few months ago, in the Middle East, he came here to convalesce. Said his folks were driving him crazy.”

“Funny how a Parisian model and a world-class journalist met in Maraville, Mississippi,” Jo said. “I wondered how he got that limp.”

“Just goes to show if something is meant to be, it will be.” He tried to tell himself that whenever he thought about Patty’s death. It didn’t make things easier, but he kept hoping one day it would.

“Thanks for the lift.”

“Anytime, Detective.”

She nodded and got out of the car.

Sam stepped out and leaned on the door. “Jack, want a lift?”

“Sure. Give me a few.”

Sam watched Jo pass the couple on the porch and go into the house. He climbed back in the car and waited, trying not to watch as his friend kissed his fiancée. He remembered kissing Patty, the long, slow, hot kisses that inevitably led to making love. He envied Jack that pleasure. Patty had been dead for three years, but sometimes it felt as if she’d just stepped out of the room. Other times, he could hardly remember being married, being in love. Until the pain hit.

God, he missed his wife.

“RISE AND SHINE,” April said, coming into Jo’s room the next morning early with a steaming cup of coffee.

“Is there a fire?” Jo grumbled, and rolled over, pulling the pillow over her head.

“No, but the construction crew arrives at seven and it’s chaos after that. Sometimes there’s no water all day, so if you want a shower, you’d best get up now. Here. Take the coffee. It’ll help.”

Jo didn’t want to get up. She liked the dream she was having. But it was too late, it was gone. Just as well; she didn’t think she should be fantasizing about a man she’d just met. It probably was because of all the engaged couples she was hanging around. She sat up, leaning against the headboard. “Thanks,” she said, reaching for the coffee cup.

April sat in the chair already dressed in another floaty sundress. Makeup on, hair just so, she looked prettier than anyone else Jo knew.

“I like your clothes,” Jo said with a smile. “I guess you’re as clothes crazy as ever. Maybe more so now, given your work.”

April nodded. “And in Paris I get to see everything when it’s first designed. But my days are numbered. I’m thinking of other things I could be doing.”

“Like what?”

“We didn’t go into a lot of detail about the home Cade’s establishing last night, but one of the things we’re thinking of offering is classes for the residents, such as cooking, meal planning and fashion hints. I might find I’m back here sooner than I expect.”

“I assume Eliza is doing the cooking bit,” Jo said.