Vows of Silence

Melinda’s hand went to her chest and her ragged sigh was all that followed Lacy’s bitter words. The silence echoed deafeningly, obliterating the sounds around them, narrowing the scope of their world down to the suddenly too tiny table.

Regret for causing Melinda more discomfort crashed into Lacy, but even that stinging emotion wasn’t enough to fully quell her flash of anger. She was sick to death of the suspicions directed at her. She hadn’t killed Charles, even though she would have liked to on too many occasions to count.

Cassidy took Melinda’s hand and then reached across the table for Lacy’s. Kira immediately did the same, taking Lacy’s then Melinda’s to complete the circle. A circle they’d clung to as kids…to protect one another no matter the circumstances. Lacy closed her eyes and struggled for calm. She had to get a hold of herself. These were her friends. She had no right to lash out like that. The suspicions she felt were probably just her imagination, her own guilt coming back to haunt her.

“We’re all in this together,” Cassidy said with uncharacteristic softness. “It doesn’t matter who killed him. He’s dead and that’s the only thing that matters. We all wanted him dead, and we all participated in covering up what happened. We are all equally guilty. No one is more or less to blame. And each of us will do whatever it takes to protect one another. Shall we reiterate our vow?”

“I swear.” Kira was the first to speak up, her eyes glittering with fear.

Melinda nodded solemnly. “I swear.”

Lacy wanted to believe they were doing the right thing. She wanted desperately to trust Cassidy’s judgment, just like they always had, but part of her couldn’t pretend away the truth any longer. One of them had killed a man. All of them had covered up the murder, making sure the evidence would never be found. What they’d done was wrong….

But it was too late to back out now.

It was done, end of story.

“I swear,” she said with a reluctance she could no more hide than she could stop breathing.

Kira offered up a big, however shaky, smile and a subject change. “Melinda, I’ll be keeping you company today. Anything special you’d like to do.”

She sounded upbeat and as calm as the proverbial cucumber, but Lacy didn’t miss the little quiver in her voice or the way she kept glancing over at Deputy Brad Brewer. Cassidy had to have noticed it, too—she never missed anything—but she didn’t say a word. Instead she picked at her doughnut.

Enough. Lacy had to stop looking for conspiracies among her friends. She had to pull it together.

“Lacy, you’ll relieve Kira at about seven?” Cassidy inquired.

“Sure.” Yes, she definitely intended to do her part. She’d caused enough trouble this morning. It was time to suck it up and do what had to be done.

Melinda shook her head, the move so weary no one would have noticed had she not groaned at the same time. “Really, I feel like such a burden to you guys. I’ll be okay by myself. You don’t have to stay with me night and day.”

Cassidy turned to Melinda, her expression unexpectedly gentle for a woman so stern in nature. “Melinda, you’re not a burden to any of us. We want to protect you. You’re vulnerable right now. Let’s not keep going over and over the issue. We have to be careful. We don’t want you alone if the chief shows up at your door like he did Lacy’s.”

Melinda nodded, surrendering. “You’re right. I know.” She tried to smile, but the effort failed miserably. “I just don’t want to put anyone out.”

“We love you, Mel.” Lacy felt a genuine smile spread across her lips. This was the one good thing in all the insanity, a friendship that had endured through the years. She had to stop selfishly obsessing about her own feelings. “You couldn’t possibly put us out.”

Just as some of the tension lifted, Cassidy had to toss out another directive. “You steer clear of Summers,” she ordered Lacy. “I don’t know why he’s singled you out, but he’ll have his reasons. I don’t want you inadvertently giving him any additional fuel to fire his suspicions. He can’t possibly have anything more than a hunch.”

“I believe he used to have a crush on Lace,” Mel put in thoughtfully. “He stared at her all through art class, as I recall. It’s a miracle he ever finished a project. I remember thinking how sweet the whole thing was.”

Lacy refused to entertain the memories the comment stirred. She couldn’t look back. Getting caught up in what she and Rick had felt all those years ago would be a mistake. She had to stay away from him just like Cassidy said. And no one could know what had happened between them…not right now anyway. She already felt as if she’d been singled out as the one in this nightmare by those she trusted the most.

“Whether he had a crush on Lacy or not,” Cassidy allowed, “we don’t need him trying to use that against us. No one knows our secret. We have to keep it that way.”

The voice of last night’s caller slammed into Lacy’s brain. She had to tell them about the call! How could she have forgotten? Maybe because it was easier to forget than to analyze what the caller’s words no doubt meant. God, she hated to stir up more conflicting emotions.

“There’s something else,” she said quietly, dread welling all over again. Would the fact that she hadn’t already mentioned the call look suspicious to Cassidy? Stop it! she ordered.

The collective attention of those seated around the table settled heavily on her and Lacy would have gladly cut off her right arm not to have to bring this up. She’d caused enough hard feelings this morning. But she couldn’t pretend it hadn’t happened. Not when it could be the real thing…a true threat.

“After Rick left last night I received a phone call.”

Lacy moistened her lips, wished her throat didn’t feel all tight and parched. “The caller asked if I was Lacy Jane Oliver.” Lacy cleared her throat, could hardly breathe. “I said yes, thinking it could be a call about my parents. I was…worried they might have been in some sort of accident.”

“But the call wasn’t about your parents?” Cassidy guessed, her guard going up once more to conceal whatever her true feelings might be. Even her tone gave away nothing. But Lacy could feel the doubt expanding between them like a bottomless void. She was suspect of Lacy’s story even before she heard it.

Refusing to be dragged back into that whole paranoid frame of mind again, she forged ahead. “No. He or she—” she shook her head “—it was hard to tell if it was a man or a woman. The voice was so low and distant, almost distorted, like a bad cell-phone connection. Anyway, whoever it was said I should be very, very afraid. For a split second I thought maybe it was a prank but then he said I know your secret.”

Another long beat of nerve-racking silence passed before any of them found their voices again.

“But that’s…” Kira looked at each of them in turn. “That’s impossible. No one knows.”

“Could someone have seen you guys…?” Melinda moistened her trembling lips. “You know…”

“No one saw us,” Cassidy said flatly. “If someone had seen or had known anything we’d all be behind bars serving out our sentences.” She leveled her most intimidating stare on Lacy. “This is a hoax. You say the call came in right after Summers left?”

Lacy nodded. “Almost immediately.”

“Damn him,” Cassidy swore. “He’s trying to scare you. He can’t get away with that.”

“What do I do?” Lacy argued. “Tell him that his creepy calls about my secret are not going to work?”

“You don’t tell him anything,” Cassidy cautioned. “That’s exactly what he wants you to do. Ignore it.”

“But what if it’s not him?” Melinda leaned in close. “From what I’ve seen so far, Rick is a good chief of police. I can’t imagine he would stoop to this kind of underhanded tactic. Someone had to have seen what you did.”

Cassidy glanced around the diner as if worried that they were being watched. Deputy Brewer seemed to be focused on his breakfast. “Melinda,” she said, turning her attention back to the woman at her side, “you’re overreacting. No one saw us. If they had, they would have talked years ago. Don’t forget that Senator Ashland offered a sizable reward for any information on his missing son.”

Lacy had forgotten about that. Rumor had it that Charles, Senior, had even hired a private investigator in hopes of locating his son, but the man had found nothing. She wasn’t sure whether the four of them had simply been smart or extremely lucky.

Either way, Cassidy was correct. If someone had seen anything, they would certainly have cashed in on the reward ten years ago. But would Rick really go to such extremes to scare her?

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