For the Right Reasons

“Fine,” Bree said tightly. “But when she turns up dead, it’ll be on you.”

Eric held his tongue until they were outside. “Bree! I thought we agreed we weren’t going to lie about Daniel’s involvement.”

“I didn’t. Well, not exactly. Daniel was very interested in Kelly’s case. Until you ruined that.”

“I’ll only warn you once more. Daniel will not take kindly to anyone using his name without permission. He’ll come after you.”

“So you never intended to play the Daniel card at all?”

“If I had, I’d do it without crossing the line. Which you left far behind in your rearview mirror.”

She challenged him with her blue-eyed laser stare, but he didn’t back down. He was right about this, and she needed to understand about Daniel, for her own good.

Finally she looked away. “Okay. Maybe I got a little carried away. Didn’t matter anyway. DeVille was completely immune to the threat of Daniel’s involvement.”

“A possible sign that despite his rudeness, he’s not corrupt. Or derelict in his duties, at least not to his mind. He didn’t show a lick of fear.”

“No, he didn’t. So what now?”

“I don’t suppose you’d consider giving up? No,” he said quickly when she shot him a venomous look.

“We’re gonna talk to Jerrod Crowley.”

“I was afraid of that.”

CHAPTER SIX

BREE KNEW SHE wasn’t playing fair. She’d found Eric’s Achilles’ heel—he had a chivalrous streak a mile wide—and she was exploiting it. She wasn’t normally a manipulative person. But too much was at stake for her to play nice. First Kelly’s freedom and now Philomene’s life. No matter how the evidence stacked up, Bree was convinced the woman had not left Tuckerville of her own free will.

“You’re sure you want to talk to this guy?” Eric asked. They’d found Crowley’s address easily enough. All they’d had to do was stop at the gas station on Main Street, where a bunch of guys had been hanging out, smoking and drinking not very well-disguised beer. They’d looked like the kind of lowlifes who would associate with someone like Crowley, and sure enough, they were. Turned out he’d lived with his brother and sister-in-law in a spare bedroom since his parents had kicked him out. The gas station lowlifes hadn’t even hesitated to bad-mouth their supposed friend.

“How did Philomene hook up with a jerk like Jerrod?” Eric asked as they let his GPS lead them to Crowley’s address.

“A lot of people said the same thing about me when Kelly and I were dating,” Bree said a bit huffily. “‘What’s the mayor’s daughter doing with a guy whose father is a drunk and whose mother works at the counter of a doughnut shop?’”

“I’ve wondered that myself,” Eric said. “Though I didn’t know you were the mayor’s daughter.”

“Kelly was a sweet guy. Yeah, he’d been in a few scrapes, but nothing serious. Shoplifting. Probably because he was hungry, or he wanted something for his mom. I remember once, on Mother’s Day, he didn’t have enough money to buy her a present, so he stole a potted daylily off someone’s front porch.” She laughed.

“I’m sure his mother was proud,” Eric said, tongue firmly in cheek.

“She was thrilled. And she didn’t ask how he got the money, though she probably knew he hadn’t bought the plant at the local nursery. Anyway, Jerrod Crowley must have some redeeming qualities. Maybe Philomene saw something about him that no one else did. Maybe he was just nice to her, and that was all it took. Philomene is...” Bree shrugged.

“Damaged from the rape? Low self-esteem?”

“Yeah. She didn’t grow up with a good home situation. I don’t remember her when she was younger, but I’m guessing she was the kind who always tried a little too hard, wore too much makeup and let any boy have his way if she thought he had feelings for her. Girls like that are so easy to victimize. And I don’t think that rape was the first time she was a victim, either. I mean, I don’t know her that well. Not well at all. But I can read between the lines.”

“That’s sad. I really hope I can raise MacKenzie to think more of herself than that. I mean, she’s already a victim, indirectly. In all likelihood she witnessed her mother’s murder. It’s certainly had an effect on her.”

“Oh, God. I didn’t know that.”

“We don’t know for sure, because she doesn’t remember that day. Or at least, she won’t talk about it if she does. But she hasn’t been the same since it happened.”

“She seems bright. And sweet.”

“She is. I just hope she’s not too sweet.”

“Arriving at destination,” Suzy the GPS said, “on right.”

“The brown brick house,” Bree said.

They were in a 1950s subdivision of cookie-cutter houses.

“Nice trees,” Bree remarked. The houses might be cheap and a little shabby, but mature live oak trees elevated the neighborhood’s appeal.

A pleasant-looking woman in her thirties with a toddler on her hip answered the door wearing a look of caution. “Yes?”

“Does Jerrod Crowley live here?” Bree asked. Eric was content to let her do the talking; she was less intimidating and people were more likely to drop their guards.

If anything, the woman at the door looked even more wary. “Jesus. What’s he done this time?”

“Nothing that we know of,” Bree said. “We’re trying to find his girlfriend.”

“Oh. Well, Jerrod’s not here. He’s supposedly out looking for a job now that he’s got a car. That’ll be the day.”

“Do you know when he’ll be back?”

“God only knows. He comes home when he runs out of money to buy beer.” The woman’s sturdy body blocked the door. There was zero chance she’d invite them in to wait.

“So he has money now?” Eric asked.

“He comes up with a little cash every once in a while—mows a lawn or details someone’s car. That’s what he used to do when he had a job. What’s up with Phil? Is she in trouble? I don’t know her that well, but she seems like one of the nicer girls he’s gone with.”

“We can’t find her, that’s all,” Bree said. “Has Jerrod said anything about her disappearing?”

The woman frowned. “No. God, I hope...”

“You hope what?” Eric prodded.

“Nothing. Oh, hey, you’re in luck. That’s him now.”

A blue Toyota Corolla was coming down the street way too fast. It whipped into the driveway with a screech of brakes.

“Oh, my God,” Bree said under her breath.

Exactly what Eric had been about to say. Jerrod was driving Philomene’s car.

* * *