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“I don’t know. She never told us, but she was really angry with Maddie. The next day Social Services came in and we were shipped out. I never knew what happened to either of the others until Eliza called me a few weeks ago.”
“Doesn’t the official report say?” Cade asked, straddling a chair and studying Sam.
The sheriff shook his head. “The entire file is skimpy. Poor practices seemed to have been the norm with my predecessor. The notes only say Jo’s accusations grew more outrageous the more she talked.”
“Did anyone contact her foster family in Meridian?” April asked.
Sam nodded. “Seems Jo ran away within two months. They thought she’d tried to return to Maraville, but there isn’t anything in the records I could find to show that.”
“Maddie said she didn’t,” Cade said. He looked at April. “We talked about you girls a bit before she had her stroke. I didn’t know she’d hired a detective to find you, but I knew she regretted the way things had turned out. And she wanted to see all three of you again.”
“Any special place Jo talked about, where she might have gone?” Sam asked April.
“We all talked about leaving Maraville when we were younger. But New Orleans was our mecca in those days. Could she have gone there?”
Sam shrugged. “Maybe. But if she did, she changed her name or married or something. There are no records for a Jo Hunter in New Orleans that come close to Jo’s description or age. Or anywhere in Mississippi or Louisiana for that matter.”
“So where does that leave us?” April asked.
“Guess we’ll keep trying.” Sam finished his drink then rose. “Thanks for the tea, it hit the spot.”
“Sorry Jack didn’t want any,” Cade said.
“I need to get him home. He gave that talk today, and then did rounds with me. I think he’s tired, though he’d never admit it.”
“From a talk?” April asked.
“He was injured pretty badly in Iraq. He’s still recovering, so he tires easily.”
That explained the cast and cane. She could relate to getting tired easily. Her own recovery from this bug was taking longer than she’d expected.
The sound of tires crunching on the shell driveway could be heard. Cade went out the back door.
“See you around,” Sam said to April as he prepared to leave.
“I hope you can find Jo before I have to return to Paris.”
“I don’t hold out a lot of hope,” he said, “but we’ll keep looking.”
Eliza and Betsy came into the kitchen, laughing. Eliza was holding Cade’s hand.
“Sam, I thought that was your car. Stay for dinner. Cade’s cooking on the grill, and Dex is coming over. We’ll have a party.”
“Thanks, but I have company.”
“I saw the guy in the car. He’s invited, too. The more the merrier. We’re having barbecue chicken, ribs and plain steaks. I’m whipping up a terrific salad and Betsy has the most delicious yeast rolls. And there’s chocolate torte for dessert.”
“I’ve heard about that dessert from Suzanne Canaday,” Sam said with a grin. “I’ll ask Jack.”
April frowned. She didn’t feel up to a party of any kind, much less one where that man would be present.
“April, be a sweetie and help me,” Betsy said, already pulling flour from a cupboard. “I need the oven set at three seventy-five and some muffin tins, please.”
As she rose to help, April hoped Jack would refuse the dinner invitation.
Unfortunately, her luck wasn’t running that way. A couple of moments later he entered the kitchen, leaning heavily on his cane. From the frown on his face, she didn’t think he was enthused about staying, but had gone along for his friend’s sake.
Sam made the introductions and then gestured to the table. “Take a seat and put your foot up.”
“I’ll get you some tea,” Cade said, going to the counter and stopping to give Eliza a quick kiss on the way.
For the next few minutes confusion reigned as Cade and Eliza prepared the meat for the grill, Betsy and April worked together on the rolls and then carried dishes, silverware and citronella candles outside to the picnic table on the flagstone patio.
Glad to have something to do, April was conscious of Jack’s dark mood as he sat and watched the others. He didn’t contribute to the conversations flying around, and looked as if he wished he were anyplace but here.
Feeling perversely uncomfortable about his isolation, April went to sit at the table. She didn’t like the man, but felt sorry he was so alone.
“Need anything?” she asked.
“No.” He didn’t even look at her.
“I have some pain meds if you need them for your foot,” she offered.
“I’m fine.”
The bracket of lines on either side of his mouth belied that statement. The man was in major discomfort. But if he wanted to macho it out, let him.
April watched as Eliza and Betsy worked together in harmony—as if they’d been doing it for years instead of a few short weeks.
She’d have to call some of her old friends in the morning, see if any were still in town. None of them had been as close as Eliza and Jo, however.
By the time Betsy’s husband, Dex, arrived, the preparations were well underway and the group had moved to the patio. At this time of year, the mosquitoes weren’t as bad as later in the summer. Jack leaned heavily on his cane as the men stood around the grill and the women set the table.
“Reminds me of my folks,” Betsy said, glancing at the grill. “As long as I can remember, whenever Mom and Dad had friends over, the men all stood together talking about fishing or bowling or something, and the women got together to talk about children.”
April looked at Eliza. Their childhood had been very different from Betsy’s.
“Reminds me of junior high school dances, boys on one side, girls on another,” April said.
Betsy laughed. “That, too. But they’ll join us when it’s time to eat. I can’t believe Jack Palmer is recuperating here in Maraville. You’d think he’d be in Manhattan or somewhere more exotic than this town.”
“Avril is recuperating here,” Eliza said dramatically, referring to April’s professional name, making Betsy and April laugh.
True to Betsy’s prediction, once the meal was ready, the men joined the women at the table. Cade sat next to Eliza, Dex next to Betsy. April was grateful Sam and Jack sat at the opposite end of the table from her. If she grew too tired, she’d slip away to her room. But to her surprise, she enjoyed the lively conversation, which focused on all the changes in Maraville over the past ten years.
At one point Cade leaned over to address Jack. “Sorry I missed your talk today, Sam said it went well.”
“Good enough.” He flicked a glance at April. “Or would you disagree?” he challenged.
“The talk was excellent. You brought the entire situation in Iraq alive for all of us.” There was no denying he was an inspiring speaker. It was his personality that could use some improvement, April thought.
“I admit I was surprised to see the mix in the audience,” Jack said. He looked at Cade. “The crowd ranged from old-timers to teenagers. They probably cut classes to attend.”
“Probably worth it,” Cade said. “What did I miss?”
“Tell us the highlights,” Betsy urged. “We couldn’t be there, either.”
Jack hesitated a minute, then nodded and began to repeat some of the things April had heard earlier.
A wave of fatigue hit and she whispered to Eliza, “I’m going inside. Stay and listen—he tells a powerful story.”
Eliza nodded, her attention on Jack.
April picked up her dish and utensils and headed for the house. She wanted to get to bed before she collapsed. Ten minutes later she was under the covers, lights out. She could hear the soft murmur of voices from the backyard. It had been an interesting dinner, unlike the ones she’d shared with friends in Paris in recent years. No loud music, no fancy clothes, just friends sitting down to eat together. It had been nice.
“YOU OKAY?” Sam asked Jack as they drove away from the house on Poppin Hill.
“Tired, that’s all.”
“Leg okay?”
“Yeah.” It wasn’t, but that wasn’t Sam’s fault. He’d done too much. Dammit, how much longer before he was back in shape?
“Thanks for giving your talk again. I know Dex and Cade appreciated it. Betsy asked some intelligent questions, I thought.”
“Yeah.” April had left as soon as he started. Was that because she had already heard it?
“What’s the story with April?” he asked.
“She and Eliza grew up together. The detective Maddie hired to find the girls located her some months ago. When Eliza contacted her, she came home. She’s a model in Paris. Ever hear of her? Avril is her French name.”
Figured. With her looks, modeling was right up her alley.
“I don’t associate with models,” Jack said.
“Far as I can tell, old son, you don’t associate much with anyone,” Sam said easily.
“Never in one place long enough.”
Sam turned into his driveway, his headlights briefly illuminating the house. Jack could count the minutes now until he’d be prone, and could take the medication that would ease the pain in his foot. Today had proved how far he was from being ready to return to work.
When they got into the house, Jack looked at Sam. “Thanks for including me. You have good friends.”
“Settle down someplace and you’ll make your own. What are you going to do tomorrow?”
Nothing, was the first thing to come to mind. But he wasn’t going to get better by letting his muscles atrophy. “Take a walk, check in with the news bureau. You don’t have to entertain me, remember?”
“I remember. Stop by the office and I’ll show you what I’ve done so far searching for Jo. You might be interested and catch something I’ve missed.”
“What is this? Do I look like a damn missing persons bureau?”
Sam’s eyebrows shot up. “Whoa, where did that come from?”
“April asked me earlier if I’d help her find her parents.”
“Maybe with your background, we’re hoping you’ll have suggestions for digging out the facts we want. You have more time to devote to the search. As far as I know, Jo hasn’t done anything wrong. Hard to justify spending taxpayers’ money on an extensive search.” Sam looked at Jack with curiosity. “What did you tell April?”
“No, of course.”
“And my request gets a negative, too?”
“I’ll stop by. But if modern police science can’t find a person, I doubt I can.”
Jack headed on to bed, glad to get off his foot. He lay in the darkness, though, unable to sleep. The ache was only part of the problem. His wakefulness had to do with his future. Or perhaps lack of future. If his foot didn’t heal properly, he’d never go on assignment again.
What would he do then?
Maybe he should give some thought to working on locating this Jo Hunter. It would give him something to fill the time until he was in fighting shape again. And keep him from dwelling on what the future might hold.
THE NEXT MORNING April walked into town to go to the sheriff’s office. She wanted to ask Sam if he could help in her search for her parents.
To her surprise, Jack Palmer was ahead of her, ready to enter the building as she approached. She hesitated, but he turned and saw her and held the door for her to enter.
She walked past him into the dimness of the old building. The tall ceilings held lazily rotating fans. The walls needed to be repainted and the wooden desks were gouged and scarred. Artificial lights cast a yellowish gloom over everything, and the few windows were covered with closed venetian blinds.
“Here to see Sam?” Jack asked April, following her to the counter where an officer sat.
“Yes.” Not that it was any of his business.
“He’s in the back. I’m heading that way myself.” Jack gestured toward the rear of the building. He nodded to the man at the desk and held the swinging gate for April to enter.
She matched her stride to his halting one as they silently walked down the long hallway. Rounding a corner, they came into an open area with several more desks. April was surprised to find Maraville had such a large force. There had to be at least a half-dozen desks all told. The sheriff’s department acted as law enforcement for the town and surrounding county. Still, she was surprised there’d be that much crime to deal with.
Jack approached the desk near a partially opened door.
“We’re here to see Sam,” he told the woman seated at the desk.
She smiled at him, then looked at April, her eyes widening. “April Jeffries, as I live and breathe!” She jumped up and came around the desk to hug her.
“It’s me, Marjorie Tamlin. How are you. Wow, aren’t you gorgeous.”
April felt Jack’s gaze, but she avoided looking at him as she hugged Marjorie.
“It’s been too long,” she said, smiling at her former classmate.
“I’ll say. Hold on, I’ll tell Sam you two are here. I have a break at eleven-thirty. Have lunch with me and we can catch up. Remember Lulu? She told me she heard you were back. Staying long?”
“Just a few weeks. I came because of Maddie.”
