Page 54 of Trace of Doubt
I gave her my burner info, and she borrowed a pen to write the numbers on the palm of her hand.
“Don’t tell anyone you have this.”
“I’ll keep it secret.”
I took her shoulders like she’d grasped mine earlier. “Go. Make peace with Dad.”
Marissa made her way back to the house. At the door, she turned and blew me a kiss like we were girls again. Mom’s words washed over me. Even in her dying days, she suspected the truth.
The first line ofThe Color Purpleswirled through my mind.“You better not never tell nobody but God.”
33
DENTON
The view of Shelby’s and Marissa’s backs through the Pearces’ picture window hijacked reading any facial expressions. But when Marissa walked toward the house and Shelby stayed at the truck with her face to the street, I assumed the conversation had been smeared with bitterness. Neither woman displayed any sign of cohesiveness.
My noncommunication with Clay Pearce left the room eerily quiet. From his stubborn stance, which I’d seen in Shelby, he’d jump down my throat no matter what I said.
Marissa opened the door and with reddened eyes approached her dad. “You’re right. She’s more hardened than before. I’m sorry.”
“Why did you disobey me?”
“Fear and stupidity. I hoped my sister had changed.” She sighed and stepped into his arms. He rested his chin on her head. “Fear for Aria drove me to risk alienating you.”
“She made a threat?” Clay said.
Marissa nodded. “The memory of what she did stares back at me every time I look into Aria’s face. Out there, I told her never to show her face in this town again, or I’d take legal action.”
“I’ll initiate a restraining order for all of us.” Clay eyed me with the same contempt he’d given Shelby. “Get out of my house and stay away from my family. The best place for Shelby is behind bars.”
What had I witnessed? Unless I heard Shelby threaten her sister, I wouldn’t believe it. Had I encountered a web of deceit I’d never imagined?
I tried to persuade Shelby to stop for a lunch break, but she merely shook her head. No words, only soft sobs. She had processing of her own to do. I took the long way toward the meeting point with my agent friends, winding around country roads. The investigative side of me analyzed every moment from the time we’d entered Sharp’s Creek. Clay Pearce ruled the household with an iron fist. Had he always been a tyrant, or had the tragedy changed him? From what Shelby had relayed, he adjusted to survive.
I waited fifteen more minutes before speaking. “Any surprises?”
She focused on the passenger-side window. “A couple.”
“And?”
“Personal, Denton.”
“I have a listening ear.”
“Right. It’s part of your job.” She moaned. “That wasn’t necessary. I appreciate your offer but no thanks. For lack of a better word, I need a diversion.” She massaged her neck. “Did Marissa and Dad work through their argument?”
“Yes. The conversation didn’t put you in a good spot, though.”
“That’s what I’d asked her to do. She needs to stay on Dad’s good side. Her situation in raising Aria and her future in owning the bakery rest on keeping him pacified.”
“Would you do anything for your sister?”
“Absolutely.”
My concern about her possible deceit vanished. I reached across the truck and took her hand. The intimacy lasted two seconds before she pulled back.
“I’m making a new life for myself,” she said.
