Stolen In The Night Part 8

Nelson fumbled for a hanky in his pants pocket and handed it to his wife. "She's never going to own up to it, Edith. She thinks because she was a kid when she did it that n.o.body's going to hold her accountable. We'll just see about that."

"What do you mean?" Tess asked him in a quivering voice. "Is that a threat?"

"You'll just have to wait and see, won't you," Nelson sneered.

Tess thought of the voice on the phone, whispering "liar" into her ear. She wondered, for a brief second, if it had been Nelson Abbott, trying to intimidate her. She drew herself up. "I have to go," she said. "And take my son home."

"My son will never come home," said Edith indignantly.

Tess slid back behind the wheel and slammed the door. She did not look at Nelson or his wife as she pulled out.

Erny hunched his shoulders up around his ears. "What's the matter with that dude?" he asked, trying to sound nonchalant.

Tess shook her head, not trusting her voice to answer. She clamped her hands on the wheel and drove, although her arms were trembling and her insides were jumping. Erny was quiet beside her, looking at her warily out of the corner of his eye.

When they reached the inn, Tess pulled up to the front door. "Go inside."

"What about you?" he asked.

The lounging reporters were stirring, suddenly aware that the newcomers were prey. They began to surge forward. "It's okay. I'll park the car and come right in."

Erny jumped out of the car, ran to the front door of the inn, and started to open it. Tess tried to keep her face impa.s.sive and not look into the eyes of any of the newspeople who were surrounding her car. All of a sudden, just as Erny was slipping through the front door, out of the corner of her eye, Tess saw something fly through the air, hit the front door with a thud, and tumble to the welcome mat at Erny's feet.

Erny turned around, startled, and then looked down at the missile. He bent over and picked it up.

Tess opened the car door and jumped out. "Erny, what is that? Are you okay?" She shoved aside the people in her way and rushed up to her son.

Erny examined the granite chunk in his hand. "It's a rock," he said, bewildered.

Tess turned and looked around slowly at the faces in the crowd. Some of them showed consternation, others were impa.s.sive. Tess took the rock from her son's hands.

"Who did this?" she said, holding up the rock. "Who threw this stone? Are you crazy? You could have killed an innocent kid."

The crowd was quiet. Tess searched their eyes boldly, looking for a furtive glance, for someone who looked guilty in a sea of defiant or indifferent faces.

Hidden in the back of the crowd, a hollow-cheeked man in a gray parka quickly ducked his head so as not to allow her to catch his eye. Tess did not notice this as her blazing gaze swept over the a.s.semblage. For a moment there was no reply and then a voice drawled, "Hey, Tess, how's the view from that gla.s.s house you're living in?"

"What does that mean?" Erny asked.

Tess reddened. "Nothing. He's a jerk," she said. "Ignore them. Let's go in."

CHAPTER 9.

"Tess, pay attention, honey," said Dawn. "This is their driveway."

Startled, Tess made a sharp right turn into the long driveway that led to Jake and Julie's house. It was six o'clock and darkness had already descended on Stone Hill and its outskirts. Julie had called to invite them to their house for dinner and Tess had gratefully accepted. She wanted to get away from the inn and the reporters who were still camped there. Tess had been unprepared for the level of hostility she would encounter after the DNA results. For years everyone in Stone Hill outspokenly agreed that justice had been done. Now the DeGraffs' suffering seemed to be forgotten, as people hurried to disa.s.sociate themselves from the injustice to Lazarus Abbott. It was almost as if the whole town blamed Tess for this blot on its reputation.

Tess drove slowly, gravel crunching under her tires, up the winding drive between a bank of trees. The house, secluded from view by the trees, sat on a slight rise, surrounded by a lawn now brown from the early frosts. It was a small house with yellow clapboard siding, dark green shutters, and a metal chimney for their gas fireplace. Jake's white van, ladders fastened to the top, was parked next to Julie's neat little compact. On the lawn was a cement statue of a wood nymph holding a lantern, which illuminated the path to the front door.

Tess, Dawn, and Erny piled out of the car and Erny ran to the door, opened it without knocking, and charged inside. Tess and Dawn followed at a slower pace. They walked in and were greeted by rich aromas from the kitchen warring with the sweet, cloying fragrance of potpourri. Erny flopped down on the plump, flowered sofa, a pink knitted afghan draped behind him. One of Julie's four cats jumped up on his lap. The beige walls of the living room were covered with framed prayers bordered by pastel drawings of children and doilylike crosses embroidered with flowers and leaves. There were a number of framed photographs atop the television, including a wedding photo of Julie and Jake, Julie looking blonde and doll-like in her cinch-waisted wedding gown. There were several of Kelli at various milestones in her life-in mortarboard and gown, in a prom dress, and in an army uniform. Erny smiled broadly from an eight-by-twelve print of his school photo with its royal blue background, framed in silverplate. Over the mantel of the gas fireplace was a copy of a Thomas Kincade painting of a Cotswolds cottage amidst a bower of roses. Julie came out of the kitchen and greeted them, wiping her hands on a dish towel.

"Oh, I can hear Sa.s.sy purring from here," she said. "That cat likes you, Erny."

Erny smiled. "I know."

"How's your cat?" Julie asked him.

"Good," he said, nodding. "My friend Jonah is taking care of him."

Julie smiled at him. "Well, I'm sure he'll miss you while you're gone."

Erny shrugged. "Can I watch TV?"

"Go ahead if you want," Julie said.

Erny, still clutching the uncomplaining, seemingly boneless cat, leaned over eagerly to get the remote from the coffee table and turned on the set. Tess thought to protest, but then decided against it. At home, she limited his TV viewing, but during these visits to New Hamps.h.i.+re there were no children Erny's age around, and he ended up watching more television than normal. There's no harm in it, Tess reminded herself; he also did a lot more bike riding and exploring than he did at home.

"You two come in and talk to me while I cook," Julie said. "Jake's taking a shower."

Tess followed her mother through the tiny dining area and into the warm kitchen. "It smells great," she said.

"Chicken pot pie," said Julie.

"You make the best chicken pot pie," said Dawn.

Julie turned to Tess. "What kind of mother-in-law actually likes your cooking?" she asked incredulously.

Tess smiled.

"So, I hear you've had a rough day," Julie said as she pulled rolls from the oven to check them and then slid them back in.

Tess sighed. "Well, I feel like public enemy number one. We've had anonymous phone threats and somebody threw a rock at us when we came back to the inn this afternoon. It nearly hit Erny in the head."

Julie straightened up, hands on her ample hips. "You're joking. How could they?"

"It was no joke," Tess a.s.sured her.

Julie shook her head. "Everybody in town is so busy being outraged about the test results. They don't seem to remember what a creep Lazarus really was."

"He was, wasn't he?" Tess said, craving a little rea.s.surance.

Julie nodded. "Oh, completely. The boys used to trail after him and try to provoke him but we girls just avoided him. I think the only job he ever had was working for Nelson. You know, his stepfather. n.o.body else would have him. Nelson worked as the caretaker at the Whitman farm and Lazarus used to help him out. Although I don't think he was much good at it because Nelson was always mad at him."

Julie frowned, recalling events from long ago.

"He came to my father's garage sometimes. Nelson had a beat-up old truck he used for work and Lazarus used to bring it in for repairs and service. I remember that truck because Lazarus used to drive it up on Lookout Ridge where we kids all went parking. He'd drive up there by himself with the headlights turned off and stare and, you know...do other things." Julie shuddered, unwilling to name his onanistic acts. "He didn't have a friend in the world."

"Well, he seems to have some now," said Tess.

Julie sniffed. "It's just because his cousin's the new police chief..."

"That's what Jake told me," said Tess.

"But don't kid yourself. Rusty was ashamed to be related to him even back then. Rusty used to work for Nelson from time to time, but he was the first in line when it came to making fun of Lazarus."

"Hey, look who I found," said Jake, entering the kitchen with wet hair and clean clothes and Erny under his arm. He opened the refrigerator door and reached in for a beer. Then he looked at Erny. "You want one?"

"Jake, for heaven's sakes," said Julie.

"It's a joke," said Jake.

"I don't drink," Erny said gravely.

"Good for you," said Julie.

"Don't listen to her," said Jake. "What have you been up to?"

Erny shrugged. "Not too much. Hey, Uncle Jake, are you going to take me for a ride in your truck?"

"Honey, don't bother Uncle Jake," said Tess.

"No. It's no bother. I've been looking forward to riding around in the mountains with this guy. How about tomorrow? I'll come get you at your grandmother's. How's that?"

Erny's eyes lit up and he looked at Tess. "Is it okay?"

"Mmmm," said Tess absently.

"Okay. Cool," said Erny.

"Okay. You're on," said Jake.

"Can Leo come?"

"Sure. Why not?" said Jake.

"Thanks, Uncle Jake."

"Okay. Go on, now. Watch the tube till it's time for dinner. I want to talk to your mother."

Jake twisted off his bottlecap and tossed it in the trash as Erny ducked back into the living room. Then Jake turned to Tess. "What's the matter, Tess? You look kind of shaky."

"I am," said Tess.

"How come?" said Jake.

"They're being harra.s.sed," said Julie.

"By who?" Jake demanded.

"Malcontents," said Dawn. "That's all it is. People with nothing better to do."

Tess sighed. "I don't know. There are a lot of angry people around this town. I ran into Nelson and Edith Abbott today. I thought she would try to gouge my eyes out, but actually he was a lot nastier to me than she was. The very picture of righteous indignation."

"Nelson?" Jake asked. "Jesus, he's full of c.r.a.p. Nelson resented every penny that his wife spent defending Lazarus. He'd tell anyone who'd listen how worthless his stepson was. Well, you heard him when he came to the inn the other day."

"He's changed his tune," said Dawn. "I guess he had to, or Edith would throw him out of the house."

"I don't like that man," Tess said. "I get a very creepy...feeling from him."

Jake drained the beer bottle he was holding, opened the refrigerator door, and reached in for another. "Nelson's one of those guys who feels like he got the short end of the stick. Thinks the world never really appreciated him. But don't worry about him. He's harmless."

"I suppose," said Tess.

"That's not what my dad said about Nelson Abbott," Julie corrected her husband. "He said that Nelson was a real b.a.s.t.a.r.d. He used to beat Lazarus within an inch of his life. There was testimony about that at the trial. Some people thought Lazarus shouldn't get the death penalty because Nelson abused him so bad..."

"Poor little Lazarus," said Jake in a singsong voice. "Whupped by his mean old stepfather. If you ask me, Nelson didn't hit him enough."

Suddenly there was a loud knock from the direction of the living room.

"Aunt Julie," Erny cried. "Somebody's at the door."

Julie frowned at Jake. "Who's that? Are you expecting anyone?"

"No," said Jake grimly. "I'll get rid of them." He disappeared into the living room.

"Could it be reporters?" Tess said wearily. "Sorry."

"Don't apologize," said Julie. "You've got nothing to apologize for."

"That's what Chief Fuller said. Just before he implied that it was all my fault," said Tess.

Jake reappeared in the doorway to the kitchen. "Tess. I'm sorry. You'd better come out here. It's the cops."

"The cops? What now?" said Tess. She looked helplessly at Dawn and Julie. Then she followed Jake out into the living room. Erny was huddled in the corner of the sofa, staring at the two burly police officers who were taking up a large amount of s.p.a.ce in the small living room. Their buzz-cut hair, holstered weapons, and somber uniforms looked completely out of place in Julie's flowery, pastel decor.

"Tess DeGraff?" the younger officer asked.

Tess nodded.

"Chief Bosworth sent us. He wants to speak to you down at the police station."