Second Time's the Charm

A guy didn’t just get picked up for questioning for no reason.

* * *

“DO YOU OWN a set of suction cups used in removing sliding glass doors?”

They were still in the sheriff’s car, driving through town. Jon figured everyone they passed was staring at him.

And convicting him, too.

“No, I do not,” he said automatically. The sheriff didn’t say another word the rest of the trip.

* * *

IT WAS LIKE living in the twilight zone. A horribleness she could never have imagined.

Abraham had come through his procedure without any problems and was fine except that he’d probably sleep more than usual over the next couple of days. Lillie made him an early dinner, expecting him to conk out before his usual bedtime.

She heated up some hot dogs. Because all Jon did was boil them so she could fix them exactly the way Abe was used to.

She made a decent homemade macaroni and cheese, too, but it would be different than Jon’s. And Abraham might not like it.

The day had been stressful enough for the boy. She didn’t need to add to that.

It was the reason she was in Jon’s home when she’d rather be anyplace but.

Her phone rang just as she was putting Abe in his crib at a quarter to seven.

“I need access to Jon’s house, Lil,” Sheriff Richards said. She hadn’t known her heart could sink any further. “He said you have the keys.”

“Is he in jail?” Her heart pounded.

“Not yet. He’s only being held for questioning.”

“Here in town?”

“Yes. I’ve got an interrogation room at the station. He’s been there all afternoon.”

“Has he said anything?”

After hanging up with Bonnie, Lillie had called Caroline. And then Jon’s friend, Mark Heber, whose fiancée was an attorney.

All she got out of anyone was that they were questioning Jon in conjunction with the break-ins. She was trying not to think about it. Not to feel anything at all.

Abraham needed her calm. Cheerful.

And she didn’t know for how long.

“He’s answered my questions, Lil,” Sheriff Richards said. “He says he had nothing to do with the break-ins.”

Could he be even better at lying and manipulating than Kirk was? She just couldn’t believe it. Didn’t believe it. “Then maybe it’s true.”

“For your sake and the boy’s, I hope so, Lil. But I have to tell you, it doesn’t look good. He used suction cups when he replaced your sliding glass door, didn’t he?”

Lillie’s hesitation scared her. “Yes, why?” Just because a guy had an easy-enough-to-come-by tool didn’t make him guilty of a crime. “He used to work in construction, Greg. He’s got all kinds of tools in his truck.”

“He says he doesn’t own suction cups.”

“Of course he does. They’re in the back of his truck. In a bucket, I think. That’s where he put them when he carried them out of my house that night.”