A quick flash of surprise crossed her face, but it fled quickly. “That’s illegal, in case you didn’t know. Lonnie is a foster kid, a ward of the state and no one has reported her missing. But who cares, right, because she’s just a street kid. No big loss, right?”
“How in the hell am I supposed to know she’s a foster kid?”
Mara shrugged. “You’re a cop, maybe you should investigate.” She shook her head in disgust and gave me a wide berth on her trip towards the exit, but I reached out and held her arm.
“Get your hands off me.”
“What the hell is your problem with me, Mara?” She struggled against my hold and I released her arm. “Well?”
“As if you don’t know.” Free from my grasp, she threw her arms up and growled at me. “Look, Sheriff, none of that matters. It’s all in the past and my only reason for being here is to find Lonnie. She’s clearly not here, so I have no reason to stick around. Good luck finding your rich kid.”
I reached for her again and was rewarded with a punch to my arm. “Don’t run away again Mara, even though you’re so fond of running. Stay and tell me what you meant.”
She shook her head, thick hair falling around her shoulders so that my fingertips itched to touch the silky waves. “Yeah, I don’t think so. You’re more than a decade too late for that conversation Xander.” It jarred me, hearing Mara use my name after all this time. “Any inclination I might have had to explain, to talk to you at all, fled after all the letters I sent to you from juvie were returned unopened.”
Her words couldn’t have shocked me more if she’d said she was an alien from another galaxy. “What? I don’t understand.”
She let out a loud shrill laugh that echoed inside the empty mill. “What’s to understand? I did the time for our crime while you lived it up on spring break, binge drinking and having casual sex. End of story.”
“This is the first I’ve heard of juvie, Mara. After I couldn’t find you anywhere, I skipped college in favor of the Army.”
She let out a shocked gasp, but that was as much vulnerability as Mara would allow. “Congratulations. Good for you, and goodbye.” She walked off again and this time, I let her.
I let her go because her words made no sense. I felt like I missed something big, something really important, only I didn’t have all the pieces. Her words about juvie stuck with me all day while I searched for Kyle and for Lonnie.
Mara had gone to juvie. She’d written letters to me that I never received, and she hated me for that fact. But it wasn’t the only reason she hated me, and I needed more details.
“Tara, what do you know about Mara?”
Her laugh sounded down the line and I gripped the steering wheel so hard my knuckles turned white. “Not much. She keeps the details of her life to herself. I’m not even sure Joss knows much more than I do, which is very little.”
“How can that be?” The words came out on a frustrated growl. “You’re women and you talk everything to death.”
“I’ll pretend you didn’t say that.” Tara sighed, and though I couldn’t say why, I felt the sympathy coming down the line. “Look Xander, Mara must have a good reason for keeping her past to herself, and as her friend, I don’t push. If and when she wants to talk, she will.”
“Yeah, thanks.”
Tara laughed again and I just knew she was shaking her head at me. “You can give me the details of what you do know, if you like. I’m guessing you know more than any of us.”
“Not as much as I’d like to know.”
“Ah,” she said knowingly. “Tell me more.”
“I can’t.” If Mara hadn’t shared any of her past with her friends, it wasn’t my place to fill in the blanks. Hell, I thought I knew her best, and it turned out she still kept secrets from me.
“You can, but I’m glad you’re respecting her need for privacy. She would appreciate that.”
“Doubtful.” Mara was determined to hate me, and that only made me more curious about what I’d done exactly, other than not return her letters.
“Maybe that’s true, for now. But if you’re truly curious about it, you could do what cops do. Investigate.”
Her words brought a smile to my face. “Thanks for the advice, Detective.”
“Anytime boss. Anytime.”
Investigating Mara’s past felt like an end route to invading her privacy, but I needed to know the details she refused to share with me. I’d try one more time and if she didn’t tell me, I would look into her background.
Mara
Since Joss and Ben were out of town on their romantic weekend getaway, she let me borrow her car to make the drive to Tulip, since mine currently sat unused thanks to a broken alternator. I was going to Sunday dinner with Helen. And her family. My nerves were shot as I drove the back roads between Pilgrim and Tulip, complete with sweaty palms, racing heart and a mind that wouldn’t quit conjuring up worst case scenarios.