Fallen

The woman hadn’t changed. She didn’t need to imagine what it might have been like to be raised by a such a mother. She knew very well from Kandace. Heartbreaking. “I can’t imagine what you’ve been through not having any answers.”

“Well,” she sighed. “I imagine you can. You were her friend too. She cared very much for you, in case you didn’t know.”

“Thank you, Mrs.— Dru.”

“I’d given her one final chance. All this time, I imagined she just decided not to take it. I’d resigned myself to the fact that we would never know how she got caught up in foul play. Farrow’s sheriff implied drugs. I . . . well, I had no reason to disagree. Kandace . . . she made bad choices.”

Scarlett’s skin felt suddenly icy. She didn’t think drugs were the reason Kandi had been killed, but there still wasn’t any proof. And whatever choices Kandace might have made, she didn’t deserve to be murdered. All she could do was wait and hope that those not involved in the crime would uncover something. In any case, it was clear to her that this would be the last time she spoke to Dru . . . she’d already forgotten her last name, which was well enough. Why use brain space for something that would inevitably change in the very near future?

“She was smart and vibrant,” Scarlett said. “She was stronger than she ever knew.” Than you ever knew. “And she had her whole life in front of her. Someone should be punished.” And if she had even one word to say about it, someone would. Scarlett brought one knee up and rested her arm on it as the sun shifted shades, lemon to gold.

“Yes, of course,” Dru said dismissively. Scarlett pictured the incredibly beautiful woman flipping her hand in the air like she remembered her doing. “Oh, one other thing,” Dru continued. “The medical examiner called this morning and well, there’s no need to make this public, but . . . as her friend, I think you should know.”

“What is it?”

“He believes Kandace gave birth at some point.”

“Gave birth?” she asked, confusion clear in her tone.

“Yes. Something about marks on the pelvic bone. It wasn’t just that she was pregnant, but that she experienced a birth. He can’t pinpoint the timing, just that.”

Scarlett’s mind spun. “How could that be?”

“Well, that’s why I thought I’d tell you. It couldn’t have been while she was at the school. They would have contacted me. I’m assuming they would have sent her home immediately. They were . . . very religious. So it had to be before she went there. I admit there were long periods of time I didn’t see my daughter. She’d run away . . . then come back, get into trouble . . . her life . . . well . . .” She sighed. “Anyway, did she ever say anything to you about a pregnancy?”

“No,” Scarlett answered. “But you know, we were out of touch for long periods sometimes too.”

“Can you imagine,” Dru went on, “that somewhere out there, I might have a grandchild, and I’ll never know him or her?”

Scarlett wasn’t sure what to say to that. Her mind was spinning too fast to string her thoughts together. She managed to chat with Dru for a few more minutes, the older woman promising to send Scarlett the funeral information as soon as Kandace’s body was released. Scarlett hung up, staring blindly out at the forest, the forest Kandace had once run toward, her life slipping tenuously through the hands of time whether she knew it at that moment or not.

Kandace had given birth? It couldn’t have been in the cave. No tiny bones were found. And if an animal had carried the baby away, surely Kandace’s own bones would have been at least partially disturbed too. No, from the descriptions of the three sets of bones in that small area, the dead had lay completely undisturbed.

Until Haddie had discovered them . . . felt them there.

Could Kandace have given birth prior to being sent to Lilith House? It was possible, she supposed, but she also knew that one of the reasons Kandace’s life had spiraled the way it had was because of drug use. Kandace didn’t make the best choices for herself, Dru had been right about that despite the casual, blameless way she’d spoken of it, but try as she might, Scarlett just couldn’t see the girl she’d known partying on without any care for the innocent life she carried.

Maybe you didn’t know her as well as you think, Scarlett. You were only fifteen the last time you saw her. You’d drifted apart.

Yes, all true. And still, the doubt persisted.

So if she didn’t give birth before she came to Lilith House, and if she didn’t give birth in that cave, then could she have had a child under this very roof? Scarlett brought her arms around herself, a sudden chill wafting across her skin.