“I don’t think that Verna would have allowed that,” Gil said.
“Maybe not,” Sara replied. “I wonder if Verna wanted something, and that’s why she worked so much.”
“Yeah,” Gil said. “She wanted her daughter near her forever.”
At that, they all drew in their breaths. It was what had been given to both of them.
SEVEN
After Gil left, the three of them moved back to the kitchen together and were silent. Kate ate her eggs while Sara cooked an endless supply of bacon-wrapped cheese sticks. Jack ate them while trying to scratch under his cast.
The words now what? might as well have been a neon sign flashing above their heads.
“If we could just find someone who knew her,” Kate said.
“Who am I?” Jack asked. “The Invisible Man? I knew Cheryl better than anyone.”
“Okay, then who hated her enough to murder her and her mother?” Kate said, but Jack had no answer.
“Or loved them enough.” Sara slid another pan full of bits onto Jack’s plate.
“Love. Hate. They’re the same deep level of emotions.”
“I think it had to be love,” Jack said.
Sara halted, the granite-topped counter between them. “We can talk to Elaine Langley, but Cheryl seemed to be such a loner that I wonder if it will lead anywhere. But someone must have known them. People don’t live in isolation in this town—or anywhere, for that matter. All we’ve looked at is the school. Who lived in the houses around theirs?”
“They were rentals,” Jack said. “Two-week snowbirds. In and out. Nonpaying visitors.”
“What does that mean?” Kate asked.
“August heat is the price Floridians pay for the perfection of February. Snowbirds are people who show up just during the winter. They get the good without paying for it.”
“But then they go away,” Sara said quickly. “We need to find people to talk to. Who might have known them on an adult level?”
Jack popped another baco
n bit into his mouth. “Let’s call all the husbands and ask if they were ever one of Verna’s customers.”
“Right, no problem,” Kate said with a roll of her eyes. “And all the high-school boys, while we’re at it. Maybe one of them thought he couldn’t survive hearing the word no.”
“Cheryl told Gil he was her ‘second favorite,’” Sara said. “So who was first?”
“Flynn,” Jack said. The women gave small smiles, but there was no real humor.
Kate got up to get some of the photos Sara had run off. The two skeletons were vivid against the dirt of the tree roots. She tapped the picture that clearly showed a hole in one skull. “This isn’t fair. That girl had ambition. She knew what she wanted. Most teenagers have no idea, but Cheryl had goals and worked toward them.”
“Maybe Verna’s second job was meant to raise money for her daughter. College is expensive,” Sara said.
“I think her dad was going to help with that,” Jack said. He looked up to see the women glaring at him.
“Who was Cheryl’s father?” Sara’s voice was almost a threat.
“No idea,” Jack said. “One time Cheryl said her mother’s friend had bought her some diamond earrings. I guess to my kid mind that meant ‘father.’ But now I think that probably wasn’t what she meant.”
“I’d like to hypnotize you to get every bit of information of that time out of you,” Sara said.
“You’d be embarrassed,” he said. “Like Gil said, I also had, uh, dreams about Cheryl.”