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“From Butch! He’s a monster.”
“What about Sherrilyn?” Francesca asked. “Can you tell us what happened to her?”
“I don’t know. She was fine until she came to the yard to—to wish me happy birthday. We’d been fighting. But…she was sorry. She said she was sorry.”
Francesca picked up her purse from the floor and placed it on the table. “You saw her there? Spoke to her?”
“Yes.”
“Could you be wrong about that?”
His eyebrows knitted. “No. Paris saw her, too. So did Butch and my mother. Sherry said I’m the only man who’s ever really loved her and it wasn’t fair of Neal to break us up. We were miserable without each other. We were going to get back together.”
“Where did she go after that?”
“Home, I guess. How would I know?”
Jonah changed up the interview with an easy question. “Neal’s her son?”
“That’s right. He’s not very nice. He—he doesn’t want his mother to love me. He wants her all to himself.”
Had Sherrilyn really shown up at the salvage yard? She had a restraining order against Dean, and she’d just been through that terrible experience caused by his stalking and death threats. But she wouldn’t be the first to go back to someone she knew might hurt her. “Was this after you went to her house and threatened to kill her?” Jonah asked.
“I didn’t say I was going to kill her! I said I’d rather we were both dead than apart. I loved her!”
Francesca jumped back in. “What about Bianca Andersen? Did you love her, too?”
The name distracted him. “Who?”
“Bianca Andersen. She was a nurse at Laurel Oaks. You recognize Laurel Oaks, don’t you?”
“Of course. I’ve been there. Three times.”
At least he was capable of remembering correctly. Jonah thought that lent him some credibility. “But you don’t recall a Bianca?”
“No.” He splayed his hands. “I’ve never heard of her before.”
Francesca took a pack of gum from her purse and offered Dean a piece. “Why do you draw what you do, Dean?” she asked.
He studied the gum as if it might bite him, but when she held it closer, he accepted. “I don’t know. Because they’re…interesting, I guess.”
“Have you ever acted out any of those drawings?”
“No!” He responded almost before she could get the words out.
Jonah cleared his throat. “Tell us why you feel you had to protect your mother, Dean.”
Although he’d unwrapped the gum, he was too worked up to put it in his mouth. “She told me I couldn’t tell. She said I had to forget what was in that freezer or it would get her in trouble. Then Butch said I could fix my mistake if I got the panties back.”
Francesca set her purse back on the floor. “Butch sent you to my house?”
He crammed the chewing gum in his mouth and spoke around it. “Yes. Because you took the panties.” He frowned. “I wish you’d never done that. I wish you were my friend. None of this would’ve happened.”
“This isn’t about our friendship,” she said. “This is about April and Julia and Sherrilyn and Bianca—”
“I don’t know Bianca. I’ve never even met her. You don’t believe me?”
She didn’t answer that question. “Why did you put those panties in Butch’s truck in the first place?”
