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“Mom, she’s my ex. That doesn’t make her my top priority. Why should I drop everything when she contacts me?”
“Why not? It wouldn’t hurt you to help her out.”
Did she even understand what his ex-wife wanted? What had Lori told his mother that had motivated Rita to jump in with both feet? Lord knew it didn’t take much, but she had to have been given some excuse. “What is it she needs?” he asked, just to see what his mother would say.
“You don’t know?”
He caught a glimpse of Francesca’s BMW in his rearview mirror and sped up. Murder case or no murder case, he could live without the confusion she inspired in him. “Not exactly.”
“It’s some sort of a character reference so she can adopt a child from the foster care system.”
A child from foster care? Hardly. She was competing with other would-be parents for an unborn child. But he didn’t correct her. Sometimes Rita went off half-cocked without knowing all the details. Life was easy for her—all black and white and full of snap judgments. This was a perfect example. “And how’s my character reference going to make a difference?”
“I can’t imagine. But she thinks it will. And it wouldn’t take you more than a few minutes to do her this favor.”
“Have a little faith, Mom. I’ll get to it when I can.”
“How about sooner rather than later, Jonah? Divorced couples don’t have to be enemies, you know. Take me and your father, for instance.”
He switched lanes. “Dad’s remarried, Mom.”
“And your point is?”
“He’s never the one who has to deal with you. His wife runs interference.”
“That’s not true. Anyway, Jolynn and I get along.”
Barely. Because he was close to his father and stepmother, Jonah knew that Jolynn was less than pleased about being Rita’s designated contact. She was just better with people, better with Rita, than his father, so she got stuck with the job. “How does that relate to anything?”
“I’m encouraging you to make peace with Lori, to stop holding a grudge.”
“Right. Got it. Thanks for the advice,” he said dryly.
When she hesitated, he expected her to switch topics, but she didn’t. Evidently, that call from Lori had her thinking about the fact that he was past thirty and still hadn’t remarried. “Lori’s such a good person, so supportive and friendly.”
Yeah. Whenever she wanted something…
“You don’t think the two of you could ever get back together, do you?”
“No. Never.”
She acted surprised by the absoluteness. “Wow, I never would’ve guessed you were so bitter. You seemed like such an ideal couple, and then it was over, just like that. I’m still not sure why you two broke—”
“Irreconcilable differences,” he cut in. “I’ve got to check my GPS, Mom.”
“So check it,” she said.
“My phone won’t let me talk at the same time. I’ll call you later, okay?”
“Fine,” she said with a huff. “But don’t forget to contact Lori.”
“I heard you the first time. Thanks again, Mom.” He hung up. After that little stunt, Lori could wait until he got back to California for her damn letter. He didn’t have time to pull over, whip out his laptop and do it now, anyway. According to his GPS, he’d passed Peeples Valley and was coming up on Kirkland. That meant he was only seven miles from Skull Valley, and Francesca wasn’t far behind.
What would they find when they got there? he wondered. But nothing could’ve prepared him.
CHAPTER 8
The smell drifted all the way to the car, triggering such revulsion Francesca almost couldn’t force her legs to carry her the short distance to where she saw Finch and Hunsacker. They were with several police officers and a few other people, probably from the Yavapai County Medical Examiner’s Office, judging by the van, working outside the chocolate and gift shop. Once she did get close, she regretted it. She’d hoped to identify April from the picture she had with her; she’d wanted to know for sure that her latest missing person had been found. April’s sister, Jill Abbatiello and her husband, Vince, had been distraught ever since she didn’t report for work on Monday. Of course, murder was the worst possible outcome, but it was at least an answer, which relieved the wondering and the waiting. However, the state of the corpse made visual identification impossible.
