Page 36 of Bring Them Home

“No, everyone liked him. He had a big heart and a witty sense of humor, well, if you’re into dad jokes. He had a bunch of those.” A rogue tear rounded her chin and splatted on the papers in front of her on her desk. “He’s going to be missed. What happened to him?”

It was a normal question, typical of the situation. Death was such a mysterious entity, human nature had most people wanting to know how and why. Unfortunately, the latter was rarely—if ever—resolved to any satisfaction. “He was murdered.”

Anna gasped. “That’s why you were asking about his relationships.”

Amanda and Trent remained silent. Anna’s forehead furrowed.

“This just… Wow. This blows me away.”

“I’m sorry for your loss,” Amanda offered.

The receptionist nodded as she wiped more tears that had fallen in silence.

“Mr. Zimmerman told us you could direct us to the teachers’ lounge,” Trent said.

“Out the door, turn right, second door on the left. I’ll be there in a minute.”

Amanda reached the door just as the bell rang to signal the end of the school day. Students spilled into the halls. Zoe. Amanda’s impulse was to duck back into the office and hide.

Her phone buzzed with a text message.

Will be postponed leaving tonight. Is there any way you could get Zoe or make other arrangements?

It was from Libby DeWinter. She was a teacher here but also Zoe’s adopted aunt. Libby had been close friends with Zoe’s parents and even pegged as Zoe’s godmother. But when they were murdered, Libby wasn’t in any position to adopt Zoe. She was a huge part of her life, though, and she took Zoe back to her house after school until Amanda’s shift ended around five. If Amanda worked late, she needed to make other arrangements, which she had done today but had failed to pass on to Libby. “Trent,” she said, leaning in toward him. “I just need to handle something, if you wanted to go on ahead of me.”

“Yeah, of course.” Trent retreated down the hall.

Amanda stepped to the side of the hallway and called Libby. She’d be seeing her soon enough, but she expected Libby would be eager for a response.

“Amanda? You got my text? A situation came up at work. Some last-minute meeting, and I don’t know how long it will be. Sometimes these things drag out.”

“I understand, and I’m sorry I didn’t say anything earlier, but I made arrangements for my mother to get her today.”

“Oh?”

“You’ll find out soon why.”

“So you’re why they called this meeting?”

Libby had become a close friend over the years. Amanda was going to be her maid of honor for her wedding next month, so she’d gotten to know her pretty well. In the least, Libby would excel as a detective. At most, she was borderline psychic, her intuition was so strong. “Yes.”

There was silence on Libby’s end, but Amanda then detected a little girl’s voice in the background. It was one she’d know anywhere. Zoe.

“Libby, you might have guessed what’s happened, but Zoe doesn’t know yet. I’d like to be the one to tell her.” Amanda ran with the assumption Libby would understand what she was talking about.

“I understand, and I’ll let her know her grandmother is coming to pick her up.”

“Thank—”

“Is that Mom?” Zoe chirped up in the background.

“It is,” Libby told her.

“Is she working late again?”

Amanda’s heart broke. Was she nothing but a constant disappointment? Was that how her daughter viewed her? As the absent workaholic?

“Zoe, you know your mother has a very important job,” Libby told her.