AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Do you remember anything else about Jenna’s change in behavior from last spring?”
No answer, as if Mrs. Jerrell hadn’t heard the question.
“Maybe she met someone, or lost someone?” Still no answer. “Was she being bullied at school?” During the last interview with Jenna’s mother, both parents had mentioned bullying. Kay hoped if she got Mrs. Jerrell to a point where she remembered something, it would be easier to get her to talk.
“Yes,” she whispered. “But we don’t know who it was.”
“Did she tell you anything about it?”
She shook her head while her gaze found the floor. “She didn’t tell us. We would’ve done something, talked to someone. She just… closed up, buried everything inside,” she patted her chest with her fist a couple of times, hard, punishing, “because I wasn’t here. I was gone.”
“It’s not your fault, Mrs. Jerrell,” Kay said, speaking firmly yet gently. “You were putting food on the table for your family. You know who does that?” She didn’t reply. “Heroes do that, Mrs. Jerrell. Heroes like you.”
The woman raised her eyes and looked at Kay, her face still expressionless. A tear streaked her cheek. “It’s too late now.”
There wasn’t much she could do, not while Kendra was still missing. Her life could be hanging by a thread, and time was running out. Hating herself for rushing, she asked, “May we see Jenna’s room?”
Mrs. Jerrell led the way and opened the door. Kay stepped inside, studying every detail of what she was seeing and the picture it painted of whom Jenna used to be.
Her bed was tucked in the corner. Above it, on the side wall, a large poster celebrating the release of Gavin DeGraw’s new single, “Soldier.” The artist, wearing a brown fedora, played the piano in the rain.
Kay stared at the real DeGraw’s face, seeing a vague resemblance with the San Francisco Gavin Sharp, so vague it could’ve only been in her imagination. Hers, and a young girl’s in love, a girl who’d struggled with bullying and was looking for a protector, someone to defend her and ease her pain. Her very own soldier.
A familiar refrain came to Kay’s mind. She mumbled some lyrics from memory, a little out of tune.
“What?” Elliot asked.
“This,” Kay replied, pointing at DeGraw’s poster. “It’s why she fell for him, and she was dying to tell someone about it.”
“Fell for whom?” Mrs. Jerrell asked. A flicker of interest lit her eyes.
Kay turned to face the pale woman, wishing there was some way she could avoid giving her an answer. “We have reasons to believe she was dating an older man from San Francisco.”
“Dating?” She looked away as if to search her memory. “My daughter was depressed and rarely ever left the house. She spent most her time on her computer.”
“Where she met this man,” Kay added.
Mrs. Jerrell licked her dry, cracked lips. “Is he, um, did he kill her?” Her voice turned hoarse, brittle.
Kay nodded. “Seems that way, yes.”
“Do you know who he is?”
“Yes, we do, and a warrant is being issued for his arrest.”
“Who is he?” she pressed on, clasping Kay’s arm with her trembling hands.
Kay hesitated, wondering what Mrs. Jerrell would think upon hearing the suspect’s name.
“Unfortunately, we can’t disclose this information,” Elliot replied. “This is an ongoing investigation.”
“I see,” Mrs. Jerrell replied, letting go of Kay’s arm and pulling away.
“Did your daughter have a diary?” Kay asked. Like most teenagers in love, Jenna must’ve been dying to chat with someone about her new romance, only she didn’t have anyone to talk to. A diary would’ve been the next best thing.
“Not that I know of,” Mrs. Jerrell replied.
“Do you mind if I—”
