AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“No, he walked out when she was a baby, didn’t want to be tied down.”
“So Renee was alone with Kaylee?”
“Yes,” she said. “Except for a few other people on the beach.”
“I don’t understand why Forrester was so convinced your sister was negligent. Were there witnesses, someone who said your sister hurt Kaylee or neglected her?”
A tense second passed, Priscilla’s eyes glassy. “Some lady on the beach said Renee looked as if she’d been drinking. But she didn’t drink anymore, and she never would have had a drop while she was taking care of Kaylee.”
Ellie treaded lightly. “Did she have a drinking problem?”
An awkward moment lingered, and Ellie could see Priscilla struggling not to give into her exhaustion. Or maybe she was trying to fabricate an excuse for her sister.
“No,” Priscilla finally replied. “She wasn’t a serious alcoholic anyway. But when Kaylee was sick, Renee had trouble sleeping so she started having a couple of glasses of wine at night to help her relax. But our father had a real problem, so I talked to her and she joined AA and cut out the habit.”
“She could have fallen off the wagon,” Ellie said. “It happens.”
“No,” Priscilla insisted. “She didn’t keep alcohol in her house at all. And she never missed one of her meetings. Renee lived and breathed for that little girl. And no one is even looking for her anymore.”
Ellie didn’t want to make promises she couldn’t keep. But under the circumstances she had to explore every possibility. “Tell me what happened to Renee. How did she die?”
“I don’t know, I never could get a straight answer,” Priscilla murmured. “One day they called me from the jail and said she died of an overdose. I asked questions, but no one seemed to care.”
“Was there an investigation into her death?”
Priscilla made a sarcastic sound. “No. I begged the detective to look into it and told him Renee didn’t do drugs, not ever. I even tried to reach Renee’s sponsor but couldn’t find her.”
“Did the detective locate her?” Ellie asked.
She shook her head. “No. I don’t think he even tried. He wrote Renee off as a bad mother and refused to investigate.” Bitterness crept into her voice. “But I think someone murdered her to keep her from looking for Kaylee.”
One Hundred Twelve
Somewhere on the AT
Last night, her husband had slept in the other room after he’d tucked Ava in bed with warm blankets. They’d had words.
“We need to carry Becky to the hospital and take Ava home,” he’d said.
“You’ve been giving Becky her medication,” she said stubbornly.
“True,” Silas said. “But she has an upper respiratory infection.”
“Then give her antibiotics.”
“She needs IV fluids and IV antibiotics,” Silas stressed. “And tests that I can’t run here to make sure her kidney isn’t damaged.”
“But she needs to be with me for Christmas!” she’d screamed at him.
“This is not their home.” Silas had looked at her with such a coldness that she’d feared he’d sneak the girls away during the night.
“If you take them, I’ll tell the police this was all your idea,” she said.
His face had contorted with anger and hurt, as if she’d driven a knife into him, then he disappeared into the guest room and slammed the door.
Now, the scent of burning bacon wafted to her and she looked down at the frying pan and jerked it off the stove, rattled. She’d have to make something else for breakfast. Maybe eggs-in-a-nest, as she called it. Piper had always liked that.
She set out the eggs, bread and cheese, then Kaylee came into the kitchen leading Ava, who looked up with big sad eyes.
