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It was an old reliable excuse.
“She won’t believe me.” Tori picked at her cuticles.
“You could stay with Diana and just skip the rest of the week. I’m sure—”
“No way!” Tori shot to her feet. “Then everyone will think the rumors are true. That I hurt Brendal and I’m staying home because I’m guilty.”
“Tori.” Kerri clasped her hands in her lap to prevent reaching for her. She knew her daughter well enough to know that look. She did not want her mother touching her or treating her like a baby at the moment. “You are not guilty of anything. I know you and I trust you. I need you to trust me.”
“What if I did?” She wilted back down onto the couch. “What if I accidentally pushed her?”
Terror chilled Kerri’s veins. “Do you think you pushed her?”
Tori shook her head. “No. But other people do.”
“Sometimes other people can be hurtful when they’re unsure of something. They get scared and try to find someone to blame.”
Tori rubbed her hands over her face, then clasped them together in her lap. “I’m just so ... I feel like I can’t remember, and I’m scared.”
Kerri pulled her close, hugged her, and struggled not to let the tears slip past her lashes. “Sometimes I get scared too, sweetie. We’ll figure this out. I promise.”
Tori pulled back and looked her mom in the eyes. “I hope so.”
“That day,” Kerri ventured, “did Alice bring any cookies or a snack of some sort from home?”
Tori frowned, concentrating. “I can’t remember. Maybe. She used to do that a lot. Alice said her aunt was trying extra hard to be like a real mom.”
“You think about it,” Kerri said. “If you remember something, let me know, okay? It could be important.”
Tori nodded. “I will.”
The doorbell rang. Kerri smiled. “Come on. That’s the food. Later we can have ice cream.”
“With M&M’S?”
“Definitely.”
Kerri wished ice cream and M&M’S would make everything better.
She wasn’t sure anything could, but she refused to give up trying.
20
9:00 p.m.
Chez Fonfon
Eleventh Avenue South
Birmingham
Mason sat at the bar, perfectly positioned to watch the entrance.
Leland Walsh had asked for a private meeting. Mason had no problem with giving the man a few minutes of his time. After all, Walsh had just lost his son. The issue would likely be what the man expected from the meeting.
If he’d asked for this meeting for the same reasonshehad, there wasn’t much to tell. At this time, he had nothing new regarding the investigation. At least nothing the man would want to hear.
Walsh entered and glanced around. Mason didn’t bother raising a hand to call his attention to the bar. The hostess would bring him over. Mason had tipped her well for the trouble.
