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Hendrix leaned on the banister of the landing as he watched his aunt back out of the drive. “I’m fine.”
“Are you sure?” She frowned as she peered closer at him. “I’m so sorry.”
“So am I,” he said. “But it’ll be okay. We’ll go to Libby tomorrow, get a picture of whatever tire on Jordan’s Audi matches the impression that was near the well and take it to the police. Jay will go to the trouble of filing a report if he feels it won’t be a waste of time. Then Jordan can be charged with trespassing and vandalism—or whatever the charges will be—and my aunt will have to believe you had nothing to do with sabotaging that well.”
“She’s never liked me. Do you think that’ll really change anything?”
“Who knows? At least the well issue will be put to rest.”
She sighed. “I still don’t understand why Rocko came forward to make up that story about being near the Haslem property the night it happened and seeing a Fetterman truck,” she said.
“I think he was just looking for your attention. He thought of something he could say that you’d want to hear—then backed away from it once I got involved and everything threatened to blow up in his face.”
“I guess,” she murmured.
Once Lynn pulled onto the highway, and he could no longer see her, he took Ellen in his arms and kissed the top of her head. “We’ll get through this.”
“I just feel so bad about what’s happening between you and your aunt and what it means for Leo and your job...”
He lifted her chin so that he could look into her eyes. “Don’t worry. If I have to, I’ll just move in with you,” he said.
They both started to laugh, but he had a feeling he’d be living with her soon, regardless. He already wanted to be with her almost every minute. “Now come inside and let me show you my house—while I have it.”
The drive to Libby went quickly. Ellen wasn’t eager to see Jordan again. She hoped they wouldn’t have to run into him. But any time she spent with Hendrix absolutely flew by, in spite of being nervous about the DNA test. The results could come back as early as tomorrow or Wednesday, which weighed on her mind, so this was a good distraction. She was also eager to establish, once and for all, who’d poured cement down Jay’s well. It had to have been Jordan. He’d been so angry with her for reporting him to the dating site. And even if she didn’t actually participate, Averil had to have told him where to find the property. That could be difficult to prove, of course, but Ellen figured they might learn more about how it happened once they matched one of Jordan’s tires to that impression from the site. In Ellen’s opinion, he was the kind of person who would implicate his friends and associates if he saw some benefit in doing it, and spreading the blame meant he wouldn’t look quite as bad himself.
“After this, Averil might get a taste of what Jordan’sreallylike,” she told Hendrix as GPS led them to a strip mall on the west side of town.
Hendrix had called, under a fake name, to make an appointment to have his teeth cleaned and examined, so they knew Jordan was working. But they didn’t plan on going in. They just had to figure out where he’d parked.
As Hendrix circled the lot, looking for the white Audi, Ellen hoped this would finally be the end of the business about the well. It had to be, she told herself. They’d looked at everyone else.
But once they found Jordan’s car parked around back, along with a Toyota Prius that probably belonged to his dental assistant, they were shocked to find the tread on his tires vastly different from what was in the picture.
“This can’t be,” she said as Hendrix looked up, his expression revealing that he was equally surprised.
“It was no one on our list?” he said. “What...was it just a bunch of teenagers out doing random bullshit?”
“Why would a bunch of teenagers write ‘Ellen’s a bitch’ on the chicken coop?” she asked.
Still crouched next to the last tire he’d checked, Hendrix shook his head. “I have no idea. Should we go in and confront Jordan? Ask him if he was involved?”
“No. He’ll just deny it.”
Hendrix got up. “What a waste. We drove all the way here for nothing.”
“Even if we’d gotten a match, I doubt it would’ve changed anything with Lynn,” Ellen said, trying to make herself feel better. “She’s going to believe what she wants to believe about me.”
“Yeah. Let’s just forget about the well,” he said. “We know you didn’t do anything to harm it. That’s all that matters.”
She forced a smile to cover her disappointment. She’d been looking for some kind of vindication—at last. Then, even if it turned out that she didn’t belong to Stuart—that she had an even worse father than she’d thought—she’d have this small victory to help console her. She hated that Lynn would still be able to make the baseless claim that Ellen had damaged the well herself.
“I’m going to call Rocko,” she said on the drive back, “and ask him why he made up what he did.”
“Don’t waste your time,” Hendrix said. “He has no incentive to tell you the truth.”
“I still want to try,” she insisted, but Talulah called her before she could act on that thought.
She hit the Talk button. “Hello?”
