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“Where are you? Your truck’s in the drive, but you’re not answering the door.”
“I’m not there. Hendrix and I are driving back from Libby. Why?”
“I have something to tell you.”
This sounded important. Ellen changed her phone to the other ear. “What is it?”
There was a slight pause while Talulah spoke to someone else—Ellen couldn’t quite make out what she said. “How long until you’re back?” she asked when she came back on the line.
Ellen checked the GPS. “Two hours and fifteen minutes. Why?”
“Can you come straight to my house? Jane Tanner has something to say I think you’ll want to hear.”
Talulah sat on the porch with Jane. They’d drank half a bottle of wine but barely spoken since she’d called Ellen. She hated to be put in such a terrible position, and she knew Jane felt the same. But right was right. She didn’t see how they could do anything except share what they knew, despite the consequence.
As soon as she saw Hendrix’s truck coming down the drive, Talulah stood and Jane did the same. Brant was still at work, but she’d already spoken to him and he agreed with what she was about to do.
Jane sighed. “This sucks.”
“I think so, too.”
They waited expectantly while Hendrix and Ellen got out of the vehicle and approached them. “How’d it go in Libby?” Talulah asked, choosing to start the conversation with something banal and comfortable to help ease them into where they had to go.
Ellen shook her head. “We thought for sure we’d be able to match Jordan’s tire to the impression left at the well, but it was a bust. We’ve now checked everyone on our list and haven’t found the culprit. Maybe we never will.” She glanced uncertainly at Jane. “What’s going on here?”
Talulah looped her arm through her childhood friend’s. She and Jane had gone through plenty to test their relationship. Groups of three were notoriously difficult, and navigating this new segment of their friendship with Averil wasn’t promising to be any easier. She hoped Jane wouldn’t resent her for encouraging her to do what they were about to do. “As much as I wish it wasn’t the case, I think Jane might be able to help with that.”
Ellen’s eyes went wide. “What are you talking about?”
Talulah motioned to Ellen and Hendrix to join them on the porch. Jane took one chair next to the small garden table Ellen had found for her at a garage sale, Ellen took the other, and Hendrix folded his arms and leaned against the railing, facing them.
“What is it?” Ellen asked.
Jane tucked a piece of hair that’d fallen from her ponytail behind her ear. “I feel like such a disloyal friend doing this,” she said with a grimace. “I’ve known Averil since before we went to kindergarten. I’m sure she’ll take it as a betrayal, and we’ll never be friends again. But—” her lips turned down “—I can’t sit back and say nothing.”
Ellen’s eyebrows came together. “This isn’t about the night the well was vandalized, is it?”
“I’m afraid so.” Jane rubbed her palms on her jeans before launching into what she had to say. “Averil called me that evening. Said her mother had taken her car because she had Mitch, and it had his car seat in it. She asked if there was any way she could use mine.”
“To go where?” Ellen asked.
“Back to Hank’s.”
Hendrix rubbed his chin. “Wasn’t Jordan in town that night? Why couldn’t they have used his car?”
“He’d just left,” Jane said. “He had to be at work on Wednesday, but because Averil’s mother had Mitch and she didn’t have to be home for him, she wanted to go back and play some more pool.”
Hendrix straightened. “She didn’t ask you to go with her?”
Jane shook her head. “She knows I don’t typically go out on weeknights—not that late, anyway. I’m usually getting ready for work the next day.”
Ellen slid forward in her seat. “So you let her take your car...”
“Yes. And she brought it back the following morning.”
“Meaning she had it all Tuesday night,” Hendrix clarified. “You think she might’ve had something to do with the damage to the Haslem well.”
Jane grimaced. “I’d hate to accuse her, but...”
