Closer Than Blood

when he was home anymore. In fact, she only knew he was home when he’d come out, get something to eat, and scurry back to whatever it was he was doing. She’d allowed that pattern to take root and she regretted it. The isolation between mother and son had likely allowed something very dark to fester.

“Honey, we need to talk,” she said, poking her head into his room. Parker was on his computer. He snapped his laptop shut.

“Do you mind?” he asked.

“I’m sorry,” she said, not knowing why she felt a need to apologize. She’d seen something that could be tied to a murder case near Kingston. She never thought for one second that he’d been involved in anything, but maybe his friends had? Drew’s mother had complained to her when they ran into each other at Top Foods that her son was “practically incorrigible.”

“We need to talk.”

“You’re talking, Mom. I’m busy. What is it?”

“Can I come in?”

“You’re in. Fine. What?”

“I didn’t mean to, but I saw something of yours that concerned me.” She was sugarcoating it and she knew it. She wondered how she got to the point of being so weak around her son. It was as if the stronger he got, the more belligerent he became, the weaker she grew. It was like when she discovered that Alex was cheating on her and she thought of every reason why it was her fault, not his. Parker stepped away from this laptop and sat on the bed.

“Mom, I have stuff to do.”

“Parker, I found the money pouch from the church.” Her hands shook a little, but she tried to steady them. Calm. Be as calm as you can. He didn’t allow any expression to cross his face.

“Were you going through my stuff?” She shook her head slowly.

“I didn’t do that. I wouldn’t do that.”

“I can’t believe you, Mom. You are so full of crap.” She sucked in some courage. The issue here wasn’t how she saw what she saw, it was that a relic from a murder scene was in their house.

“Where did you get that pouch, Parker?”

“I found it.”

“Where?”

“I don’t remember. Just somewhere.”

“You were gone the day that minister was killed. I remember that we fought.”

“We always fight, Mom. I said I found it; I can’t even believe for one second that you would think that I would ever lie to you about anything.” Parker didn’t state the obvious and it crushed his mother. He didn’t say, “What minister?” Laura didn’t want to give voice to the truth just then. The truth was ugly. She had caught him in many, many lies. After his last summer visit with his father, Parker had become a frequent and facile liar.

“We need to give this pouch to the police. You need to tell them where you found it.”

“At the skate park. That’s where I found it, Mom.”

Kendall listened to the anguished mother sitting in front of her. She watched her slide lower in the booth. She was all but disappearing. She handed her a tissue from the packet she kept in her purse for such occasions. She didn’t want to tell Laura Connelly about one little flaw in her son’s story. There was no skate park in Port Orchard.

“I’ll need to talk to your son, Laura,” she said. Laura nodded.

“He’s at home.”

“I’m going to call my partner and have him meet me there. You go on ahead. We’ll be there as soon as we can.”

“There’s one more thing. I think that he’s involved with Tori.”

“Involved? How so?”

“She’s all he talks about. They’re too close. Something’s going on.” Kendall set down her coffee and waved away the waitress and her pot.

“Something inappropriate?” she asked. Laura shook her head.

“I’m not sure. I mean, I don’t really know. She’s his stepmother.”

“But you think he’s involved,” Kendall said, pushing a little.

“You used that word, involved. What do you mean by that? I want to understand.” Laura stood up to leave and reached for her purse.

“I thought he had a girlfriend, but, well, I really do think that he’s sleeping with her. There, I said it.”

“She’s always been a manipulator, Laura. If she’s been using your son for whatever reason, it’s just what she does.”

“You aren’t going to arrest him, are you, Kendall?” The Kitsap detective shook her head, though she really wasn’t sure. She didn’t want to lie, so she just left it at that.

They met in the TV room of the spotless Fircrest home Laura Connelly purchased with the proceeds from her divorce from Alex. Laura was still unsure if she should call Alex an ex or a late husband. After the shooting, she knew she still loved him a little. When the Kitsap detectives arrived, Parker begrudgingly emerged from his bedroom to talk with them. He wore blue jeans and a black hoodie and an impatient look on his face. His pants were slung low, low enough to show the top two inches of the waistband of his underwear. Emporio Armani, no less. Kendall and Josh conferred on the phone before meeting there that the Lord’s Grace money pouch alone was not enough for an arrest warrant. It was a start, though. While there were bloody footprints at the Kingston crime scene, they were smeared and not much evidentiary value. The shoes themselves would be good, but they’d have to be in plain sight in order for the detectives to pick them up without a warrant. The other key piece of evidence was the red tape. Kendall and Josh scoured the Connelly residence in as casual a manner as possible—without opening doors, drawers, or closets. Nothing.

“Son,” Josh said, “you need to tell us what you know.” Parker looked away at the TV.

“Why does everyone call me ‘son’ all of a sudden?” Laura got up and turned it off.

“I was watching that, Mom.”

“You need to talk to the detectives here.” Kendall pulled a bench a little closer to where Parker was sitting. Josh stood. It was a show of domination that wouldn’t have gone unnoticed by a police cadet. Or a teenager.

“You don’t intimidate me,” Parker said. Josh leaned closer.

“Look, I’m not here to do anything but help you.”

“Whatever. I don’t give a shit about what you’re here to do. And my mom’s a stupid bitch for asking you to come over.” Laura was at the breaking point and his name-calling didn’t exactly do her fragile psyche any good. She looked like she was going to crumble.

“Parker,” she said.

“Please don’t.” Kendall took over.

“You need to trust us,” she said to the teen.

“I didn’t do nothing wrong,” he said, his eyes still riveted to the black TV screen.

“Anything is the word,” Josh said.

“You didn’t do anything wrong but miss English class.”

“You’re funnier than Letterman. About as old as him, too.” Kendall shot a bruising glance at Josh that was meant to have him dial things down.

“Ms. Connelly, what do you say you get us some coffee?” Laura didn’t mind leaving the room. She had dissolved in tears twice that evening already. She had called on Kendall and her partner because she wanted to extricate her son from something that might ruin his life. Tori, she felt, was somehow involved in all this.

“Your mom said you found the money pouch,” Kendall said.

“Yeah, so what?”

“Do you know that the minister of that church was murdered this week?”

“I’m sure he’s in heaven, then.” Kendall ignored the sarcasm. She knew that making a point of calling him out on it would only antagonize him. Josh Anderson, however, had no ability to show restraint.

“You boning the old girl?” Kendall resented both the term boning and that Josh