“You called 9-1-1,” Cooper said.
“Yes. I wanted to scream, but I didn’t want to wake up the children. I actually clapped my hands over my mouth. I had lipstick on my right hand later, I remember. And then William was there. For a minute, I almost thought he’d done it. Like he saw me arrive, took off, and now was back and acting all solicitous.”
“You changed your mind about that?”
“Yes. He was shell-shocked upon seeing Emma. That was real.”
Cooper asked, “Did you ever have anybody else in mind? Someone you felt could have done it?”
“You think I haven’t thought about it all these years? No. Unless it was one of those kids. That’s what the detective thought.” Cooper debated on telling her he was “one of those kids,” but she went on before he could. “If you’re seriously reinvestigating this case, you should start with them. The kids. Emma Whelan’s friends. Her younger sister was supposed to be babysitting that night.” She sighed. “I wish I’d never gone to the Glen Gen charity event. If I could rewind history, I would not go, and maybe none of this would have happened.”
If wishes were horses . . .
“How long were you asleep at Dr. Metcalf’s?” he asked.
“An hour or so. But there was nothing going on between us,” she stressed. “Don’t let William distract you. He always points fingers at what he does himself.”
Cooper and Nadine ended their call a few moments later when she had nothing more to offer. He looked at the clock, realized it was after noon, and headed out to get himself a sandwich.
* * *
Jamie smiled at Harley when she entered the classroom, but didn’t push her luck. Harley was with a friend. Lena, she thought. Harley gave her a quick smile in return when she took her seat.
Jamie passed out assignments, which was all that was required of her. Harley looked at hers and made a face. There wasn’t a lot for Jamie to do apart from monitoring the room, so her mind wandered. She wanted to know about Gwen. She wanted to know who had come after Marissa and Bette, and if it was the same person.
She knew Cooper and the rest of the River Glen PD were working on those crimes, but she felt anxious. Wanted things to move faster. It did feel like everything had started happening after she and Harley had landed in River Glen.
She got a text from Vicky just as class was ending: Leander’s? Tonight? I want to cry and drink wine.
As soon as the room emptied, Jamie texted back: Can be there around six.
She got a checkmark emoji in return.
She felt energized. Cooper had told her that one of the things Dug had hinted at was that Emma’s classmates had known more about her “older lover” than they’d let on. Maybe they did, maybe they didn’t. If she could, Jamie was going to find out.
Chapter Thirty
“I want to go to tae kwon do with Marissa to observe. See if I want to do it,” Harley said as they were driving home from school. “Marissa didn’t go last week, but she’s feeling better and she says it makes her stronger.”
“Sure,” Jamie said. “Where is it?”
“I don’t know for sure. You could drop me by Marissa’s and her mom’ll take us.”
“I’ll have to talk to her first.”
“You could ask Mr. Haynes,” she said, lifting her brows.
“And he’d have to ask Marissa’s mom anyway. Don’t be cheeky.”
“Cheeky? Whatever do you mean, Mother?”
Jamie couldn’t help but laugh a little. It felt good. “When’s this class? I have a wine date at six, so maybe I could take you, if we find out where and when it is.”
“I’ll text Marissa.”
Jamie was relieved to see that Marissa seemed to be on the road to recovery. She hoped Bette was doing the same.
“She gave me the address. She says it’s closer to Portland.” Harley held up her phone, but Jamie said, “I’ll look at it at home.”
The class was from four-thirty to five-thirty. Jamie figured she had just enough time to get Harley there and back and meet Vicky at Leander’s, but that didn’t take Emma into account. “You do need to take the permit test,” Jamie said as she drove Harley.
“Right?” Harley agreed. “I’ve been telling you.”
Back at the house, Jamie let Duchess out and, while waiting for her to do her perimeter check of the backyard, texted Theo to ask if she could bring Emma back after her shift. Theo sent back a thumb’s-up emoji.
Jamie changed into her jeans and a black sweater and put together several turkey sandwiches for Harley and Emma. Just as she was getting ready to pick up Harley, Cooper called.
“Hey, there,” she greeted him warmly.
“Are you going to be home?”
“Um . . . I’m actually meeting Vicky at Leander’s at six, but I can be back by say, eight?”
“Good.”
He sounded distracted. She asked. “Did you learn anything more about Gwen from the lab?”
“Not yet. I did speak to Nadine Ryerson.” He filled her in on that conversation. “I didn’t get anything more than I already knew from the file, but I’m going to follow up on Metcalf. About five years after Emma’s attack, he was killed outside his car in the hospital parking lot. The theory was drugs, but they never found the killer. Also, I’m not sure what I think about that gap of time while Nadine was sleeping. She’s adamant nothing happened between her and Metcalf, but it sounded kind of rehearsed. We talked on the phone, so I don’t know if anyone else was in the room that she was playing to.”
“Should I ask Emma’s classmates about her maybe older boyfriend?”
“If you do, be careful,” he warned.
That sounded so much like Gwen’s “Stay safe” that she felt a sharp pang of memory about her friend. “You too.”
Cooper hung
