Page 105 of Deception

“Tell me about the princess.”

Clayton knew the story she wanted and began the story of the princess and the pea. “Once upon a time ...”

It wasn’t long before Ava was asleep again and he eased out of her room and returned to the living area. “Did you remember who was at the restaurant Wednesday night?” he asked his sister.

Jen reached for a sketch pad on the table and handed it to him. “I know there were more people at the restaurant than these six, but they’re the faces I remember. And the photo of the man you sent me? I don’t remember him being there at all.”

That meant Corbett probably hadn’t been there. Clayton scanned the paper Jen handed him. She’d sketched Dani and Bri, two men sitting at the bar, and two women, one at least twenty years older than the other, sitting at separate tables. He recognized Judith Winslow, and the other woman looked familiar, but he couldn’t come up with a name. And as for the men watching TV, they didn’t ring a bell at all. “Thanks.”

Jen tapped the sketch of the older woman. “That’s Judith Winslow.”

“I recognized her. Do you know who the other woman is?”

“No, and I’ll keep thinking about the people who were there—sometimes faces will come to me when I’m washing dishes.”

Gravel crunched in the drive. “Jake?” When she nodded, his stomach took a dive. He turned to face his brother-in-law as he came in the door.

“Clayton,” Jake said, nodding. “I saw your SUV.”

“Yeah. I stopped by to talk to Jen ... and to apologize to you if you were here. I’m glad you got home before I left.”

Jake stared at him warily.

“Jen says you went to an NA meeting?”

“Yeah. At church. Then my sponsor took me to the Waffle House for coffee. He’s been a lot of help.”

Clayton didn’t know the church was sponsoring the meetings. “How’s it going?”

Jake gave a slight shrug. “Pretty good.”

“Who’s your sponsor?”

“Tim Markowitz.”

“He’s a good guy.”

“How do you know him?”

“He comes to my Gamblers Anonymous meetings. A lot of people have cross addictions.”

Jake stared at him, then shook his head. “You have a problem with...”

“Gambling,” Clayton said. “It’s why I got so angry with Jen for letting you come back—while I don’t know how hard it is to quit drugs, I do know what an addiction is like. It won’t be easy.”

“I know, but I swear to you, I’ll never hurt Jen and Ava again.”

“Don’t say that—it’s just tempting the devil. And you can’t do it for them—you have to do it for yourself.” Clayton sighed. “I know we don’t trust each other yet, but if you ever need help and Tim isn’t available, give me a call.”

“Are you serious?”

“I am. With the help of some good people, and a lot of prayers, I got my act together again. It wasn’t easy then and it isn’t easy now. I fight temptation every day.”

“Yeah, I know what you mean.” He dropped his gaze to the floor where Ava’s teddy bear had fallen and stooped to pick it up. “Does it ever go away?”

“Nope, but if you stick to the program and give control of your struggle to God, it gets better.”

“That’s what they tell me in the meetings, but I’m not sure what that means.”

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