Page 81 of Heart of a Hero

Marty nodded. “Yeah,” he muttered, his one-word response laden with suspicion.

“Zannie, did you ever see anything that Alan brought in?” Brad asked.

She scrunched her nose, and Mark thought she was adorable. “Sometimes he brought food. He’d put it in the refrigerator or the cabinets. He thought we couldn’t reach the cookies in the cabinets, but Marty would climb up and get a cookie for me.” She grinned and cut her eyes at her brother.

“You’re a good brother,” Mark said to Marty, hoping to ease the tension he felt coming from him.

Brad then prodded Zannie for more information. “Was there anything else you saw Alan have that you thought was pretty besides all the cards?”

Her eyes brightened. “Pretty? Yeah, he had a pretty necklace, and some bracelets, and some rings. I thought he was giving them to Mom.” Suddenly, her smile drooped, and she glanced toward Karen.

Taking the pressure off Zannie, who may have remembered the ring, Mark turned to Marty. “Did you notice jewelry?”

Marty nodded, but his reply seemed uncertain. “Only once or twice. I thought he bought them for Mom, but she only wore one bracelet that he gave her. I don’t know why she didn’t wear the others.”

“Zannie, did you ever see anything pretty that he brought home and wanted to keep?”

She looked down, and her bottom lip quivered. Karen wrapped her arm around the little girl. “Sweetheart, you’re not in any trouble. We just want to know what happened.”

Zannie blinked back tears and looked up at Karen. “I don’t want to go to jail,” she whispered as a tear slid down her cheek.

“What? No!” Marty gushed, turning to his sister.

“No, no,” Karen assured, hugging Zannie tighter. “You’re not in any trouble. I promise.”

“What is she talking about?” Marty asked, his face tight with worry.

“It’s okay,” Mark jumped in. “Zannie, honey, look at me.” When she finally turned her face from Karen’s chest and peered across the table at him, he smiled. “You have my word that you’re not in trouble. We’re just trying to figure out where Alan got some of the things he brought home. Okay? You trust me and Karen, right?”

She nodded and wiped her eyes but stayed in Karen’s embrace. “Alan dumped a bag on the table. It had some pretty jewelry in it. One of the rings rolled onto the floor, and I saw it. I wasn’t going to touch it because he’d get mad.”

“Okay, sweetheart,” Brad said. “What happened after that?”

“He didn’t act like he ever saw it. The following morning, it was still on the floor, and all the other stuff was gone. When we got home from school, it was still there.” She sniffled and wiped her nose. Lisa handed her a tissue, and Karen helped her wipe her face.

“What did you do?” Marty asked.

Zannie twisted in Karen’s arms and looked at him. “I picked it up. It was green and gold and shiny and pretty. I thought if Alan lost it, then I could keep it. I stuck it in my pocket.”

Marty’s expression twisted into a grimace. “What if he’d caught you, Zannie? He woulda been so mad. I couldn’t keep him from hurting you if he wanted.”

“I was afraid he might find it in my pocket,” Zannie said. She then looked up at Karen again. “You were over with Mr. Roscoe, and when we came in, I put it in your purse so it wouldn’t get lost.”

“Do you remember the day that happened?” Brad asked, earning a what-the-fuck look from Karen.

“You wore your green nursing outfit,” Zannie said easily, her smile slipping back into place. “I thought the green ring would be pretty with your green outfit!”

Karen blinked, then shook her head. “Um… I… I have no idea.”

“You wrote the twelfth on your paper when you were talking to Mr. Roscoe.” Zannie continued, “I remember because my birthday is June the twelfth, and I like that number.”

“Then it would have been about three weeks ago,” Karen said, hefting her shoulder in a little shrug.

Brad and Mark smiled widely. “That’s amazing, Zannie,” Mark said, nodding at her and earning a smile beamed directly at him.

“She’s not in trouble?” Marty asked, his tone doubtful.

“Not at all,” he promised. “You guys did great.”

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