Page 34 of Christmas Homecoming Secrets
A pause. “Maybe. I’ll call you if I decide I need help or if I just want to do this alone.”
Jade bit her lip, then sighed. “Heather, don’t shut yourself off from people. From me. I just want to help. We all do.”
“The problem is, no onecanhelp.” A sob slipped across the line and speared her heart. Heather cried, and all Jade could do was listen. Finally, her friend sniffed and fell silent. Jade waited, trying to think of what she could do or say and came up empty.
“Sorry,” Heather said. “I’m sorry. Sometimes it just overwhelms me.”
“No need to apologize. I know.”
She heard Heather take a deep breath and let it out slowly. “All right,” Heather said, “let’s think about this. We’ve got access to resources Frank didn’t. If he tracked down these drug runners, how come we haven’t been able to yet?”
“I don’t know, I just know the drug task force is working on it.” Jade paused. “Bryce is coming over later. Do you want to join us?”
For a moment the line was silent. Then Heather sighed. “Maybe. How’s that working out for you? Seeing Bryce again?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, he’s Mia’s father, isn’t he? I’d think it’d be a little uncomfortable being around him again.”
Jade froze, her insides turning to ice. She hadn’t told a soul who Mia’s father was. “What makes you say think Bryce is Mia’s father?” She forced the words past her lips, rather proud that she managed to keep her panic out of her tone.
“Something Frank said.”
Her heart had done a fast thaw to thud out of control in her chest. “What exactly did Frank say?”
“Something about that weekend Bryce went to say goodbye to Kristy. Frank rode with him and said Bryce wound up spending more time with you because of your grandmother dying. He also said that he didn’t remember Bryce returning to where the guys were crashing that night and that Bryce was tight-lipped when he showed up to go home. I did the math and it fits.”
“You never said a word.” If Heather had done the math, Frank probably had too.
“Wasn’t my business.” She paused. “So it’s true?”
Jade closed her eyes and considered lying. But couldn’t. “Yes, Heather. It’s true.”
“Are you going to tell him?”
“Of course I am.”
“But you haven’t yet.” Another pause. “Why not?”
“When has there been an even halfway right time to tell him? When bullets were flying at the shooting range? Or maybe when someone was trying to strangle me in the Christmas tree lot?” And he had PTSD—which wasn’t even the problem. The problem was his refusal to admit it. Silence from the other end of the line. Jade pinched the bridge of her nose. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to snap, but I can’t get into this right now, okay? As you well know, there’s a lot going on and I just… I can’t talk about this yet. Not because I don’t want to tell you, but because I simply need to think things through before I say anything.”
“Sure. Of course. You’re absolutely right. I’m sorry I brought it up.”
“It’s fine,” she said.
“Oh, by the way,” Heather said, “I talked to Abby. She said as near as they can figure, the church was the last place Frank was seen.”
“Any idea where he went after that?”
“CCTV footage shows him leaving the parking lot and turning east on Yancey Street.”
“Which would take him toward home,” Jade murmured.
“Or a lot of other places along the way. But, yes, since his car is in the garage, I’m assuming he got there safely.”
Jade nodded even though Heather couldn’t see her. “Then he disappeared from home.”
“That’s what it looks like, but Abby said she and a few uniformed officers are going to stop at businesses along the route between the church and his home to see if he stopped in. She said she’s also going to ask for security footage from any cameras facing the street to see if his car passed by after his visit to the church.”
