Page 74 of The Fall Back Plan
Jolie
Igiveasoftgasp. “Janice?”
“Hello, dear. I’m afraid I’ve caused you quite a bit of trouble.”
She looks as if she’s aged twenty years since I last saw her, not ten. Her hair is more salt than pepper now, and her wrinkles are even deeper. But the stubborn angle of her chin is the same, and her eyes have the same observant watchfulness I remember from the many times I came to fetch my dad from her barstool.
I have no idea what to say, so I say nothing.
She sighs. “I suppose you’re wondering why we’re here.”
“You wrote the note on my truck?”
“I did.”
This doesn’t make any sense. “Why all the spooky atmosphere? And the mystery?”
She looks startled. “What do you mean?”
“Why did you drag me out to a cemetery after closing to meet you at the creepiest statue to ‘put an end to the doll terror’? I’m freaked out. Should I be freaked out?” My voice is getting fast and high as the adrenaline I’ve been running on for the last twenty minutes begins to subside.
“I . . .” She looks around the cemetery. “Oh, no. Oh, this isn’t at all how I meant for this to go. I only picked this statue because Tom is buried right there, and I come to visit every week.” She points to our left, and the angle of her arm makes it seem as if his grave is fairly close, but it’s outside the pool of the lamplight, and I can’t see exactly where she means.
I look at her again. “Why at night?”
She lifts and drops her shoulders. “I’m embarrassed. I didn’t want anyone to see me.”
“Is that why you didn’t sign the note?” I ask.
She shakes her head. “I didn’t sign it because I didn’t think you’d come if you knew it was from me.”
I understand all the words she’s saying, but somehow, none of this is making any sense yet. “And putting the end to the ‘doll terror’?”
Her mouth forms a wordless O, opening and closing, fish-like a few times, until she says, “It sounds very, very bad when you put it all together that way.”
“I didn’t put it together that way, Janice. You did.” My words are curt as the reality of standing in front of this woman settles in. She was one of my dad’s biggest enablers.
“You’re right.” A long sigh. “You’re right. I’m so sorry, Jolie. I believe I have some things to explain to you. There’s a bench over there. A little dark but more comfortable than standing here. Would that be all right?”
I hesitate. I’m not inclined to do anything helpful for Janice Sullivan, but neither am I a monster. “Sure,” I say. “My phone has a flashlight.” I pull it from my pocket and see that the call with Lucas is still open. I send a quick text.
JOLIE:No danger
LUCAS:Keep the line open
I do, turning on the phone’s flashlight and following Janice’s directions to the cement bench I wouldn’t have found in the dark.
She sits, but I don’t. She pats the spot next to her. “Would you like to get comfortable?”
Like we’re about to have freaking tea. “I’ll stand.”
She nods and gives another soft sigh. “I’ve been leaving the dolls. I never dreamed anyone would see something scary about it. And of course, in the worst of all possible scenarios, the suspicion fell on you. It’s the last thing I would have ever wanted.”
Her tone is sincere, but I don’t really care. I’m not here to make her feel better, so I say nothing.
“Tom died two years ago,” she says. “I tried to keep the bar open, but it was far too much work without him. And I didn’t want to do it anyway. It was always his baby more than mine. And now, it’s yours.” She turns her head up to me. “Why did you buy it?”
I answer with my own question. “Would you have sold it to me if you knew it was me?”
