Chapter twenty-five

Addy ate her greasy fried chicken and imitation mashed potatoes with peas. She washed them down with coffee, but was unable to taste anything. Dull and defeated, she lacked the energy and the will to think, so she let her mind wander until Fern and Chauncey stopped in front of her cell. A deputy lingered a short distance away.

“Madre de Dios. What is this country coming to that it must put in prison someone like you, Miss Addy?”

“This is jail, Mr. Velasquez, not prison,” Fern said. “Addy doesn’t go to prison until she is convicted of the crime. Jail is merely a temporary condition.”

Fern smiled sweetly at Addy, as though the distinction should comfort her.

“I’ve been able to extricate Mr. Velasquez from his temporary confinement until the issue of his immigration comes up for consideration. My nephew is a lawyer and thinks he can help him. Oh, by the way, I baked you banana nut bread.” Fern held the loaf out for Addy’s inspection, then muttered, “Be sure to eat it while it’s fresh.”

Their visit rejuvenated Addy. “Thank you both so much for coming to see me. How’s Tommy taking it?”

Fern frowned. “Well, he’s been a little upset, Addy. He keeps asking for you, wondering where you are.”

“Poor Tommy. What will become of him?”

“Don’t you go worrying about that,” Fern said. “I have plenty of money. Tommy is like my own. Why, in some respects, he reminds me of my third husband—God rest his soul. A little touched in the head, but sweet as apple pie.”

“Thank you, Miss Bush.” Addy grasped her hand. “I can never repay you for your kindness.”

The door down the hall opened and Liberty headed their way.

“Please excuse us,” she said. “I need to speak to Addy alone.”

“Addy, don’t talk to her without your lawyer,” Fern said, letting go of Addy’s hand. “She’s shifty and untruthful. I didn’t like her from the start.”

“Thank you, Fern, but I’ll be all right. You’d better leave now. Please let me know how Tommy is doing.”

Liberty smiled. “Good evening to you, Miss Bush, Mr. Velasquez.”

“Well, I never.” Fern cast a disdainful glance at Liberty. “I have packed up your belongings, Miss McDonald, and deposited them in the front hall. You are no longer welcome in our home.”

She took Chauncey’s arm in hers and stomped out.

Addy stared at her. “Are you here to gloat, Liberty, or were you looking for some recreational sex?”

“Tell her, sister,” the blonde called. “Can’t trust cops.”

“You’re right about that.”

“Taking advice from drunks now, Addy?”

“I trust her more than I trust you.”

“We’ve gotta stick together,” the drunk said.

Liberty turned to the other cell. “Shut up or I’ll see to it that you spend extra time drying out in there.”

The blonde made an obscene gesture with her finger, but kept quiet.

“Why don’t you tell me what you’re up to,” Liberty coaxed. “There’s no point in keeping it a secret any longer.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about. I’ve told you and the others, I don’t know anything about that reporter or about any radioactivity. Neither does Tommy. How many more times can I say it?”

“Until you tell me what I want to hear.” Liberty’s face turned ugly and she stepped closer to the bars. “You said before that you didn’t know anything about it, which wasn’t true. You and Tommy are the only possibilities and the only suspects. And the camera in your possession is the clincher. Now where is the film?”

Addy stared at her. “There’s no film in the camera?”

“You know there wasn’t. Where is it?”

Addy sat wearily on the cot and dropped her head to her hands. The film could have possibly exonerated her and Tommy, but now even that hope was gone.

“I don’t know.”

“Hah. The film contains incriminating evidence against you, and you’ve destroyed it. But you know what? It doesn’t matter. I’m confident we can convict without it.” Liberty stepped away from the bars. “In the morning, I plan to ask the judge to deny bail. I’ll say you pose a possible flight risk and keep you here until you confess.”

She walked away with loud steps, but Addy didn’t look up.

Holding her throbbing head and massaging her temples didn’t help. The evidence did seem to point her way, but surely no one would believe it. How long could they keep her here? What must Tommy be going through? She had failed him, and failed her grandmother’s trust in her. She was in the worst situation of her life with no one to rely on.

“Don’t suppose you’d want to share a piece of that nut bread,” the blonde said. “The food in here is garbage.”

Addy cut the loaf in half, but before she hit bottom, her fork struck something metallic. Curious, she dug into the bread and extracted a fingernail file. Fern was a big fan of old black-and-white movies, but the file would only be useful for a manicure.

Karen climbed the old oak, and as she waited for the door to open, she noticed that Dale and his associate would completely finish the house soon. But poor Addy might not be here to see it.

The door swung open and Jeff Olson meandered past, a glob of peanut butter stuck to the corner of his mouth. For a moment, she panicked.

“Is Tommy here?”

Jeff looked at her quizzically. “‘Course. Where else would he be?”

Karen sighed and went inside. Tommy sat at the table eating a PB and J sandwich. His face brightened.

“You want a sandwich? Jeff made them. He’s a really good cook.”

Karen smiled. “I’m sure he is, but no thanks. I need to talk with Tommy, Jeff. Alone.”

“Okay. You gonna ask him about the dead guy?”

“Yes.” Karen cringed. Kids were so blunt about such things, probably from so much television, where death and mayhem were an everyday occurrence.

“I’ll go help my brother. Maybe I can get some extra money to buy that new Doctor Doom comic.” Jeff walked out on the deck, but before closing the door, he stuck his head back in. “Oh, and don’t forget to ask Officer Kaczarowski how to work that camera, Tommy. She knows all about that kind of stuff.”

He closed the door and Karen stood motionless. “What camera?”

Tommy avoided her gaze, but she took his shoulders.

“What camera is Jeff talking about? This is important, Tommy. Please, tell me.”

Tommy toyed with his sandwich, seeming lost in thought. “I found a camera.”

Karen sat down at the table and pushed his plate out of reach.

“Where? Where did you find it?”

“I know I was supposed to give it back,” Tommy whined. “It didn’t belong to me, but I was only playing with it.”

“It’s okay. What did you do with the camera, Tommy? Where is it now?”

“I hid it in Grandma’s closet, with all the other stuff. I didn’t think anybody would find it there.”

Karen leaned back slowly in her chair, her mind racing.

Addy didn’t know anything about the camera after all. It still took Karen some time to realize that Tommy came and went at will, leaving his tree house when everyone continued to believe he didn’t. Until she adjusted to that reality, she would continue to underestimate him.

“Am I in trouble?” Tommy asked mournfully.

“No, but it’s really important that you tell the truth. I need to know everything so I can help Addy.”

“When is Addy coming home? Is she going away again for a long time like before?” Tommy’s eyes filled with tears and his lower lip trembled.

Karen didn’t want to worry him, but she also needed to prepare him just in case.

“I’m trying to help Addy, Tommy. If you tell me the truth about the man you found, I can. Now tell me exactly what happened that night.”

It was late when Karen entered the county jail and headed toward Addy’s cell. She was tired, but she needed to ease Addy’s mind about the camera.

“Oh, Tommy,” Addy said when she’d heard the whole story.

“He couldn’t have known what he was doing.”

“Probably not. But it still looks bad for him. The DA could make a case that Tommy wanted the camera and killed Vinson for it.”

“That’s absurd.”

“I know, but until we find out what’s going on, the circumstantial evidence is overwhelming.”

Addy reached through the bars and gripped Karen’s hands.

“You can’t let them take Tommy away for something he didn’t do. Please.”

Karen took Addy’s hands and brought them to her lips, kissing them lightly. Holding Addy’s gaze, she tried to strengthen her and convince her that she was on her side.

“I’ll do everything I can, I promise.”

Tears slowly ran down Addy’s cheeks as she pressed the side of her face to the bars. “I don’t know what I’d do without you. Thank you. I’m sorry I wasted so many years holding a grudge.”

Karen continued to clasp Addy’s hands, wishing she could put her arms around her and tell her she wouldn’t let anything bad happen to either her or Tommy. But she couldn’t do that until she could discover the true culprits. Each time she learned something new about the crime, the evidence seemed to point at the Coopers.

Who else could be responsible, not only for Vinson’s death, but for the environmental angle? She dismissed Fern and Chauncey outright, but who did that leave?

“Hey, isn’t it against the law to fraternize with the prisoners?”

The blond alcoholic had sobered during the day and become increasingly cantankerous.

“You’ve got me as a witness, honey. I’ll swear the deputy was harassing you.”

Addy suppressed a grin but didn’t release Karen’s hands.

Even if she was let out of jail, she wouldn’t know how to repudiate the accusations against her and Tommy. She gazed into Karen’s steady blue eyes and wished that the thick, solid bars of her cell would miraculously disappear.

“I’d better go,” Karen said hoarsely.

Addy could only nod, and slowly Karen removed her hands and stepped away. For a moment, Addy almost asked her to stay, but finally Karen turned her back and was gone.