“No, dear, it’s not,” Mabel said. “And tomorrow morning he’ll be charged or free. I’ll make certain he has a good lawyer whether he wants one or not.”
“I’m so glad you’re here for J.W.,” she told Mabel, removing the cool cloth and feeling calmer just sitting at the old dining table. Her insides still shook, but she could talk rationally again. The anxiety wouldn’t leave until Lauren was back safe and sound.
“I am, too.” John’s deep voice rumbled softly through the room. “Thanks for calling the police station. I moved Dad back to bed. I’d like to see Brian ASAP. Can you stay? I hate to ask, but I’ll probably need to be gone tomorrow as well if he’s not released.”
“Not a problem.” Mabel folded the kitchen towel and laid it on the dish drain. “Let me run home and feed the dog. I believe the jail opens at eight in the morning. I’m an early riser but I don’t think you’d want me at five, so I’ll come at seven-thirty. Be right back.”
Alicia replaced the washcloth against her face while Mabel gently shut the door and left. Hot air from outside drifted across the room. She didn’t know how to look at this man. Or how to talk to him. Or how to apologize or explain her behavior. So much had happened since he’d left home, and he seemed to be clueless.
Where did she begin?
By looking at him.
She wiped her face one last time and set the cloth aside. He’d put a shirt on. His hair was still wet, but she’d heard the shower while Mabel had washed dishes.
“You doing okay?” John asked.
She watched by peeking through her fingers as he turned one of the old metal dining chairs away from the table, sat and leaned across the back.
“Brian sits exactly like that. But I’d never think you were him.”
John’s bland expression subtly switched to annoyance as he tapped the table. Easily spotted on a man who didn’t really show much emotion.
“You and Brian a thing now?”
“No. It’s not anything like that.”
“Why don’t you explain just how it is? If you’re up to it.” John didn’t move. He was tall enough that when he sat in a chair he still seemed to tower over her. “You should probably start with why the police booked him for your daughter’s kidnapping and why the first person he told was you.”
“Shauna’s responsible for the anonymous tip. I’m certain she’s trying to frame Brian and me. Sheriff Coleman thinks so, too, even though he can’t say that to anyone else.”
“Did he say it to you?” John remained steady, his arms crossed over the top of the chair. His eyes constantly moved between her and his dad.
“No. But he didn’t disagree when I said it. You need to take care of Brian. I just came to see if you wanted to buy the car.”
“Shauna who? And why do you need money?”
“Shauna Weber was Dwayne’s stepmother and the reason my accounts are frozen.”
“Why would his stepmother freeze your assets?”
“Because she’s a money-hungry bi— Sorry, I can’t talk rationally about her. Look, Johnny, can you buy the car? I need money for a private investigator. It’s the only way I’ll ever find Lauren before Shauna pretends to find her and takes her away from me.”
“That’s quite an assumption, Alicia.”
“I’m not assuming anything.” Shoving the chair backward, it hit the kitchen wall. She was losing it. She forced herself to sit and take cleansing breaths before she babbled again. She couldn’t look at him to see what he thought of her outburst and couldn’t imagine why he wasn’t lecturing her, like anyone else she’d tried to confide in. “It’s the only explanation. Shauna has frozen Dwayne’s assets, including Lauren’s trust fund, and I...I just need the cash for the car. If you still want it, that is. Then I can get out of your hair.”
“You mean the court froze everything,” he corrected.
“Shauna took me to court. As if she has a right to any of that money. It belongs to my daughter. I hate having to use it, but it was our only support while the will was being contested. Now there’s nothing except a few home-care clients who stuck with me.”
Would he remember the same friendship they’d had as kids? Be sympathetic enough to give her more than the car’s estimated value? She gathered her courage to make eye contact with him. But his gaze was toward the living area and his father.
“The house wasn’t built for wheelchair access.” She attempted to draw his attention again. “Brian set J.W.’s bed there so he could work here at the table and still see him.”
“Back to Brian’s arrest,” he said, lowering his voice. “Why my brother? If you’re just friends, what does he have to do with your daughter?”
“Shauna and Patrick Weber have made several accusations that we’re having an affair. That we kidnapped Lauren for ransom.”
“We. Meaning you and Brian. But there hasn’t been a ransom note.”
“One showed up last night at the Weber show barns. They tried to blame me, but didn’t know I had a solid alibi. The sheriff was at my house. So they immediately accused Brian of working with me.”
“That’s ridiculous. He was out with the horses until after dark.”
“The note was left at their stables that back up to your property line.”
“You mean Pat Weber owns old man Adams’s stables? He used to work there.”
“Shauna married him four months after Dwayne’s father died. If that doesn’t prove she just wanted the money, I don’t know what does. Marrying Roy Adams was another way she could get close to Dwayne after high school. With both of them gone, she’s selling off everything.”
“Wait. Are you talking about Shauna Tipton, the cheerleader a couple of years older than us? Didn’t she date Dwayne? This sounds like a damn soap opera.”
“Tell me about it. I’ve been living this nightmare for years. Brian’s a good man. Shauna will use anything that can be taken out of context.”
“Right. I still don’t see why the police would arrest my brother. If there’s nothing between you guys, how did they connect Brian to the kidnapping?”
“I’ve always been his friend and I stayed here with J.W. while Brian worked his four-day shift in Fort Worth last week.”
“Shift?”
“He’s a paramedic. Wasn’t that where he was headed this morning when they arrested him?”
“He didn’t mention where he was headed. Just that he’d be gone four days.”
Spoken just like his brother. Same attitude, tone, inflection. If they tried to fool people, not many would be able to tell them
