Surviving the Truth

by Tyler Anne Snell

  She moved her hand from his and brought it up to his cheek. “What else?”

  A smile passed over his lips. It was brief.

  “Josiah’s most prized picture, Joshua’s engagement ring, and the bullet that helped kill my wife... I’m now almost afraid to know how the bloody cloth that used to be in there connects. And why it was the only item stolen from the box.”

  “Do you still think the man in the hockey mask is the one who stole it from my apartment before Leonard showed up?”

  It was a theory they’d kicked around earlier that morning. Why else would the man at the hospital walk in and kill Leonard the way that he had?

  Kenneth nodded.

  “I think Leonard was about to tell me who his partner was, or his employer, if he was a hired hand, and I think that’s why he was taken out. He’s the only one who could have given us real answers. Not just conjecture and theories—which, by the way, I’m not a fan of.”

  Willa let her hand slide down to his chin. “We’ll get to the bottom of all this.”

  She didn’t need to do it, but she did.

  Willa used her hand to tilt his chin down enough so she could place a chaste kiss on his lips.

  When she pulled back, it took him a bit longer than usual to look up from her lips to her eyes.

  “That’s the fourth kiss,” he noted. His voice unreadable. “What was it for?”

  Willa smiled.

  “Faith.”

  Kenneth tried to return the smile but it didn’t last. The three names she’d found slipped right out of her mind as the need to talk to Josiah’s brother-in-law took over. Surely, he had answers.

  At some point someone had to.

  * * *

  JOSIAH LINDERMAN’S FORMER brother-in-law was less talkative about Josiah and Mae’s children than he had been about his sister. Mostly because he’d felt guilty, as he said in his own words, that he wasn’t able to take the children and that’s how they’d wound up in foster care.

  “I already told you I didn’t take them in. I was having my own problems and...well, I couldn’t raise no kids. The last time I even saw ’em young was right after Josiah went missin’. Didn’t seem to be anything I could say to be helpful and I knew if they saw me again, it would make it hard for everyone.”

  Willa had been delicate about how she handled the rest of the conversation—she wasn’t blaming him or anyone for the choices made in the wake of tragedy.

  “You said the last time you saw them was when they were young. So does that mean you haven’t seen them as adults?”

  Turns out, he had. Something he’d kept from both her and Kenneth the times they’d called before.

  “I’d heard Joshua had come back in to pay some respects to his mama’s grave on the anniversary of her death. I went out to find him there.” Willa could hear the pride in his next statement. “He looked good. Tall and healthy, you know. Smart, too. Said he’d found a family who liked him to read a lot, and so he’d learned a thing or two. He even said he’d gotten him a woman who liked books and all of that, too. Said he was thinking about marrying her but had to do some things first.”

  He didn’t know what those things were and, when Willa asked if Joshua spoke of his sister, Mariam, he was openly upset by his own answer.

  “Joshua said him and Mariam got split up in care when they both were still real young. She got adopted a year before him and they’d kept up with letters for a while but then lost each other.” He cussed. “We can only hope she got as lucky as he did.”

  There wasn’t anything else to ask once he admitted that was the last time he’d seen Joshua, and the last of what he knew about him.

  Willa bid the man a thank-you and a goodbye, feeling a heaviness in her heart as she did so.

  A family that had started out steeped in what people called true love between Josiah and Mae had turned into mystery and loss.

  Willa wished she could snap her fingers and make it all go away. Bring back Mae, keep Josiah from walking to the store that day, and watch Joshua and Mariam be raised by two caring parents.

  But she couldn’t and she went to the bathroom to become weepy about it for a few minutes.

  By the time she was done, Kenneth was off the phone and ready to listen to what she’d learned. He conferenced Foster in on the call and both men were quiet as she recalled the conversation.

  “Finding kids in care, who aged out of care, and who were adopted, is a hard get in Alabama, so finding Mariam might be a lot harder than we hope,” Foster commented when she was done. “Especially since Joshua is our only lead and he apparently lost touch with her.”

  “What about Joshua?” Kenneth asked. “Any luck with Cadence Jewelers’ owner and tracking down any information on him?”

  “The owner’s still looking through his boxes of records but thinks we can get an address off of the receipt when he finds it. I’ll keep you updated. On everything. Thanks for the help, Willa. And, Gray? Can you switch off speakerphone?”

  Willa used the need for privacy to take Delilah out into the backyard. The rain had downgraded to a drizzle but was in a way refreshing. She tried to forget for a moment how quickly life could change for the good or the bad and turned her face up to the sky.

  After a minute or so, she felt better.

  She took Delilah back inside, patted the pup off, and found Kenneth in the kitchen.

  He was staring out the window.

  “I know this question is becoming moot, but is everything okay?” she asked.

  “I’ve had better days, I suppose.” Kenneth snorted. “That is one reason the sheriff has decided that I need to take the rest of the afternoon off. ‘Take it easy while you can.’”

  “You don’t strike me as a man who appreciates that suggestion.”

  Willa moved to lean against the counter, facing him again. The casual stance was becoming a habit the longer she was in the house.

  “I’m not good at sitting still. Usually when I’m alone with my thoughts, I end up being as far from relaxed as possible.”

  Willa shrugged, silently conceding that a lot of people rarely got peace of mind when alone with their thoughts.

  “But you’re not alone now,” she said, smiling wide and true. “I’m here.”

  She was about to list off reasons why the sheriff’s advice wasn’t bad—being run ragged never helped anyone, half the department including the lead detective was working on every angle of their investigation, and they themselves were really just waiting for call-backs—but then Kenneth did something peculiar.

  He just stopped and stared down at her.

  Willa felt her cheeks heating up. Her eyebrow rose in question.

  She didn’t get a chance to ask a thing.

  Kenneth went from standing tall to swooping low. His lips pressed against Willa’s moments before his arms encircled her.

  In that moment, the world went out the window as far as she was concerned.

  It was made up of just two people, kissing in the kitchen.

  Kenneth did not seem to want to keep that status for long, however.

  One fluid motion was all it took for the detective to take her from standing to up in his arms and then on top of the counter itself. A glass clinked against the top as her backside must have pushed it aside. It was loud enough to make Kenneth pause.

  He broke their kiss to inspect the clatter.

  “Are you okay?” he asked, voice filled with gravel that felt like it was rubbing against all the right places on her. “Willa?”

  That pulled her attention from her hammering heartbeat but didn’t give him the answer he wanted.

  “What was that kiss for?” she found herself asking.

  He might have thought it a play on their already-established small kiss inside joke. But, for Willa, it was exactly the question she wanted answered.


  The absolute lack of smile but very present loosening of control was a good sign.

  “That was because I want you.” Slower than the last time, tentative almost, Kenneth pressed his lips back to hers. It was tender but deep. Willa had to force her eyes open when he pulled back. “That was to show you the first wasn’t a fluke. And—” He came back for another kiss.

  It was torture. Willa loved it, though not so much when he stepped back again.

  “—that was to hopefully give you a taste of the rest of my intentions.”

  Willa sounded more breathless than she felt.

  She did manage a smile, though.

  “How about now we just assume that anything that happens between us is because we both, really, really want it? No need to stop and talk about it.”

  Kenneth’s eyes became hooded. Then his gaze went to her lips.

  “Sounds like a plan to me.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  The rain had stopped sometime in the middle of the night.

  Kenneth only noted the lack of sound because in its place was something better. At least, to him.

  Willa Tate didn’t snore, but she made this small murmur on occasion as she slept. It wasn’t something he’d witnessed the night before when he’d stayed until she’d fallen asleep but, after remaining in the bed with her, a long while after she’d fallen asleep, he’d been able to listen to the soft murmur until he’d also drifted off. Before that, he’d watched her sleep, stroked her hair when her cheek was against his collarbone, and then marveled at how warm she was when he pulled her flush against him, arm over her hip protectively.

  That’s how he’d woken up the first time early Sunday morning.

  Willa under his arm and back to his chest.

  He’d felt her breathing in and out and was happier for it.

  Happier than he’d been in a long, long while.

  So much so, he dozed off until an hour or so later.

  Willa wasn’t in his arms any longer, but she was still in his bed. He blinked a few times before realizing she was awake and staring at the ceiling. Her brows were knitted together in a way that made him instantly alert.

  “What is it?”

  Willa jumped a little. He reached out and found her hand beneath the covers. He realized then that they were both still naked but didn’t comment on it just yet. Not when she looked so concerned about something.

  “Sorry,” he added. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”

  Willa’s cheeks flushed but she gave him a small, dismissive wave with her free hand.

  “Oh, don’t worry. I probably am the one who woke you with my moving around. Sorry.”

  Now she really had his attention. her voice sounded off.

  Kenneth rolled onto his side and propped himself up to look at her. “Willa, what is it?”

  She released a long, heavy sigh. It made the sheet ruffle a little at the movement.

  “A thought was bothering me and I couldn’t figure out what it was but now I know. But saying it feels like a not-so-cool thing to do given where I am and the fact that I’m very naked.” It was one long, hurried statement.

  Kenneth went from his side to sitting upright. “Whatever it is, you can tell me.”

  Willa also straightened. She brought the sheet along with her and covered herself.

  She was self-conscious now.

  Did she regret what they’d done?

  Because he definitely didn’t.

  “I was thinking about you being tickled that I say the ‘long way ’round,’” she started, not exactly meeting his eye. “Then I thought about you and everything we’ve been through, and then I thought about Ally.” She let out a sigh of frustration this time. Then she was staring at him full-on. “I know this isn’t the right time but... I mean I suppose there really isn’t a right time to talk about it, but you said the day she was killed that she went out to the park to break in her new shoes, right?”

  The entire conversation had caught him off guard but Kenneth nodded. “Yeah. She liked going to the park downtown. Before it was sectioned off into a dog park.”

  “The one off Main that backs up to the woods,” she offered.

  He nodded again.

  “And she was found almost near the town limits, nowhere near the park, right? But that wasn’t where you thought she was killed?”

  That look passed over her again. The one she’d worn when she’d been staring at the ceiling.

  Deep thought. Not all of it good.

  And she sounded like she’d been working on the idea for a while. How long had she been awake?

  “Yeah. We never found the second bullet that went through and there wasn’t...a lot of blood where she was. We expanded the search to include the park, though, and found nothing. Why? What are you thinking, Willa?”

  She chose her words carefully.

  “I had this friend in school who got these new running shoes and needed to break them in ASAP for a 5k she was doing with her boyfriend the following weekend. She wore them everywhere and, even though they hurt her feet, she’d insist we walk back to the dorms through the wooded path because it was hard terrain. She thought it would make the process easier or faster or something.”

  Willa angled her body so there was no mistaking where her attention was. “Maybe Ally did something similar and instead of staying at the park—”

  Kenneth tensed.

  Adrenaline shot through him.

  An idea.

  A thought.

  A potential lead.

  “Maybe she went the long way ’round because it isn’t always about distance, it’s about the challenge,” he finished.

  Willa nodded. “And if I was going to take the more challenging path from that park, and I’m also a local who enjoys going the distance with running, then I’d leave downtown and follow the woods up to the creek before coming right on back.”

  Kenneth threw the covers off him. He was out of bed in a flash and at his dresser looking for a new pair of boxers.

  “That, if you kept in a relatively straight line, would put you really close to someone else’s idea of a long way ’round,” he said, words clipped and quick to maintain his excitement at possibly finding an answer. “Josiah Linderman’s.”

  Willa was out of bed, too. She took the blanket with her. There was no denying she was feeling the same energy he was.

  “Exactly,” she said, picking up on his thoughts. “And that can’t be a coincidence, can it?”

  “I don’t know but let’s go find out.”

  * * *

  KENNETH DROVE TO the park while Willa laced up her shoes. Delilah was with them and she was picking up on their excess energy. The moment they left the park’s old running path and went into the trees, she was all tail-wagging and sniffing.

  Kenneth would have normally been more playful but he couldn’t be now. Not when he was trying his best to think like Ally. He took every bit of knowledge he’d ever known about his late wife in the years they’d dated and the years they’d been married and moved through the woods at a slow but thoughtful pace.

  Willa trailed behind him, quiet.

  She was giving him space and, one day, he was going to let her know just how much he appreciated her thoughtfulness. And her patience.

  Kenneth had a feeling that not all women would be keen on sleeping with a man only to go out the next day to look for the place his late wife had been killed.

  Then again, Willa wasn’t at all like most women.

  Sure, she was sunshine and moonlight, but she was also so much more.

  Someone he wanted to know more about.

  But someone whom he let stay behind him while he became lost in another woman he’d cared deeply for.

  That’s how they stayed for half an hour or so. Kenneth moving across parts
of worn paths and parts of the woods that he imagined Ally would prefer. He started to doubt that their lead was anything more than wishful thinking and, even if it wasn’t, it had been years since her death. If they did find the spot where she’d been killed, there was a good chance they’d never know it.

  They made it to the creek soon after he started to lose faith.

  “She wouldn’t have gone across it,” he disclosed. “This is when she would have turned back.”

  Willa nodded and said she agreed, but didn’t follow him right away. Instead, she went to a nearby tree. It wasn’t dead, but there was a hollowed-out space at the bottom of its trunk. It looked as though an animal had made it into a den. Dirt, leaves and other debris had collected inside.

  He paid it no mind.

  But Willa did what Willa did best.

  She surprised him.

  He paused, watching her bend down.

  When she straightened again, she looked caught between excitement and disbelief. She pointed down.

  “I don’t know why this keeps happening to me, but I’ve found another box.”

  It wasn’t actually a box but a cigarette case. One of the fancy, vintage ones. Metal, with an intricate design on its top, it was ultimately worn and covered in grime. It had seen much better days.

  Willa took Delilah’s leash as Kenneth donned a set of gloves he’d brought with him, as always.

  He paused to take a breath before opening the case.

  He didn’t know what he’d expected to see but a folded piece of paper and a small, whittled-down pencil wasn’t it. He shared a silent look with Willa before setting the case aside and unfolding the paper.

  It was a list of names. Ten in total. All but two had a cross through them.

  Kenneth wasn’t sure if the cigarette case was a clue to what they were searching for or just something someone had misplaced. Still, he read the names out, as if hearing them could give him some clarity.

  “Grant Milligan. Terry Page.”