Stone’s cell phone and was both equally relieved and nervous when he picked up.
“Hi there,” he said. “You’re up early.”
“It’s so quiet,” she said, cautioning herself to keep it light. “I’d forgotten the sound of grass growing.”
He laughed and she smiled in return. Stone had always been her best audience.
“So what do you have planned today?” he asked. If she closed her eyes, she could pretend he was here in the room with her and not on the other side of the world. “I’m just going to hang around with Mel, see how she spends her days.”
“That’s good,” he said and she let his voice wash over her. “How are she and the kids doing?”
Vivien felt a familiar flush of guilt at how little she’d done for Melanie, Shelby, and Trip over the last two years. Was that why she’d found Clay Alexander’s role in her sister’s life so jarring?
“They’re okay,” she said. “Well, not really okay. They’re all going through the motions, but I don’t know if any of them have really moved on. And . . .” She paused, not sure how to put her reaction to Clay Alexander into words. “His best friend and campaign manger—the one he was with when he died—seems to be very involved in Mel and the kids’ lives.”
“That’s a good thing, isn’t it?”
“I guess so.” She hesitated. “It’s just that now that I’m really thinking about it, the whole idea of J.J. shooting himself while cleaning his hunting rifle seems so absurd. I mean he’d been hunting since he was a child. It’s not like he was some novice who’d never used a gun.”
Stone sighed, a sound she knew well. “Vivi, you covered the police beat starting out just like I did. I don’t remember the statistics, but those kinds of accidents aren’t at all unusual.” She could practically hear him thinking; she just wished he were doing that thinking here. So that she could tell him about the baby, read his true reaction in his face.
“I mean there was a full investigation, wasn’t there?” Stone asked. “Do you have any reason to believe anything was overlooked?”
She flushed again as she acknowledged she was a bit late in worrying about this now. She knew people at the GBI; a couple of phone calls two years ago wouldn’t have been out of line.
“Vivi,” Stone asked. “Are you still there?”
“Yes,” she said, although the truth was at the moment her thoughts were in a north Georgia mountain cabin two years ago. “I was just thinking that maybe I should call my contact at the bureau and see if I can have a look at the file.”
“I know that tone, Vivi. If it weren’t so early you’d probably already be dialing the number.” She could practically hear him shaking his head and picture the smile tugging at his lips.
“Just take it slow,” Stone said as they prepared to hang up. “And remember, this is your family you’re talking about. Sometimes even when things seem open and shut, it’s possible to find out things that no one really wants to know.”
9
M ELANIE FINISHED PACKING Trip’s lunch, tucking the frozen water bottle into its own plastic bag to prevent leakage while keeping things “refrigerated,” then pulled a carton of eggs and a gallon of milk from the refrigerator. Coffee dripped into the carafe of the coffeemaker, the smell of the warm brew almost, but not quite, as potent as that first gulp of caffeine.
Upstairs Trip’s alarm buzzed and was followed by the sound of her son clomping to the bathroom. A few moments later water ran in his shower. Trip was like clockwork physically—he got up, showered, and dressed each school morning without prodding, but his brain didn’t really kick in until much later. This could not be said of Shelby, who would stay in bed until the last possible moment and then require both prodding and ejecting to remove her from it. When she did get out of bed, she was in a foul mood, which she liked to share with those around her.
Melanie was on her
“Hi there,” he said. “You’re up early.”
“It’s so quiet,” she said, cautioning herself to keep it light. “I’d forgotten the sound of grass growing.”
He laughed and she smiled in return. Stone had always been her best audience.
“So what do you have planned today?” he asked. If she closed her eyes, she could pretend he was here in the room with her and not on the other side of the world. “I’m just going to hang around with Mel, see how she spends her days.”
“That’s good,” he said and she let his voice wash over her. “How are she and the kids doing?”
Vivien felt a familiar flush of guilt at how little she’d done for Melanie, Shelby, and Trip over the last two years. Was that why she’d found Clay Alexander’s role in her sister’s life so jarring?
“They’re okay,” she said. “Well, not really okay. They’re all going through the motions, but I don’t know if any of them have really moved on. And . . .” She paused, not sure how to put her reaction to Clay Alexander into words. “His best friend and campaign manger—the one he was with when he died—seems to be very involved in Mel and the kids’ lives.”
“That’s a good thing, isn’t it?”
“I guess so.” She hesitated. “It’s just that now that I’m really thinking about it, the whole idea of J.J. shooting himself while cleaning his hunting rifle seems so absurd. I mean he’d been hunting since he was a child. It’s not like he was some novice who’d never used a gun.”
Stone sighed, a sound she knew well. “Vivi, you covered the police beat starting out just like I did. I don’t remember the statistics, but those kinds of accidents aren’t at all unusual.” She could practically hear him thinking; she just wished he were doing that thinking here. So that she could tell him about the baby, read his true reaction in his face.
“I mean there was a full investigation, wasn’t there?” Stone asked. “Do you have any reason to believe anything was overlooked?”
She flushed again as she acknowledged she was a bit late in worrying about this now. She knew people at the GBI; a couple of phone calls two years ago wouldn’t have been out of line.
“Vivi,” Stone asked. “Are you still there?”
“Yes,” she said, although the truth was at the moment her thoughts were in a north Georgia mountain cabin two years ago. “I was just thinking that maybe I should call my contact at the bureau and see if I can have a look at the file.”
“I know that tone, Vivi. If it weren’t so early you’d probably already be dialing the number.” She could practically hear him shaking his head and picture the smile tugging at his lips.
“Just take it slow,” Stone said as they prepared to hang up. “And remember, this is your family you’re talking about. Sometimes even when things seem open and shut, it’s possible to find out things that no one really wants to know.”
9
M ELANIE FINISHED PACKING Trip’s lunch, tucking the frozen water bottle into its own plastic bag to prevent leakage while keeping things “refrigerated,” then pulled a carton of eggs and a gallon of milk from the refrigerator. Coffee dripped into the carafe of the coffeemaker, the smell of the warm brew almost, but not quite, as potent as that first gulp of caffeine.
Upstairs Trip’s alarm buzzed and was followed by the sound of her son clomping to the bathroom. A few moments later water ran in his shower. Trip was like clockwork physically—he got up, showered, and dressed each school morning without prodding, but his brain didn’t really kick in until much later. This could not be said of Shelby, who would stay in bed until the last possible moment and then require both prodding and ejecting to remove her from it. When she did get out of bed, she was in a foul mood, which she liked to share with those around her.
Melanie was on her
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