Free Paradise Lost by J. A. Jance Page A

retreating back as the door closed.
    “What does she know?” Dora demanded. “The hell with her! I’m going to go take a shower.”
    “A shower!” Jenny yelped. “You can’t do that. You heard what Mrs. Lambert said. No showers. There isn’t enough water. If you use too much, the other girls may run out of water before the weekend is over.”
    “So what ?” Dora asked with a shrug. “What do I care? She’s going to send us home anyway.”
    “But we’ll get in even more trouble.”
    “So what?” Dora repeated with another shrug. “Who cares? At least I’ll be clean for a change.” With that, she flounced into the bathroom and locked the door behind her.
    Jenny, alone in the living room, was left wondering. She had always thought Dora was dirty because she liked being dirty and that her body odor was a result of not knowing any better. Now, as Jenny listened to the shower running for what seemed like endless minutes, she wasn’t so sure.
    There was a knock on the door. Jenny jumped. She started to get up to answer it, but then thought better of it. “Who is it?” she asked. Since the shower was still running, she prayed whoever was outside wouldn’t be Mrs. Lambert, and her wish was granted.
    “It’s Frank Montoya, Jenny,” the chief deputy said. “I need to talk to you.”
    Relieved to hear a familiar voice, Jenny raced to the door and flung it open. Then, embarrassed, she stepped away. “Hello,” she said in a subdued voice.
    “Are you all right?” he asked.
    She nodded. “I guess so,” she said. “Did you call my mom?”
    “Yes.
    “Is she coming home?”
    “Not tonight. She’ll he home tomorrow.”
    Jennifer Brady heaved a sigh of relief. She wasn’t yet ready to face her mother.
    “Your grandparents are coming to get you,” Frank Montoya continued.
    Jenny’s stomach did a flip-flop. “Which ones?” she asked.
    “Mr. and Mrs. Brady. They’ll be here soon.”
    Jenny swallowed hard and offered Frank Montoya a tentative smile. Grandpa and Grandma Brady would be far easier to deal with than Grandma Lathrop Winfield would be. Her mother’s mother had a way of always making things seem far worse than they were, although, in this case, having things get worse hardly seemed possible.
    “What about Dora’s mother?” Jenny asked. “Is she coining, too?”
    “So far we haven’t been able to contact Mrs. Matthews,” Frank Montoya explained. “We may have to ask your grandparents to take Dora into town as well. If Mrs. Matthews still isn’t home by the time you arrive, maybe your grandparents can look after Dora until we’re able to notify her mother.”
    “No,” Dora said, emerging barefoot from the bathroom. She was wearing the same dirty clothing she’d worn before, but her clean wet hair was wrapped in a towel. “I can go home even if my mom isn’t there. Just have them drop me off at our house. I’ll be tine.”
    “I’m sorry, Dora. We can’t do that. Your mother expects you to be on the camp-out until Monday morning. She also expects you to be properly supervised. We can’t drop you off at home without an adult there to look after you. Mrs. Lambert would have a liability problem if we did that, and so would the sheriff’s department.”
    “I don’t know why,” Dora said. “I stay alone by myself a lot. It’s no big deal.”
    “You’re sure you don’t know where your mother is?”
    Dora shrugged. “She has a boyfriend,” she said offhandedly. “They probably just went off someplace. You know, for sex and stuff. I’m sure that’s why she was so set on my going on the campout—so she could be rid of me for a while.”
    Taken aback by Dora’s matter-of-fact manner, Frank looked at her and frowned. “Does your mother do that often, leave you alone?”
    “I can take care of myself,” Dora retorted. “It’s not like I’m going to starve to death or anything. There’s plenty of food in the house. I can make sandwiches and stuff.”
    Frank’s radio