Free Truth-Stained Lies by Terri Blackstock Page A

issue. He was bigger than she, but she didn’t fight fair. This could get ugly. But suddenly, his shoulders slumped. “Holly, I just want to make sure he’s okay.”
    “You’re gonna have to take my word for it. There’s no sense in upsetting him.” She pointed to the window. “Look at him. Nothing’s gonna change by sheltering him from this tragedy until he has to find out. Let him play! He’s five!”
    Mrs. Haughton brought her gnarled hand to her face. As she melted into sobs, Warren went to sit beside her. Rubbing her back, he said, “Mama, are you all right?”
    “She’s right,” Mrs. Haughton rasped. “Let’s just let him be. He’s okay here.” She struggled to her feet again and Warren helped her up. As Mrs. Haughton grabbed her walker, she said, “Please call me when you hear what’s happening to Jay. Or anything involving the investigation. I don’t know if they’ll keep us informed.”
    “Okay.” Holly grabbed a notepad out of her purse and jotted down her phone number. “I’ll give you all three ofour numbers — mine, Juliet’s, and Cathy’s. You can call us anytime for an update.”
    “Let us know if they lock him up,” Warren said.
    Holly felt nauseous again. “Look, there’s a lot of confusion right now. Everybody’s wound up. The police are doing their jobs. They’ll get to the bottom of this and realize that Jay didn’t do anything.”
    As they reached the front door, Warren turned and looked out the back window again. Jackson jumped off the side of the pool into his Aunt Juliet’s arms, sputtering and laughing. You couldn’t tell she was grieving about her sister-in-law. Holly knew better, but Warren clearly didn’t.
    “Family celebration, huh? I guess Jay figured out how to get Jackson, didn’t he? He wasn’t going to win the custody battle. Annalee was too good a mother. So he took matters into his own hands.”
    Again, Holly thought of that email. If only she could delete it so no one would ever see it. “What happened to Annalee today was a tragedy. But it has nothing to do with what they were going through. She’s the one who emailed him, asking him to come over.”
    “Absolutely not,” Warren said. “She would never do that.”
    “They were in love and married for years. They have a child together. You don’t think it’s even possible that she would want to bypass the lawyers and just have a conversation about what was best for Jackson?”
    “No, Warren’s right,” the old woman wheezed. “She was bent on keeping Jackson … no compromise. She wouldn’t have done anything … to jeopardize the custody battle.”
    Holly was getting weary of the conversation. “I know you’re upset. I understand everything you’re going through, and I know it’s doubly worse for you, Mrs. Haughton,because of your cancer and everything. But please, I’m just asking you to give us a little time. Please, just go and let us take care of him tonight.”
    She opened the front door and stepped out onto the front porch, allowing Mrs. Haughton the room to shuffle out. “I’m so sorry for your loss,” she said again. “Mrs. Haughton, are you gonna be okay?”
    Annalee’s mother didn’t answer. She just focused on getting down the porch steps.
    “Warren, call me if you need anything. I can bring food.”
    “We don’t need anything from you or anybody else in your family,” Warren clipped.
    She waited until they got in their car, and then she went back in. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and read Jay’s email again. A thin layer of perspiration formed on her lip. She slid the glass door open and stepped out on the back patio. “Juliet, can I talk to you for a minute?”
    Juliet was getting out of the pool. She put a towel around her shoulders and came toward Holly. “What is it?”
    “Mrs. Haughton and Warren were just here,” Holly whispered.
    Juliet brought her hand to her mouth. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
    “They wanted to take Jackson. But I