Софи Райан - No Escape Claws

Avery and her parents had a difficult relationship. That was why she’d come to live with Liz.

“Field trips are part of the reason you’re going to this school,” Liz said. “They expand your horizons.”

“Oh, c’mon, Nonna, that’s a load of crap and you know it. How is ballet going to expand my horizons? It’s so boring. And the reason I’m going to this school is because I got kicked out of two others.”

“And are you going for the hat trick?” Liz retorted.

“It’s not Avery’s fault, Mrs. French,” Greg said, shoving his hair off his face.

Avery gave him a look. “Don’t,” she said.

Liz held up a hand. “No, please, young man, explain how Avery lying to the vice principal, her teacher and me is your fault. I’d like to hear that.”

“I know that Mallory asked you and your friends to help get our dad out of jail.”

“How did you know?” Rose said.

Greg looked over at her. “I heard her arguing about it with my mom’s friend.” That had to be Katy. “I wanted to help. I went back to where we used to live. Avery came with me. That’s why we ditched the field trip. It was my only chance without Mallory or anyone else knowing what I was doing.” He picked at the strap of his backpack. “She’d just tell me to stay out of it.”

“And if I’d told you what I was doing you would have made me go to the stupid ballet,” Avery added.

“We’ll never know because you didn’t give me the chance to say yes or no,” Liz said. Her stance had softened a little and so had her voice.

“Alfred and I were in that neighborhood this morning,” Rose said. She walked around the front of the car. “We didn’t see you.”

“We saw you first,” Avery said. “We just waited at that little playground around the corner until you were gone.”

“Well, did you find out anything?” Rose asked. Liz glared at her.

“We went all around the neighborhood and the only person who remembers seeing my dad is Mr. Halloran, who was our next-door neighbor,” Greg said. “Could he just be wrong because he’s old? Maybe he needs glasses or something.”

“We already checked,” Liz said. “He doesn’t need glasses, not for seeing things at a distance.”

Avery shoved her hands in the pockets of her red hoodie. “If you’re waiting for me to say I’m sorry, Nonna, it’s not going to happen. Ballet is lame.”

“Lying and impersonating your mother is a lot lamer,” Liz said. She turned to me then. “Sarah, when was the last time your garage floor was cleaned—really cleaned?”

“I don’t know,” I said. “A month maybe. Before Mac left, for sure.”

To my surprise Liz walked over to her granddaughter, wrapped her arms around Avery and kissed the top of her head. “Get going, missy,” she said. “I want that floor clean enough to eat off of.”

“Why do people always say that when they want something really clean?” Avery asked. “It’s not like anyone would actually ever eat off the floor.”

“Avery this would probably be a good time to stop talking,” Greg said.

She shrugged and headed for the garage. “I’m doing this under protest,” she called over her shoulder.

“I’ll make a note in your permanent record,” Liz said dryly.

“I’m helping her because she was trying to help me,” Greg said. He hiked his backpack a little higher on his shoulder and followed Avery.

“I like that boy,” Liz said. “Don’t tell Avery I said that.”

“That’s a big space,” Rose said eyeing the garage.

I came up behind her and wrapped my arms around hers. “Don’t go there,” I whispered. I watched the kids wrestle both big doors open and head inside. Rose was right. That was a lot of floor to clean. But Avery had been wrong to lie and impersonate her mother. It was wrong for a lot of reasons, but a small part of me admired her resourcefulness. Liz was the one who dealt with Avery’s school. As she’d pointed out they didn’t know her mother’s voice so it was easy to pretend to be her.

Easy to pretend. I realized that I was standing next to the car by myself. Rose and Liz were at the back door. I hurried after them.

I caught up with Liz just inside the door and put a hand on her arm. “Don’t even think about pleading that child’s case,” she said.

“I’m not going to,” I said. “Tell me what Mike Pearson looks like.”

“I haven’t seen him for years,” Liz said. “I can tell you that he wasn’t very tall.”

“I could get Alfred to find a photo for you,” Rose offered.

Charlotte came into the workroom just then. “You’re back,” she said. “Did you learn anything from Mr. Pace?”

“Just that he’s a glass bowl,” Rose said.

“And we already knew that,” Liz added. She looked at me. “Charlotte could probably tell you what Mike looks like now.”

“Can you describe him?” I asked. “Liz said he’s not very tall.”

“No, he’s not,” Charlotte said. “He’s maybe two or three inches taller than you are.”

That made him five eight or five nine. Just under average for a man in this country.

“Greg has his coloring,” she continued.

“So dark hair and dark eyes.”

She nodded.

“Heavy? Skinny? Muscular?”

Charlotte thought for a moment. “I guess I’d describe Mike as wiry.”

Wiry. “Like a runner?” I asked.

She nodded. “Yes. Although I don’t know if he was one.”

“That doesn’t matter,” I said.

“Why do you suddenly care what Mike Pearson looks like?” Liz asked.

“Because if Avery can impersonate her mother, why couldn’t someone have impersonated Mike the night of the fire?” They were all looking at me now. “We’ve been trying to show that Judge Halloran was mistaken. That he didn’t see Mike. But maybe he did.”

“He saw someone pretending to be Mike,” Rose finished.

“Exactly.”

“But who?” Charlotte asked.

“Someone who isn’t very tall,” Rose said, holding up one finger.

“And a lean build,” Charlotte added.

Rose nodded and held up a second finger. “And he has to have short, dark hair.” She had three fingers in the air now.

“The hair could have been dyed,” Liz interjected.

“The man Neill Halloran saw was wearing a hat,” Rose said. “I think height and build are what we should focus on.”

The man Neill Halloran saw.

Man.

Jia Allison was a couple of inches taller than I was. She had the wiry build of a runner. She even had short, dark hair. And she had a reason to hate Gina Pearson.

The man Neill Halloran saw.

Had it been a man, I wondered?

Chapter 16

I hated the idea that Jia Allison could be responsible for Gina Pearson’s death. I should have gone and talked to her, one-on-one, I realized. Until I did, I didn’t feel I could share my suspicions with anyone.

Rose and Charlotte had already gone into the shop. I put my arm around Liz’s shoulders. “How about a cup of tea?”

“That does sound good,” she said. She glanced over her shoulder. “I can’t believe that child actually thought she could get away with pretending to be her mother.”

“I’m not excusing what she did,” I said. “But you have to admit she was pretty creative.”

“I don’t have to admit anything,” Liz said, but a hint of a smile played on her lips.

I made the tea. Elvis watched me, whiskers twitching when I found one lone oatmeal cookie in the can on the counter. I broke off a tiny piece and fed it to him. “You are so spoiled,” I told him, giving the top of his head a scratch.

“Mrr,” he said. It seemed he didn’t care.

Mallory Pearson was in the shop talking to Liz when I went back downstairs. Katy was with her. I walked over to them. It turned out that Greg had texted his sister to tell her he was helping Avery with her “punishment.”