Kevin O'Brien - One Last Scream

“Anyway, not long after they moved here, Joy’s mental health started to deteriorate. I don’t think she ever recovered from what happened to Annabelle’s twin. They weren’t here very long, just a few months when, one day, little Annabelle discovered her mother dead in the basement. She’d hanged herself. She left a note, apologizing to God and her family, and asking me to look after Annabelle.”

“And a few weeks later,” George interjected. “Duane Savitt went on a killing rampage at the adoption agency in Spokane. Do you know why? Do you have any idea what that was about?”

A pained look passed over Caroline’s face for a moment. She turned to glance at the cheerleaders, and then stood up. “Okay, ladies! That looked great. You can wrap it up a little early today. Nancy, can you drop off the boom box in my office? Thanks!”

Hands in the pockets of her sweater, she stood on the bleachers and watched the cheerleaders disperse. She waited until the last girl left the field, and then she glanced down at George. “No one else in town knew about Amelia,” she said quietly. “Joy had asked me to keep it a secret. I believe Annabelle got similar instructions. Growing up, she didn’t talk about her twin-not until high school. Then I hear she told a few friends different stories about a twin who had died. But I believe Annabelle, her father, and I were the only ones who knew the truth.”

She sat down beside George again. “When I read about Duane Savitt shooting those people and setting that adoption agency on fire, I knew what it was about, at least, remotely.”

“But you didn’t go to the police,” George said.

Caroline sighed and shook her head. She stared out at the empty spot on the field, where the cheerleading squad had been practicing minutes before. “No. I heard they spoke to Lon. The story he gave them was that his brother-in-law had been estranged from the family for years. I was the only one in town who knew differently. I suppose Duane was as elusive with the good people of Moses Lake as he was with Salem folk. Because no one from Moses Lake stepped forward, claiming to know Duane. I know, because I read a lot of articles about that Spokane massacre.”

“I read them too,” George said. “You, um, you could have given the police some idea as to Duane’s motive. They never did come up with one.”

She nodded. “I know. But Lon asked me not to say anything-for Annabelle’s sake. She’d been through a lot, and was still trying to get over her mother’s suicide. This awful news about her Uncle Duane was devastating.” Caroline slowly shook her head. “I felt a certain responsibility to Annabelle. After all, Joy had asked me to look after her. So, I didn’t say anything. The police never approached me about it. I was never forced to lie, thank God. I just didn’t say anything to anybody.” She turned and gave George a sad smile. “You’re the first one I’ve told.”

“I understand,” George murmured, nodding.

Caroline glanced out at the playing field again. “You know, years later, when Annabelle was fourteen, she asked me to explain what her uncle had done. I told her what I could. And then Annabelle said something very strange. She remembered her Uncle Duane asking her several times if she knew where Amelia was. Isn’t that peculiar?”

Caroline pushed back her windblown hair and sighed. “How did he expect that little girl to know where her sister was living when her own father didn’t even know?”

“Yep, I have the appointment book right in front of me,” Jessie said on the other end of the line. “I’m in your office. It’s here in the book: Amelia Faraday, Monday, October fifteenth, two P.M. And there’s a red checkmark beside it.”

That was Karen’s way of indicating the client had shown up for the appointment and needed to be billed.

“Then her twin must be alive,” Karen whispered. She slouched back against the phone booth’s door.

“What are you talking about? Whose twin?”

“Um, I’ll explain later, Jessie.”

The lights went on outside Danny’s Diner, and Karen realized it was getting dark. “Listen,” she said into the phone. “Is everything okay there?”

“Terrific. The kids are playing with Rufus in the kitchen, and he’s lapping up the attention. We’ll take him out to the backyard so he can do his business. Is there anything else you need done here before we head back to George’s?”

“No, thanks. You’re great, Jessie. Remember everything I told you this morning? Well, it still stands. If you happen to see my car or if Amelia shows up at George’s-”

“I know,” Jessie cut in. “Be careful…she could be dangerous…call the police…do not pass Go, do not collect $200…”

“I’m serious,” Karen said, “doubly serious now.”

“We’ll be careful, hon. You drive safe. Talk to you soon.”

“Thank you again, Jess.”

She hung up, then immediately called George again. She was charging all these calls. Her American Express bill would be nuts, but right now she didn’t care.

George answered on the second ring. “Karen?”

“Yes, hi-”

“Looks like you’re still in that phone booth by the diner,” he said. “I have the number on my cell. Let me call you back there in fifteen minutes, okay?”

She hesitated. “All right. But have you talked with Annabelle’s teacher yet?”

“I’m doing that right now. Sorry to make you stick around there. Go inside the diner and grab a Coke or something. I’ll call you in fifteen.”

“Okay, but you should know-” Karen heard a click.

“Annabelle’s alive,” she said to no one.

“Can we take Rufus home with us?” Stephanie asked. She wouldn’t stop petting him, even while the dog lifted a leg and peed on the hydrangea bushes near Karen’s back door.

“Well, I don’t think Karen would like coming home to an empty house tonight,” Jessie said, standing on the back steps. The kitchen door was open behind her.

Jody held Rufus by his leash. He pulled his kid sister away from the dog. “Leave him alone for a minute so he can take a dump. Jeez!”

Stephanie resisted for a few moments, and finally turned toward Jessie. “Why don’t Karen and Rufus come live with us?”

“I’m working on that one, honey,” she replied. “Now, Jody’s right, you have to leave Rufus be for just a minute or two. And you need to calm down, too.”

Stephanie had asthma, and she’d left her inhaler at Rainbow Junction Daycare this afternoon. They’d be on pins and needles until they got back home, where she had two more inhalers. In the meantime, Steffie wasn’t supposed to exert herself or get overexcited.

“Just take it easy, sweetheart,” she called to her. “Why don’t you…” Jessie trailed off as she heard a noise behind her in the kitchen.

She turned around, and gasped.

Standing by the breakfast table, she wore a rain slicker and clutched her purse to her side. She had a tiny, cryptic smile on her face.

“Oh, my God, you scared me,” Jessie said, a hand on her heart. “What are you doing here, Amelia?”

“Sorry about the interruption,” George said, tucking the cell phone in his sports coat pocket. He’d stepped down to the playing field to take Karen’s call. Now he made his way back up the bleachers. “Where was I?”

“You asked me about the fire,” Caroline Cadwell said.

Nodding, he sat down beside her. “So the police called you late one night in July….”

“Yes, I had no idea Lon put me down on his insurance policy as his emergency contact. There was no next of kin, so they called me to identify the remains.”

“Did you drive out to the ranch that night?”