Barbara McMahon - Truth Be Told

She waited in silence while he read. She fidgeted a little, feeling nervous and unsettled. She looked at Sam, found his gaze on her and looked away, feeling butterflies in her stomach. How long would it take for him to read the darn thing?

The moments ticked by. The air seemed to be seeping from the room. Licking dry lips, she glanced back. He had put down the pages and was studying her.

“Stop,” she said.

“Sorry, do I make you nervous?”

“Great technique, but I’m not one of your suspects.” And the butterflies had nothing to do with the cop, more with the man.

He gave a half smile. “But you’d have me believe Allen McLennon is a suspect.”

“He is. The only one.”

Jo was relieved when Marjorie arrived with the pitifully thin folder. Sam pointed to Jo, and Marjorie handed it to her. “Let me know if you need something else, Sheriff,” the woman said before leaving. She closed the door.

Jo opened the folder and began to read. A few minutes later, she leafed through the file. “No photos, no lab report, nothing about the charges I made against Alan McLennon,” she murmured. “That alone should point to sloppy work, if not downright criminal conspiracy.”

“One way to look at it. But if you examine other files, you’d find the same kind of reports. And this from the man they elected sheriff for five terms,” Sam said.

Jo tossed it on his desk. “Well, thanks for letting me see it.”

“I don’t like the situation any more than you do,” Sam said. “If we work together, maybe we can find a way to bring out the truth, no matter what it is.”

“No matter what it is? You think it’s someone else? That I’m making this up?”

“I prefer to deal in facts.”

She thought about it. “I still like the idea of a full-page newspaper ad,” she said.

“If McLennon beat you, you want something to nail him, not just embarrass him,” Sam said.

Jo nodded. “You’re right. There has to be something.”

Sam shrugged. “I haven’t heard a word of gossip to support Allen’s guilt. What I have heard is that one of your schoolmates was the most likely suspect.”

Jo had every moment of that time engraved in her mind. She eyed her report on his desk, hoping Sam would find something in the report that would give him a lead.

“Who?”

“Josiah Heller.”

She smiled wryly. “Ironically, he’s the reason I’m back, not the reason I left. I’ve heard many people think he’s the one who attacked me. But it was Heller who told me about Maddie’s stroke, and that brought me back. I was hoping it would make a difference.”

“What?”

“Her stroke. I had some notion that maybe she’d see things differently, somehow see the truth. But she can’t even talk. And her reaction when she saw me was less than welcoming.” Jo shivered at the memory.

“Would Eliza or April have any information?”

“I doubt it. They wouldn’t have been quiet when being taken away from the only home we knew. If nothing came out then, they probably knew nothing. We can ask.” She gestured to the folder on the desk. “This stinks, Sheriff. And anyone with half a brain could see how shoddy the work is. Deliberately covering up for someone, as I see it.”

Sam didn’t respond.

“I’m telling the others tonight,” Jo said.

“I’ll come by.”

“Come at seven and I’ll reveal all to them.” Jo stood, rubbing her palms on her black pants. “And thanks. Sorry about earlier.”

He stood. “I want justice,” he said. “A good policeman does.”

After twelve years, Jo wasn’t sure it was possible. Any help she’d hoped for from the past had been shot down by the skimpy report filed at the time.

She still wanted to spend time with Maddie. To clear the air before telling everyone else the sordid tale. Even if she still refused to believe her, Jo had to try.

The older woman was in bed, eyes closed, when Jo peered around the door. She must have made some noise because Maddie opened her eyes and half smiled when she saw Jo.

Wondering if she was dreaming, Jo stepped inside. “All right to visit?” she asked.

Maddie nodded, raising her left hand in supplication.

Jo walked to the bed and sat gingerly on the edge. Maddie looked so small and frail lying there. Her head showed a fresh scar near her temple. Her hair was thin, white, wispy. Jo swallowed hard. Now that she was here, she wasn’t sure how to say what she wanted. She decided she’d just blurt it out. Good a way as any.

“I’m telling April and Eliza the full story tonight,” she said.

Maddie didn’t move. It seemed as if she held her breath.

“I went to the bank. McLennon is president now. The son of a bitch should be in jail. Instead he has a prestigious job and is doing who knows what. You should have believed me, Maddie. I never meant to interfere with your chance at happiness. But he hurt me badly. And I got no support from the one person I thought I could count on. You. But that doesn’t excuse what I did. I lied initially, out of anger at you. I’m sorry. And more sorry that when I told the truth to the sheriff, he wouldn’t believe me. No one did. I’m sorry if I got you into trouble. And I’m sorry as hell that Eliza and April got shunted away like I did.”

“Nnnnoooo,” Maddie uttered.

“I wanted to let you know that I’m telling the others. Actually, I already told the new sheriff. I don’t think he believes me any more than you did, but he covers it better. Doesn’t matter, I know the truth, and I’m going to do my best to expose it to the world. I should have come back sooner.”

Maddie nodded, her expression sad.

“I hope he wasn’t the love of your life. I heard he dumped you after my accusations. I think you’re better off. He’s scum. I don’t know if he’s abusing any other girls. It could be that I was an isolated incident.”

Maddie looked distressed again. She shook her head. Her eyes were wide with emotion.

“Anyway, I thought it only fair to warn you. I expect Eliza and April will have some questions.” Jo took a deep breath, looking at the woman who had been the only mother she’d ever really had—until that fateful day. April had shared a lot of fond memories last night, many of which Jo had forgotten. It had been a good experience, one that made up for the overwhelming, indelible imprint of that last encounter.

Maddie had been strict, but she’d had three wild girls to care for. All had railed against their fate that had put them into foster care, and Maddie had taken the brunt of their anger. Yet she’d been loving, helpful, supportive. She’d been the one to come to school events, not Jo’s mother. Maddie had stayed up with her when she’d had a miserable bout of flu. Her mother had been in jail that time.

But the facts were as they were. Maddie was not her mother, and when Jo had needed her most, Maddie had let her down.

The grip on Jo’s hand tightened. If she hadn’t known Maddie was recovering from a serious stroke, she’d have thought the woman had been in strength-training, so painful was the hold.

Jo eased her hand out of Maddie’s, patting the back of her hand.

“I said I was sorry earlier. I wanted you to know I meant it. I should never have retaliated like that. I had no idea of the ramifications. I know a lot more about the law now, though, and have to say the investigation Sheriff Halstead did was lousy. I suspect he was in league with McLennon.”

Maddie nodded, reaching out again to touch Jo. “Bbbaaaa,” she tried. A sound almost like a kitten made, but Jo couldn’t understand.

“I’d better be going.”

Maddie shook her head frantically.

Jo looked around the hospital room. The woman was probably going stir-crazy confined here. She could stay a little longer.