The Broken Places by Ace Atkins

Author:Ace Atkins [Atkins, Ace]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Mystery, Thriller
ISBN: 9780399161780
Amazon: B00AI52PAK
Goodreads: 16158573
Publisher: Putnam Adult
Published: 2013-01-01T06:00:00+00:00

Lillie Virgil lived in a little white house by the old train depot just north of Jericho. Caddy had always loved Lillie’s little house, the white clapboards covered with pink climbing roses and yellow jessamine and blood-red canna lilies that grew to huge heights in the hot summers. She had a nice wide screened porch on the side of the house and a potting shed she’d pulled together from barn wood and scrap tin. There was a composter and a big stack of antique bricks she figured Lillie was using to expand a little backyard gazebo, and white Christmas lights strewn overhead, clicking in the strong wind and rain. Caddy knocked on Lillie’s side door, her hand firmly holding Jason’s, and waited. Her car was still running. It had been two hours since she’d seen Quinn, and she still couldn’t find Jamey.

Lillie came to the back door, drying her hands. Inside the kitchen, Caddy spotted Lillie’s adopted daughter Rose sitting in a high chair, face covered in baby food. Lillie was still wearing her sheriff’s office uniform.

“Sorry, Lillie,” Caddy said. “But I could really use a favor right about now.”

“Come on,” Lillie said. “Feeding Rose some supper. Y’all want something to eat? I was heating up some peas and making some cornbread.”

“I need you to watch Jason,” Caddy said, almost in a blurt.

“Y’all come on in.”

“I can’t.”

She had pulled Jason up under her jacket, but his face and hair had gotten very wet. Lillie nodded for him to come on in, her small kitchen with a propane stove smelling warm and inviting. She had one of those antique Hoosier cabinets and a big wooden sideboard, old-fashioned advertisements hung on the wall. “I’ll be back in an hour or two,” Caddy said.

“Where’s Jean?”

“I’d rather we keep this between us.”

“You mean don’t tell Quinn,” Lillie said.

“Please.”

Lillie asked her again to please come inside, and Caddy again refused. She did not want Jason to be with her when she found Jamey. And she did not want Jason with her if she had to run into Quinn. She wanted to handle this thing on her own, and the faster she found Jamey, the sooner this could all be over. She did not want Jamey to feel like he was alone in this. She didn’t want Quinn to know any more than was necessary.

“Is Jamey coming by the office to talk to Quinn?” Lillie said.

Caddy shook her head. “I don’t know,” she said. “I can’t find him.”

“You know what we found today out by the Hardins’ pond?”

Caddy nodded. “I just need a little time, Lillie,” she said. “A couple hours.”

Lillie did not like the situation at all, rag held loose in her hand and baby starting to cry, but she nodded anyway. “If I don’t hear from you, you know I’ll have to call Quinn.”

“I promise, I’ll be back,” Caddy said. “You have such a beautiful home.”

“Please come on out of the rain,” Lillie said. “Let’s talk.”

Jason had already sat down at Lillie’s kitchen table.

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