The River Below by Bonnie Hearn Hill

Author:Bonnie Hearn Hill [Bonnie Hearn Hill]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Severn House Publishers
Published: 2017-08-15T00:00:00+00:00

THIRTEEN

Claire

Claire tried to call Tessa later that day but she didn’t pick up. Claire shouldn’t have brushed off Rosemary’s attack, most of which Tessa had to have heard. Maybe she should call Eric, but she had promised Tessa she wouldn’t share anything with him. Regardless, she needed to find out where Tessa was.

As Claire drove along the bluffs, she realized that Tessa probably wasn’t home. She turned off onto Tessa’s street anyway and sat there for a few minutes, trying to put off the moment and yet knowing she couldn’t. As always, the striking silhouettes of the trees enhanced the lush landscaping and pillars of irregular river rock. Yet the setting, a blend of peach, pink and gray, failed to calm her.

Eric’s car sat in the drive, a good sign. He came out of the side door just as she approached.

‘Claire. Hey. Where’s Tess?’

Claire stopped as he approached her. ‘I was hoping I’d find her here.’

‘I tried to call her but she didn’t pick up.’ He pulled his phone out of his pocket and looked down at the screen. ‘Oh, crap. A message from Eleanor.’

The voicemail clicked on. ‘Come get your wife.’ A low-pitched, unemotional woman’s voice.

Eric played it again. ‘Come get your wife.’

Clutching the phone, he looked at Claire.

‘Who is that?’ she asked.

‘Eleanor.’ He bit his lip. ‘Tessa’s mother.’

‘I thought her mother was dead.’

‘Only to Tess.’ He lifted the phone as if it were a heavy weight in his hand. ‘I’d better call her back.’

Claire watched him place the call, trying to make sense out of the stories Tessa had told her about her dead mother.

‘Hey, Eleanor. Eric, here. I got your message and I’m on my way. Don’t let her leave. I’ll be there as soon as I can, probably around five or five-thirty. Again, do not let her leave. Please call back if that’s possible.’

‘Where is she?’ Claire asked.

‘South of here, near Wasco, between there and Bakersfield.’

‘I’m going with you.’

‘She won’t want you to see her mother or the way she lives.’

He started toward the car and Claire followed him. ‘We’re way past that, Eric.’

That got a short laugh out of him. ‘All right,’ he said. ‘Let’s go.’

The car smelled clean with a hint of citrus, like him. Eric drove to the end of the street and then turned left, parallel with the train tracks, heading toward the highway.

‘When was the last time you saw her, Claire?’

With that voice, that gaze, he could get Gloria Sudbury or anyone else off on a murder charge. His question was that perfectly phrased.

‘Today. She left early.’ The simple statement felt like a betrayal.

‘What time?’

‘Around eleven-thirty, I’d say.’

‘Any mention of where she was going?’

‘None. I thought you were picking her up,’ Claire said. ‘I shouldn’t have left her there.’

‘It wasn’t your fault. Have you checked your phone?’

She nodded. ‘I’ll look again.’

‘Send her a text, will you?’

Her head still spinning with questions about where Tessa was and why she had done this, Claire did as Eric asked.

Tessa, please let me know you’re OK.

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