Page 34 of Secrets and Sin

“I’m going to have to talk to him about it.”

“Finn is a good sheriff,” Lucy said. “He’s not like some of the others we’ve had.”

“I know,” Zack sighed. “I know he has experience and knows what he’s doing, but maybe I should hire a private investigator. They might be able to find something. Anything.”

“If people won’t talk to Finn, they aren’t going to talk to a stranger,” Lucy pointed out. “They’ll clam up and Finn won’t get anything out of them either.”

“Then maybe I should talk to them.”

She wasn’t sure she’d heard him correctly. Was he saying what she thought he was saying?

“You think you should do some investigating? Are you kidding? Do you know anything about investigating crimes?”

At least she’d read a bunch of books, but that didn’t mean she was going to start interrogating people.

“I wasn’t talking about investigating myself. I would just ask a few questions. Can you honestly say that you’re not curious about what happened to Sarah? I know I am.”

“I am curious,” Lucy admitted. “I knew that she had issues at home, but I didn’t know much more than that. She always seemed happy and upbeat. What are you thinking?”

“I don’t know what I’m saying,” Zack finally replied, frustration in his tone. “I’ve always believed that my dad knew more about Mom’s disappearance than he told the police. Now I’m wondering whether our friends knew more about Sarah than they let on, as well.”

“We can ask, but they may not answer us. They may not know any more than we do. Maybe Sarah didn’t confide in anyone.”

“There had to be someone,” he said with a shake of his head. “I confided in my mom. Surely, Sarah had someone in her life she could talk to.”

“Not everyone does. It would be wonderful if that was true, but sadly, I don’t think that it is.”

“I think Ethan knows more than he’s saying.”

“You’ll have a chance to ask him more tomorrow, right?”

“You don’t think this is a good idea.”

It was a delicate matter. Lucy didn’t want to hurt Zack, but he might not be thinking all that clearly at the moment. He was allowing his emotions to make the decisions.

“I think that you’re upset about this whole situation, and you want to make some sense out of it. That’s not a bad thing. But you may find that you’re banging your head against a wall that already has a lot of dents from other people’s heads.”

A smile bloomed on his face, and he started to laugh. A few heads down the hall whipped around at the sound. This was going to make the gossip rounds.

Lucy Gilbert and Zack Winslow were laughing in a quiet alcove during the reception.

“That’s the funniest analogy I think I’ve ever heard. It’s hilarious. Now I’m picturing this big brick wall with dents in it.”

“Good. That’s what I was hoping for.”

“And I know that you’re right. I’m simply trying to make some sense out of my world. But I probably can’t do that tonight. How about we go inside and get a slice of cake? I hear it’s chocolate.”

“The magic words. I want a piece of cake. Maybe two.”

She let Zack escort her back into the reception hall, but her mind was still on Zack’s words from earlier. Did their friends know more about what happened to Sarah than they were letting on? Was Ethan hiding something?

Zack wasn’t the only one who was curious.

9

“We’re headed to the bar to knock back a few whiskeys,” Tate said as the reception was beginning to break up. People were starting to leave, and the hall was emptying quickly. “Are you in?”

Normally, Zack would have loved to have joined Tate and Sam for a couple of drinks, but tonight wasn’t the night. His emotions were still too raw, and his head was filled with more questions than he had answers to. Right now he couldn’t be with his brothers when they had the same questions and maybe more. He didn’t want to sit around and feel sorry for himself. He wanted… Shit, he didn’t even know what he wanted, but he knew it wasn’t the company of his siblings. He loved them, but he couldn’t commiserate with them.

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