Page 67 of Justice Delayed

She mouthed the words and smiled, feeling her great-grandmother’s presence like she hadn’t in nearly two decades.

“Those are your grandmother’s songs, aren’t they?”

“These are your great-grandmother’s songs too.” Melender closed the notebook, smoothing the cover with her hand. “I didn’t want to forget the sweet memories of her singing them to me. I could see she was becoming frailer, so I asked her to write down the lyrics to as many of her favorite mountain songs as she could. I like to think she understood it was my way of keeping her memory alive and the music of my heart forever.”

She looked at Jillian, tears welling inside her. “I can’t thank you enough for keeping this safe for me.”

Jillian averted her eyes. “Last week, one of my earrings fell behind my dresser, and when I moved it to get the jewelry, I found the notebook. I must have shoved it behind the dresser years ago.” She lifted her gaze from her hands and looked at Melender, a tear trailing down her cheek. “I nearly burned it but then thought it might be more satisfying to rip it to shreds in front of you. Can you forgive me for such an awful thought?”

“Yes, of course.” Melender touched Jillian’s arm. “I’m glad you didn’t do either of those things.”

Jillian drew in a deep breath. “There’s more. That’s not the main reason I didn’t destroy it. After I found the notebook, a nightmare I haven’t had since I was a child came back. Jesse’s crying and Jared’s shouting at me to give Jesse his stuffed rabbit.”

This was probably nothing more than a young girl’s hazy memories swirling with her fears, so Melender tried not to let her excitement over the revelation show.

“I used to have it every night after Jesse disappeared. Mom took me to a therapist for years. I eventually stopped having the nightmares. Until last week.”

“What else happens in the dream?”

Jillian scrunched up her face. “I’m little again. Jared’s watching us, but he’s acting funny. I know now it’s because he was high.”

Melender reached over and took Jillian’s hand.

“I’m supposed to be asleep, but Jared let me stay up to watchToy Story 2. Jesse has a cold, so he’s congested and not sleeping well. He wakes up and starts crying. Jared yells at me to check on Jesse and give him his stuffed animal. You remember his favorite one? The blue bunny with the missing eye?”

“Yes, I remember.” Melender rubbed the back of Jillian’s hand with her thumb, just like she used to do when Jillian was little.

“Jesse had thrown it out of his crib. I picked it up for him, but he didn’t stand up. He just cried. I touched his face, and it was hot, so I got Jared. He came in, said a bad word, then stomped off.”

Melender kept up the rhythmic motion of her thumb, hardly daring to breath as Jillian continued.

“He gave Jesse something liquid in a little cup, then told me I’d better get him to stop crying. I played peek-a-boo with the bunny until he finally stopped crying and went to sleep.” She wiped a tear from her cheek, then squeezed Melender’s hand. “I went to bed, and that’s the last time I ever saw my baby brother.”

Melender’s heart thudded. Her lawyer should have uncovered this information at the time of her trial. Surely Jillian, even though she was only three, had been questioned at the time. “Did you tell this to the police?”

Jillian shook her head. “No one ever asked me about that night beyond when I went to bed. I didn’t tell anyone about watchingToy Storyor playing with Jesse because I knew I wasn’t supposed to be awake that late. And I cried every time someone mentioned Jesse’s name, so Mom wouldn’t let anyone ask me questions.”

“Do you know what Jared did after giving Jesse the medicine?”

“No.”

Melender reigned in her disappointment. While this tallied with her story about Jared being in charge of the kids, it still didn’t shed any new light on what had happened to Jesse. “You said you used to dream about that night a lot?”

“Yeah. I dreamed about Jesse crying and the medicine and the blue bunny for weeks.” She let go of Melender’s hand and brushed back a few strands of hair from her face. “Last week, when I had the dream again after so many years, it was a little different.”

“In what way?” Melender leaned toward Jillian, her eyes fixed on her cousin.

“This time, I dreamed I got up to get a drink of water after going to bed. You remember my room and Jesse’s were connected by a bathroom?”

Melender nodded.

“The door from the bathroom to Jesse’s room wasn’t closed all the way, like it usually was. I got the drink, but thought I heard Dad’s voice in Jesse’s room. I put my eye to the crack and saw someone leaning over Jesse’s crib.”

Melender sucked in a breath. “What was this person doing?”

“Picking up Jesse.”

ChapterTwenty-Seven

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