Page 75 of Among the Innocent

Marge focused hard. Clarity slowly returned to her eyes. She touched her hand to her head. “What?”

“You said your son had to go away. I didn’t know you had a son.”

Her mom grew more confused. “Honey, I don’t have a son. You know that.”

Leah wanted to press for answers, but Marge looked ready to drop. “You should go up to bed. It’s been a long day.”

Tears fell from the older woman’s eyes. “You are such a good girl. I don’t know what I would do without you.”

“Get some rest. I’ll see you in the morning.”

Marge slowly rose. “Okay, honey.” She shuffled from the room as if she had doubled in age.

Leah waited until she heard her labored footsteps heading up the stairs before she moved to the sofa. “Why would she think she has a child?”

She remembered the few times she and Ellis had spoken about personal things. He’d told her that he and Marge hadn’t been able to have children of their own.

“Do you think she’s mixing up memories?”

If this were the first time, Leah might have dismissed the claim. “Possibly, but this is the second time she’s mentioned having a child.”

Dalton claimed the spot beside her.

“What do you know about Ellis’s and Marge’s past?”

She thought about the few things they’d told her through the years. “Not much, really. Ellis told me they’d met when he first became a cop.” Leah clamped her hand against her forehead. “I can’t believe I didn’t remember this before. Ellis mentioned once that he and Marge had lived in Wyoming at one time. In a small town.”

“Wyoming. That’s a pretty big coincidence. Is it possible we’ve been looking at this all wrong and the killings are in some way related to their past?”

She didn’t want to believe it. “I don’t see how.”

“We could do some checking into Marge’s background. See what we can find out.”

Was she searching for problems that didn’t exist? Marge’s memory had been fading since Ellis’s passing. Her doctor had told Leah that sometimes a traumatic experience could worsen dementia.

“I’ll call her doctor tomorrow and tell him about it. But yes,in the meantime, I think we should check into her background. Just to be sure.” What if Margewastelling the truth? Leah might have a brother out there somewhere. “It’s hard watching her fade before my eyes. I feel like I’m letting Ellis down, but I don’t know how to help her.”

He placed his hand over hers. “You are helping her. She depends on you.”

Leah leaned her head back against the sofa. “I don’t want to think about...” She didn’t finish but he seemed to understand. He put his arm around her, and she leaned against him. It had been a hard year coming on the heels of nine heartbreaking ones. Still today, after so long, when she closed her eyes, she could see her family before that night. Happy. Hardworking. Her brother and sister learning the ways of the Amish. All the good memories were returning that for so long had been tainted by that night. She turned her head to him. “I’m sorry about Harrison. If he and I hadn’t become friends...”

Dalton brushed her hair back. “Don’t go there, Leah. One day, I hope we can figure out why Ellis chose to make Harrison the bad guy. There must be an explanation. But this isn’t on you.Noneof it is on you.”

She leaned her head against his shoulder and closed her eyes. The weight of the past few days settled around her. The exhaustion seemed to bear down past flesh and bone, marrow and sinews, deep into her very soul. With John still out there, her soul wouldn’t find rest until he was stopped. “I feel like we should be doing something,” she murmured and felt him smile.

“Me too. For now the best thing we can do is get some shut-eye. Start fresh in the morning. Hopefully after a good night’s sleep we’ll see something that we may have overlooked before.”Dalton rose and pulled her up beside him. “Get some sleep. I think I’ll bunk down here.”

Leah stifled a yawn. “I’ll see you in the morning.” Before she turned away, he captured her hand. The look in his eyes made her heart go crazy.

“Good night, Leah.” He let her go.

Before turning in, Leah checked in on Marge. Her mother had turned on her side, her steady breathing a sign she’d fallen asleep.

Leah gently closed the door and returned to her room. She lay down on the bed fully clothed, her mind racing. Dalton and Marge mingled in her thoughts. She turned on her side. Why would Marge think she’d had a child? Was it all connected to dementia? Maybe she’d wanted a child of her own.

Closing her eyes, Leah couldn’t get her mom’s strange sentiment out of her head.

She grabbed her phone and called the office of the doctor who was treating Marge and left a message. It might be time for some adjustments to Marge’s medication. On an impulse, Leah asked the doctor if Marge had ever given birth to a child.

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