Read Online John Saul by Guardian - Free Book Online Page B

not merely a friend of Audrey and Ted’s. “Like I said, as far as we know, they were both accidents. But there’s a question about what could have spooked that animal. Sheika’s always been the steadiest, gentlest horse around. Almost more like a dog than a horse, if you know what I mean. And as for Audrey, well, there weren’t any witnesses, and it wasn’t like she didn’t know exactly where she was. Withthe moon last night, it had to be almost as bright as day up there, and Audrey wasn’t the kind to take many risks. So I guess you could say there’s a question of what made her fall. Not that we’re ever likely to find any answers, but …”
    But
.
    The word hung in the air between them. MaryAnne waited for him to finish his sentence. When he didn’t, she turned in her seat to look more directly at him. “Mr. Hawkins, is there something you’re not telling me?”
    The lawyer’s eyes remained steady on the road ahead as they began climbing up into the Sawtooth Mountains. “Whenever there are two deaths this close together, and a lot of money is involved, there are going to be questions, Mrs. Carpenter.”
    “But who—” And then, unbidden, a thought came into her mind. “You can’t be talking about Joey, can you?” she demanded. “My God, he’s just a little boy!”
    “He wouldn’t be the first thirteen-year-old to have killed his parents,” Charley Hawkins replied. Then, catching a glimpse of MaryAnne Carpenter’s suddenly ashen face out of the corner of his eye, he hastened to try to soften his words. “I’m afraid the police don’t have any choice but to look at the situation with Joey, Mrs. Carpenter. That’s not to say anyone seriously thinks the boy had anything to do with it, but unfortunately, when two parents die the way Ted and Audrey did, you have to look at the son. Too often these days, that’s the way it turns out.”
    “But Joey was crazy about his parents!” MaryAnne protested.
    When Charley Hawkins’s expression hardened slightly and he made no reply at all, she pressed harder. “There wasn’t a problem, was there?”
    “Depends on what you mean by a problem,” the attorney hedged. “Joey’s just starting into his teens, and that always means some kind of problem, doesn’t it?” He glanced over at her, smiling with more confidence than he actually felt. “He’s a teenage boy, Mrs. Carpenter. Things aren’t always great with teenage boys, especially when you’re their parents. Now, I don’t want you to start worrying,” he added quickly. “All I’m trying to tell you is that I suspect the policeare going to want to talk to Joey again, if for no other reason than to make sure he’s told them everything. There might be something he doesn’t even know he knows—something he saw or heard that might be a clue. So just don’t be surprised if someone comes to talk to Joey, that’s all.”
    “I see,” MaryAnne breathed, easing herself back against the heavily cushioned seat. “But it seems so—I don’t know—so
farfetched
, I guess.”
    Charley Hawkins offered her a faint smile. “And it probably is, when you get right down to it. Anyway, there are a lot of other things you and I need to talk about, and I’m not much of a man for putting things off. I assume you know you’re Joey’s guardian.”
    MaryAnne nodded. “Audrey and I made an agreement years ago. She didn’t have anyone else, and I couldn’t think of anyone but her taking care of my kids, so we did it. But of course, I never really thought it would ever happen.”
    “No one ever does, Mrs. Carpenter,” the lawyer agreed. “But at least you and Audrey talked about it, and Ted and Audrey put it in writing. And a lot more, too.”
    His last words were said in a tone that left an uneasy feeling in MaryAnne’s stomach. All through the flight out from Newark, she had sat staring out the window of the airplane, doing her best not to think at all. And she certainly hadn’t thought about