Barbara had loaned her car to Emily, so Kent drove her to work. He wished he could calm her fears. She had missed an important pre-presentation meeting this morning, and that wouldn’t make her look good at work. And complicating her situation further, Kent had strongly suggested that each of them keep quiet about the bomb, explaining only on a need-to-know basis. Whoever had done this was clearly looking for some kind of power, and he probably wanted word to get around. Better to have as little press and word of mouth as possible.
Kent suspected that the bomber hadn’t really wanted to kill Emily. If he had, it would have been easy enough to do it. According to the CSI who’d worked the scene, the bomb must not have held much gasoline. If it had, the fuel tank would have gone up.
No, whoever did this had been trying to jerk her around.
“Are you gonna be okay?” he asked Barbara as they approached her office building.
“Yeah, I have to be. This is a huge presentation. I can’t drop the ball on it.”
“But you’re ready, right?”
“I think so. The presentation is at noon. The deacon leadership and church staff are coming to our offices for a catered lunch, and we’re presenting it then.” She looked out the window, and he knew where her mind was going. “Kent, what if she’s using again? I really don’t think I can go through that again.”
“Emily looks fine. But I never saw her when she was high.”
“But this staying out until all hours . . . I haven’t wanted to give her a curfew because she’s twenty, and I know that if she were in the dorm, she’d stay out late anyway. I wanted her to stay home for just this reason. I want to make sure she’s solid enough in her sobriety before she lives away from home.”
“Other than the late hours, you’ve had no reason to suspect her. You check her when she comes in, don’t you?”
“Yeah, but . . . how do you tell the difference between sleepy and loaded?”
“You can tell, Barbara. You’ve told me yourself that when she was using, she didn’t bathe, didn’t change clothes, didn’t brush her teeth or her hair. She was a mess, didn’t go to school, didn’t come home. She’s not like that now.”
“No, she’s not.” She took his hand, stroked it with her thumb. “You’re helping. I appreciate your perspective.”
“Well, if you’re still suspicious, drug-test her tonight.”
She sighed. “I don’t know how she’d take that.”
“Her reaction will be telling. If she balks, then you’ll know she could be using. If she’s really sober, she’ll want to prove it. I can bring you a test kit tonight if you want.”
Barbara nodded. “I guess so.” She sighed. “I hope the insurance company will pay for a rental until we can get her car checked out. I don’t like having to depend on you.”
Kent smiled. “I like it when I can help.”
“But you were working a case, weren’t you?”
“Yeah. A woman found dead in her bed this morning. She had two little kids. I had to tell her husband.”
Barbara gaped at him. “Kent, I’m so sorry to pull you away from that.”
“No problem. I can get back to it now.”
“I’ll get Emily to pick me up this afternoon if we haven’t gotten a rental by then.”
He turned into the parking lot and drove her to the front door. “Call me if you can’t.”
“I’ll call a cab before I’ll take you away from hunting down a killer.”
“I can take a minute to pick you up, Barbara.”
She hesitated before getting out. “Do you think they got enough evidence to figure out who planted the bomb?”
“I hope so. I’ll stay on top of that too, babe. I’ll keep you informed. Let me know immediately if anything else happens.”
She kissed him lightly, and he watched her get out and waited until she was inside. Though he had been interrupted on his murder case, there was something he liked about being needed by a group of people he loved. They weren’t his family yet, but he felt like they were.
He shifted in his seat and slid his hand into his pocket, felt for the ring. It was still there. When should he ask her? The middle of a puzzling murder case wasn’t the right time. And the bomb added another element of distraction. No, he wanted to ask her in a way that was memorable, when there was nothing that would shipwreck her joy.
Driving back to the murder scene, he said a silent prayer that Emily’s circumstances this morning didn’t herald a relapse. If she had stumbled and was using again, the repercussions would be much further reaching than she knew.
Barbara didn’t deserve that. She’d already been through way more than any mother should endure.