I didn’t know Asa was already in town—the little twerp.
No one knew at the time.
Lady Elsmere rang me several hours after I made the call. “Anything?”
“Not so much as a peep. Sorry, June.”
“Do you think she knows we need her?”
“She does, I’m sure. Asa is either overseas or can’t help us. I’m sorry.” I could feel Lady Elsmere’s desperation over the phone and didn’t know what else to say.
Asa was always a wild card. My daughter was different, even as a child. She always had a rigid sense of right and wrong. There were no areas of grey—just black and white when it came to morality.
Asa never forgave Brannon when he accused her of causing his business to falter when she testified before Congress about Secret Service agents drinking and whoring on oversea assignments. After Brannon left me for his mistress, we found out he stole my share of our assets, and he had sold his portion of the architectural firm to his partners months before. Asa had nothing to do with his business problems. He just made the accusation up. Yeah, both were heavy blows. I guess we each felt we were walking on hot coals with him.
When Brannon deserted us, Asa never spoke to her father again, even though he pleaded with her. If he called, Asa would hang up on him, not saying a word, just putting the receiver back on the hook. When he tried to see her, she would just turn and walk the other way.
At first I was happy Asa was so supportive of me, but as time went on, I realized that I was being petty, and she should have a relationship with her father. I knew Brannon loved her, and our troubles with each other had nothing to do with our daughter. Nothing I said would dissuade Asa from the cold treatment of her father. Brannon died without Asa ever acknowledging him.
I resigned from my teaching position at UK because of the gossip when it came out that Brannon had left me for a woman who was Asa’s age, and the two had a love child. It was impossible to teach students who snickered in class. What’s more, I realized my chances of becoming chair of the department had gone out the window.
I knew from an early age that Asa was different from other little girls. She never wanted to play with the dolls I bought for her. Instead, she wanted toy guns. Then Asa wanted real guns. I put the nix on that, but it gave me pause.
I read up on autism, psychopathy, sociopathy, and other disorders. Asa would fit some of the profiles, but not the more dangerous attributes. She loved animals, was popular in school, a straight A student, good at sports, and was on the student council. Asa excelled at everything she tried. I was so very proud of her, but there was a side to Asa which seemed off—a cold, collected side she kept hidden from others, including me.
Asa had a steady boyfriend whom I thought she would eventually marry, but when high school ended, she went off to college, ending the relationship. That boy became my pal Detective Kelly, and he was devastated. It took him years to get over the hurt. “Why didn’t Asa say goodbye?” he would ask. “I thought she loved me.”
I had no answers for my good friend, Kelly, for I knew Asa had loved him. Asa’s behavior confused me as well, and I always wondered when it would be my turn for the cold shoulder. Since I hadn’t heard from her, I was terrified that time had come.
I could have just wrung my not-so-sweet daughter’s neck when I discovered Asa had flown to Kentucky immediately after my call.