Seth laughed. “Like I’m a hotshot cop? I’m a deputy in a little bitty town, Robbie. It’s not a big job, it took me about four years to convince the Sheriff’s Department to hire me. But it’s my little town and every once in a while I feel like I do something that could matter. Like taking Bobby home before he got in more trouble.”

“Hmm,” Robbie said. “What did Sue Marie say when you brought him home?”

“She sent him to his room. I hoped she meant to talk to him later, get the drop on him if he was up to no good. But I think she was getting ready to go out or something and was a little... She was distracted. You know?”

“Drinking? Was she drinking?”

Seth measured his answer. She hadn’t seemed drunk and as far as he knew, hadn’t done anything wrong. “Well...”

“It was a problem for us sometimes,” Robbie said. “We got married so young. Sue Marie is still young and pretty. She likes to party. Sometimes she can hit that wine kinda hard.” He took another bite. “Was she planning to go out with you?”

“Me?” he asked. “No. Why would she be going out with me?”

Robbie shrugged. “She mentioned you were back in town about ten times and said you’d gotten together and she thought... I guess she thought you’d be dating any second and she had to make sure I knew that.”

“I don’t know where she got that idea. I ran into her one night at Cliff’s when she was picking up takeout, but no, there was no getting together. That night I ran into her, I was meeting someone. I’m seeing someone.”

“You are?” he asked, suddenly a little more interested and slightly more friendly. “Who?”

“I shouldn’t say,” Seth said. “We’re really new. And I don’t think she knows yet, even though I’m at her house almost every day.”

Robbie laughed. “Who?” he said. “Someone from town?”

“I shouldn’t tell you,” Seth said. “At least not until I put down some stakes. You have a bad reputation for going after other guys’ girls.”

“Come on, that’s not right. It was just Sue Marie and it was high school. You ever lose any other girl to me? Besides, I’m not exactly tempting these days. I’m married with three kids even if I’m the only one who knows it.”

“When did you and Sue Marie get married?” Seth asked.

“Right after high school. She got pregnant with Rachel. We didn’t either one of us finish even the first year of college. Not like we planned it that way, but I was okay with that.” He got a very wistful look on his face. “That little girl, Rachel, she was the best thing ever happened to me. You seen that girl? She’s pretty and smart and the sweetest kid. Everyone likes her. I don’t get to spend as much time with her since I don’t live with Sue Marie, but we’re still close. She tells me what she’s doing, where she’s going, if she needs something she calls me. She’s everything to me. I gotta be honest, maybe I didn’t amount to that much, but those kids are everything to me. Sue Marie, too. She doesn’t really believe it, but she is.”

He really loves her, Seth thought with some surprise.

“You wouldn’t ever knock her around or anything, would you?” Seth asked. “Like maybe grab her and give her a shake if she’s not listening?”

“What are you talking about? You don’t touch a woman that way, man! How many times did Iris knock the shit outta us and we weren’t allowed to hit back? Jesus, Sileski, you never hit back, did you?”

Seth laughed in spite of himself. “Naw, she flattened me every time. Sue Marie isn’t a hitter, like Iris was, is she?”

“Naw, the only thing Sue Marie ever hits is the bottle. Aw, I shouldn’t’ve said that.”

“It’s not going anywhere, buddy. By the way, it’s Iris. Iris is the girl I’m chasing. But could you try not to tell anyone? Because Iris just isn’t getting it yet and I’m going to have to up my game.”

“Whoa,” he said a little excitedly. “Iris? You always hung out with Iris, but I didn’t think... You know.”

“I know. I seriously didn’t think much back then. So, you gonna talk things over with Bobby?”

“Oh, absolutely,” Robbie said. “I don’t want him picking on younger kids—that just won’t wash. And hey, I shouldn’t have made it sound like Sue Marie is a bad mother or anything. She takes her wine a little seriously sometimes, but she’s a good mother. Maybe she’ll even think about things and... Well, I don’t get my hopes up about that. But I will definitely talk to Bobby.”

“Tell him I’m his friend,” Seth said. “Tell him if he ever needs anything and you’re not available, he can call me.”

“That’s good,” Robbie said. “That’s real good. Hey, thanks for lunch. It was good to see you. Good to catch up.”

“For me, too,” Seth said, shaking his hand. “Call anytime I can help.”

Thirteen

After being told about Seth’s conversation with Robbie, Iris was left with very few options but to question Rachel about her frequent accidents, her bruises. Cammie had not come forward with information and Iris was not about to sell her out.

At first, Rachel was quite convincing, telling Iris that her frequent injuries were not related in any way to any form of abuse or neurological disorder. No, she had never thought of herself as one who bruised easily or someone perpetually off balance. In fact, she assured Iris, if she looked around, all athletic girls suffered their share of scrapes, bruises and mishaps.

And then Rachel had yet another fall and sustained a concussion. Iris found out about it after the fact—Rachel’s aunt was concerned because she had hit her head slipping on the icy walk, had a headache, then started throwing up. She took her to see Dr. Grant, who wasted no time admitting her to the hospital. But Rachel was examined, observed and released before Iris even heard about it.

“It’s right under our noses,” she said to Seth. “Something is happening to that girl—something medical or abusive or something. I can smell it.”

Seth agreed. “Keep watch. Don’t drive her further away with too many questions. You can call Child Welfare if you want to,” Seth said. “But in my conversation with Robbie, I didn’t hear anything that made me suspect anyone in her family would hurt her. Robbie’s gone positively sweet—he’s not the Robbie I fought with for years growing up.”