Vows of Silence

How had she fooled herself into pretending that what they had done was somehow right? Nausea roiled in her stomach. How in God’s name had she allowed this to happen? Everything had spun out of control so quickly. There had been no time to think, only to react. Now the past, their desperate act, had caught up with them. The secret they had watched disappear beneath the glassy black surface of the water that long-ago night, was now fully exhumed in the bright, unforgiving light of day.

Charles Ashland, Junior, was dead.

The intricately detailed wood-paneled entrance to the Ashland home suddenly opened and Lacy got her first glimpse of Melinda’s pale and drawn face. That picture slammed into Lacy with such force that she jerked with the momentum of it.

Melinda needed her.

The thought shored up her crumbling resolve, solidified her emotions. Melinda and the children had to be top priority now. Her movements deliberate and sure, Lacy opened the car door and got out. Without taking her eyes off Melinda, she walked up the sidewalk and steps and straight to her friend. Fear glittered in Melinda’s wide hazel eyes. The red, swollen rings around them told Lacy that she had cried all day. Her lips were set in a thin, grim line, bracketed by furrows of fatigue. Just like always, her long blond hair was pulled back into a clasp at her nape. And, just like always, Lacy wanted more than anything to protect her.

“What are we going to do?” Melinda murmured, then trembled.

Lacy pulled Melinda into her arms and held her tight for one long moment without answering. She closed her eyes and wished things had turned out differently. Lacy called to mind the happy little girls they used to be. She envisioned the jump rope swinging high over their heads, pigtails flying, laughter echoing. They had been friends forever. Nothing could change who they were…or what they had done.

“We’ll do whatever we have to,” Lacy whispered roughly. Tears burned behind her clenched lids as she held her friend closer to her heart. This was way bigger than the four of them—children were involved. Innocent children. How could fate be so very cruel as to resurrect this evil into their lives? She held on to Melinda and tried not to consider the answer to her own question.

Lacy took a deep, calming breath as she drew back. “Where are the kids?”

Melinda brushed at the tears sliding down her cheeks. “Chuckie’s away at school. Summer session just started. I went first thing this morning to talk to him. He doesn’t…” She cleared her throat. “He doesn’t want to come home while this is going on…he…” Renewed tears filled her eyes. “He doesn’t even want to talk about it. Chelsea…she’s with the Ashlands.” She shook her head slowly from side to side. “She adores them, you know. They picked her up early this afternoon in case I had to go to—” she swallowed back a sob “—the chief of police’s office when I got back from visiting Chuckie. They don’t want him to come home, either. I think maybe they’ve spoken to him about that already.” She shrugged and lowered her head in defeat. “They don’t tell me anything.”

Lacy gritted her teeth to hold back the retort she wanted to make. She had forgotten the Ashlands’ insistence that Chuckie be enrolled in the same private military academy his father had attended until his high school years. It hadn’t mattered what Melinda wanted. Fortunately this should be Chuckie’s final year away. Charles had started high school with Lacy and the others his sophomore year. His son, apparently, would do the same. And, of course, the Ashlands thought Chelsea was better off with them, too. Melinda was too common, too weak…too unlike them. But she was the mother of their grandchildren, so they tolerated her. Barely.

“What do you think?” Lacy said instead of the litany of comments she wanted to make about snobbery, arrogance, and self-centeredness.

Melinda shook her head. “I don’t know what I think.” Her gaze connected with Lacy’s. “Maybe they’re right. Lord knows I can’t think straight right now. I’m scared.”

Lacy took Melinda’s hands in hers and squeezed. “Cassidy and Kira will be here soon. We’ll take care of this.” She displayed a confident smile that she in no way felt. “Somehow,” she added with feigned reassurance.

Melinda winced. “I’m sorry.” She stepped back from the doorway. “Come in. I know you’re exhausted from the long drive. I wasn’t thinking.”

And how could she? Lacy defended. Melinda’s whole life was unraveling around her. Charles, the bastard, was reaching out from the grave and tormenting her and her children once more. Lacy stepped into the foyer and waited as Melinda closed the door behind her. Lacy took that moment to scan the house into which she would just as soon not set foot ever again. But she had no choice.

The elegantly curved staircase hugged one wall of the two-story entry hall, then flowed onto the upstairs landing. Its sleek oak banister gleamed beneath the sunlight that dappled in from the second-story windows. Conservative, linen-colored walls and rich, ornate trim work defined the generous space that was both inviting and pretentious—the mark of an Ashland family home. From what Lacy could see, Melinda hadn’t changed much about the place. Lacy knew money wasn’t a problem. Hell, she couldn’t imagine what had kept her in this house, period. Lacy would have moved long before now. She supposed it had something to do with the children. Maybe Melinda didn’t want to take them from the only home they had ever known.

“Would you like tea or…something?” Melinda offered hesitantly, interrupting Lacy’s intense reverie.

She blinked. “Maybe later.” Smiling, she looped her arm around Melinda’s to guide her toward the family room. “Let’s just sit and chat until the others arrive.”

Melinda paused, halting their forward movement. “About the investigation?” Renewed fear and a dozen other emotions that Lacy couldn’t quite sort flickered in the worried gaze that searched hers.

Lacy patted her friend’s arm in an effort to calm both their fears. “About anything but that,” she suggested with as much nonchalance as she could marshal.

Melinda breathed a sigh of relief. “Good. I don’t want to talk about it…not yet.”

Lacy started forward once more. “Tell me how Chuckie’s doing in school. I’ll bet Chelsea’s broken a dozen hearts already.”

Melinda’s face burst into a smile bright enough to chase away most of the darker emotions clouding her eyes. “You should hear her play the piano. She’s amazing.” Melinda sighed. “And Chuckie’s doing great. I can’t believe how much he’s grown this past year. Wait until you see him, Lacy. He’s tall and handsome just like…” Melinda’s exuberant expression instantly crumpled.

Charles, she didn’t have to say. Lacy remembered all too well how handsome Charles Ashland had been. It was only his heart that was mean and ugly.

Lacy changed direction and headed toward the kitchen, Melinda in tow. “Maybe I’ll have that tea now after all.” They both needed something to do.

“I’m glad you’re here.”

Lacy slipped her arm around her friend’s slumped shoulders and squeezed gently. “Me, too.” They were all feeling the weight of their past sins, Melinda in particular.

The kitchen hadn’t changed, either. Same fruit-and-Tuscan motif. Lacy slid onto a stool at the island bar as Melinda busied herself with adding water to the teakettle. Acres of weathered white cabinetry and tasteful Italian tile decorated the enormous gourmet kitchen. A huge rack, heavy with shiny pots and pans, cooking utensils and dried herbs and flowers hung over the island. Charles had spared no expense when he built this house to showcase his children and his less-than-socially-worthy wife.

Melinda’s family had crashed and burned financially when she was sixteen, but that hadn’t changed her standing with her true friends. But it sure as hell had turned the Ashland family upside down when Charles announced two years later that Melinda was having his child. They had married the day after high-school graduation, the entire grand event paid for by the reigning royal family. It hadn’t mattered that Melinda’s was a good family, it only mattered that their stock portfolio wasn’t up to par. But blood was thicker than water. The child she carried made Melinda acceptable, however marginally.

If only they had known the kind of man Charles really was beneath those devilishly handsome looks and all that smooth-talking charm.

But they hadn’t. Every girl in town had a crush on the prince of Ashland…Melinda just happened to be the one who didn’t get off without the life sentence.

Lacy shivered at the memory of the terrible bruises, concussion and fractured rib Melinda had suffered at her husband’s hand. Not to mention the years of emotional abuse. It wasn’t bad enough that she’d lost her father mere days before high-school graduation and then her mother when Chuckie was just a baby. She’d been all alone at the mercy of the Ashlands after Lacy and the others left. She’d suffered far too much.

“Sugar or cream?”

Lacy snapped back to the here and now. “I’m sorry. What did you say?”

“Your tea,” Melinda gestured to the steaming cup. “Do you want sugar or—”

“Sugar is fine,” Lacy said quickly. She had to stay focused. She couldn’t keep zoning out like this. Too many lives depended on the events of the next few days. A clear head was a must. With monumental effort, she slowed her pounding heart and concentrated on leveling out her breathing. If the panic building inside her got a foothold, she would be in serious trouble.

“Chelsea’s going to try out for the junior-high cheerleading squad next year.” Melinda placed the tea and sugar in front of Lacy. Her eyes shone with motherly pride. “The gymnastics coach says she’s a natural. Chuckie’s too academic minded to be concerned with sports, but Chelsea loves it. Dance, cheerleading, you name it. Just like we used to do,” she tacked on with a futile attempt at a smile.

“That’s great.” Lacy tried hard to pay attention as her oldest and dearest friend doted on her children, but the past kept nudging her. Voices, images, emotions. He’s dead. My God, what happened? He’s dead! I didn’t do it. Are you accusing me? It doesn’t matter who did it. It only matters that it’s done. We’re all in this together.

Equally guilty.

Lacy sipped her tea and struggled to zero in on Melinda’s nervous chattering. A sheen of perspiration moistened Lacy’s skin despite her best efforts to tamp down the mounting panic. She resisted the urge to swipe her palms against her thighs.

He’s dead.

Oh, my God. What do we do?

“You just won’t believe how tall he is, but basketball is the farthest thing from his mind,” Melinda gushed. “All he wants to do is read or work at his computer.”

Hold that damned door open. Lacy started, her pulse tripping, as the cold, harsh order reverberated in her head as if it had only just been issued. They had half carried, half dragged Charles’s body down the stairs and into the kitchen. When Lacy had tried to back through the door leading to the garage, she had knocked it shut. She could feel the dead weight of his body even now. He was so heavy. So…lifeless. Even the shower curtain they’d had him wrapped up in couldn’t disguise the feel of death. The door, Lacy, hold the damned door, Cassidy had barked.

Lacy’s hands trembled. She tightened her grip on the dainty white porcelain cup and forced her fingers to still. The hollow thud of the closing trunk lid echoed in her head. She tensed at the remembered sound. They had shoved Charles into the trunk and closed it. Cassidy had driven his Mercedes to the lake, Lacy followed in her rental car…the hastily packed suitcase from Charles’s room in her back seat.

One final glimpse of silver had winked at her as the Mercedes disappeared beneath the water’s murky surface. And then he was gone.

Lacy forced down another sip of her tea, her throat so fiercely dry she could barely swallow. They had thought of everything. When the police investigated and the suitcase and missing clothes from his closet were noticed it would make it look as if Charles had suddenly left town. He had a reputation for drinking and womanizing. No one would ever be the wiser. Cassidy had carefully chosen the deepest and most obscure area of the lake accessible by car. The unexpected and unusually heavy snowfall later that night had hidden any tracks they might have left. When the thaw came, sending the winter blanket melting into the lake, any leftover tracks had eroded as well. Even Mother Nature had been on their side.

We won’t speak of this again. It’s done. We’re in this together. Equally guilty.

It was the perfect cover-up…the perfect crime. Until some fisherman had to go and get himself drowned in the swollen waters of the lake after torrential rains last week. The rescue operation had dredged up more than the poor fisherman.