Uncertain Truths

Ch 12 - Moving and Unmoving

Kae couldn't help feeling wound up. By the time Detective Lasenger said she was free to go, it was late in the day. A lot had happened. She needed to talk it out, but Diane looked tired. Probably exhausted.

She let Diane drive since it relaxed her. Kae pulled out her phone and almost texted Aiden. What would she say, though? He'd worry no matter what she said. She'd wait until she got home and explain it then. She tried to work out what she'd tell him, but her jittering seemed to energize to Noodles more than space allowed. She'd say nothing and hope it wouldn't come up.

"Am I going to have to let you two walk home?" Stressed but joking, Diane sighed. "I need quiet... to think."

"What's on your mind?" Kae hoped they had the same things running forward and back through their heads, processing.

"What's not?" Diane half-laughed.

"Okay, let's go with the obvious then – what's next?" Kae didn't actually want to think about it. Dead bodies seemed to be popping up all around them. Two so far – would there be a third? Add to that the fact they were under both police and family microscopes; there was pressure to do the smart thing, not just the right thing.

"I don't know."

Diane was uncomfortably quiet as far as Kae was concerned. Had the new body changed Diane's mind?

Kae glanced over. When corpses start to accumulate, most people stay away. Why did she feel such a strong compulsion to... to, well, understand this death too? She was no detective, she reminded herself. But the only way back to their version of normal was to get answers. To get closure.

As they pulled up to the farmhouse, their mother stood on the front step with her arms crossed, face creased. Worried, or bad news?

"Well, that decides it. Mattie called and told me about the body. It's time to get out of here. Grab what you can get into a suitcase. We're leaving."

"What about the horses?" Kae asked. "And the other animals?"

Candice looked back toward the barn and shrugged. "I'll send someone to get them. I have a stable. You might have to clean it up, but no animal is worth your life."

"All the trouble is out at Line Lake, Mom. If you need to worry, think about Mattie and Harold." Kae tried to deflect the attention away from herself. Away from Diane.

"Exactly. They're closing the campground and heading for Penhold," she said. "They have the right idea – get out. You both need to be a hundred miles away from this place."

Diane was nodding but Kae really didn't want to go. She couldn't. Besides, they should know better. She pushed past them and went up to the kitchen, but they followed her.

She glanced around, wondering where Becca was, then spotted her on the far side of the living room, kneeling backwards on the couch and looking out the window.

"Think of it like a holiday, Kae. Just some fun time away," Candice said.

Kae shook her head. "What about Becca? She's expecting her mother to come here."

"She's starting to worry. A change of location may not be the best idea, but we'll explain it to her. We might have to tell her what the police said soon. It's cruel to make her wait," Candice said.

"That's not a conversation I'm ready for," Diane said.

"Have one of the police officers tell her so she doesn't hold it against you?" Kae suggested.

"Either way, we need to get out of here." Candice frowned. "All of us."

"Don't stay here, Kae." Diane looked her directly in the eyes. "This place has been nothing but bad news since the day we moved in. First Dad, then Mom left, now Gerald. And I don't want you to be next."