Deborah looked shocked and before Lindsay knew it; she was in her mother’s arms. Her anguished sobs must have alerted Dougie and Sara. They stood on the mat at the door to the apartment crying now too. Their immediate needs made her suddenly aware they must be devastated.
She wiped her eyes and looked up at them in sorrow. “I need your help, Mom. I don’t know what to tell them.”
Deborah took over then, whirling her daughter upstairs. She ushered the two children into the apartment and sat them down. The heart-wrenching scene was surreal. Sara sobbed loudly in Lindsay’s arms. Dougie looked sick to hear his brother was gone. The little boy was trembling and shaken.
While her mom took over with Dougie and Sara, a call came in from the sheriff’s office. Everett was too drunk to make the official identification of his son’s body. The State Police were there. It had to be done. Deborah looked furious to know they expected Lindsay to identify him.
In the end, Lindsay went, numb and mentally drained. Dan came by to get her at three in the morning, looking like he was happy to have a murder case. She wanted to take his night stick and slap him around at his thoughtless behavior.
Standing outside the room where Jace lay, she took a deep breath and closed her eyes. The coroner waited within. It had to be done. She pushed open the door and met the kindly look from the coroner and his assistant from Helena.
The sheet was pulled back. She gasped with a plaintive sob and turned away. Her eyes would never forget the bluish, dead face of Jason Turner as long as she lived. The agony of seeing his lifeless face kept her from seeing the many stab wounds to his chest and neck thankfully.
She cringed in the lobby to hear about the high number of stab wounds he received from an unknown assailant. It was surmised it was a robbery. He withdrew money at an ATM prior to dropping off Dougie. Six hundred dollars was withdrawn. The money wasn’t found on his body.
He dropped Cam at Marnie’s trailer on the other side of town. Something happened to him on his way back. They speculated he picked up a drifter. They didn’t know anything for sure and the questions were many.
His body was found lying next to his truck on a deserted road along Route 4. The truck was parked off to the side of the road, hidden in the trees. She could only guess Jace was forced to drive there, tortured at the images of his dying so hideously.
It was too out of his way for the police to not assume he was followed and attacked after using the ATM machine. The bank was notified for a video of the transaction. There was a slim hope it captured his assailant.
This was Little Bend. There were no security cameras here. People didn’t die from being murdered, just from disease or old age. People didn’t lock their doors at night or worry about maniacs with knives lurking about. Everyone thought they were safe from crime. The murder shocked the town of three thousand people.
News crews arrived from Helena within the hour. By noon the following day, the murder went national. Everyone asked the same question. Who would have done such a thing?
Lindsay stayed home from the school that first day, dodging the reporters that buzzed everywhere looking for a story. The story on TV painted a glowing picture of Jace, his football career, his devotion to his family. She couldn’t bear to watch, too heartsick to even get out of bed.
Her mom was looking after Dougie and Sara. She couldn’t do anything for anyone right now, except cry until her eyes swelled shut. The police questioned Cam and Marnie the most. They kept bringing Cam back in for questioning those first few days. Something in his story didn’t sit well with the cops.
The three hour gap between Jace dropping him at Marnie’s and her arriving home to find him on her porch at one-thirty, made Cam a potential suspect. It was ridiculous. Cam was Jace’s best friend. They should be out looking for Jace’s killer, but within days of the murder, it was rumored they were looking at Cam more closely.
“Shut that crap off, honey. You don’t need this right now,” Deborah said as she poked her head in her daughter’s room and went and shut off her TV on her dresser. “You need to get up. The funeral director wants to meet with you and the kids today to plan Jace’s funeral.”
“I don’t want to deal with this now, Mom!” Lindsay cried and shoved her ravaged face back into her pillow.
Deborah frowned and sat on the end of her bed. Her blue eyes were sad. “None of us do, Lindsay. It has to be done. Foster’s funeral home agreed to handle all of the expenses for the funeral. You owe this to Jace and the kids to see this through. They just want to get a few ideas and pictures of Jace.”
“Why ask me?” Lindsay seethed and flung her mother a resentful look. “Why not ask that no good father of his?”
Deborah sighed sadly and pulled the worn quilt off her daughter. “Everett went on a bender as soon as he heard about his son. You have to get up, Lindsay. Enough is enough. I know what you’re going through. Things have to be done for him. His dad is worthless right now. Think of Sara and Dougie, baby. They can’t do this alone.”
Lindsay wiped at her tears. Her face stung. She knew she must look as bad as she felt. Her mother handed her a tissue and stood.
“I know you think I’m heartless that I’m making you do this, but you can’t think about all the pain right now. I went through this with my dad when he passed. Grieve for him when he’s finally resting, sweetie. That will get you through the next couple of days.”
Her Mom went out and closed the door quietly. Lindsay knew she was right. She owed it to Jace to make his funeral arrangements. Foster’s was generous enough to bury Jace now. She couldn’t let them make all the arrangements without some personal input. A hollow stabbing pain was felt in her heart to realize two days before she’d been planning their life together. Now she planned her boyfriend’s funeral.