Page 63 of Love Like Ours

Aiden was married to Sara’s younger sister, Suzie, who owned Pride’s flower shop, All in Bloom. Suzie was Todd and Megan’s youngest daughter.

“Everything,” Palmer said. “Tell us everything. We can handle it.”

“Right.” Aiden sighed. “I’m friends with the CSI guys in Portland. Larry says that your aunt was killed in her bedroom. There is a trail of blood, like the body was moved, dragged, but then the trail stops. Like maybe they had been picked up at that point.”

“What does that mean?” Palmer asked.

“The blood in the car was in the passenger side and in the trunk. More blood in the seat than the trunk. The working theory is that the trunk’s blood will match your aunt’s. The rest isn’t making sense, yet. We’ll know more later but the main question at this time is who bled out in the passenger seat?”

“Have you found Jack?” Palmer asked after a moment.

“We’re looking. They’ve contacted your cousins. Both of them are safe.”

“Good,” Parker said and then turned to him. “Do you know anyone else who could have been with our aunt?”

He shook his head. “No, her husband died right before she sent me to the home. It’s one of the reasons she couldn’t handle three boys in her house. I’d gotten into trouble and she couldn’t afford me financially or emotionally.”

Parker nodded. “Keep us posted. We’re all staying at the B&B tonight.”

“Will do.” Aiden hung up.

Just then Todd walked into the office. “Any updates?”

They filled Todd, Megan, and Sophia in, all while trying to keep their voices low so the kids didn’t hear. By the time the kids were shuffled up to bed, they had all come up with ideas about what the blood in the car meant and why his mother was acting like nothing had happened. Like she wasn’t driving around in a vehicle that had, according to Aiden, amounts of blood so great that they were pretty sure whomever it belonged to was dead.

“Joanne is in custody, right?” Sara asked when she came back downstairs after making sure the kids were all settled.

“Yeah,” Palmer and Parker answered at the same time.

“So then all we have to worry about is Jack. You don’t think the blood belongs to him, do you?” she asked. The question threw everyone off, and they all went silent.