Page 47 of A River of Crows

He scooted his chair closer to the table. “I’ve learned there are two kinds of love. There’s the kind that sets the world on fire, and there’s the kind that walks with you through fire. As sorry as I am, I can’t wish either of them away. Look, Sloan. I was far from perfect, but I tried to do my best for all of you.”

His best? Sloan stared at her father. What a flawed, selfish man. What a stark contrast to the image she’d held of him during her childhood. Yet, he’d always been this flawed man, even then. She just hadn’t known.

He reached across the table, placing his hand on hers. “Penny for your thoughts?”

Pennies, Blockbuster Video, Pizza Hut, Friday night sitcoms, camping at Crow’s Nest Creek, dancing to Keith Whitley. The memories brought Sloan to tears. “It seemed so real.”

“What did?”

“Our family.”

He squeezed her hand. “It was real. Every second was real. Don’t you ever doubt that.”

Sloan shook her head. “But—”

“But nothing.” He raised his voice. “Jay, Caroline, Sloan, and Ridge. That was real. We were a family. We still are a family. Yes, your mother hates me, and yes, Ridge is gone—”

“What if he’s not gone?” Sloan blurted out. “I mean, he’s gone, but I’m not sure he’s dead.” Sloan released her father’s hand to blow her nose into a Kleenex.

“Yeah, Bradley filled me in. I still can’t remember what happened that day.” He poked his forehead with his thumb. “I’ve tried therapy, hypnosis, everything. But I can’t remember.” His chin quivered. “I should’ve gotten help back then. Caroline told me I needed help. But nobody knew much about PTSD in the eighties.”

“That’s clear from the verdict. I’ve been reading through your trial transcript. Your lawyer did a terrible job. Why didn’t you ever appeal?” Sloan asked.

“No way I was spending money on a better lawyer when it could go to you kids.”

Sloan leaned back in her chair. “All of us kids?”

“Anna tried, Sloan. We didn’t have much, but when money started coming in from the community, I wanted your mother to have some of it. Caroline refused to even speak to Anna.” He tugged at his earlobe. “Not that I blame her.”

Sloan cleared her throat. “So, did Brad tell you my theory?”

“Yeah, Eddie Daughtry.” He looked over his shoulder. “He’s here, you know? Daughtry. They’ve got him away from the general population, so I can’t talk to him.”

“Working on that,” Sloan said. “Well, Brad is.”

Jay leaned forward. “Seven years ago, I got a letter from a man doing time in Huntsville. Claimed that his cellmate, a guy named Reid Hunt, confessed to kidnapping Ridge. I turned the letter over, but they said his claims were unfounded. He never lived in Mallowater, and he had a history of false confessions.”

“But why confess to a crime that’s already solved? And so many years later?” Sloan asked.

“The People magazine article. Not sure if you saw, but People interviewed Anna and the kids in 2000.”

An accidental laugh escaped Sloan’s lips. “Yeah, I saw it.”

“Right, of course you did. Anyway, a friend has some connections on the outside and heard Reid Hunt is being questioned in the Pruitt abduction. They think he may have been Daughtry’s accomplice.”

“Reid Hunt,” Sloan repeated, cementing his name into her mind. “I’ll ask Dylan about him.”

“Don’t get your hopes up,” Jay said. “Stories like Dylan’s, they’re rare. Bradley says stranger abductions are unusual, and when they do happen, the child is almost always . . .” he stopped and blew out a breath . . . “always killed within a day.”

Sloan remembered the torn piece of Ridge’s shirt, his blood, and the shoe recovered from the water. All the evidence suggested he’d been killed and dumped in the creek. But maybe that’s what Reid or Eddie wanted everyone to assume.

“Even if they realize I’m innocent, it won’t bring your brother back.”

Sloan drummed her fingers on the table. “We know Eddie took Logan and Dylan and that he abused others. I don’t think it’s reaching to assume he had something to do with Ridge’s disappearance. But whether Ridge ended up like Dylan or Logan, that’s what I am going to find out.”

“I want Ridge to be alive too. But if he’s alive, where is he?” Jay asked. “Why has he never visited your mother?”

Sloan grimaced. “Mom claims he has. Claims he’s come back to her as a crow. She’s probably out at the creek right now talking to some poor bird.”