His first thought turns to Jordyn. Maybe it’s the lawyer calling to tell him it’s all been a terrible mistake, that they are releasing Jordyn right away. Or, he thinks, maybe it’s the jail calling to say that Jordyn was hurt by some criminal during the night. You hear about that on TV all the time.

Thomas sets down the jar of jam, half hoping that the phone will stop ringing before he gets there. No such luck. “Hello,” he says.

“Murderer,” comes a muffled voice. “Tell the murdering bitch we’re coming for her.” Thomas’s heart seizes. Had the Landry girl died? They just saw her yesterday and though she looked rough she was far from the edge of death. There’s no way she could have died. Someone would have called and told them, but not like this.

“Who is this?” Thomas manages to ask.

“Eye for an eye,” the voice hisses and Thomas slams down the phone. Just kids, he tells himself. Just a prank call.

Thomas sits, elbows on the table, forehead resting in the palm of one hand. Sure, Jordyn has had her issues. Thomas remembers the school calling over a half a dozen times this year. Once for copying a classmate on a math test, twice for making fun of a girl in her class. Jordyn called her lardo and a fat ass, the teacher explained, spelling out the offensive word: a-s-s. Once for snapping a girl’s bra in the locker room and a time or two for being disruptive while the teacher was talking.

Except for a few minor incidents, there really hadn’t been anything about Jordyn actually hurting anyone. Of course the girl is going to have some issues. Her parents abandoned her, for God’s sake.

Thomas wants so badly to talk to Tess about all of this. He needs to talk to her. She’ll be furious with him for hiding Jordyn’s arrest from her. Today, he promises himself. This afternoon, after the arraignment, he’ll call his wife and try to explain what’s going on.

The sky is the color of dishwater, gray and cloudy. And though all the snow has melted a cold breeze sweeps across his skin and Thomas wonders if the mild mid-April weather they’ve been having is just a tease.

He doubts that the girls would have left the Landry home in the middle of the night if there had been snow and the temperature near freezing. Though it’s only a short drive to the jail it still feels too far away. From talking with the attorney, Thomas knows that Jordyn is very lucky to have remained at the jail in town.