I walked outside, the interior of the Jordan home feeling toxic and ugly.
I’d asked Olivia a few more questions. It immediately occurred to me that perhaps she had done something with Meredith, but I let go of it almost as quickly. She was interested in protecting her place in the Jordan family and was not going to jeopardize that. She may not have cared for the sight of her daughter, but I doubted that she played any part in her disappearance.
The afternoon sun was high and prominent and the heat weighed on me, unwanted. I sat down beneath the sprawling portico, slipping into the shade.
I was trying to be sympathetic to Olivia Jordan’s situation, but failing. I knew that my own loss played into those feelings, but I didn’t think that if Elizabeth was still with me and Lauren, and we were still married, that I’d feel any different. I didn’t know what had drawn Olivia into prostitution and I didn’t care. She'd made the choice and had to live with it, which wasn’t an easy thing to do. But she'd made the choice. I didn’t see how taking out her frustration on her daughter helped.
By all accounts, Meredith was a good kid. I knew that wasn’t the entire story, but it appeared that she had friends and people liked her. Regardless of the choices she was making now, she didn’t deserve to be looked at as an ugly talisman by Olivia.
And no matter how long Olivia thought she could keep her secrets buried, she was wrong. Secrets don’t stay buried.
They just wait to be dug up.