nodded her head when Joley finished her story. She said, âI can see where the job rewards your creativity and imagination,â and nodded some more.
âIâm not educated,â Joley said. âUnlike the big guy hereââshe waved her hand at meââI wasnât what you call college material. I doubt thereâs another job anywhere that they would let me do that pays as well as this.â
Karen nodded again. She had the gift of empathy. She understood other peopleâs emotions and knew how to make you feel good about having them. Either that or she was one of the most duplicitous women I have ever met.
âTell me about your relationship with Scottie,â Karen said.
Joley gave me a quick glance and settled on the sofa next to Karen.
âThe summer after we graduated from high school, we started to spend time together,â she said. âI suppose mostly it was out of self-defense. Neither of us was going on to college, and a lot of our friends, like McKenzie here, that was all they could talk about. It was fun, being with him. Iâd go to his gigs and listen to him play. And thenâyou know about the robbery.â
âI know,â Karen said.
âScottie says that to this day he doesnât know why he let Fulbright talk him into it. It was just so dumb.â
âIs that what you spoke about on the phone?â
Joleyâs eyes grew cautious.
âScottieâs brother, Tommy, said you talked for hours a couple of weeks ago,â Karen added.
âYes, when he spent the weekend with his mother.â
âHave you spoken to him since?â I asked.
âA few times.â
âDid he ever mention any of his friends?â
âSometimes. Sometimes weâll talk about the people we grew up with and went to school with, you know, Peter, Steve, Mary, Milo, Zap, Bev, John, Mary Bethâthose people.â
âBobby Dunston?â
âBobby? No, I donât think so. Why?â
âNo one from prison? A guy called T-Man, maybe? Or Mr. T? Anyone like that?â
âNo.â
âDo you have any idea where he might be now?â
âNo.â Joleyâs eyes swept up to her ceiling and back to me. âHow much trouble is he in?â
âWe donât know that he is in trouble,â Karen said. âWeâre just trying to find him.â
Joley was staring at me when she said, âWhy canât people just leave him alone? Heâs not a terrorist. Heâs not a drug dealer. He didnât abuse schoolchildrenââ
âJolene,â Karen said.
âIf people would leave him aloneââ
âJolene.â Karen snapped off the name, forcing Joley to face her. I was convinced she did it to keep me from saying or doing something foolish at the mention of schoolchildren. Like I said, empathy.
âJolene, Iâm trying to keep Scottie from going back to prison,â Karen said. âCan you help me?â
âI donât know where he is. He saidââ
âWhat did he say?â
âWhen we were talking, he said he would never go back to prison.â
âWhy were you talking to him at all?â I asked. âI thought you were through with him.â
âThe last timeâthe last time, he was mean to me. This time, though, he was kind and funny, and he was up, you know, up, like he had plans, like he had a future. And he seemed a little sad, too, like he needed a friend.â
âWhat about the restraining order?â
âI didnât think about that. I forgot about that.â
âWhy did you take out a restraining order in the first place?â Karen asked.
âThat was because of when he got out of prison the first time. When he went to prisonâit was so awful what happened to him, and we would talk about it all the time. I would visit him while he was waiting for his trial, and afterward he would call me from prison and write, and