Crimson Harvest

They climbed into the car, where her uncle had been waiting.

“Everything all right?” he asked. Heather’s father turned in his seat to see him more easily.

“No, something is definitely not right. There is something very, very wrong going on,” he answered. “But whatever it is, it’s going to take some time to unravel it. I just hope that for Jillian’s sake it gets unraveled before she gets too tightly wound up in it.”

Heather’s mother turned and looked at her daughter. “Honey, you’re sure that it wasn’t what Jillian said had happened?”

“Mom,” replied Heather, looking carefully into her eyes, “he wasn’t kissing her, and I know that something happened to Rich. And I know I heard Gage say that he was planning to kill me.” She let her shoulders sag as her eyes became moist. “It’s true that I told you lies and broke your trust. But what I’m telling you now is the truth.”

Her mother nodded. “I believe you. But I had to ask the question.”

“I know,” Heather replied meekly. Her uncle kept his gaze averted, looking out the window towards the street.