Leilani sighed. “Not that it makes any difference. They’re still gone. I think Jared would have left Agapé, moved on and built a new life.”
“Why can’t he do that now?”
“If you haven’t met them, I guess you couldn’t understand.” Leilani’s troubled gaze met hers. “Pono and Kahlia won’t let go. They cling to Jared as if he’s their son. He finds it terribly difficult to say no to them, to add to the pain they’ve already endured. I think he feels guilty about little Sam’s death, but he refuses to discuss it with anyone.”
“But you said it wasn’t his fault.” Glory frowned. “This was when?”
“Coming up on three years.”
“Her parents must be over the worst of it. He could leave now, couldn’t he?”
“It would break their hearts, but I guess he could, if he made up his mind.”
“You don’t sound sure.” Something wasn’t quite right. “Why?”
“You should really talk to him.”
“Dredge up his past without all the facts? How would that help?”
Leilani tucked her water bottle back into her bag, pulled down her sunglasses and rose. “We’d better get back.”
“Wait.” Glory held the woman’s arm to stop her from leaving. “What aren’t you saying?”
Leilani kept her mouth clamped closed, but a battle raged in her dark-brown eyes.
“You can’t tell me this much and not the rest. It’s not fair,” GloryAnn pleaded.
“If I tell you, you’ll leave.” Like the others was the implication.
“No way. I’m not going anywhere. I promised Elizabeth Wisdom six months and that’s how long I’m here for. So you might as well tell me. I’ll find out, anyway.”
“I guess you will.” Leilani scuffled her toes against the dirt. Finally she lifted her head. “I think Jared doesn’t leave because he can’t. He often goes to Honolulu and visits the Halawa Correctional Facility to make sure Viktor’s still there.”
“Why?”
“I think he wants to make sure his wife and son’s killer serves every bit of the time he was sentenced, be certain Viktor doesn’t get early parole or something.” Leilani shook her head. “Look, you really should talk to Jared about this. It’s his private business, after all.” She began walking quickly back to the mission.
GloryAnn remained still, the sun beating down on her head as she struggled to reconcile what she’d learned. An inkling of understanding seeped through.
Jared Steele kept a close check on Agapé to ensure nothing bad happened again. But why didn’t he walk away, leave it to someone else, find a place where he could forget the horror that had happened here and move on?
If it took her entire six months, Glory was going to answer that question.
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