A Spooky Legacy, page 24
“Did she say what the bad thing was?”
“Not at first. She just asked, ‘What if I’m wrong?’ And I told her to make sure that she wasn’t. She just nodded and left.” She started nibbling the ragged cuticle of her left thumb. “I didn’t really expect to hear about it again, but she was back the next week.”
“What did she say?”
“That she needed my help. She’d followed my advice and tried to be sure, but she needed more evidence.”
“The Hope House,” I said quietly.
She glanced at the mirror again. “Yes. And some secret project.”
“Project Halo?”
She nodded slowly even as she let her thumb go and moved on to her index finger. “She said that she needed a way to get more information, and that would only happen if she had someone on the inside. Someone the women of Project Halo trusted. I didn’t want to get involved at first.”
I bit back my irritation at Quinn. I couldn’t believe she’d involve an innocent bystander in something so dangerous. “Was she upset?”
“No, she gave me a hug and thanked me for being a sounding board. I hoped we’d be cool the next time I saw her.”
“And were you?”
“I never got the chance. I got fired the next day. Drug testing.” She swallowed. “I’ve always struggled….”
“I know,” I said softly. I reached over and gave her hand a little push away from her mouth. She was picking at her nail beds so feverishly that one of them started to bleed. “We’re not here about that.”
She stuck her hand under her leg.
“My boyfriend called me worthless when he found out that I wouldn’t be able to contribute to the rent and kicked me out. I asked my parents if I could store all my stuff in their garage and they agreed, but not without chewing me out pretty good.” She paused. “I thought that maybe everyone was right. I hadn’t done anything good in a long time. and this was my chance.”
“How did you get in contact with Quinn?”
She blinked. “I went right up to the Hope House and asked. I figured it would be a great start to our ruse. And that was the jump-off. We took all the pictures to establish my ‘relationship.’”
“With your cousin.”
“Yep. I made a couple fake accounts and updated them religiously. Then I had Jason show up to the Hope House a few times when I was there and act like an absolute ass.”
“Why the bruises?”
“They were trusting me, but things weren’t moving fast enough. Project Halo seemed to have four stages and I was stuck in stage two. We realized that things weren’t bad enough for them to offer me the ultimate solution. And when Quinn disappeared?” A shadow crossed her face. “I knew…I fucking knew she hadn’t just run off. No how, no way.”
I sat there for a moment, processing everything she’d told me. “So you decided to disappear.”
“Not until a man showed up at my new job looking for me. And before you ask, I did go to the police.” She looked down at the table. “I was encouraged to rethink the things I thought I knew.”
I looked at her in stunned silence. It was a moment before I could speak. Because if she was saying what I thought she was saying…. I had to work to relax my shoulders so my body language would look approachable again. “By whom?”
She glanced at the mirror again. “And you're sure—”
“It’s just you and me here.”
“Detective Owens.” After the name burst from her lips, she sucked in a breath as if she couldn’t believe she’d actually said it. Like she'd been holding on to that for a long time. “He didn’t believe me, and neither did his partner. They both seemed convinced that Quinn and Nate had left town. He told me that the Hope House was a solid organization, and I was making unfounded accusations.”
I unclenched my jaw with effort. “What else did he say?”
“That I’d be destroying a community service that a lot of women really needed and counted on.” Her voice was a whisper at this point. “His partner told me I should shoot up some more and leave the detective work to the real cops.”
I gritted my teeth. Idiots. Tunnel vision and sloppy police work had destroyed many a case. “I’m sorry that happened to you,” I said slowly. “But we are not those detectives. And I want to hear everything you have to say.”
“Everything?”
“Everything,” I confirmed grimly.
Her gaze darted here and there. She looked happy that she’d finally word-vomited her entire saga but also like she wanted to throw up because she had. “And no one heard us?”
“This isn’t the two-way room,” I said, feeling a bit guilty. But it would only make her more afraid to know the truth. “That’s just a mirror.”
“Okay. That’s...okay.” She slumped in her chair, the very picture of relief. “I don’t suppose I could have something to drink?”
“Sure,” I said easily. “Water? Tea? Coffee?”
“Coke, if you have it. I need the sugar.”
“Give me a sec. I’ll see if I can rustle you up a snack, too.”
She gave me a tentative smile. “Thanks. Confession may be good for the soul, but it’s not so great for your stomach.”
I chuckled. “I’ll see what I can do. Hold tight for me, okay?”
My smile died the minute I exited the room and saw Danny and Zach standing there. Judging from the tense silence between them, things had been said. Zach gave me a wary look, probably because he knew I had some shit to say about what I’d just heard, too.
He was absofuckinglutely right.
“Every single murder,” I said, my tone positively frigid.
“What?” he snapped.
“Every single fucking murder since she told you and your partner, Detective Dipshit, about her suspicions. They’re all at your feet.”
“She didn’t seem credible,” he said wearily. “Just one hint of impropriety and the Hope House would’ve been shut down. And you know how valuable they are to the community.”
I peered at him. “Refresh my drink, are we referring to murder as a hint of impropriety in this scenario?”
“I didn’t know it was murder,” he shot back. “For fuck’s sake, Caitlin didn’t look like she does now.”
I widened my eyes. “That’s your excuse?”
“You’re telling me some junkie comes up to you talking shit about a respected member of the community, and you’d take her word for it? Without a drop of proof?” He sent me a scathing look. “Get real. She had more track marks on her arms than skin. My partner agreed with me that she was probably full of shit.”
“Then he should be standing here, too,” I said without a trace of understanding. “No wonder your department was so eager to lend you out.”
His cheeks flushed as he turned to Danny, clearly done trying to bring me over to his way of thinking. “She was a junkie, and junkies lie. You know how they are. Like my father.” He paused for emphasis. “And your mother. You remember all those times she swore she was coming to get you? You’d get all excited and bounce down to the living room when she finally fucking followed through. What was that, two times out of ten?”
“Zach,” Danny said quietly.
“And when you got back, you’d be full of stories of how soon you were going home with her. And how long it had been since she’d used.” He made a sound of disgust. “You remember that birthday that she told you she’d take you to SeaWorld? She showed up all fucked up on something.”
“Yes, I fucking remember,” Danny said, his tone hard. “I don’t need a refresher, thanks.”
But Zach wasn’t quite done proving his point. “They wouldn’t let her see you and she was screaming your name downstairs,” he charged on. “Then her drug-addled ass had to be dragged out of there in cuffs. Then that kid did impressions of her for weeks to piss you off—”
Danny was in motion before I even realized what he was going to do, his hand gripping Zach’s collar. Zach grunted as his back hit the wall. My eyes were probably the size of quarters. If he wanted to continue that shitty little story he was so fucking determined to tell, he was probably going to need some air in his windpipe.
“Hey,” I said urgently, latching on to Danny’s tense arm. “Hey. That’s enough.”
I was pretty sure our vows wouldn’t survive me tasing him and leaving him twitching on the station floor. But I wasn’t about to let him ruin his life, either. Luckily, it only took another couple heys before he finally eased up his iron grip.
Zach sucked in air, patting his throat. He seemed to really want a repeat, because he kept right on. “Lies,” he spat, his voice a little scratchy. “That’s all they do. You and I both know it.”
Christ. I readied myself to intervene again.
Danny’s hands flexed and he took a step back. As if he didn’t completely trust himself not to go after Zach again. “I’m telling you this as a friend,” he said evenly. “Shut your mouth about my mother.”
We had a tense few moments—so tense, in fact, that a passing officer paused and asked if everything was alright. I assured him that it was, and he kept walking. None of us spoke until he got on the elevator and the doors slid closed.
“Look,” Zach said, straightening his collar, which was wrinkled beyond repair. “Clearly, I was in the wrong. I’ll go apologize to her.”
I let out a laugh of disbelief. “You’re not getting near her. You’re off the case.” It wasn’t my call, but damned if Danny could do it right now. He still looked extremely capable of doing his old friend bodily harm. “And I will be filing a complaint with your supervisor.”
Zach didn’t seem to think my word was the final word on the subject. Not judging by the way he stared at Danny for confirmation. When Danny didn’t counter my edict, his nostrils flared. “D?”
Danny’s jaw flexed. “I’m assuming that you’re not also hearing impaired along with being a complete asshole.”
Zach stared at him for another moment, his throat working. After a tense moment, he hit the wall, hard enough to make me flinch. Then he stalked off, headed toward the elevator. Danny watched, expression hard, until the doors slid closed behind him. And even then, he didn’t turn.
“Hey.” My touch on his shoulder wasn’t enough to get his attention. I had to squeeze before he looked my way. “He was just trying to get under your skin.”
He sent me a wry smile as he blew out a breath. “Well, he certainly did that.”
Fucking Zach. He’d been in the small circle of trusted people who knew Danny’s past. The parts of him that had been small and vulnerable and susceptible to the word of the woman he’d loved the most. Before he’d become capable of defending himself. Part of being a member of that trusted circle was knowing where the soft spots were, exactly where to press to make it hurt. But never doing so. For that alone, I wanted Zach’s head on a pike.
“I’m sorry,” I said.
Danny arched a brow. “I wasn’t aware you were in control of that douche’s actions.”
“Not for that,” I said. “His actions were his own. But I’m pretty sure you hadn’t wanted me to hear that story, or you would’ve told me by now.”
“I’m an open book to you,” he said simply. “Zach only knows those things because he was there. You get to know because I want you to know. My past, my present, my future—it’s all yours. Remember?”
I remembered every word of our vows. Every single word. He was lucky I didn’t tattoo the whole thing on my arm so I could look at it whenever I wanted. “Yes, but you make me drag it out of you.”
“Yes, I do,” he admitted with a crooked little smile. “Sorry.”
I looked around quickly to make sure the coast was clear before I leaned in and kissed him. Just because.
“We don’t have enough to pick up Evie yet, do we?” I asked.
He shook his head. “I’m going to talk to Andi and see if we have enough for a search warrant at least. But…yeah, probably not.”
“We’ll keep working it,” I finally said.
He gave me a half-smile. “Like we always do.”
I enjoyed his proximity for another moment before I stepped away regretfully. “Sorry about your car,” I said. “You can drive mine until I find you something else.”
He grunted, which made me give him an affronted look. That was BMW slander, and he needed to know it. “Maybe you can stop acting like I offered you the keys to my clown car and not a fine, world-class automobile.”
“Foreign cars aren’t my thing. You know that.” He bumped my shoulder. “Besides, I meant what I said. As long as you’re here in one piece, I don’t care about the rest.”
That was a nice sentiment…even if it was a lie. “Don’t you, though? When you saw your car, you looked like you were going to cry.”
“I did not,” he said with a glare.
“Your eyes got all watery.”
“That was dust!”
“Like the dust you got in your eyes when Watson mastered the command shake paw?” I inspected my nails, giving them a quick buff on my shirt. “Or the dust you get in your eyes every time we see that ASPCA commercial with the dogs shivering in the snow?”
Even with everything that had happened, I could see the reluctant amusement in his eyes. I would always treasure the fact that I could make him laugh. Always. “Why do I put up with you again?”
“Because I’m your fucking soulmate, McKenna.”
His lips twitched as he tried not to smile. “That’s as good a reason as any, I suppose.”
.
25
Considering the shitshow Friday had been, Saturday was damn near perfect.
Danny suggested we go out for breakfast, which sounded great. Getting frisky in a shared shower—you know, to save water and whatnot—turned that breakfast into brunch, which was even better. Then we went to a little place near the beach that served pancakes the size of a dinner plate, and then took a little stroll down the boardwalk…because we’d stuffed ourselves silly with pancakes the size of dinner plates.
I wasn’t sure what the calorie tradeoff was, but hey, it was an effort. All I knew was that when I finally got back in the car, my jeans were cutting me off in a way they hadn’t been when we arrived.
“That was a nice walk, don’t you think?” I patted my stomach. “Pretty sure I worked off that pancake.”
“Yes, you definitely worked off a pancake,” Danny said with a grin. “Which would be great if you’d only eaten the one.”
I waved a hand before putting on my seat belt. Semantics. His pancake math was way off. “I’d expect as much from someone who pours his syrup in a little cup on the side of his plate.”
He chuckled and started the car. Then glanced over at me as he buckled up. “Hey, do you mind if we make one more stop before we head home?”
“’Course not,” I said, relaxing in the seat. “I’ve got no place to be.”
He smiled and reached over to give my thigh a squeeze before pulling away from the curb. I didn’t even need to know what the stop was. Full of one of my favorite breakfast foods and spending the day with my favorite guy, I was as mellow as I was going to get.
Halfway to our destination, buildings and scenery started looking familiar and I cared a bit more. When we passed the Walmart, my suspicions were confirmed, and I realized we were headed to his mother’s house.
I swallowed a sigh. I rewound our perfect day to the moment Danny asked if I minded making another stop. I tsked as past-me—that poor, unknowing idiot—smiled and declared he had no place to be. Insert rude buzzer noise. The answer we’re looking for is, “You go ahead, I’ll take an Uber, thanks.”
My relationship with Paula had undergone many changes over the years. The first time Danny and I had given things a go, she’d been skeptical and fond of me all at the same time. But I left, and that fondness morphed into a hatred with the power of a thousand suns. When I came back, she’d added a few more suns to that total.
Danny had made it clear that I wasn’t going anywhere, and she could either get on board or…well, he never finished that ultimatum. That’s mostly because he’s a big ol’ momma’s boy, and we all knew any version of that or would’ve been complete bullshit.
Still, Paula had gotten the point. It helped that by accepting me in her life again, she had yet another son to pester. When she wanted company, her ability to drive/see/stand suddenly diminished, and one of us needed to come in a hurry because she was feeble. Well, she was feeble until she wanted to play pickleball with the girls, that is. Then we were told—not so subtly—to bugger off.
In any case, we’d grown fond of each other. None of that fondness was apparent as she confronted us before we even got one foot inside her ornate French doors. I got my usual kiss on the cheek, though, so I couldn’t be in too much trouble. Maybe.
“I just had a very interesting call from your mother, Rainstorm,” she said crisply. “I have an issue with the two of you.”
The “you look lovely today, Paula,” died on my tongue. Especially since we clearly weren’t getting in the house. How she managed to block such a large doorway with her small frame was beyond me. She did look nice though, clad in a fuzzy peach sweater, a pair of fitted black jeans, and a black pair of fuzzy slippers. While her outfit was approachable, her stance was not—arms folded, eyes narrowed, one foot tapping.
I gave Danny a glance and he returned it with a shrug, which was not at all helpful. I mentally detailed all the things it could be. As far as I knew, we were here for a “surprise.” There had been nothing in the invitation that indicated the surprise was a beatdown. I wasn’t sure why Danny was in trouble too, but I was glad. Strength in numbers and all that.
I cleared my throat. “Care to be more specific?”
“Thanksgiving,” she said with a huff. “You’re under no obligation to include me, of course, but I would’ve thought you’d at least ask my advice for hosting.”
