Injury (4 page)

Chapter 6

Dani stared through the glass divider at her mother. “Why did
you kill Daddy and then blame me for his disappearance?”

Lilli averted her gaze, but kept the phone clutched to her
ear. “I haven’t seen you in a long time, baby. Thank you for sending money all
that time.”

“I don’t want to discuss much with you, Lilli. Answer my
question.”

“Because of you. I couldn’t handle you, and he was a lousy
provider. You two, so cozy together. Was there funny business? I thought there
was funny business.”

Dani gaped, puzzled, until she realized what Lilli implied.
“Paul Grayson was the best dad any little girl could have. He never hurt or hit
me. You did that. All you ever did was belittle him. I don’t know why you
married him. You acted like you hated him.”

Lilli swept a lock of mousey-blonde hair away from the side
of her face, then pressed the phone back to her ear. “We married when I got
pregnant with you. Our parents were against it. I was sixteen. He was
seventeen. We ran away from home and went from one shitty basement apartment to
another.”

“I only remember the house in Sharon. Answer my question,
Lilli. Why did you kill my dad and then tell me he left us?”

“What did you expect me to say? Do you think I’d tell a
five-year-old kid I killed her father?”

“You didn’t mind telling a five-year-old kid her father
abandoned her.”

At the sound of Dani’s raised voice, the guard standing by
the door glanced over.

Dani turned her back on him and continued to call out her
mother. “You owe me an explanation.”

“We argued about money. He couldn’t support us, the useless
bastard. He wanted to leave, and he threatened me with a gun and said he’d take
you, too. I grabbed it, we fought, it went off, and the bullet got him.” Lilli
paused and stared at her hand resting on the table in front of her. She looked
up at Dani again and resumed her story. “He wanted to kill me. It was him.”
Lilli sounded defensive.

Dani kept her expression neutral, but inside, she seethed.
She glared at her mother and said, “Why didn’t you let him take me away? I
never felt like you loved me, so why keep me there?”

Lilli gave Dani a perplexed look as though she didn’t
understand the question. “Why, Dani, you were mine. He couldn’t take what was
mine.”

“I need to leave.” Dani stood, but before she hung up the
phone, she said, “Don’t expect any more money from me. I wish Daddy had taken
me away with him. We’d all have been better off.”

The guard looked up as Dani breezed past and walked out.

An hour later, in Sharon, a town north of Toronto, Dani had
her driver park in front of the property where her family had lived when Dani
was five. The house, a bungalow set on ten acres, sat neglected and boarded up,
waiting to be demolished. She walked around back, past strands of police tape
littering the lawn behind the house.

Dani strode across the backyard, glad she’d changed into
flat-heeled boots before coming out here. The ground was soft and mucky and the
air damp. Wind blew hair in her face, forcing her to constantly swipe at it.
Attempts to tame it by tucking it behind her ears failed. Dani shivered,
underdressed for the sharp chill air of an Ontario April day.

She approached the well, heart pounding. Dad’s body had lain
discarded at the bottom for twenty years. Tears threatened, and she swallowed
to suppress them. The police still had her father’s remains.

Remains. The word horrified her. Bones, she supposed. The
flesh would have been gone. Tears sprang to her eyes. In life, Lilli had
treated Paul Grayson like garbage and had disposed of him with that same
attitude. Now Dani would get whatever was left.

Dani had arranged to have him cremated and shipped out to LA
when the police were done. There’d be no funeral. Who would she invite? The man
had disappeared for twenty years, and no one had cared enough to wonder why he
never called.

A makeshift fence prevented her from getting near the well,
and that was okay. Dani wasn’t sure why she’d come here, except that it might
provide closure. The police tape, the fence, and the signs of activity around
the well made it real and final.

On the way back to the car, she noticed a board missing from
one of the windows. Guilt made Dani glance around to verify no one was
watching. The nearest house was so far down the road she couldn’t see it. The
fields surrounding the house, once rented out to farmers, now sat unused,
overrun by dead weeds and grasses poking up green again after the long winter.

Dani crept to the window and looked inside what used to be
her bedroom. Empty of furniture, wallpaper torn, carpeting so filthy it was
impossible to tell the color, but in her head, she saw it the way it used to
be. She’d had a small, white dresser across from the window. Her bed had stuck
out into the middle of the room, halfway between the window and the far wall.

She’d had a toy box with blocks and dolls next to a small
bookcase holding a meager collection of children’s books. An area rug had
covered the hardwood floor beside her bed. The pale pink walls had been smudged
and scuffed.

Her gaze wandering to the closet, Dani sucked in her breath.
The door stood cracked open, and her heart raced at the sight of it. She jerked
her face away from the window, her mind flashing back to her mother screaming
at her, dragging her into … Dani felt a pain in her head and the memory
dissolved. A migraine coming on. She’d better get back to the car and go to the
Sharon Police Station before it paralyzed her.

Dani turned from her childhood home and walked away.

***

Detective Aaron Vega greeted Dani outside his office,
clasping the hand she offered him in both of his, while giving his coworkers
the stink eye when they looked in her direction. “Thank you for coming, Miss
Grayson. Please, come with me.”

Dani followed Vega down the hall and into a room obviously
designed to soothe. A soft, padded couch and two armchairs in neutral tones
surrounded a wood coffee table. The room was painted in pale blue. Two end
tables held potted plants. The scent of fresh-brewed coffee made Dani’s mouth
water.

“Please, have a seat, Miss Grayson.”

“Thank you.” Dani sat on the couch, back straight, hands
folded in her lap.

“May I fix you a coffee?” Vega strode to a table holding
everything you’d need to make coffee or tea. “I’m having one myself.” He set
his briefcase on the floor, removed his jacket, and draped it over the back of
a chair.

“Yes, please.” She beamed a smile at him. “Black.” Dani
hoped it wasn’t swill. Maybe it would help stave off the looming migraine.

She studied Vega while he poured coffee and exchanged
pleasantries with her.

Tidy and composed, he wore a white shirt buttoned up to the
neck, tie snugged tight against the collar. His shirt cuffs skimmed his wrists.
No rolling up the sleeves for this guy. Dani guessed he was in his early
forties, the tinge of gray in his military-short hair giving him a
distinguished air. He had a sturdy, square jaw and classic nose though a small
scar above his left eye gave him an air of danger.

A glance at his ring finger showed he was married. A shame.
When she’d walked behind him, she’d noted the nicely formed butt and toned
thighs that his dress pants didn’t quite conceal. He had some fine lines, and
his muscles pressed against his shirt when he moved.

Vega handed her a mug of coffee and sat in the armchair
across from her. “The room is equipped with video cameras, and they’re
recording.” When she acknowledged the news with a nod, he stated the date,
time, and participants. Preliminaries done, he looked up and met her gaze. “All
right, Miss Grayson? Can I get you anything else?”

Dani sipped the coffee. It was okay. “I’m fine, thank you.
Where would you like to start?”

“What do you remember from the last time you saw your
father?” Vega’s voice was soft and calming but firm.

“I remember my father putting me to bed, reading me a story.
It was his job to get me to sleep. My mother didn’t have patience for me.”
Dani’s breath hitched at the memory of the last night she’d shared with her
dad. Her daddy. She remembered a handsome, kind man, but maybe that was how
every five-year-old thought of her father.

He’d been short in stature, but young Dani thought he was a
giant. A beautiful, powerful giant, with dark hair, hazel-brown eyes, and a
warm smile. Gentle by nature, soft spoken, he worked hard to keep the family
sheltered, fed, and clothed. His seasonal work had him laid off every winter,
something Dani’s mother had resented.

“They fought,” Dani said. “My dad was out of work. It was
before Christmas, and he’d lost his job again. He worked in the construction
industry, and when the outdoor jobs dried up, they let the workers go.”

“What did you hear?”

Dani sighed. This part of the night was clear in her memory.
“Shouting. Lilli did most of the yelling. Dad was a quiet guy. Didn’t go out
much—my mom saw to that. When he was working, we didn’t see him, but when
business got slow, he was around more, and Lilli nagged him constantly.”

“What was the fight about?”

“Work, mostly. She’d pick at him about other things, too,
though. Nothing he did was right. Nothing was good enough.”

“How did your father react to that?”

“He said he was trying his best. They didn’t have programs
in place for retraining then. He’d always find something to keep us going until
spring, but it took time. I think this time there were more debts, and the
holidays were approaching, so Lilli wanted money fast.”

“What happened then?”

“It’s hard for me to remember. I was in my bed. Daddy tucked
me in, read me a story, gave me a kiss, and went to watch TV. Then I heard
Lilli shouting at him. After that, I don’t know. My next recollection is of
coming home from school the next day and Lilli telling me Daddy left us and wasn’t
coming back.” Tears rolled down Dani’s cheeks, and she held her breath, willing
herself not to sob.

Vega offered her a box of tissues from the table, and she
took one and pressed it to her eyes.

“It’s okay, Miss Grayson. Lilli didn’t tell you why he was
gone or where he went?”

“She said—” Dani’s voice broke then, and she sobbed out
loud.

“I’m sorry, Miss Grayson. Take your time. It’s important we
find out what happened, and as far as I know, you’re the last person other than
your mother to see Paul Grayson alive.”

A stifled sob threatened to choke her, so Dani inhaled, held
her breath for a moment, and then let it out in a burst. “Okay. Thank you.” She
paused before continuing. “It’s difficult to talk about what she said. My
mother was rarely kind. That day, I went to kindergarten in the morning. Lilli
took me. My father wasn’t around, I recall now.”

“Did you ask where he was?”

“No. Not then. I got ready for school, Lilli rushing me, and
we left the house.”

“Did she rush you more than usual?”

“Not that I noticed.”

“Anything unusual about her that morning?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Okay. What happened when you came home?”

“She met me at school and brought me home. When we walked in
the door, she turned to me and said, ‘Your father’s gone, and he’s not coming
back. It’s your fault. He doesn’t want to bother with raising a kid.’ She said
it just like that and then turned and walked away. When I cried, she screamed
at me to shut up, put my lunch on the table, and went to her room.” Dani fell
silent.

“I’m so sorry, Miss Grayson.”

She found his sympathy reassuring. “Please, call me Dani.
I’m telling you things I’ve told no one before. You may as well use my first
name.”

“Okay, Dani. Anything else you can tell me about that night
or the next day?”

“No. We carried on without my dad. If I cried in front of
her, she screamed at me, so I learned to cry at night when I was alone. I
missed my dad and thought about him every day after that, always hoping that
someday he’d contact me.” Tears threatened again and Dani stopped talking, a
lump growing in her throat.

“It must be hard for you. Did anything happen in the days
and weeks that followed to indicate something wasn’t right with Lilli?”

Dani almost laughed at that. “Nothing was right with Lilli,
Detective. Nothing was ever right with Lilli. She was as mean as ever. I don’t
know why she didn’t get rid of me, too.” The lump in her throat threatened to
strangle her, and her chest was a tight band of hurt. “I’m sorry. That’s all I
remember.” Her voice was a whisper.

“Here’s my card. If you think of anything else, please call
me.”

It appeared in front of her face, and she tugged it from his
fingers and shoved it into her purse.

“I’m sorry you have to deal with this.”

“Thank you.” Dani expected him to tell her she could leave,
but the silence dragged on while she sipped coffee. She looked up to find him
staring at her, his face red.

“Dani.” He stopped.

Fear lanced through her, and she felt the blood drain from
her face. “What’s wrong?”

“I’m sorry. Nothing.” Vega set his mug on the table and
stood. “I was wondering if I could get your autograph. My wife and kids would
be thrilled.”

Dani exhaled, relieved. “Of course. I’m sorry, but I haven’t
any photos with me.”

He jumped up and rushed to his briefcase. After rooting
around in it, he yanked out a glossy sheet and handed it to Dani.

It was a black-and-white still from
Injury
. Dani had an FBI badge pinned to the lapel of her designer
suit and aimed a gun toward the camera. Her hair framed her face in a dark
halo, and her lips curled into a sly smile. “I’d be happy to. To whom should I
address it?”

Vega gave her a face-splitting grin. “Aaron,” he replied.