Silent Scream (16 page)

She heard a woman answer before he pressed the phone to his ear. “Sutherland.”

Dropping her eyes to her coffee, she eavesdropped shamelessly. Sutherland was a name she knew. She’d met Olivia at Mia’s wedding.
Mia’s half sister seemed like a nice young woman. A little sad, but polite. And pretty. And apparently more involved with
her youngest son than any of them had suspected. Paige’s voice had carried.

“Hi. It’s David Hunter. I just wanted to let you know that the news about the ball got out.” From beneath her lashes, Phoebe
saw him wince. Mia’s little sister wasn’t happy.

He made a face. “Even my mother knows,” he said wryly. “She’s visiting and heard it from a retired firefighter
friend of mine who got it through the grapevine. What do you want me to do?” He listened a moment, then shot a concerned look
across the table and turned away. “You have an ETA?” he murmured.

Her head still down, Phoebe’s brows went up. ETA? Olivia was coming here?

Abruptly David rose and left the apartment and Phoebe wondered if he knew the door hadn’t shut behind him. “My mother is staying
here,” she heard him say. “But I have a place we can meet. I’ll text you the address.”

There was silence, then his surprised voice. “You’ve identified her? Already?” More silence, then he said quietly, “Tell her
father that we really tried. That I’m sorry.”

Phoebe sighed. Glenn told her that David had pulled a young girl from the fire, that she’d already been dead. David would
worry over that. He’d go over it in his mind again and again, wondering if he could have done anything differently. If he
could have fixed it. Saved the girl. Because that’s what David did. He fixed things. Saved people.

It was time her son saved himself, and if he couldn’t…
then I will
.

David disconnected, then reached for the doorknob, rolling his eyes when he found the door hadn’t closed.
I need to fix that
, he thought. With it cracked open, sound carried. It was reasonable to assume his mother had heard every word.

She looked up when he came back in, brows raised. “So how is Olivia?”

He swallowed his sigh. “The condo victims were homicides. She caught the case.”

“So where will you be meeting her tonight?” She lifted her hand when he started to protest. “I’m only asking because if you
don’t want me here, I can stay with Evie.”

He sank into the chair next to her. “Ma.”

“I can keep secrets, son,” she said mildly. “Even the ones you haven’t told me.”

He didn’t like the sound of that. “What secrets haven’t I told you?”

She sat back, tilted her head, crossed her arms and studied him. He knew the look. It was the same one she’d used every time
he’d gotten into trouble as a kid, and he knew what would come next would not be comfortable. “Well, for starters, that you
fell in love with Dana Dupinsky at first sight.”

He looked away, his cheeks growing warm. “You knew all along?” he asked quietly.

“Yes. I knew you loved her, but she thought of you as a brother. I knew you worked tirelessly to support her work with battered
women, along with supporting a dozen other charities in town. And I knew that it broke your heart when she married someone
else.”

He closed his eyes wearily. “Who else knew about Dana?”

“The ones who figured it out for themselves. Max and Caroline.” David’s older brother and his wife. Long ago, Dana had helped
Caroline escape brutal domestic abuse. For that alone, Dana would forever be part of their family. “The twins,” she added.
Peter and Cathy were still “the twins,” even though they were pushing forty-five.

He opened one eye. “Elizabeth, too?” he asked.

“Yes. Your little sister picks up on more than we all give her credit for. We kept hoping you’d find someone
else, that you’d be happy. But you didn’t and we didn’t know what to do, so we didn’t say or do anything. Did we do wrong?”

He shook his head. “No. There wasn’t anything you could have done, Ma.”

“I know. Makes a mother feel helpless when her kids hurt and she can’t do anything. When you told me you were moving, I wasn’t
surprised. I knew you’d have to get away. I was surprised you stayed as long as you did. When you told me Minneapolis, I figured
you’d picked this town to be closer to Evie and Tom.”

David’s old friend Evie had left Chicago to escape demons of her own, and his nephew, Caroline’s son Tom, was a college basketball
star here at the university. “I did,” he said, and that was partly true. “Though I don’t see either of them much. They’re
both so busy at school, both with their own lives. And Noah watches out for Evie now.”

His mother smiled. “Which is how it should be. Now, that you and Olivia had a biblical…
thing
after Mia’s wedding? That I did not know until your friend Paige confronted you.” She lifted her brows. “Because I have ears
like a bat.”

He rolled his eyes, his face on fire. “Ma.”

“David,” she returned, mimicking his tone. “I have to eavesdrop. You never tell me anything. Thanks to Paige, I have a fuller
picture of the puzzle that is my son.”

“I’m no puzzle. Anyway, you seem to have had it all figured out.”

She shook her head. “Not really. There’s a piece of you I’ve never been able to completely understand. I’ve admired it, loved
it, bragged on it, but never understood it.”

He found himself lifting his chin defensively. “And what’s that?”

“What drives you to serve. You went from a headstrong, bullheaded, narcissistic teenager who cared for no one but himself
to a man who serves more than anyone I know. Almost overnight.”

David controlled his flinch, knowing she was watching him.
God help me if you ever do understand
, he thought as the pictures from the past flooded his mind. Broken bodies. And so much blood. It had been eighteen years
and his throat still closed when he thought of Megan, huddled over her brother’s small body, protecting him with her last
breath.

Because he’d been a headstrong, bullheaded narcissistic fool who’d cared for no one but himself. Their blood was on his hands.

He realized he was staring at his hands and looked up. His mother watched him with worried eyes. He forced a smile. “No real
mystery. Dad died, and you and Max needed help with his therapy to walk again.” The car accident that had killed his father
and paralyzed his brother had been another defining moment in his life. Helping his brother had become his salvation, the
way to claw out of the abyss into which he’d fallen. After Megan. After that, service had become… necessary. “I had to grow
up.”

“And you did,” she said, her gaze piercing as she studied him. “I know how much Max appreciates it. You dropped out of college
after only one semester, gave up your own sports dream to get him through physical therapy, get him back on his feet again.”

He wanted to wince at the lie she’d always taken as truth, but didn’t. He’d already dropped out of college
before his father’s accident, but his mother didn’t know that. He’d been failing, unable to concentrate on his studies. Unable
to sleep. Unable to make the pictures in his mind go away. Nursing his brother back to health all those years ago had been
the excuse he’d needed to keep his family from finding out what a failure he really was.

“He needed me,” David managed. His throat was raw, his chest hurt. He’d never understood the people who became comfortable
with a lie. Eighteen years and it still tore him up inside.

“Yes.” His mother still watched him and he fought the urge to squirm. “But that still doesn’t explain why you picked women’s
shelters and charities. Even before Dana’s shelter, that’s how you spent your time. Always working. Always helping.”

“It’s a good cause.”

“Yes. When it’s a cause. But for you, it’s more than that.” She sighed. “David, I was so devastated when your father died,
events that happened around that time seemed to disappear. But the years passed and it began to occur to me that your focus
on charity wasn’t a passing fancy or even a healthy hobby. It was your life, at the exclusion of everything else adults normally
seek. No girlfriends, nobody special. I looked back, tried to figure out when it started. I started thinking about that year.
There was a tragedy in the neighborhood the spring before your dad died.”

A tragedy. Yes, it had been that. A tragedy that could have been completely avoided if he hadn’t been so full of himself.
He said nothing. He wasn’t sure he could.

“Your friend died,” she said softly. “Her name was Megan, wasn’t it?”

He swallowed. Nodded.

“Her stepfather was a monster,” his mother murmured.

He swallowed again, the scene so clear in his mind. “Yes,” he whispered.

“He killed his whole family. I think we all thought it was sad, that we wished we’d known he was capable of such evil. I never
considered how deeply Megan’s death impacted you. I should have. You’d been close in junior high. I’m sorry for that, David.
I was so wrapped up in getting by after your dad died… and you were always so strong and steady. I never saw you were hurting.
I’m sorry for that, too.”

He lifted his eyes to hers.
She
was sorry? She’d done nothing wrong.
Not like me
. He cleared his throat, hoped his voice would be level. “Why bring all that up now?”

She sat back in her chair. “Because I’ve thought about this for a long time and have wanted to ask you so many times. It never
seemed like the right time, so I left it alone. I don’t suppose you understand that.”

He thought of Olivia, of how he’d put things off far too long. “More than you think.”

She leaned forward, covered his hand with hers. “For years I watched you donate your time and your talent to worthy causes.
But during those same years I watched you be so alone it’s made my heart break. But you’re a man grown, so I kept my counsel.”

“And now?”

“Now… you look like you’re trying to start your life again. So I come to visit, hoping to find you settled. Instead I find
an empty apartment and a son who’s still alone. Who still volunteers every waking moment of his time to others.”

David squared his jaw, looked away. “That’s not wrong.”

“Not when it’s for the right reasons. I’m not sure your reasons are the right ones. If I didn’t know better, I’d say you were
doing penance.”

He met her eyes, helplessly miserable. He wanted to deny her words, but could not.

Her eyes filled with tears. “I thought so. Some- times, when you think no one can see, you get this look in your eyes. Like
you carry the world on your shoulders. Why?”

His chest was too tight. But she was waiting.
I can’t tell her the truth. Not all.
So he carved away enough of the truth to make the pain on her face go away. “I saw it. The crime scene.”

Confused, she blinked, sending the tears down her cheeks. “What?”

“I was coming home from my friend’s house. You all were at Mass that morning. I saw police cars in front of Megan’s house,
and I ran up to see. And I saw them. Dead.”

His mother blanched, horrified. “Dear God. Megan, her mother… they were…”

He nodded, kept his voice steady. “Beaten to death. Yes.”

She sat across the table, stunned. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

Because I was ashamed. I still am. And I don’t want you to ever know what I did
.

He shrugged. “I guess I was in shock. I was eighteen, Ma. Boys that age don’t get all emotional about things like that.” Which
was a lie. He had been emotional. He’d nearly lost his mind. “But I remembered it. And I needed to do something to keep it
from happening again. I can’t help the women themselves, but I can help the shelters.”

His mother blinked again, struggling for composure. “David, I wish you’d told me then. I can’t imagine what you saw. We should
have gotten you help. Therapy.”

“I was eighteen, Ma. I wouldn’t have gone to therapy.” Hell, he hadn’t even told his priest. “So stop blaming yourself.”

She nodded uncertainly. “Well, that does explain a lot.” She looked at him, her eyes intense. “You do know there’s nothing
you could do to make me not love you.”

And he realized she knew he lied still. “Yeah. I know.”

She reached for his hands, squeezed them fiercely. “I’m proud of you. Never forget that.” She sat back briskly. “Now, about
where I’m going to stay.”

“Here,” he said firmly, relieved that was over. “You’re going to stay here. You need to check out all the apartments, get
a feel for colors.”

“That would be best. I’m going carpet shopping,” she said. “If you’re going out tonight, you should get some rest.”

“Drive carefully, Ma.” He kissed her cheek. “I’m glad you’re here. I love you, too.”

He watched her leave, then sagged into a chair, his eyes closed, drained. But it would be fruitless to try to sleep. His mind
was churning along with his gut. It happened every time he remembered that day. Today it was worse, lying to his mother.

He rose wearily. He had time to lay the floor in 2A. He could have the girls’ new fridge put in the living room until the
floor was set. But first he sent a short text to Olivia with the address of Glenn’s fishing cabin. It was quiet there. They
could talk.

I should have done it earlier. I’ve been a coward.
He supposed after tonight there would be one less mystery in his life.

At least I’ll know exactly what I did the night I spent with Olivia Sutherland.

Monday, September 20, 2:25 p.m.

O
livia frowned at the address David texted. It was a rural area twenty minutes away from the city. Why there?

“What’s wrong?” Kane asked.

“Oh, nothing.” She put her phone away and went back to studying the map of the lake. “We’ve covered the cabins with views
of the condo. Nobody saw Tracey Mullen.”

“Or will admit to it. Something’s going on at the condo. Give me the field glasses.”

Olivia patted her pocket, then groaned. “I forgot them earlier. I handed them to David and forgot to get them back. I’ll get
them for you tonight.”