“That I don’t know,” Davis said. He was losing the adrenaline flow. He was wincing in pain now. “I never talked to Aimee about it. I don’t know what Randy said to her — that’s what I was asking him about when you saw us in the school parking lot. He said he hadn’t used my name, that he’d just told her he was going to help her get into Duke.”
“But Aimee put it together. Or at least she was trying to.”
“That could be.”
He winced again. Myron didn’t care.
“So now we’re up to the big night, Harry. Why did Aimee have me drop her off here?”
The kitchen door swung open. Erik stuck his head into the room. “How are we doing?”
“We’re doing okay,” Myron said.
Myron expected an argument, but Erik just disappeared back into the kitchen.
“He’s crazy,” Davis said.
“You have daughters, don’t you?”
“Yes.” Then he nodded as if he suddenly understood.
“You’re stalling, Harry. Your foot is bleeding. You need medical attention.”
“I don’t care about that.”
“You’ve come this far. Let’s get it done. Where is Aimee?”
“I don’t know.”
“Why did she stop by?”
He closed his eyes.
“Harry?”
His voice was soft. “God forgive me, but I don’t know.”
“You want to explain?”
“She knocked on the door. It was ridiculously late. Two, three in the morning. I don’t know. Donna and I were asleep. She scared the hell out of us. We went to the window. We both saw her. I turned to my wife. You should have seen the look on her face. There was so much hurt. All the distrust, all that I’d been fighting to mend, it all ripped apart. She started to cry.”
“So what did you do?”
“I sent Aimee away.”
Silence.
“I opened the window. I said it was late. I told her we could talk Monday.”
“What did Aimee do?”
“She just looked up at me. She didn’t say a word. She was disappointed, I could tell that.” Davis squeezed his eyes shut. “But I was also afraid that maybe she was angry.”
“She just walked away?”
“Yes.”
“And now she’s missing,” Myron said. “Before she could reveal what she knew. Before she could destroy you. And if the cheating scandal came out, well, it was like I said when we first talked. It’s over for you. It would all come out.”
“I know. I thought of that.”
He stopped. Tears started running down his cheeks.
“What?” Myron said.
“My third big mistake,” he said, his voice soft.
Myron felt a chill run down his spine. “What did you do?”
“I wouldn’t hurt her. Not ever. I cared about her.”
“What did you do, Harry?”
“I was confused. I didn’t know what the situation was. So I got scared when she showed up. I knew what it could mean — like you said. Everything could come out. All of it. And I panicked.”
“What did you do?” Myron asked again.
“I called someone. As soon as she left. I called someone I thought could help figure out what to do next.”
“Who did you call, Harry?”
“Jake Wolf,” he said. “I called Jake Wolf and told him that Aimee Biel was right outside my door.”
CHAPTER 49
Claire met them as they ran out.
“What the hell happened in there?”
Erik did not break stride. “Go home, Claire. In case she calls.”
Claire glanced at Myron, as though looking for help. Myron did not offer any. Erik was already in the driver’s seat, figuratively and literally. Myron quickly slid to the passenger side before Erik zoomed off.
“You know the way to the Wolfs’ house?” Myron asked.
“I dropped my daughter off there plenty of times,” he said.
He hit the gas. Myron studied his face. Normally Erik’s expression landed somewhere in the vicinity of disdainful. There’d be furrowed brows and deep lines of disapproval. None of that was there now. His face was smooth, untroubled. Myron half expected him to snap on the radio and start whistling along.
“You’re going to get arrested,” Myron said.
“Doubtful.”
“You think they’ll keep quiet?”
“Probably.”
“The hospital will have to report the bullet wound.”
Erik shrugged. “Even if they do talk, what would they say? I’m entitled to a jury of my peers. That would mean some parents with teenagers. I take the stand. I talk about how my daughter was missing and how the victim is a teacher who seduced a student and took bribes to change academic records….”
He let his voice trail off as if the verdict was too obvious to mention. Myron was not sure what to say. So he sat back.
“Myron?”
“What?”
“I’m to blame, aren’t I? My affair was the catalyst.”
“I don’t think it’s that simple,” Myron said. “Aimee is pretty strong willed. It may have contributed, but in a weird way, it sort of adds up. Van Dyne is a music teacher and works in her favorite music store. There would be some appeal there. She had probably outgrown Randy. Aimee has always been a good kid, right?”
“The best,” he said softly.
“So maybe she just needed to rebel. That would be normal, right? And there was Van Dyne, at the ready. I mean, I don’t know if that’s how it worked. But I wouldn’t put all of it on you.”
He nodded, but he didn’t seem to be buying it. Then again, Myron wasn’t selling that hard either. Myron considered calling the police, but what exactly would he tell them? And what would they do? The local police could be in Jake Wolf’s pocket. They might warn him. Either way, they’d have to respect his rights. He and Erik need not worry about that.
“So how do you figure this all played out?” Erik asked.
“We have two suspects left,” Myron said. “Drew Van Dyne and Jake Wolf.”
Erik shook his head. “It’s Wolf.”
“What makes you so sure?”
He cocked his head. “You still don’t get the parental bond, do you, Myron?”
“I have a son, Erik.”
“He’s over in Iraq, right?”
Myron said nothing.
“And what would you give to save him?”
“You know the answer.”
“I do. The same as me. And the same as Jake Wolf. He’s already shown how far he’ll go.”
“There’s a big difference between paying off a teacher to switch transcripts and…”
“Murder?” Erik finished for him. “It probably doesn’t start that way. You start by talking to her, trying to make her see things your way. You explain how she could get in trouble too, what with her acceptance to Duke and all. But she won’t back down. And suddenly you understand: It’s a classic us-or-them scenario. She holds your son’s future in her hands. It’s either her future or your son’s. Which are you going to choose?”
“You’re speculating,” Myron said.
“Perhaps.”
“You have to keep your hopes up.”
“Why?”
Myron turned toward him.
“She’s dead, Myron. We both know that.”
“No, we don’t.”
“Last night, when we were on that cul-de-sac, do you remember what you said?”
“I said a lot of things.”
“You said you didn’t think she’d been randomly abducted by a psycho.”
“I still don’t. So?”
“So think about it. If it was someone she knew — Wolf, Davis, Van Dyne, take your pick — why would they abduct her?”
Myron said nothing.
“They all had reasons to keep her quiet. But think it through. You said it could be either Van Dyne or Wolf. My money is on Wolf. But either way, they were all afraid of what Aimee could reveal, right?”