Ethan watched in silence. Poor sweet man. I’d promised him there wouldn’t be any more drama, but it turned out the drama had only just begun. He pulled me close to him and wrapped his arms around me. I put my hands on the back of his neck.
He said, “I wish I’d brought a bottle of wine for you.”
“I don’t care. I didn’t really need a drink. What I need is right here.”
He said, “Talk about corny,” and lowered his lips to mine. Again I felt that wave of goose bumps move with lightning speed across my entire body. When I opened my eyes, he was looking down at me and smiling.
He said, “Don’t you even want to know if she put something in it?”
I thought for a second.
Did I want to know if Mrs. Harwick had planned on killing me so I wouldn’t tell the police about what was inside that package? Did I want to know if I had just narrowly escaped being poisoned to death? Did I want to know if fate had dealt one card, but I’d picked up another?
I heard a voice inside my head say, Hell no.
28
It took a couple of days for Kenny to come out of hiding. He eventually turned himself over to the police, but of course he waited until the news got out that Mrs. Harwick had been arrested. I couldn’t blame him. It would have been pretty hard for a jury to ignore the fact that Kenny had a lot to gain from Mr. Harwick’s death, both emotionally and financially, and if there hadn’t been any evidence against Mrs. Harwick, it’s entirely possible that Kenny might have ended up in jail for a very long time. But Detective McKenzie had questioned him and let him go, and the last time I’d heard, he was planning on going back to California to try to pick up his life where he left off. As for Becca, I wondered if I would ever see her again.
I woke up early and made my regular morning rounds. At Tom Hale’s place, Billy Elliot spotted a wild rabbit in the azalea bushes alongside the parking lot, so he’d gotten an extra good workout. In his glory days, Billy could probably have worked up enough speed to catch up with that rabbit, but now that he’s retired, it’s all just for fun. I think the rabbit was probably just toying with him, too, because after zipping back and forth in the parking lot a couple of times, it disappeared down a hole as fast as lightning. Billy came trotting back all happy and panting nevertheless. I could tell he was grateful to have somebody who could run at a respectable pace for a change.
After Billy Elliot I stopped at Timmy Anthem’s apartment. Timmy is a former pro hockey player who coaches for the local high school team. They’d just won the regional playoffs, so as a reward he had taken the whole team to Sunrise, Florida, to watch the Panthers play. His pit bull, Zoë, was recovering from surgery to repair a torn ligament in her leg, so we couldn’t play fetch in the courtyard like we usually did. Instead I made up for it with some peanut butter treats and lots of tummy rubs, which I think she was just as happy with. Pit bulls get a bad rap. She’s one of the sweetest dogs I’ve ever known.
As I was leaving Timmy’s place, my cell phone rang. It was Kenny Newman.
“Dixie, you know … I just wanted to say, like, I’m really sorry about everything, and I want to say thank you. I mean, no one’s ever really stood up for me like you did.”
I said, “I knew you couldn’t have done something like that. I’m just sorry it turned out like it did.”
“Yeah. Except maybe it’s all for the best. It turns out Roy Harwick is the name of some dude that lives in Phoenix, Arizona. My father basically stole his identity. The police told me the feds were about to arrest him for insurance fraud and identity theft, but he drowned before they got to him. I don’t think he would have been too happy in prison. I mean, he probably would have killed himself first.”
I said, “Well, your father was pretty messed up, but he certainly was an interesting person.”
He laughed. “Yeah. He was pretty smart, too. After he faked his death, he made up this bogus oil manufacturing company and then pretended he was looking to hire a consultant. He did a whole nationwide search and collected tons of résumés. Then he just picked out the one that was the closest to his own, with the same age, education, expertise, and everything. He hired the guy over the phone, got his Social Security number, and then disappeared into thin air. After that, he just started applying for jobs pretending to be that guy, Roy Harwick, and that’s how he got hired by Sonnebrook. Everybody loved him. He was smart, funny, handsome. Eventually he worked himself right up to the top of the company.”
I said, “Impressive.”
“Yeah, except he was filing taxes the whole time. So the real Roy Harwick, he started getting notices saying he’d paid his taxes twice, but he just ignored them. He figured it was just some computer glitch or something. It took them almost twenty years to finally track it down to my dad.”
I said, “Becca must be devastated.”
“Umm, yeah. She’s actually here with me now.”
That was a shock. I couldn’t think of anything to say except “Oh, good.”
“She’s having a pretty rough time, but she’s gonna be okay.”
I breathed a sigh of relief. He might not have realized it himself, but Kenny had planned on doing the same thing to his baby that his father had done to him. It’s amazing how strong those patterns can be from generation to generation. When it came to being a father, Kenny only knew how to do one thing: run. I was glad to see he might be breaking that cycle.
I said, “If you think she’s ready for it, I know a very good obstetrician.”
There was a pause, and then he lowered his voice. “Yeah, well, about that. She may not be pregnant after all.”
“Huh?”
I could tell he was struggling for the right words.
“It turns out, her monthly cycle is late, and, you know, she can be kind of dramatic.”
I said, “Mmm-hmm.”
“So … we don’t really know for sure.”
I hesitated. “But … you’re staying?”
“I thought when she found out who I was, she’d never forgive me. But she lost her father when she was young, too, so she kind of understands why I did what I did. So, you know, we’re gonna try to work it out.”
I was smiling ear to ear. “That’s great, Kenny. I’m really glad to hear that.”
After we hung up I thought to myself that maybe all those things I’d bought for Corina and her baby wouldn’t go to waste after all. I still didn’t know if it was Corina who had agreed to testify against August Harwick or not. Paco wouldn’t confirm it, but then again, he wouldn’t deny it either. When I told Joyce what I suspected, she acted like she didn’t much care, but I knew deep down inside she felt the same way I did. We both hoped that it was Corina, and we both hoped that one day we might see her again.
And Dixie Joyce, too.
29
I was wandering up and down the aisles at Walmart. Ethan was coming over later, and for once I was planning on cooking dinner with my own two hands in my own apartment with my own pans. I had stopped by to pick up a few basic things. Like a cookbook. And some pans.
I filled the cart up with all kinds of goodies. Some long tapered beeswax candles, a box of wineglasses, some cornflower blue place mats with matching napkins, a couple of nice kitchen knives, and some wooden salad bowls. In the clothing section, I threw in a bag of white ankle socks and a couple of pairs of fresh white Keds. My supply was getting a little low.
I wondered if I might run into the young girl that had helped me pick out all the baby things that day I’d found Corina. I kind of hoped not. I had liked her right away, but I knew she’d ask me how it had worked out with the pediatrician she recommended and how the baby was doing. I imagined myself saying, Oh, I don’t really know. I think that baby’s in Guatemala now, but I’m not really sure. I think she already thought I was a complete kook, and I didn’t want to make things worse.