29
We woke Karen and Max and relayed our plans. By four thirty, the luggage was loaded, and everyone was ready to roll after one more cup of coffee.
“Someone’s cell is ringing.” I listened carefully, gauging the direction the ring was coming from. “It must be mine.” I rushed to the bedroom, a cold knot forming near the scar. It’s only four thirty. No one calls with good news at that time of the morning. I grabbed the phone from the nightstand and looked at the caller ID—Beaufort County Police Department. My hands shook as I swiped the answer key. “Hello.”
“Dakota Dale?”
“Yes.”
“This is Officer Benders at the Beaufort County Police Department. There’s been an issue at your home, ma’am. How long would it take you to meet us there?”
“I’m in Charleston, so maybe an hour and a half. What kind of issue?”
Gabriel, Max and Karen were watching from the doorway.
“We’d prefer to wait until you get here, ma’am. Sorry, I have to go.”
The line went dead, and I stood staring at the phone. “He said there was an issue at the house.” I dialed the home number. “He wouldn’t tell me what kind of issue.”
“I’ll fix some cups to go.” Karen hurried toward the kitchen.
“No one’s answering,” I said after multiple rings. I hit the end key and dialed again. “Why aren’t they answering?”
I sank onto the bed, ended the call, and dialed several more times. Whispers drifted from the direction of the kitchen, a door closed, and the sound of engines starting filled the morning silence.
Gabriel came back to the doorway, and for once, his face was totally readable, etched with lines of worry and sympathy, but it was the eyes that filled me with dread. “We need to go. Karen and Max will meet us there.”
I’d known the truth the moment Benders had mentioned there was an issue. It was what the police said when they didn’t want to tell you about a murder or a death on the phone. I stared into Gabriel’s eyes. “He killed them, didn’t he?”
“They were murdered. Salyer didn’t do it, but he’s behind it.”
I closed my eyes, wishing the darkness would take me. “Why did he have to kill them? They were old and sweet, and they never bothered anyone.”
“We both know why she did it. We should go.”
I rose, stored my phone in my jacket pocket, and took a final glance around the room to make sure I didn’t leave anything behind. “Which one was it?”
“Bethany Phillips. He changed his MO again. This time, she waited for the police then killed herself.”
Gabriel alternated between watching the road and keeping an eye on Dakota. She seemed fine, but she’d barely had time to pull herself together before tragedy struck again. They’d traveled the past hour in silence, and he was dying for a cigarette but hated to smoke in front of her.
“Go ahead and smoke, Gabriel.”
He pulled the pack from his pocket, shook one out, and lit it before rolling down the window. “How did you know?”
“We all have our vices, remember? I’m wishing for a bottle of whiskey.” She swiped at a tear. “Did they suffer?”
“I don’t think so.” Gabriel passed a vehicle and picked up speed. “They were asleep.”
“How did she kill them?”
“She stabbed both of them.”
“I’m okay, Gabriel. Hurting but okay.” She smiled wistfully. “There were things to appreciate about not feeling or being able to push the pain inside for someone else to feel.”
“We’re almost there.” He slowed to take the turnoff for the plantation.
Karen came out of the house and strolled toward the car as soon as they stopped.
“How did Bethany die?”
“She shoved a knife into her heart and pulled it out.”
“There’s more, isn’t there?” The eyes staring at him were clear but filled with pain. “What else did she do?”
“She wrote Broken on the walls.”
Karen opened Dakota’s door. “You don’t have to go in if you don’t want to. I told them we’d meet them at the police station later.” She placed a hand on Dakota’s arm. “Max identified the bodies. You don’t have to do that, either.”
Gabriel unclipped his seat belt. “She’s fine, Karen.”
Dakota breathed in sharply. “I need to see it, and I need to see them. I owe them that much.” She climbed out. “I’d like to do it alone.”
“I don’t—”
“Let her go,” Gabriel cut Karen off. He closed the door and leaned against the vehicle. “If she’s ever going to heal, she has to grieve.”
“Are you sure about this, Gabriel?” Karen stood beside him, her eyes following Dakota’s path.
“No, but I trust her. She’s not broken.” He smiled. “She never was.”
Karen pushed away from the car. “I’m going in. She may need me.”
Gabriel continued to lean against the car. He wanted to be with her and help her through it, but that wasn’t what she needed. She was close to remembering everything.
A patrol car pulled up, and he recognized Wagner. Max was right. Something was off about Dakota’s disappearance and the lack of support from her department. Wagner went through the front door, and Gabriel followed him. He touches her, I’ll kill him.
30
Beaufort, South Carolina
The door opened, and I cringed, moving as far into the cage as I could. He stood, just staring at me until I wanted to scream.
“Why don’t you love me, Dakota?”
“You’re evil.”
He came closer to the cage. “I wasn’t always evil. They made me that way. They would have made you that way, too, but your father saved you.”
“You’re crazy.”
His lips parted in a smile. “I just want you to love me. We could go away together to someplace they’d never find us. We could take Emma. Be a family. In time, you’d learn to love me. I’ll be all you have left.”
I recognized the two officers on the door. I’d worked with them for years. They stepped aside as I climbed the steps and crossed the porch, and they didn’t speak, but I understood why. It was difficult to know what to say to someone you’d once laughed and shared a beer with only to later turn your back on them. I stepped over the threshold and into the small foyer. Another group of officers was fingerprinting the living room. Max was watching from the hallway. He wouldn’t know what to say, either, but he would at least try. He wheeled toward me as I hesitated at the stairs.
“Don’t go up there, Dakota.” Max stopped in front of me. “Please.”
“I’ll be okay, Max.” I placed a foot on the first step. “What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger.”