The Truth About Family

by Kimberly Van Meter

  Colin nodded, pretending to understand, but he didn’t. No, that wasn’t entirely true. His head understood; his heart did not. Exhaling deeply, he tried not to let the bitterness he felt creeping into his chest color his words. He still had a job to do. “Fair enough,” he said, his mouth drawing into a grim line despite his best efforts. “I won’t badger you about it anymore.”

  “Thank you,” Erin murmured, yet her expression didn’t support relief. There was a sadness pulling at the corners of her mouth that he didn’t miss and it gave him hope.

  Closing the distance between them, Colin pulled her back into his arms with little resistance on her part. “I promise not to bug you about leaving if you promise to allow us to enjoy whatever this is between us for as long as you’re here.”

  Erin looked bewildered and a little concerned. “But what about Danni? I’m not sure that’s the best example for her….”

  “Danni likes you more than me right about now,” he said wryly. “I think she’ll be fine with you coming around for dinner now and then.”

  Erin broke out in a hesitant smile as she slowly nodded. “All right, as long as it’s okay with Danni….” She paused. Then smiled tentatively as she continued, “I wouldn’t mind spending more time with you, too.”

  Sensing the admission caused conflicting feelings, Colin reined in his urge to shout at the top of his lungs and instead celebrated his triumph with a firm kiss that clearly communicated how he felt about her with the press of his lips and the thrust of his tongue. He agreed not to badger her but he didn’t say anything about not trying to use other means of persuasion.

  “Now,” he said, once their breathing had slowed and their respective hands had stopped exploring, “tell me how you came to this new information and I’ll share what I’ve found as well.”

  As Erin related the information Roger Hampton had imparted with his odd impromptu visit, as well as the pictures she’d found in the attic, she watched as Colin’s expression changed from interested to wary. “What’s wrong?”

  “It could be nothing.” His expression told her he didn’t like what was forming in his mind. When she pressed him for details, he bit off a muttered curse and pulled a photocopy of a microfiche newspaper article. “Read this.”

  Erin took the paper and scanned it quickly. Her brow furrowed as shock registered with the implications. “A police coverup?”

  “It would seem,” he answered grimly.

  “But why?” The question came out sounding like a plaintive wail, but Erin didn’t care. She was tired of all the secrets that kept creeping up to ambush her every time she turned. “What the hell is going on around here?”

  “I wish I knew.” He grasped her hand, eyeing her intently. “But I promise you, we’ll find out.”

  “So where do we go from here?” Erin asked, pulling away.

  “We need to backtrack Charlie’s schedule the week before he was in the accident. We might find some answers there that were overlooked,” he said, reluctantly letting her go.

  “What about the stuff about the department?”

  The grim look on Colin’s face intensified. “Leave that to me.”

  IT WAS NEAR TO FIVE O’CLOCK when Colin returned to the station, his heart leaden but his step determined. There was no turning back now.

  He caught the chief just as he was readying to leave. Colin walked in and immediately shut the door.

  “Problem?” Roger asked, slowly sliding his arm into his wool overcoat, his expression dull.

  “I’m afraid there is.” Colin nodded gravely, pausing long enough to remind himself that he was obligated as an officer to follow the evidence. “You might want to sit down for this.”

  “I prefer to stand if that’s all right with you. What is it?”

  “It’s about the Walker case,” he began.

  “I told you to drop it.” The chief’s mouth was drawn but the resigned look in his eyes sapped some of the fire from his statement. Sighing heavily, Roger took his seat. “Go on.”

  “I found an old newspaper article on the case. Apparently, there was evidence suggesting Hank Walker didn’t die in that car accident but rather…somewhere else. According to this article, a source revealed Hank’s injuries weren’t consistent with a car accident. Since you were the investigating officer, something tells me you knew that.”

  When the chief didn’t balk at the accusation Colin grimaced as the polished image of his mentor cracked in two. His voice broke as he demanded an answer. “What happened that night, Chief? Tell me why the coroner’s report didn’t match what you put in your report. God, Roger, tell me something I’ll understand!”

  Roger closed his eyes and the corners of his mouth turned down. “I can’t.”

  “Did you kill Hank Walker?” Colin asked in a choked whisper.

  “With my bare hands,” Roger answered dully, staring down at his clenched fists as if he could still see the bloodstains.

  “Oh, God!” Colin moaned, his voice rising. “How could—”

  “The son of a bitch had raped her!” Roger snapped, his lip trembling with the force of the memory. “By the time we got to the cabin, it was too late. Our beautiful Rose was lying bleeding and broken, never to be the same…because of him.” When Roger met Colin’s stare, it was hard. “We gave what he had coming…and then some.”

  “You and Charlie?” Colin guessed, filling in the holes. “How’d you know what Hank had done?”

  Roger pursed his lips as he took a moment to compose himself. “Me and Charlie were cutting trees on a private piece of property near Porcupine Mountains when Caroline radioed on the CB sounding frantic. She said they’d had a bad fight and Hank was in a temper, heading for Rose’s place. She was afraid he was going to do something terrible. Well, she was right.” He sighed, continuing. “Hank always had a thing for Rose but she wouldn’t give him the time of day. Guess he and Caroline had words about it and it pushed the crazy son of a bitch over the edge.”

  “And the coroner’s report?”

  Roger smiled thinly. “My daddy made it disappear.” When Colin swore under his breath, Roger shook his head. “What else was he supposed to do? We were just a couple of young kids and we made a mistake, but going to prison for that worthless piece of trash just didn’t seem right.”

  Colin was torn by his need to see justice served and the heartache that was piercing his chest at the chief’s revelation. “It was not your right to be his judge, jury and executioner. Vigilante justice has no place in today’s world. What you did was wrong.”

  Roger looked away as if unable to meet Colin’s condemnation, but he didn’t deny the accusation. How could he? When he spoke again his voice was weary. “Have you ever loved someone so much it hurt just to look at her?” Roger slowly turned to regard Colin sadly. When Colin didn’t offer an answer, he shrugged and continued. “Well, I have. It just so happened the woman I loved was in love with my best friend. I had to make peace with that. And I made myself content to be her friend. Things were getting better…and then we got that call.” He closed his eyes in remembered anguish. “To be honest, I can’t even remember who took the first punch.”

  “What about Rose? She must’ve been hurt pretty bad. Why wasn’t she treated at the hospital?”

  “We tried but she wouldn’t let us. The only person she’d let near her was Caroline. Then a week later, she was gone.”

  Silence hung between them. Colin felt sick inside. “Is that why you tried to kill Charlie? To protect this awful secret?”

  Roger looked up sharply, surprise in his eyes. “I didn’t try to kill Charlie. Not even for that. Even though we’ve drifted apart, I could never hurt the man. At one time he was like a brother.”

  “But you were the only one who knew about that night….”

  “I won’t lie…when Charlie came to me and told me of his plans to come clean, for a panicked second I considered stupid stuff but then I came to my senses. I’m not that hotheaded kid I once was. And Charlie, f
or all his faults, was once my best friend. Sometimes the ties that bind never truly lose their ability to hold us—no matter how we’d like to let them go.”

  Stunned, Colin stared at the chief. “Who was it then?”

  At the resolute shake of the chief’s head, Colin felt the bottom of his world drop out. Someone else knew about that night and he had a feeling he was dealing with a person who had a thirst for revenge that might involve Erin’s whole family.

  “I need to find Erin, right now!”

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  ERIN RETURNED TO THE HOUSE, her mind and body still spinning from the overload of information. Was it possible to just enjoy the time she had with Colin instead of trying to figure out where their future may lead? They were both consenting adults, not two lovesick teens. She grinned wryly at the comparison as she rubbed her tingling palms together, loving the warmth flooding her cheeks at the memory of their time together.

  And then there was Danni. She was one cool kid. Erin couldn’t wait to see Danni’s reaction when she revealed she’d submitted the ice-rink photo. It was amateur but full of classic hometown coziness and Erin figured if Harv had a problem with it, she’d just suggest they tack a Junior Achiever stamp on it and sell it as a promo for another assignment.

  Yet, even as she enjoyed considering the possibilities with Colin and Danni, hovering at the edge of her mind was the knowledge her aunt had endured an abusive marriage.

  “Oh, Caroline,” she whispered, troubled. It hurt to realize how little she’d actually known her aunt. Was it possible Charlie or Caroline had something to do with Hank’s accident? Had her own mother? Had guilt driven her mother to kill herself? Had remorse driven Charlie to the bottle?

  A chill shook her body and she moved into the foyer to grab her coat where it was hanging against the wall. Slipping her hands into the pockets she was startled when her fingers grazed an oddly shaped object. “What the…?” she asked, pulling out the dragonfly she’d found days earlier at the cabin.

  She’d forgotten it was in there. Turning the lovely piece of wood that had been carved with such attention to detail, she traced a finger along the grain, wondering at the artisan’s skill.

  Your father’s an artist!

  Bits and pieces of old arguments floated to the top of her consciousness and Erin frowned. “No…” she breathed, resisting the memory.

  “C’mon, love, he wanted you to have it,” Caroline had said, attempting to put the dragonfly in Erin’s resistant hands.

  “If that’s the case then why didn’t he give it to me himself?” Erin shot back with all the teenage rancor she could muster. “You’re just saying that. Face it, Aunt Caroline, he doesn’t care and he never did. It’s probably his fault my mother killed herself.”

  That last part she’d tried half-heartedly to say under her breath, but Caroline, who had the ears of a bat, caught it and her face paled. “Don’t you ever say that again, Erin Mallory McNulty or so help me, I’ll never forgive you. And that’s the God’s honest truth. That’s pure nastiness coming out of your mouth and I won’t hear it.”

  Erin had bit her lip to keep the tears from spilling but she gave a glum nod to indicate she’d heard her. “Well, I don’t want it. If you make me take it, I’ll just throw it away.”

  Caroline had given Erin a long look filled with disappointment yet had pressed the piece into her palm anyway, saying, “If you do, that’s your business and your cross to bear. But you ought to know…it belonged to your mother. Charlie gave it to her the day you were born as a gift. Do with it what you feel fit.”

  Caroline had walked away and Erin stood paralyzed, holding the wooden piece. She couldn’t bring herself to throw it away as she’d claimed, but neither could she look at it without bursting into tears. So, she’d pried the floorboard open in her room and placed it inside, safe but hidden, until the other day.

  Stunned at the memory, which now seemed crystal clear and cuttingly brutal, Erin could only stare at the beautiful piece and wonder why their family had been chosen by fate to bear such horrible burdens.

  All these years Erin nursed a pain deep inside with the conviction that her father was a deadbeat loser who had driven his wife to kill herself with his hard-drinking ways. Now, she had to wonder if there had been more to his alcohol abuse than she’d known.

  Did the reasons matter?

  She stiffened slightly. No, she answered, soothing the inner child that immediately took issue with her defense. It didn’t excuse his behavior but the possibility gave her insight. For the first time, Erin felt the stirrings of compassion toward her father. It was altogether foreign and frightening but she didn’t shy away from it.

  A knock at the door brought her back to the present, and after carefully setting the dragonfly on the kitchen table, she went to answer the door.

  “Erin McNulty?” A uniformed female officer asked, her gaze darting past to Butterscotch, who had suddenly appeared and was standing beside Erin watching the woman intently.

  “Yes?” she answered, thinking today must be her lucky day for receiving uniformed officers. She didn’t think people committing a crime saw this many cops in one day. “What can I do for you?”

  Butterscotch growled, startling Erin, but before she could react, she was looking down the barrel of the woman’s gun.

  “Holy sh—”

  “Get inside! Now!” She pushed at Erin with the gun, nearly causing her to stumble over Butterscotch, who kept trying to put herself between the woman and Erin.

  “What are you doing?” Erin asked, stunned.

  “Is this a robbery? Because, frankly, if it is, you picked the wrong house. The only thing of value here is the kitchen table and you’d need a forklift to get that thing out of there.”

  “I’m not here to rob you.”

  “Then, why are you here?”

  “How nice of you to ask.” The woman smiled. “I’m here to kill you.”

  “Oh.” The breath slipped from Erin’s lips as her mouth formed the single word. Sorry I asked. And all this time she’d been under the assumption nothing exciting ever happened in Granite Hills. She took it back. God in heaven—did she take it back.

  COLIN MADE THE TURN TO Caroline’s driveway and spotted a cruiser parked out front. Puzzled, he killed the engine out of sight of the house and radioed the chief.

  “Do you have someone with Erin?”

  “Negative. Why?”

  “There’s a cruiser parked out front. I can’t quite make out whose car though. Something’s not right. I can feel it.”

  “I hear you, Colin, but I want you to wait for backup before you go charging in there.”

  Colin squinted, scanning the property for signs of anyone else. “I’m just going to peek around and see if anything’s about. It’s probably nothing but with everything that’s been going on…”

  Colin let his statement trail but Roger understood. “I’m sending backup right now,” he said, adding gruffly, “Be careful, Col.”

  “Ten-four, Chief.”

  Colin grabbed his coat and made his way silently toward the house. The crunching of snow beneath his boots was the only sound in the air until the sharp crack of a gunshot sent his adrenaline racing, heightening his senses and putting his entire body on alert. “We have gunshots! I repeat, we have gunshots!” he exclaimed into his shoulder radio. He broke into a run, a cold sweat plastering his hair to his head and Butterscotch’s frantic bark ringing in the frigid air.

  Staying clear of any line of sight, he made his way carefully to the front porch, wincing as the old floor-boards creaked in protest, sounding louder than any alarm Colin could’ve designed to warn the gunman of his presence. He froze, waiting to see if he’d given away his position. When nothing happened, he crept around to the back door and slowly let himself in through a room that served as a laundry porch. Voices caught his ear.

  “A hair to the left and I could’ve taken your head off,” a voice commented in amusement, then hardened. “Don�
��t try that again. I’m not quite ready to kill you yet. And for God’s sake shut that friggin’ dog up before I put a bullet between its eyes!”

  Colin drew back as Erin tried soothing the frightened dog. He knew that voice. Somehow Erin managed to get Butterscotch to stop howling, but the dog continued to emit an intermittent nervous whine. The woman continued, and Colin bit back an oath. Missy Reznick. The newest cop to join the department. And either crooked or crazy. How in the hell did she slip past the background check?

  “Why are you doing this?” The faint tremor in Erin’s voice betrayed her fear, causing Colin to grit his teeth and wish he could just charge in guns blazing like they do in the movies. Instead he had to wait for his opportunity and each passing second made his palms sweat as panic threatened to override his training.

  “Payback,” came Missy’s answer.

  “For what?” Erin asked incredulously.

  “For screwing up my retribution.”

  “I don’t kn—”

  “Hank Walker was my daddy.”

  Both Erin and Colin sucked in a surprised breath as Missy went on. “Yeah, that’s right. Shocked? Good. But I never got the chance to know him—thanks to your family.” Erin started to protest, or perhaps offer some kind of apology, but Missy cut her off. “More specifically—your Aunt Caroline.”

  “What are you talking about?” Erin’s voice lost its tremble as she openly bristled under Missy’s attack. “My aunt didn’t even know you existed.”

  “Are you sure about that?” Missy taunted, seeming to enjoy Erin’s defensive tone. A tense silence followed until she continued with a chuckle. “Did I hit a nerve? Well, let me tell you a little more. Caroline knew but she refused to grant my daddy a divorce so he could come home to his real family.”

  Erin made a sound of disgust. “What a crock of sh—”