Still hanging on, he patted her back. “Thank you.”
Penny released him.
“I’m sorry about before,” he said. “And about Jenna.”
“Forget it. Let’s just please learn from it. I’m not always angling for a fight. Not anymore at least. A lot has changed since you’ve been gone. My life is different. I’m happy and intend to stay that way. I don’t want to compete with you for Dad’s attention.”
What? He craned his neck, started to say something and stopped. “I’m confused.”
“I know you think I’m a brat, but put yourself in my place for a minute. You were the one Dad wanted at the firm. You’re the brilliant one. And Zac has always sort of breezed through, doing what he wanted and somehow managing not to infuriate the ’rents. After you chose not to be at the firm and he decided he wanted to be a prosecutor, the boys in the family became a nonissue. Me? I always wanted to be with Dad. Always. But, believe me, as much as Dad loves me and spoils me, he wanted one of his sons by his side. I was the runner-up. Sometimes that knowledge got the best of me. All I wanted was to prove myself and I took it out on you. I couldn’t resist poking at you. I don’t need to do that anymore and I’m sorry.”
David ran his hand over his face. Was it tomorrow yet? Sure felt like it. The past few days had definitely taken a piece out of him and now his sister had damn near floored him with this revelation. All the fights and the vicious sarcasm and the general being a pain in the rear to each other and it came down to one issue. Pretty much the same issue for each of them. David had always resented being the outsider.
And so did Penny.
“Pen, I’m sorry. I never knew. Really, even if I had thought about it, I’m not sure I’d have figured out you were trying to break into the boys’ club.”
He’d been so wrapped up in his own life, he’d never considered what went on in Penny’s life. Or even Zac’s. But Zac was...Zac. Nobody worried about him.
“You didn’t know and I never told you.”
“I don’t want to fight anymore. I know I’ve said that before, but I can’t do this anymore. And, listen, after the talk I had with Mom this morning, I think we’ve pretty much worn her out. She’s about to dropkick us both.”
Penny scrunched her nose. “Did she have the face? That one when she drills you with her eyes?”
“No. She had the face beyond the drilling.”
“Ew.”
“Yeah. Not good. She told me to take you to lunch once a week—just us—so we can get to know each other. After this conversation, that’s a good idea. I’d like to get to know my sister again. And Russ. He seems like a good guy.”
“He is. You two would probably get along. You’re both bullheaded.”
David laughed. “Harsh!”
“Oh, boohoo. As far as lunch goes, Fridays are usually good for me.”
“Fridays?”
“Unless I’m in court. But I’d like to have lunch with you.” She grinned, rubbing her hands together like the mischievous twelve-year-old girl she used to be. “Plus, it’ll drive Zac crazy wondering what we’re talking about.”
Good old Penny. Always busting chops.
“Okay,” he said. “Check your schedule for next Friday. Mom will go crazy. You’ll get gummy bears out of it and I’ll get brownies.”
“Cha-ching!” they said at the same time.
“Ain’t this great?”
The now-familiar voice coming from behind them telegraphed things were anything but great. David turned to see McCall striding toward them.
“Not only do I get one Hennings,” the detective said, “I get two. And both lawyers. Someone shoot me.”
“Hello, Detective,” Penny said. “You can’t question her at the moment.”
His sister. Right to lawyer mode. Gotta love her.
“Relax, Counselor. I’m here to update her.”
The door to Amanda’s room opened and the doctor stepped out. McCall flashed his badge.
“Hello, Detective. You can speak with her but not for too long.”
“Thanks, Doc.”
“We’ll run a few more tests, but assuming nothing comes up, she can probably go home tomorrow. Let her rest, though. All of you.”
“Sure thing, Doc.” McCall said. “Thank you.”
“I’ll check back in a bit.”
The doctor headed off and McCall jerked a thumb toward the door. “I’m guessing she won’t mind you hearing, so come in and I won’t have to do this twice. It’s a helluva story.”
* * *
AMANDA’S HEAD WAS coming apart. Well, coming apart might have been an exaggeration given the staples literally holding her skin together and the lack of a fracture—absolutely good news considering that she could be dead right now—but she definitely had pain.
The door to her room swished open and without lifting her head, she turned to see Penny enter the room followed by David and Detective McCall.
Immediately, her body craved David. Just being in the same room made her want to pull him close. Something she’d have to figure out how to deal with after the fight they’d had that morning. Who knew where they’d go from here?
She’d deal with that later. When her head wasn’t coming apart.
For now, she hoped McCall had news for her. News that would inform her that she’d soon be back to some sort of routine. She didn’t want to be greedy, but her routine would be the best thing for her.
She pushed herself up only to have the room spin. That won’t work. Resting back, she felt around for the bed’s remote.
“Hang on.” David rushed to the side of the bed. “It’s hanging off the bed. We’ll wind it through the safety bars so it doesn’t fall.”
“Thank you.”
He handed her the remote, their fingers brushing lightly. As usual, something inside her pinged. He did that to her, stirred her up, gave her a zap of something warm and hopeful, and suddenly she hated it. Twenty-four hours ago, it was a blessing she’d never experienced. Now, after her conversation with Lexi, it just confused her and she didn’t know what she wanted.
Lie. She knew. She wanted him. Without the drama. The drama would decimate her. But she didn’t want to be the person Lexi described her as, either. Didn’t want to constantly be waiting for the next bad thing. Her mother would have expected more of her.
Slowly, she raised the bed enough that she could see but not bring a fresh bout of dizziness.
David ran his fingers over her cheek and she closed her eyes. She should pull away and not let him touch her. Touching made her feel the stupid zing and she couldn’t think straight with that going on.
But just this once, after what they’d been through together, she’d let it happen. Comfort couldn’t be bad.
“How’s the head?” McCall asked.
“It feels like I got clubbed.”
“Um,” Penny said, moving to the other side of the bed. “Maybe because you did?”
McCall gestured to the gauze circling her head. “She must have whacked you good.”
The staples holding her skin together proved it. Plus, she had to have part of her head shaved because the doctor, as he’d said, wanted better visualization. So, along with the injury, she’d look like a freak.
Bigger things to worry about.
For now, she’d stay grateful for the fact that she wasn’t in the morgue. But that damned woman had inflicted a lot of damage to her life and when the medication wore off, Amanda suspected she’d be spitting nails.
Be grateful.
She sighed as McCall stepped up to the end of the bed. As much as she didn’t want to discuss the incident, the detective was obviously here for a statement. And she’d give it to him. If for no other reason than to help him solve his case. All she’d been able to ass
ume was that the Dyces somehow knew the woman whose skull Amanda was reconstructing. They also obviously had knowledge about her death.
She met the detective’s gaze. “I’ll tell you what I remember.”
He held his hand up. “In a minute. Let me update you.”
This sounded hopeful.
“We’ve arrested the Dyces and Scott Bench. He’s the one who stole the skull cast.”
“He was the man at the youth center, too,” Amanda said. “I recognized him.”
“Yeah. He’s also your guy from the storage unit. He’d been following you and pulled the alarm.”
“Bastard.”
“You could say that. After the scene in the conference room, he got scared. Figured he’d wind up the fall guy for the Dyces, so he gave us the story. He’s thirty-four and he’s worked at the youth center for eight years. Known the Dyces since he was in high school. He grew up in a rough neighborhood and was heading down a wrong path. Couple burglary arrests and some petty-crime stuff. His mother took him to see Reggie Dyce speak at a rally, and the kid formed a relationship with him. They helped him get his act together. A few years went by and when he got married, they hired him to do maintenance at the center.”
“He felt indebted to them?”
“Oh, yeah.”
David cocked his head. “How indebted?”
McCall blew out a breath. “Enough to help them bury our victim’s body.”
“My God,” Penny said.
Amanda sighed. The world simply terrified her. These people were beloved for their charitable endeavors and their dedication to helping others. Total frauds. “What happened?”
“There’s a storage shed behind the center. One night Irene finds a hammer lying around the rec room, so she takes it back to the shed. It’s winter and damned cold. While she’s in the shed, she hears a noise and looks up to see some girl coming at her. Irene thinks she’s about to get attacked. She must have been standing in front of the door. I’m thinkin’ our vic was homeless and trying to get some shelter and when Irene came into the shed, the girl tried to run. Anyways, Irene claims she got scared and swung the hammer.” McCall motioned like swinging. “Tagged her good. The girl dropped like a stone.”
“She was dead?”
“At the time, Irene doesn’t know. But Scott Bench is putting the trash out and hears the commotion. He checks it out and finds Irene in a state of total hysterics. He gets her calmed down, but she’s going on about how they’d be ruined and all their hard work wouldn’t mean anything and the center would have to close. Our boy Scott realizes he has a family to support and he’s got a pretty good gig at the center.”
“Where was Mr. Dyce during all this?”
“At some rally downstate.”
“Which is why,” Amanda said, “she accused him of not being around to support her.”
David shook his head. “Tell me she convinced Scott Bench to bury the body.”
“This guy takes hero worship to the next level. He’s a street kid. He’s seen it all and he wasn’t gonna risk losing his job. Or going back to life on the street. Irene panicked and begged him for help and he told her he’d take care of it. They’re a rotten combination, these two. He got his brother to help him and they dealt with the body. At least until I found it while walking my dog.”
Stunned, Amanda simply stared. “She killed a young woman and threw her in the trash. The woman is evil.”
“Hold up,” David said. “When I took Amanda to the center and asked her to pass the sketch around, it kicked this whole thing off?”
Amanda grabbed David’s hand. “No. That can’t be. My building was condemned before that. She must have gotten her husband to reach out to someone at City Hall. But how did she know I’d agreed to help?”
“Wait,” Penny said. “At dinner the other night Mom said she talked to Irene. When she cornered you into telling Dad you’d help. This is Mom’s fault!”
“No,” Amanda said. “It’s not. It’s Irene Dyce’s fault.” She squeezed David’s hand. “The conversation with your mom probably confirmed I was involved, but remember when we saw her at the center that first time and showed her the sketch?”
“What about it?”
“She commented on the detail. I bet she recognized her.”
David dropped his chin to his chest and pounded on his head with his free hand. “You’re right. Babe, I’m so sorry.”
But Penny waved her hand. “Just knock that off. This was not your fault or Mom’s. The woman is nuts. After Mom told her about the reconstruction, she was coming after Amanda anyway.” She winced and turned to Amanda. “That sounded harsh. I’m sorry. I don’t want him thinking this is his fault. My mother was already working the Dyces for their help on this.”
“I know,” Amanda said. “But what about Simeon Davis? Before Mrs. Dyce hit me, I heard Mr. Dyce tell her Simeon had backed out. What was that about?”
“Yeah. He got friendly with the Dyces after doing volunteer work for them, and when Simeon had trouble finding work, Reggie got the guy a job at the insurance agency. He was about to lose his house, so that job saved his butt.”
“I don’t understand how he knows me,” Amanda said.
“He doesn’t. The Dyces are in bed with the state’s attorney. They helped get her elected. When you signed on to do the reconstruction, they made up some bull story about one of their volunteers being a victim of a check-cashing scheme and warned the SA she should look into it. They fed Simeon some line about wanting to make sure no other people got defrauded and asked Simeon to back them up. Make it look like more than one person got scammed. He did it.”
“Because he owed them.”
“Listen, this guy isn’t the sharpest knife in the drawer. He took pride in the fact that Dyce came to him. He wanted to be the hero. Anyway, he went along with it.”
David knocked his knuckles against the rail of the bed. “That’s why the SA went into court saying if the assets weren’t preserved, Amanda would deplete them before an investigation could be launched. Except, I went to Simeon and scared the hell out of him.”
“Yes, Counselor, and thank you, but we’re gonna talk about you butting into my investigation. Again.”
“It’s bizarre,” Amanda said. “The lengths they were willing to go to.”
“Yes, it is,” Penny said. “But they’ve worked for years to reach a certain level. Mr. Dyce has just been appointed to a presidential committee. It’s the pinnacle for him.”
David huffed. “They wouldn’t give up that status. People are so damned twisted.”
“Yeah, well.” McCall waggled his fingers. “I have the icing on this cake for you.”
Exhausted, Amanda put her hands up. “Detective, I’m not sure I can take much more.”
“You’re gonna have to because we got a hit on your sketch. One of the syndicated crime shows ran it last night and someone thought she looked like the daughter of a neighbor. They called the neighbor and told them to check out the sketch online.”
A hit. Just off the sketch. If it panned out, they’d have identified the victim before the reconstruction was even complete. Don’t. Getting excited before they had a positive identification would be reckless. An emotional risk. So what? She could be hopeful. That was what she’d call it. Hope.
“Was it her?”
“It’s close enough that we’re getting DNA to be sure. She was a runaway. Been gone a couple of years and they’d lost touch with her. They didn’t know where she was, never mind dead. That’s all I got now.”
McCall’s cell phone beeped and he pulled it from his pocket. He read something on it and stowed the phone again. “Damn. I gotta go. I’ll be back in a while to get a statement from you. All right?”
“That’s fine. Thank you, Detective. This is great news. Sad, but
great, too.”
He set his hand on the blanket over her foot and squeezed. “It is good news. And thank you. If the DNA matches, you brought this girl home.”
Chapter Fourteen
After McCall left, Penny made a performance out of checking her watch and announcing she had just a ton of work to do. The ton of work must have magically appeared after David, rather violently, jerked his head toward the door.
This family. Completely nuts.
But they were funny, too. And caring.
“So,” Penny chirped. “I will see you both later. Call if you need something. Toodles.”
Finger waving as she went, she fast-walked toward the door, something Amanda noticed earlier also. Penny fast-walked everywhere.
“She’s a ball of energy, huh?”
“You could say that. It’s her Napoleon complex. She’s tiny, but she’s deadly.”
“You should make up with her.”
David tugged gently on the hair poking from under Amanda’s bandage. “I already have. Right outside this room. I showed up when the doctor was in here and I cornered her. Turns out, my sister and I have a few things in common. We’re going to lunch together next week to discuss them.”
“Really?”
“You don’t believe me?”
“I absolutely believe you. I’m just surprised.”
“I had a talk with my mother this morning after I infuriated everyone and generally made a jerk out of myself. Turns out, my mother is fed up with Penny and me fighting all the time. She came up with the lunch idea. It’s a pretty good one. It’ll give me a chance to get to know my sister again. Heck, maybe it’ll be a weekly thing.”
“I’m glad, David.”
“Me, too.” He glanced down at the safety rail. “Can I lower this?”
“Sure.”
He lowered the rail and perched on the edge of the bed, his weight sinking the one side a bit. Too close. He should go. Let her be for a while. The doctor said she needed rest. And she should inform him that the closeness confused her, made her crave time alone to sort out her feelings. She should tell him.
The Rebel Page 18
