Truth and Humility

by J. A. Dennam

  “It was your car, Derek,” Austin interjected, terror gripping his insides. “Your voice on her phone.”

  “Danny had my car that day. We were meeting the group at the river, but she was early. I was running late. I found my car, but no Danny. That’s about the time I heard a cell phone ring and I picked it up from the ground thinking it was hers at first. Until I saw your face.”

  Austin bared his teeth. “I’m not buying this.”

  “I was itching to cause you trouble, thinking it was harmless. Just being a prick, you know. I realized how stupid that was when I found Danny. Then I began to suspect she’d run into Rena.”

  Noticing the woman in his arms had gone deathly still, Austin slowly lowered his hands to his sides. “But why would Danny have your cny as she ar when she has her own?”

  Derek also noticed his sister’s white pallor. Was she remembering? “Do you want to take that one, Danny?”

  “Mine was on jacks,” she whispered.

  Derek nodded. “Me and Marshall were changing out your rims. I was to switch vehicles with you when we met at the river.”

  “I was already out of commission by then! You all told me I’d fallen off a damned boom!” But she’d always thought that was a little too clumsy for her.

  “After we asked you the last thing you remembered.”

  “No!”

  “Danny…if you want confirmation, you know where to get it.”

  “No! You’re just trying to run him off! You know that, right, Austin?” Danny turned to address the only sane person in the tower. Austin had to know Derek was lying. But what she saw in his eyes was far from comforting. “This is crazy! You know me, I don’t go around throwing people in rivers!”

  His sister’s panicked cries were breaking his heart, but Derek needed to finish what he’d started. “You had marks on your chest, Danny. Like you’d been hit with a stun gun. Rena carried one, had used it in self-defense according to the eyewitness. But the marks weren’t on me.”

  Derek was speaking behind her, feeding her new information, but Danny couldn’t tear her gaze from Austin. He’d gone stone cold and it took only one glance to see his perspective of her was changing. She wasn’t quite sure what to think herself. There were so many details about Rena’s death that didn’t make sense. That never made sense. “God, Austin, please tell me you don’t think I killed her,” she begged, her voice breaking apart. “Why on earth would I?”

  It was a long, painfully drawn-out moment before he answered. When he did, his voice hitched. “I never thought Derek murdered her, I just knew he was responsible.”

  He was backing away from her as if she suddenly repulsed him. “And now you think I’m responsible,” she choked, the implosion of her chest stealing her breath away. Her hands clenched the sheet between her breasts, turning her knuckles white. “Please, Austin. Please don’t look at me like that.”

  Austin barely heard her. All he could think of was that the woman he’d just given himself to knew how Rena died. Whether she kept it inside deliberately or not, the information he’d been hounding Derek for was in her head. And these two Bennetts had jerked him around far too long. How had he allowed himself to get so attached? When had he become so gullible, so soft? And despite what he now knew about Danny Bennett, looking into her terrified brown eyes, he still wanted to belieantso ve she wasn’t capable of deceiving him to the degree she had.

  Anger and personal revulsion overrode confusion. His defenses came up like iron doors. There was just too much at stake to blindly trust her, trust that she was indeed innocent when she had a clear physical advantage over Rena. Danny had a proven violent streak, one she’d personally unleashed on him that morning in the yard. How could he ignore such a fact? Rena was soft, caring and kind and wouldn’t stand a chance against the sort of fury Danny was capable of wielding.

  Without another word, he turned and stormed down the ladder.

  “Austin, don’t leave! Please!”

  Danny stood in the tower, shaking, terrified, fighting back sobs. When she took a step toward the ladder to follow him, Derek’s hand was on her arm.

  “Let him go, Danny. He believes you intentionally deceived him. That should tell you something.”

  Anger and hurt sliced through her and she jerked her arm out of his grasp. “I love him, Derek. I’m not giving him up as easily as you did.”

  This time Derek didn’t stop her. When her feet hit the floor by the bed, her eyes sought Austin out and found him dressing, his hard tensed body silhouetted against the light coming in through the open shutter behind him. This time she was determined to make him hear her.

  “You have to know... I’m just as confused about this as you are. I don’t remember anything about that night. And after all we’ve been through…what we shared tonight…the least you can do is hold your judgment until we know for sure I’m guilty.”

  Austin buttoned his jeans and gathered the rest of his clothes without bothering to put them on. “One thing I learned about you is that you know how to get mad and throw a punch.” His look warned her not to push. There was no hint of the playful, passionate man he’d been only moments before. “About the only thing I’m willing to do right now is leave without pressing charges. But if I ever see your face again, all bets are off.”

  Black eyes burned with hatred beneath his lowered brow. Stunned into silence, Danny went blank and missed his rapid departure. Soon, Derek was beside her, his hand still gripping a wrung of the ladder.

  “You okay?” he asked quietly. When she failed to answer, he laid a hand on her shoulder. “Danny?”

  “Don’t you touch me,” she warned breathily, her chest beginning to heave. “After what you just did, I don’t want you to ever touch me again.” He gripped her other shoulder, challenging. She shoved him hard, releasing his hold. “I hate you, Derek! How could you?” Her open palm cracked across his cheek. She slapped him again, violently shoved at his chest when he failed to defend himself. “How could you do this to me?”

  If she wasn’t careful, she would drop the sheet, and Derek really didn’tealou d feel like dealing with his sister while she was naked. So he drew her close and held on to her in a fierce bear hug while she continued to shove at him, curse him. “Shhh,” he soothed, waiting her out until her tears became more powerful than her need to fight him. It didn’t take long for the transition. Soon her sobs warmed the skin of his shoulder and he held on tight.

  “I don’t know what happened between you and Rena,” he said calmly, his heart breaking for his baby sister’s misery. “But I love you and I have faith in you, just like you’ve had faith in me all these months.”

  “Then why did you keep this from me?” she wailed against him, drawing her arms into herself. “Why would you lie to me unless you thought I did something wrong?”

  Derek released a long held breath and stroked her hair. “You and Rena both ended up in the river, Danny. You came out of it alive and Rena came out dead. It looked bad. We didn’t know how Austin would retaliate and he already pointed the finger at me. We didn’t want you caught up in this feud, no more than Mom or any other woman in our family. That’s how it’s been for generations.”

  Now Danny pushed and succeeded in putting a few feet between them. “So you just let Austin think the worst of you? Gambled on the likelihood the charges would be dropped against you?”

  He shrugged, helpless by the hurt in her eyes. “I wasn’t there. Nothing solid could possibly stick.”

  “But it could stick to me if the police knew who to suspect,” she deduced with a wrenching sob. Oh, Lord. It was too much to adjust to. “This is like some horrible movie and I’m the sick twist at the end.”

  “Now you’re being dramatic.”

  “I am not the bad guy, here, Derek! I am not the bad guy! That dramatic enough for you?”

  “Would you stop,” Derek pleaded as she stormed over to pick up her clothes. “We all know that! And some day you may remember something, but until the
n you cannot think the worst. We didn’t know Rena, maybe she attacked you.”

  Danny circled around the bed, sat down with her back to him as she dressed beneath the sheet. “According to Austin she was as pure as St. Mary.” She went still then began to crumple again. “You should have told me from the start!” she cried over her shoulder as she yanked on her shorts. “At least maybe I would have figured something out by now! Did you think of that?”

  “Mom, Dad, everyone agreed at the time it was best this way. Sure, your memory could come back, and when or if it does, we’ll help you through it.”

  “You played God with my life, all of you!

  oman"> I would have never set foot on Cahill territory if I’d known the truth!”

  This is something Derek had regretted most. Shoulders slumped, he sank to the bed and continued his explanations as they sat back-to-back. “I know. Believe me, I was beside myself when Mel told me you were working for him. I panicked. Thought the worst. What if you saw pictures of Rena and it triggered a memory? You’d give yourself away because you’re too damned honest.” He scrubbed his face with his hands. “I was ready to drain my savings to pay your bail.”

  A long, painful silence ensued. Meanwhile, Derek’s gaze found her underwear on the floor next to his feet. His teeth set. “Please tell me he at least used protection.” A quick glance back caught the bare nod of her head. “Good. Because if he knocked you up, Pop will kill all three of us.”

  Ignoring the jibe, Danny focused on his bail comment and said dolefully, “Maybe I belong in jail.”

  “You don’t.”

  “How do you know? How do I know? Am I so evil, I blocked my own memories to keep my sanity? Am I like Sybil or something?”

  “Don’t be an ass. This isn’t some multiple personality shit. You had an accident for Christ’s sake. You’d been electrocuted, nearly drowned, knocked around. Had a huge knot on your

  head.”

  Her wide eyes came around and regarded his broad back over her shoulder. “She was defending herself from me. But why? What did I do to her?”

  “Don’t over think it. People get in arguments, have misunderstandings. They get hurt sometimes because of it, but you aren’t a callous person. You probably didn’t even know she was tied to the Cahills.”

  “Or maybe I did. Maybe I thought she was trying to cause trouble. There’s been plenty of that between our families.”

  “You’ve always tried to stay out of it.”

  She thought about it for a moment. Her brother was so quick to defend her, to believe the best of her. He was the mouthpiece for their whole family who apparently believed the same. If she could get through the day to come without caving to stress, she would go to Austin and hope he’d had enough time to reach the same conclusion. After all, he’d gotten to know her well enough.

  But would it be enough?

  Chapter 20

  Welcome to hell. Danny stood in front of the big gate once again and thought of a not-so-distant past.e="palco Her first day at Cahill Salvage when Austin had dropped that very big bomb. At the time, she had indeed thought she’d walked into hell. But hell was a walk in the park compared to this.

  She was taking a big risk by coming back. Timed it just when the location crews should still be around after returning the company trucks. Derek would throttle her if he knew she’d dismissed her own crew early in order to pay Austin a visit. But her emotions were at a ragged edge having been tested to the extreme that day. The suspense was killing her. She had to know where Austin stood and a phone call was too impersonal.

  Just as she suspected, someone had been watching her on the monitor. The bright red Jeep parked behind her was hard to miss and, though she’d changed into a clean top, she was the same Danny everyone here was used to, grungy and tired from a hard workday, her hair pulled back into a messy bun.

  “I don’t need a code to get past this gate, Austin. You might as well come out and face me.”

  But it wasn’t Austin who appeared around the corner of the building. Her breath came out in a whoosh and stress creased her brow as she shoved her hands in her front pockets.

  “Mac.”

  The big man jerked his head. “Danny.”

  It was immediately clear to her that her close friend preferred to keep his distance. What had he heard? “I need to see Austin.”

  “He’s not here. Went on location today and the crews are working late.”

  Sue must have sent her brother to the gate when she’d seen Danny’s Jeep pull up on the monitor. A slight, humorless smile pulled at her lips. “So, you’re the chosen one.”

  He removed his hardhat and scrubbed a hand over the fuzz atop his sweaty head. “I don’t like this anymore than you, Danny, but you have to know Boss doesn’t want you here.”

  Her heart sank. “Still?”

  “He said if you showed up to tell you next time he’ll get a restraining order.”

  Danny bit the inside of her bottom lip to keep it still. As she watched Mac through the chain links he eased away as if he were too uncomfortable to deal with her. “And what do you think, Mac? You’re my closest friend here, you used to trust me, care about me, stick up for me. But I don’t see any of that when I look at you now.”

  Mac stopped inching backward. “Rena was a beautiful lady,” he said in a monotone voice, staring down at his boots. “Inside and out. I liked her. She and boss were good together. He was a better man because of her. I never said that to you before because I suspected you had a thing for him. But you need to hear it so you’ll understand why I’m taking his side on this one.”

  “I’m not asking you to choose sides,” she said softly, regretfully. “Just for you to belier y="48"ve in me. Or is that too much of a gamble for you, too?”

  It took some time. Much to Mac’s credit, he put a lot of thought into her question. But she knew his answer before he turned and attempted to walk away.

  It was then Danny realized she’d been clutching the fence in a white-knuckled grip as if desperately hanging on to whatever ties she had left here. But those ties were apparently severed for good. And Danny had her pride.

  “Mac, wait.” She almost thought he’d keep going, but he stopped, a pained look on his face when he reluctantly turned toward her. “Give this to Austin. It belongs to him.”

  So that the man wouldn’t have to approach her again, she simply laid the book on top of the code box and backed away. If there were anything fair about the world, Mac wouldn’t notice how her body trembled.

  As if unable to control the urge, Danny’s eyes skimmed over the front of the big white Colonial home one last time. The big two-story columns that spanned the wide porch resembled bars now, clearly warning her to stay back. She absorbed the message, reached for the door handle of her Jeep. With one last breath, she said her goodbyes and thus dismissed anything Cahill as a completed chapter of her life.

  ____________

  The location crew filed into the commons room after the handful of trucks returned from the Minerva plant. It was late. The yard crew was already done for the day, but the locker room was once again busy with slamming metal doors and conversation. Austin handed Sue some invoices and soaked in the chaos while reviewing some new specs that had just come over the fax machine.

  “I need the specifications for the blender, too. They aren’t here,” he said, frowning at the inconvenience as he flipped through pages. “We planned on disassembling it tomorrow, but I don’t want to do it without knowing what the fuck I’m dealing with.”

  Sue shrugged, looking helpless. “They say they have people on it, boss, but those specs are old, hard to find. If I don’t hear from them by first thing tomorrow, I’ll drive over there and knock a few heads together until I have them in my hand.”

  “Good enough,” he conceded and shoved the paperwork in her direction. “Put these on my desk, I’ll go over them more thoroughly tonight, work up a safety plan for tomorrow. Oh, and Sue.” When the woman halted her progr
ess through the door, he ripped open the snaps of his denim shirt, shrugged out of it. “You might want to warn Mac I’ll need him on location tomorrow.”

  “Short handed?” she deduced sympathetically.

  “Jerry almost lost a finger working the wench today, so I guess you could say that.”

  Sue went almost white. “Sorry, boss, I didn’t mean to – ”

  Austin dismissed her concern and yanked the white undershirt over his head without much thought to the woman in the room. Sue was just one of the guys. “Just don’t tell Mac, it might scare him off.”

  “I resent that,” Mac grumbled from behind having heard every word. “I may be lacking in coordination, but if it’s muscle you need I can supply it.”

  “I think he’s referring to your weak stomach, Mac,” Sue provided helpfully and reached out a hand to pat her brother’s robust middle. “Mention the word blood and you fold like a child.”

  Mac sent her an affronted look and tackled his combination lock. “I handled Danny’s blood just fine, didn’t I?”

  As soon as the words were out, Mac wished he could reel them back in. Why did he say it? Boss was putting up a good front, but everyone knew his control was razor thin which proved accurate when the man stiffened beside him. Anyone who heard fell silent and pretended not to notice. Sue disappeared.

  Slowly, things resumed to its original din. Austin and Mac continued their post-work routine in silence until Mac gathered the nerve to open his mouth again.

  “She came by this afternoon,” he mumbled and backed up to the bench to remove his boots. “Wanted to see you.”

  Austin unzipped his grimy jeans and ignored the tug of regret, instead focused on the cold barrier he’d erected. “You stuck around late to tell me that?”

  “I gave her your message. She won’t come around again.”

  Mac’s voice was laced with melancholy. Austin ground his teeth. “Good.”

  “Told me to give this back to you.”

  When Mac held out the coveted book, something in Austin cracked. Such a final gesture on her part.