Chapter 13

Dorothy cursed at her brother, and then she brought me inside the fifth-wheel. She helped me to the sofa, and I sat down. I heard her shuffle away from me, and when she returned, she said she had a wet washcloth. She placed it over my eyes, telling me to hold it there while I waited for my vision to return.

A second before Danny pepper-sprayed me in the face, I’d jerked my head back. It didn’t save me, but it kept me from getting a full dose of the spray. Still, my eyesight was minimal, at best. It would be some time before I could see well enough to get myself out of there.

While I sat there, helpless, contemplating my situation, Danny and Dorothy were in the kitchen, arguing over what had just happened.

“What in the hell is wrong with you, Danny?” Dorothy asked.

“Me? You’re the one who brought a cop to my doorstep.”

“She’s not a cop. She’s a private eye. Who she is or what she is doesn’t matter. What matters is you maced her in the face, you moron. Do you know how much trouble you’re in?”

“You don’t understand,” Danny said. “I can’t go through this again. I won’t.”

“You can’t go through what again?”

“When the murders happened … well, let’s just say there are things I never told you.”

“I’m listening.”

“The cops didn’t question me once. They questioned me several times.”

“Why?”

“I expect it’s because they needed someone to pin the murders on, and I looked just as good as anyone. Once they found the bat at the back of the property, they started pressing me harder, asking the same questions over and over again.”

“I’m sure they were just trying to be thorough.”

“No, they were looking for someone to blame back then—and they still are,” Danny said. “It sure as hell isn’t going to be me.”

“You’ve got it all wrong,” Dorothy said. “Georgiana didn’t come here to accuse you of anything. She came here because she has questions she was hoping to get answered.”

“I’m not buying it. I bet she would have told you anything to get to me.”

“I believe her, and what you did … it wasn’t right.”

“You have no idea what I was put through back then. You’ve never been in a position where cops will say anything to trip you up, hoping you make a mistake and hang yourself. I was interrogated like I was a criminal, plain and simple.”

“You’re being paranoid, Danny. You’ve always been paranoid. If you didn’t do anything wrong, you have nothing to fear.”

“If I’m paranoid, you’re na?ve. You believe anything anyone tells you.”

“Either way, you assaulted a woman, which makes you look guilty, like you are hiding something even if you’re not. You’ve taken what could have been a simple conversation between two people and blown it way out of proportion.”

It went quiet, and then I heard what sounded like someone pacing back and forth.

“Do you think I don’t know what I’ve done,” Danny said. “I didn’t mean to … I just … when she started grilling me with her questions, I panicked.”

“You did a lot more than panic.”

“If the police are looking into the murders again, they’ll question me too. And if they decide to place the blame on me this time, it won’t matter if I’m innocent. I don’t have the kind of money to hire a good enough lawyer to defend me, and that’s how most innocent people get imprisoned.”

Dorothy let out a loose, long sigh. “I know you don’t have faith in the justice system. Maybe it’s all the conspiracy theories you’ve let yourself believe over the years.”

“They’re not theories. My eyes are open. It’s everyone else in society who chooses to go through life with theirs shut. Sheep! An entire society of sheep.”

“I don’t suppose anything I say will make much of a difference.”

“It won’t.”

“Well then, what now?”

“I’m getting out of here,” Danny said.

“Seems like an extreme thing to do under the circumstances. Where will you go?”

“I don’t know. I can tell you one thing—I’m getting as far from here as possible.”

The sound of heavy footsteps passed by me, heading toward the back of the trailer.

“I apologize for my brother,” Dorothy said in my ear. “Don’t worry. I’ll be with you until all of this is cleared up. You’re going to be fine. I’ll make sure of it.”

I had so many things I wanted to say, but until my eyes cleared up, now wasn’t the time, so I said, “Thank you, Dorothy.”

She shuffled away from me, moving in the same direction Danny had gone a minute earlier. I heard what sounded like a sliding door being closed and then whispers between the siblings. I leaned to the side, trying to make out what they were saying, but I couldn’t.

I removed the cloth from my eyes and noticed I was starting to see things—fragments of objects around the room. It gave me enough confidence to reach back and pick my cell phone out of my pocket. I cupped it in front of me, leaning over as I pressed what I hoped was the number 1.

Holding the phone to my ear, I waited for the call to be answered.

When it was, I uttered a single word, “Help.”