42. A Fusion?
FORTY-TWO
A Fusion?
Lillian
I heard the dogs get restless, then the door opening, and I knew it was Harry because he’d texted he’d be home soon, because the dogs didn’t lose their minds barking and because Harry had a key.
“As you know, I had four units to prepare for their owners today, and I was ambushed by Kimmy. I’m afraid I got in the spirit and bought more than lights and Jawa witches,” I told the oven I was sliding a casserole into. “I don’t have it in me to cypher something healthy. We’re having the last of the alfredo gnocchi casserole, but I made you a salad to go with.”
I closed the oven door, turned, and smiled, because not only was Harry standing there, so was Rus.
So much for our quickie while the casserole heated up.
I moved in their direction, saying, “Hey, Rus.”
“Heya, Lillian,” Rus replied.
I went right to Harry and gave him a lip touch.
When I rolled down off my toes was when I noticed the vibe.
I put my hand to his flat abs. “Is something wrong?”
“Rus has some questions for you, Lilly,” Harry said, his voice tight. “About the days before your parents died.”
My stomach did an impersonation of a pretzel.
I looked to Rus.
“Is something happening?” I asked.
“We don’t know, Lillian,” Rus said. “Maybe. It won’t take long. Just a few questions.”
I nodded and gestured to the kitchen table. “Do you want to sit down?”
Rus moved that way.
Harry took my hand and guided me that way.
Rus was waiting until I took a seat, but I didn’t take a seat.
I was freaking out.
I wasn’t sure what I was feeling from them, but it seemed… electric .
However, I’d been trained by my mother and Ronetta, so I offered Rus, “Can I get you a drink?”
“This really won’t take long, so no,” Rus declined. “But thank you.”
I nodded.
“Sit down, Lill,” Harry murmured.
I sat down.
Rus did too.
Harry did as well.
I was at the end of the table, they were on either side of me.
“What do you want to know?” I asked.
“In your mother’s journal, she wrote that your father heard someone talking to Gerald Dietrich about his financial situation and setting up to make a fraudulent insurance claim,” Rus began.
I nodded.
“Did you hear either of your parents talk about that?” Rus inquired.
I shook my head, trying to calm my heart. It was beating like crazy.
“Nothing?” Rus pressed.
I again shook my head.
Rus switched topics. “You mentioned that Dern was harassing your mom.”
This time, I nodded.
“Did you notice him doing that?”
I shook my head.
“Not at all?”
“Dad was really protective,” I said in a small voice. “Mom was too. I mean, I did hear them discussing it. But I didn’t see anything. I just know Mom was super freaked about it, and Dad was super pissed.”
“Did you notice any other sheriff’s deputies paying particular attention to your parents or this house?”
“Well, they arrested Mom and Dad, and after they took off, Dern would come around every once in a while to ask if I’d seen them. But other than that…no.”
Rus looked to Harry.
“Except the guy he had sitting on our house,” I added.
Rus’s eyes raced to mine.
“What guy?” he asked.
“Youngish. Dark hair. Beard. I thought it was weird, because he was never in a police car.”
If the electric level could ratchet up between these two guys, which I didn’t think it could, it did.
Astronomically.
“Do you remember the kind of car he was in?” Rus asked.
“Yeah, I remember everything about all of that,” I whispered, and it was safe to say, I was more freaked than I was freaked before, so that put me off-the-charts freaked.
“What kind of car was it, Lillian?” Rus pushed.
“A Ford. Dark blue. I don’t know what the model was called. Maybe a Fusion?” I asked like Rus could answer.
“A dark-blue Ford, you’re sure?”
I nodded again.
“And you knew he was one of Dern’s deputies?” Rus queried.
More nodding. “I saw him at the station when they took me in.”
“But when he was watching your house, he was never in a cruiser?”
I shook my head.
“And you thought he was sitting on your house, waiting to catch your parents if they came home?” Rus asked.
“Yes. I also thought he was messing with me, because he was really obvious about it, and sometimes he’d follow me.”
Rus instantly looked at Harry, and I knew why.
The vibe coming off him wasn’t electric anymore.
It was homicidal.
“Stay cool,” Rus said low.
“I’m cool,” Harry replied, even though he was not .
“What’s going on?” I asked again.
Rus returned to me. “Lillian, I’m sorry. I was wrong. This is going to take some time. I need you to come to the station and make an official statement.”
Oh God.
“Again, I’ll ask, what…is… going on ?” I demanded.
Rus turned to Harry.
Harry jerked up his chin.
Rus came back to me. “We’re working on a theory. Lillian…”
He reached out a hand on the table toward me.
Automatically, I took it.
His fingers closed around and held tight.
I knew this as the warning it was and braced.
“A dark-haired man with a beard in a dark-colored Ford car was seen outside your parents’ motel room in Idaho.”
My stomach dropped, and my lungs deflated.
“Oh my God,” I wheezed.
“We think we have our guy,” Rus said. “And if you give me an official statement of all you remember, it might help us nail him when we find him.”
I broke Rus’s hold as I shot to my feet. “Let’s go.”
Slowly, Rus stood.
Harry did it a good deal faster and walked to the hall closet to get my jacket.
Rus went to the oven and turned it off.
Then the three of us walked to the station so I could give my official statement.