“Just like that?” I asked.
Lamar nodded ruefully. “Annette’s always been like that. She tends to get her way-with everybody. I told her I thought it was a bad idea, especially since Molly was such a good friend, but Annette was adamant, and eventually I went along with the program. Molly stayed with us until Dillon was born, then she went back home and pretended nothing had happened. She and Aaron got married eventually, and we kept the baby.
“The problem is, Annette was a whole lot better at the idea of motherhood than she was at the reality of it. Ditto for being married. She likes the concept, but not the actual commitment part. So she took off and pretty much left Dillon’s raising up to me. I did the best I could.
“I have to hand it to Annette. Once she left me, she’s managed to marry up every time, so money isn’t a problem-not for her, anyway. So here I was, trying to raise Dillon to be a decent human being, but periodically Annette would show up-often with Molly in tow. The two of them would do the whole noncustodial parent program. You know how it works. They spoiled the kid-gave him whatever he wanted. They told him that my rules didn’t apply whenever they were around, and what kid isn’t going to go for that? Eventually it worked.”
“Dillon came here?”
Lamar nodded. “Got into trouble, dropped out of school, and came here to be with Annette-until she took off again. She rented an apartment for him while she headed for the Bay Area with her latest fling. By then, Molly’s life had turned to crap. Having lost everything else, I think she saw one last chance to get Dillon back-and keep him close.”
“Except he was going to come to Tacoma with me,” Heather said in a small voice. “He told Molly that on the phone that night. I heard him. He said that if I had to go live with Rosemary in Tacoma, he was going to go there, too. He said he’d find a different apartment. Molly didn’t want him to go. She freaked out on the phone and started screaming and yelling. I could hear her from all the way across the room. It was totally weird.”
“Maybe,” I said, “since she had already lost her son once, she didn’t want to risk losing him again. Still, having him move to Tacoma isn’t like sending him off to the ends of the earth. I still don’t understand.”
After that, the three of us were quiet for a very long time. There wasn’t much to say, and I don’t think anyone else understood any better than I did.
An hour passed and then two. It was after three in the morning when the swinging doors opened again and once more the same doctor entered the room. This time he went straight to Lamar Middleton.
“I’m sorry to have to tell you this, Mr. Middleton,” he began. “I’m afraid your son didn’t make it.”
CHAPTER 22
Without a word, Heather bolted from the room. I charged after her. When I finally caught up with her, she was outside the front entrance, standing bare-armed and bareheaded in the pouring rain.
“Heather,” I urged. “Come back inside.”
She shrugged off my hand. “I don’t want to,” she said. “Leave me alone.”
“It’s cold and wet out here.”
“Who cares? If Dillon’s dead, I should be dead, too. Maybe I’ll catch pneumonia and die.”
Then, to my surprise, she stopped talking and fell sobbing against my chest. Comforting her as best I could, I led her to my car and helped her inside. I turned on the engine, the heater, and the defroster as well, then I waited for her to stop crying.
“Your parents are staying at a hotel downtown,” I told her when she had finally cried herself out. “Do you want to go there?”
Heather shook her head. “I want to go home,” she said.
“You can’t. The last I heard, your house was full of cops, so I guess you’re stuck with me.”
“But…” Heather began. Then she fell quiet. “Okay,” she said finally.
Once again I took Heather up to my condo in Belltown Terrace. I expected her to head straight for bed. God knows I was ready.
“Can I use your computer?” she asked.
“My computer? At this hour?”
“I need to check my e-mail.” She paused. “Dillon told me in the ambulance that he sent me a message in case he didn’t find me. I need to see what he said. Please.”
So I led Heather into the den and helped her log on to my clunky old desktop. Then I went out into the living room to give her some privacy. I settled back in my old recliner and kicked off my shoes. My shirt and trousers were still damp, and they stuck to the leather, but I didn’t bother to change. Then I called down to the Sheraton. Not wanting to awaken Ron and Amy in case they had managed to fall asleep, I left a message letting them know that Dillon had died and that I had taken Heather home with me.
A few minutes after I hung up the phone, I heard Heather crying again. I stayed where I was, figuring that if she needed consolation she’d come looking for it. Then I heard the sound of the printer coming on-line. Finally Heather emerged from the den, wiping a trail of tears from her face. Wordlessly she handed me a single sheet of paper:
Baby, Molly Wright is a evil woman. Why did I ever think she was my friend? I don’t know why, but she really really hated your dad. She called him a stupid cripple and said he had turned Amy and her parents against her. She told me that night that getting rid of Rosemary would get rid of him, too, because he’d be in jail and that way Molly and Amy would be friends again and we could all live in your house together, since it was half hers, too. I didn’t want to help her, but she told me that if I didn’t help, she would turn me in for selling drugs which, sorry to say, I have been doing because it’s a very good way for me to earn money and I knew if your dad ever found out he would send me to jail. And so I did help her and I’m sorry and scared. I really wanted to go back home yesterday because Canada doesn’t have the death penalty for murder like the US does. When you wouldn’t come with me, I got so mad but I didn’t mean to hit you, I really really didn’t. Molly’s coming over to see me in a little while. She says we should go to Canada together right now, tonight. I told her I would, but that is a lie. If I don’t see you tonight, I hope you have a good life. I’m sorry for everything and I love you. You are the best thing that ever happened to me in my whole life. Dillon.
When I finished reading, I looked up to see Heather watching me closely. I couldn’t speak, but I was saying a small prayer of gratitude to Dillon Middleton. Suicide is said to be the most selfish of acts, yet in writing this note he had clearly exonerated Heather. Yes, her heart was broken-just as Amy had said it would be-but Dillon had gone out of his way to lift the cloud of suspicion that would otherwise have settled around her.
“That’s who he meant when he said ‘we,’ ” Heather said. “He meant Molly and him.”
I nodded. “And he was right,” I said when I was once again capable of speech. “Molly Wright was an evil woman.”
“I don’t understand. Why did she hate my dad so?” Heather asked.
I remembered what Amy had said earlier, about how much Molly had liked being Amy’s older sister and how much Amy hadn’t appreciated being bossed around.
“Because she was jealous,” I answered. “Because your father’s a good man-a good husband and father. From Molly’s point of view, it must have seemed as though her sister had everything Molly’s own life was lacking. In some twisted way, she thought pushing your father out of the picture would somehow even the score.”
Heather thought about that for a time. “Do you think she told Dillon the truth?” Heather asked finally. Her intense eyes were focused on my face. “When he stabbed her, do you think he had any idea that she was really his mother?”