Delaney didn’t say anything, but Serena saw her head bob slightly.
“See, I think you’re holding on to secrets that would explain a lot of what’s going on,” Serena said. “I know how hard it is to open up about tough stuff. I really do. But I’d like you to trust me and tell me what you’re hiding.”
“I can’t.” Delaney swung her head this time and met Serena’s eyes. “I’d like to. Believe me. I’d like to tell someone. And Cat — she said you’ve always protected her. But I can’t say anything.”
“Why not?”
The girl’s voice dropped to barely more than a whisper. “I’d lose everything. I’d be kicked out of school. I’d go to prison.”
“Prison?”
Delaney nodded fiercely.
“Have you talked to a lawyer about this?” Serena asked.
“No.”
“Then whatever this secret is, you’re probably in a lot less jeopardy than you think. Did this happen two years ago? You were what, fifteen years old back then? It takes a lot for someone that young to go to prison. I can’t see you doing the kinds of things that would put you there.”
Delaney hesitated. “Could we talk off the record or something? Could you promise not to tell anyone and not do anything about it?”
“I won’t lie to you, Delaney. No. That’s not possible. If you tell me something involving a crime, I have to pursue it. But I can promise to move heaven and earth to keep you safe.”
She saw a dark misery overtake the girl’s face. Whatever the secret was, it was destroying her. It had been festering inside her for two years, taking over her life like a cancer.
And still she didn’t talk.
“Delaney, I met with Zach’s parents today,” Serena said.
Those words landed on the girl like a burning arrow. Her eyes flew open with terror. She inhaled sharply, and her hands squeezed into fists.
“I also talked to someone at the garage about Zach’s father. It sounds like he and your mother had a serious argument shortly before her death. Do you know what that argument was about?”
The girl sat frozen in silence, but cracks had begun to form in the ice.
“Was it about you?” Serena asked.
She heard Delaney’s quick, frightened breaths.
“Did Mr. Larsen do something to you?” Serena went on. “I know he took you home after the camping trip that Sunday. It was just you and him in the car. I know that the very next day, everything began to fall apart between you and Zach. Delaney, if he assaulted you in some way, he should be punished for it. It’s not your fault. What’s more, if your mother knew about it and confronted him, then it’s possible that he was involved in your mother’s death.”
Delaney squeezed her eyes shut. She shook her head. “You’re wrong.”
“Am I?”
The girl was silent.
“Did something happen between you and Mr. Larsen?”
Delaney opened her eyes again and took Serena’s wrist. “Please, can’t you drop it? Can’t you let it go?”
“No, I can’t. If an adult assaulted an underage child, I’m not going to let that go. I’m going to follow it until I know what really happened. If he’s guilty, I’m going to see that he’s punished. And the fact that someone tried to kill you tonight tells me that whatever is going on is not over. Look, Delaney, I understand the shame you feel. I understand how you can blame yourself. I’ve been there. It happened to me. I carried the burden for years. I still carry it. But if I could tell my teenage self one thing, it would be to fight back, rather than run away.”
The girl stared into space. Her breaths came quickly.
“It wasn’t his fault,” she murmured. “Mr. Larsen. It wasn’t his fault. It was mine. It was me.”
“You were fifteen years old. Nothing was your fault.”
“No. It was my idea. I tricked him. I knew he had a thing for me, and so I gave him what he wanted. I needed his help, and I needed him not to tell anyone about it.”
Serena shook her head in confusion. “I don’t understand.”
The floodgates opened. Delaney sobbed. Her whole body convulsed, and she threw her arms around Serena’s neck. When she spoke, her voice was so clouded by tears that Serena struggled to understand her.
“There was an accident.”
33
Stride and Maggie talked with the doctor in the darkened corridor outside Chelsey Webster’s hospital room. Inside, they kept a close eye on Gavin as he sat in the chair beside his wife’s bed and held her hand. Chelsey was sleeping, one arm hooked up to intravenous fluids. She’d been cleaned and treated, and her hair washed, and she again looked like the beautiful woman she was.
“What’s her condition?” Stride asked. “How is she?”
The doctor was a slim woman in her fifties with short gray hair. She sipped a cup of coffee as she spoke to them. It was nearly midnight, and the hospital corridor was dark and quiet.
“Given what she’s been through, she’s very lucky,” the doctor said. “The wounds she suffered during the abduction were superficial and have mostly healed already. There’s no evidence of concussion. She was dehydrated, but we’ve had her on fluids and liquid nutrients since she got here, and her numbers are already much better. My biggest concern in cases of extended exposure would be hypothermia, but as I say, she was lucky. She was wearing bulky clothes, and the hole in which they buried her must have provided a certain amount of insulation. Her body temperature was in the safe zone when the ambulance brought her in. Had she been out there much longer — given the heavy rain today — it’s likely her condition would have deteriorated quickly. The fact that you found her when you did saved her life.”
“How long would you expect her to stay in the hospital?”
“Well, we’ll keep her overnight for observation, but there’s really nothing wrong with her. I’m going to suggest some additional tests in the morning, but if those come back with no red flags, there’s no reason she couldn’t be released in the afternoon.”
“Would we be able to ask her some questions when she awakens?”
“That’ll be up to her. Just keep it short if you do.”
“Thank you, Doctor,” Stride said.
“Of course.”
She walked away down the hospital corridor, and Stride and Maggie stayed outside Chelsey’s room. Gavin noticed them hovering there, and he frowned unhappily. He had a rumpled look, his hair a mess. His blue eyes were shot with red, and his face was streaked where he’d been crying. The lawyer gently detached his hand from his wife’s and then got up and joined them in the corridor.
“Do you have to be here now?” he whispered impatiently.
“We want to make sure your wife is okay,” Stride told him. “She’s been through a traumatic experience.”
“Then let her rest.”
“We will, but we’ll need to talk to her when she wakes up.”
“I want to be there when you do,” Gavin snapped.
Maggie, who still looked ice-cold even though she’d changed into dry clothes at the station after returning from Fredenberg Lake, shook her head firmly. “We need to talk to her alone.”
“I’m her husband. And a lawyer.”
“You’re also a suspect in her abduction,” Maggie snapped.
Gavin exhaled with disgust. “Are you still pursuing that nonsense? Chelsey confirmed everything I told you, didn’t she? The home invasion on Tuesday? The phone calls?”