“I don’t believe that. You took the case because your gut told you it was the right thing to do.”
He didn’t reply for a moment, but just stared at her with stormy eyes.
“I agree, in essence,” he eventually said gruffly. “That’s why I came here, to tell you I’m completing the investigation to the best of my ability, but not for money.”
“But—”
He pointed at her. “If you think I’m going to walk away now when I’m just starting to get a picture of what was happening with my dad on that night, you’re dead wrong. And I’ve got a hell of a lot more resources than any other investigator you could hire, so you’re not going to get rid of me unless you’ve decided you don’t care anymore about what happened on that night.”
“Of course I still care!”
“Fine. Then we can do this as partners. We’re two people with a common history who are looking into events that led up to a mutual family tragedy. See, this is personal to me, Natalie. Nobody can put something this personal on ice.”
He started for the door. “Liam…wait,” she said desperately. He paused and glanced around. Was it her imagination, or did she see a trace of regret on his face? “So you’re…you’re definitely going to continue with the investigation?”
He nodded solemnly. “I’m going to watch the tape at state police headquarters tomorrow. Why don’t I stop by your house afterward, around seven o’clock?”
“Stop by my house…”
He started to walk out the door again, making her fade off. “Yeah. I’ll take you out to dinner and tell you what I saw on the tape.” He opened the door and glanced back at her. “Just two single, consenting adults enjoying each other’s company and discussing matters of a highly personal nature. Can’t get any simpler than that, right?”
He closed the door quietly behind him. The only comfort she could take from the volatile meeting was that given Liam’s ironic tone as he took his leave, he obviously agreed with her that the situation was the polar opposite of simple.
His friend Derek Oberman was nice enough to set him up with a TV, VCR and an empty conference room at the state police headquarters in Lansing. He knew Derek from his early days on the Chicago Police Department when they’d both worked west-side patrol.
Derek lingered as Liam turned on the television and prepared the tape.
“Do you want me to stay and watch it with you?” Derek asked a little awkwardly as a gray-and-white image of what was undoubtedly the Silver Dunes bar flickered onto the screen. Liam paused the tape and turned to his friend.
“Nah, you better go and look busy or your captain will catch onto you letting me in here. You’ll be getting a midnight tan before you know it,” Liam joked, referring to one of a police officer’s least preferred duties—night patrol.
Derek laughed, but looked a little relieved at Liam’s pardon as he started to back out of the room. “You want anything to eat? We’ve got some leftover doughnuts from the morning briefing.”
“No need,” Liam said with a grin. The last thing he wanted to do at that moment was eat, as nervous as he felt about watching the tape. After Derek had gone, he sat down at the conference table and clicked the play button on the VCR.
He fast-forwarded through several hours of surveillance tape until he finally saw the familiar head and shoulders appear at the bottom of the screen. His heart leaping into his throat, he rewound and hit Play again.
He’d forgotten the power of his father’s presence. The camera was placed at an angle that showed Derry Kavanaugh’s back as he sat at the bar with two men and one other woman. Liam knew that the Silver Dunes Country Club was typically crowded from Thursdays through Sundays, but this had clearly been a slow Tuesday. With no weekend sports to entertain the crowd, the television mounted behind the gleaming walnut wood bar was tuned to the news.
Derry sat a good distance away from the other people, his shoulders hunched slightly. Jack Andreason, the bartender, smiled jovially as he greeted Derry. Liam suspected Jack had served his dad many times in the past and that he was used to bantering with Derry about sports or politics. It didn’t seem to take Jack long to catch onto Derry’s mood, however. Although Liam couldn’t see his father’s face, he saw how Jack’s smile sagged after two seconds of interacting with his father. He brought Derry his drink and walked away to clean some glasses. Liam guessed from the dark color of his father’s drink that he was drinking whiskey neat.
It felt as if he’d been plugged into a low-grade electrical outlet when Liam noticed his father’s wedding ring on his right hand. His father jiggled the gold circlet with his thumb in a nervous, edgy gesture before he reached for his glass of disappearing whiskey.
Liam watched the entire period Derry was there—one hour, twenty-seven minutes and thirteen seconds of spying on the last moments of his father’s life. The longer Derry sat there, the more a pressure intensified in Liam’s chest. It was ludicrous, and he knew it, but he wished like hell he could reach through the television screen and somehow force his father not to leave that bar.
The man he watched was obviously miserable, but things would have looked better in the morning. Things were always better, come morning.
But his dad never saw another dawn.
The moment came, of course, just as Liam knew it would. Derry stood and threw some cash on the bar. Liam searched hungrily for a glimpse of his face, but he only caught Derry’s bold profile before he walked out of the frame and disappeared.
Liam sat for a full five minutes, eyes closed, his hand covering his lower face, unmoving.
Then he rewound the tape and watched the entire sequence again…and again.
She felt ridiculous for taking so much time with her appearance, but her anxiety over the matter couldn’t overpower a desire to look as good as possible. She glanced at the clock she kept on her bathroom counter.
It’s not a date, for goodness’ sake, she mentally chastised herself as she fastened her earring. He’d never said it was. They were just going to discuss what he’d observed on the surveillance tape.