David Bell - Never Come Back

“I wasn’t thinking that at all,” I said. “Are you worried you might be in danger in Reston Point? Gordon knows where you live. He could hurt you or your family. He was already there with a knife. I’m pretty sure he broke into my apartment and trashed it.”

“I know,” she said. “But I’ve been taking care of myself for a long time. I’ve been in tight spots before. Gordon is a son of a bitch, but I’ve known my share of those as well.”

I didn’t know what to say. “Well, I’ll call you when I know anything else. And if you want to come visit Ronnie in the hospital, you can.”

She smiled, but it looked forced. She set the mug of coffee down on Dan’s table. I could tell there was something else she wanted to say. I could see her gearing up for it.

“You’ve been very nice to me. Wonderful, really. And it’s great to get to know you like we did yesterday. But I understand that you and I come from very different worlds. If you decide you don’t even want to see me or talk to me again, I understand. I have my own family, and you have a nice life here.”

“I wasn’t thinking those things,” I said.

“Well, a lot of time has passed. I don’t want to force anything.”

She stood up and grabbed her sweater. I stayed in my seat while she gathered her purse and started for the door. The water in the kitchen had stopped running. I suspected Dan was eavesdropping, monitoring my interaction with my half sister. He probably wanted to know whether I’d let her just walk away the way I’d let him go before.

When Beth reached the door, I said, “You know, it was… I guess ‘fun’ isn’t really the right word. But I liked being with you last night. I mean, it felt fun to do those things with you, like getting into the hospital and all that.”

Beth smiled. “We were like Thelma and Louise or something.”

“Right.” She didn’t open the door. I continued. “I used to ask Mom to have another baby because I wanted a sister. She always told me she was too old. Which she was.”

“How old was she when you were born?” Beth asked.

“Forty-three.”

“That is too old,” Beth said. “I already had grandchildren when I was forty-three.”

“Damn,” I said. “Well, I know Mom thought Ronnie ended up with Down syndrome because she had him so late. She told me once that the main reason they had me was so that someone could take care of Ronnie after they were gone. It used to really piss me off that she said that.”

“She didn’t mean that,” Beth said. “That’s not the only reason she had you.”

“I know that now,” I said. “In a way, meeting you and everything with Ronnie has made some of that clear. I think Mom probably had me and probably would have had more if she could just because she liked having us around. You know?”

“Yeah,” Beth said. “I know. That’s why I’m off to the soccer game on a Sunday morning.”

“I’ll call you later, okay?”

“Okay.”

She left the apartment, and I went to take my first shower in forty-eight hours.

I wanted to stay in the shower for a long time, letting the hot water keep running over my body until I turned into a prune. But I couldn’t afford the time. I knew the detectives were coming, and my mind raced with more possibilities. I worried that another shoe had dropped with Ronnie, or that everything we knew about Gordon Baxter wasn’t enough to convince them to go after him. I tried to contain the rampaging thoughts.

I toweled off in the bathroom, then stepped into Dan’s bedroom. I didn’t have much choice but to put most of my dirty clothes back on. I did borrow a T-shirt and sweater from Dan’s dresser. I hoped they would keep me from smelling too bad.

When I emerged, Dan was sitting at his desk, his books and laptop opened. But he didn’t seem to be doing any work. It looked like he was waiting for me to come out, like he wanted to talk.

“How are you doing?” he asked.

I knew he was probing, hoping to get insight into the deeper regions of my mind and soul. But who had time to go there?

“I’m fine,” I said.

“Crazy night,” he said.

“Is there more coffee?” I asked. “Or do you have tea?”

He stood up and went to the kitchen. He came back with coffee and two buttered pieces of toast. “I thought you’d be hungry.”

I was. I ate the toast so fast the crumbs flew like wood chips out of a chain saw. Dan watched me eat. Ordinarily that bothered me—it bothered me when anyone did. But today I didn’t care.

“I can make more,” he said. “Or eggs.”

“This will do for now,” I said. “They’ll be here soon.” I wiped my face with a napkin. “Thanks for letting us stay here last night. I know it’s crazy, me just showing up like that.”

“With a half sister I didn’t know you had.”

“It’s not boring around here,” I said. “Does that count for anything?”

“Not really.”

“Well, I do appreciate it,” I said. “You’ve been great.”

I downed the rest of the coffee. I needed the caffeine buzz.

“You seemed to be getting along well with Beth,” Dan said.

“Yeah,” I said. “We were thrown into the deep end together last night. But I guess being someone’s sibling is the same thing. You’re just thrown in with that person, and you have to figure out a way to make it work.”

“She’s going to make your life pretty full,” he said.

“It’s already full,” I said. “I have no idea what I’m doing at school. I have no idea what’s going to happen with Ronnie. For all I know, the cops are coming to the door with an indictment against him.”

“I understand,” he said. “I’m not trying to get you stirred up.”

“You’ve been a champ, Dan. Really. I couldn’t have made it through any of this without you.”

The doorbell rang. I went and opened it, but only after looking through the peephole first. I wondered whether that paranoia would last the rest of my life.

I let Richland and Post in. They both nodded at me and then at Dan. They looked somber and serious, which only set my mind to racing. I introduced them to Dan, but Richland explained they had met him the night before at the hospital.

“Right,” I said.

We all sat down. Richland asked, “Where were you last night?”

“Finding my long-lost half sister in Reston Point.” I nodded toward Detective Post. “I’m sure you told him about that, right? Elizabeth Yarbrough. The woman named in the will.”

Richland nodded as though he knew all about it, his big head bobbing almost comically. I hoped he appreciated the openness and transparency of his female partner.

“Is this woman around?” he asked. His hand rose in the air. “This half sister of yours?”

“She just left,” I said. “She went back to her house.”

The two detectives didn’t say anything.

“She had a family function,” I said. “A soccer game for one of her grandkids.”

“Do they play soccer games on Sunday?” Richland asked. “My kids always play on Saturday.”

“Hell,” I said. “I don’t know.” I had become more protective of Beth, even though I barely knew her. I didn’t want them to suspect her of anything, even though I could tell their detective radar was buzzing.

“We’ll have to talk to her soon,” Richland said. “And we will. But can you give us an idea of what you found out from her?”

“What I found out from her?” I asked. “Everything. I found out everything. A lifetime of stuff.”

“Care to share any of it?” Richland asked. “It might help bring some clarity to things we’ve been working on.”

“Is Ronnie okay?” I asked. “I haven’t seen him since yesterday.”