Part 28 (1/2)
”Is Heather coming, too?” Amy asked.
Ron shook his head. ”I asked her, but she won't budge.”
”It's all right,” I told them. ”Take Tracy and Jared and try to get some sleep. I'll stay with Heather.”
”Are you sure?” Ron asked.
”I'm sure,” I said. ”It's no problem.”
After Ron and Amy left, I went out into the hallway, grabbed a soda from the vending machine, and set it on the table beside Heather. ”You look like you could use a little caffeine,” I said.
She looked up at me gratefully and nodded. ”Thanks,” she said.
While she popped open the can and took a sip, I sat down next to her. ”Any word?”
”He's still in surgery.”
”What about his father?” I asked, glancing around the room. ”Is he here?”
”Not yet.”
We sat in silence for some time while I puzzled about how this young woman, a child who was as close to me as my own children, could possibly be a suspect in a double homicide. No wonder Ron was looking gray and drawn. I probably looked the same way myself.
”I didn't do it, Uncle Beau,” Heather said finally, meeting my gaze with an intense blue-eyed stare of her own. ”I heard what Dillon said. I heard him say we did it-like he and I did it together-but it's not true. I never killed anybody, I swear.”
”What did Dillon have against your aunt Molly?” I asked. ”Why would he hurt her? I thought Molly was his friend.”
Heather shrugged. ”So did I,” she said.
A pair of doors swung open on the far side of the room and a man in surgical scrubs strode into the room. He glanced briefly around the room and then settled on Heather and me. The doctor came forward, holding out his hand. ”Mr. Middleton?” he asked.
”No,” I told him. ”Sorry. I'm a friend of the family. This is Heather Peters, Dillon's girlfriend.”
”Oh,” the doctor replied and then looked around the room, scanning the other two sets of family members still lingering there. ”I was given to understand the father was on his way.”
”He is,” Heather said. ”He's coming down from White Rock, but he isn't here yet. How's Dillon? Is he going to be all right?”
The doctor looked at Heather and shook his head. ”I'm sorry, miss. With the new federal privacy rules in effect, I'm unable to release patient information to anyone other than an authorized relative.”
”But...” Heather objected. ”Can't you...”
”Sorry,” the doctor told her. ”That's just the way it is.” With that he turned and walked away.
”That's not fair,” Heather called after him. ”Just because I'm only a girlfriend...”
But the doors had already swung shut behind the retreating doctor, cutting her protestation off in midsentence.
”Maybe we should go,” I suggested. ”You must be tired. Let me take you home.”
”No,” Heather insisted. ”I'm staying.”
Which automatically meant that I was staying, too. Lamar Middleton, Dillon's father, arrived an hour later. He was a man in his mid-fifties, balding, heavyset, and clearly distraught. Heather recognized him as soon as he came through the door, and she hurried forward to greet him.
”I'm Heather,” she said. ”I recognized you from your picture. I'm so glad you're here. Dillon's doctor came out a little while ago, but since I'm only a girlfriend, he wouldn't tell me anything.”
Lamar ventured behind the swinging doors and came out a few minutes later. ”Dillon survived surgery,” he said. ”But he's in intensive care. He's stable right now, but they don't know whether or not he'll make it. What on earth happened? What's this all about?”
Heather began relating some of what had happened. It was when she reached the part about Molly Wright that Lamar slumped in his chair and covered his eyes with his hands.
”My G.o.d!” he exclaimed. ”I should have known!”
”Should have known what?”
”That Molly would be involved in this. Living a lie is always a bad idea. I tried to tell Annette that years ago, but she wouldn't listen.”
”Who's Annette?” I asked.
”My ex-wife,” Lamar answered.
”Dillon's mother?”
”Not exactly,” he said.
”What does that mean?”
”Annette and I adopted Dillon,” he said. ”But Molly Wright-she was Molly Fitzgerald then-was his birth mother.”
For me, that was when a whole lot of what had happened finally clicked into focus. No wonder Molly had been so determined to bring Dillon into the Peters family circle. She knew he was her son even if no one else did. Using Heather as bait, she had been able to keep him close to her. If Heather had moved to Tacoma, taking Dillon with her, that connection would have been disrupted; but still, did a distance of forty miles or so justify committing murder?
Heather's eyes widened. ”Did you say Aunt Molly was Dillon's mom?” she demanded.
Lamar nodded. ”Molly had broken up with her long-term boyfriend when she found out she was pregnant. At first she planned to keep the baby. Then she started to date a guy named Aaron Wright. Aaron made it clear from the beginning that he didn't want to have kids. Not ever. By then Annette and I were already married. Molly came to see us, trying to figure out what to do. For one thing, it was too late to get an easy abortion. When Molly mentioned having the baby and putting it up for adoption, Annette talked her into giving him to us.”
”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 c.r.a.p. 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.”