"Sir,I'm sorry. Her phone seems to have been shut off." Dewayne came into the room.
"How do you know that?" I demanded, pacing my office. I gnawed on my knuckle and glanced out the window. It'd been almost three weeks since I'd sent Daisy back across the lake. I promised to see her after I took care of Lilly's body, and I hadn't been able to contact her since.
"Neal, sir. They said they can't get a hold of her either, but she left them a note saying she was fine and not to visit anymore."
"Fine?" I raged. Those words were notfine. And the note wasn't just to Neal. She knew I'd get wind of it. She didn't want me to come around. Why?
"I want people on the other side watching that fucking house," I ordered. "I want to know who is coming and going and when and why. Something isn't right."
"I'll get some people on it."
Over the summer, Dewayne had become my right-hand man. He was the one who came with me to the Theater that afternoon. He and Jules were the only people Icould trust to dispose of the body and clean everything up. There'd been so much blood, it took us until evening to get it all.
I was trying to keep a sense of myself, but every day that went by with no word from her made me more insane. Was it her that was staying away, or was it Max keeping her from me?
Or was it someone else entirely?
Lydia.
The photo Max had thrown in my face of the little girl sat on my desk, slightly wrinkled and bent from me constantly examining it. How could it be that she had a child?
I returned to the photo again, lifting it to study it. The little girl had the brightest blonde hair, with large, green eyes. There was no trace of Daisy in her puffy features.
I needed to know more about her. I called Dewayne back into the room.
"Yes, sir?"
"Max Stanton told me that he and Daisy have a child. A little girl, Lydia. Find out everything you can about her." I offered him the photo. He took it, and with a nod, left.
I returned to the window, ready to start my nightly routine of staring at the green light across the lake while I drank myself into oblivion, when suddenly, the light disappeared.
What?
Storming out of my office, I ran downstairs and out the door, rushing to the dock. My own green light on my dock shown brightly, calling to her, pleading for her to return to me. Hers, however, was gone to the pitch black of the night.
I had to see her. She was in trouble.
Not bothering with Dewayne, I sprinted to my car and pulled out of my estate. I sped down the road and around the lake, pulling up in front of her and Max's house.Throwing open my car, I hurried to her front door and began to pound.
"Daisy! Daisy, I know you're in there. Talk to me!" I yelled, over and over, demanding she come down. No one answered. The lights were on inside, so I knew they were home, but still, I received nothing.
"Explain the green light!” I screamed at the top of my lungs. Frustrated tears burned my eyes as I pounded the door, and suddenly, I heard sirens in the distance. I turned just as flashing blue and red lights came into view, speeding toward me. They stopped right in front of the house and leaped out of the car, holding their weapons.
"Freeze!"
I dropped my fist and turned, my hands going above my head.
"Emile Dumas, you are under arrest." A policeman, still pointing his gun at me, walked up the stairs. "You have the right to remain silent.”
"That's not my name," I countered. He dropped the gun back into its holster so he could handcuff me. "What am I being arrested for?"
"Disturbing the peace, stalking, and we'll see about some other charges when we get down to the station," the second police officer told me after they shoved me into their car.
"Stalking?" I laughed. "Who, Daisy? I'm not stalking her; we're in love." I looked up at the house. Max had finally stepped outside to talk to an officer. He shook his head and then the officer's hand.
"Sure, pal. That's what they all say. Let's go."
The other officer returned to the car and pulled onto the road. As we started off, I took one last look back and my chest tightened as I saw Daisy in a window, watching this all take place.
