Page 20 of I’ll Be Watching You

“I’ve never seen her like this,” I said after a moment. “She’s faced killers and rapists in court, and until now, I have never seen her scared. She said ‘they,’ like there’s some big conspiracy behind Dr. Klein’s death. She knows more, I’m sure of it. She said if they thought she knew what my dad knew, she’d already be dead. How do you believe something like that and act normal for three and a half years?”

Even as I said it, doubt crept in. She hadn’t been normal, not really. She’d been adamant I stop investigating. Furious when I found Georgia in February. We’d fought and not spoken for months. That wasn’t normal at all. Sure, the arguing was normal, that was par for the course while I was growing up, but it would end after a day or two and we’d be fine.

How did she know I had spoken to Georgia at all? I don’t know why I didn’t think about it at the time. I’d denied it and she knew I was lying and I didn’t care. But now, in hindsight, there was something very bizarre about that whole exchange.

“Do you think your parents were threatened?” Cal asked. “And that’s why your dad confessed?”

“I honestly don’t know what to think.” But when he said it, coupled with what Mom said this afternoon, it seemed logical.

He patted the couch beside him. “Come here.”

I sat down, more from exhaustion than obedience, leaning into him without meaning to.

“I’m glad you’re here,” I said.

“You’re not getting rid of me.” He kissed the top of my head. “But you need to be careful. Until you know what’s really going on, you don’t know where the danger is.”

“I am. I will.”

“It’s not the threats you can see that scare me,” he said quietly. “It’s the ones you can’t.”

He was right. All I had was my training, my instincts, and while I had never doubted either in years, I felt that they’d failed me this time.

“Did you tell Jack?” Cal asked.

“Not yet. After Mom and I talk to Dad, once I have some answers, I’ll call a family meeting.”

“Right now I don’t think the Swansons’ killer knows you’re involved,” Cal said. “But the more questions you ask, the more you put a target on your back.”

“Are you going to go all overprotective Neanderthal on me?”

“Well,” he said lightly, “I suspect Neanderthal women were pretty self-sufficient.”

I grunted. I wasn’t in the mood for jokes, but I did grant him a small smile.

“But yeah,” he added softly. “I am protective of you. Because I care. About you, about what you’re doing, about how this hurts you. Whatever you need, whenever you need it, I’m here.”

I exhaled, tension sliding out of me just enough for me to wrap an arm around his chest. My head found his shoulder, and he held me, his hand running up and down my arm. I felt myself relaxing even more, in spite of everything.

“I don’t know what I need,” I said. “My mind’s spinning. I wish I could go to the prison tonight and tell my dad that I’m not leaving until I know what he knows.”

“When do you leave?”

“I’m picking Mom up at eight.”

“Then you have a plan.”

“Talk to my dad. Force him to tell me the truth.”

“And if he doesn’t?”

“Mom will be there. She promised to make him talk. She knows, Cal. Maybe not every detail, but she knows why he pled guilty.”

“Why protect a killer? If it’s not your father, why would he protect anyone? Who would your parents protect?”

I opened my mouth to say I don’t know, but then I hesitated.

“What?” Cal pressed. “What were you going to say?”