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“So injuries consistent with taking a tumble in the dark. He fell off a height, hit his head and leg on the way down and then landed and hit his chest.”
“Yes, though I would not waste too much time investigating the sequence of events. I relieved the swelling on his brain, and I expect him to wake soon. He can give you his story then.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Dalton brings dinner, and I don’t even get a chance to eat it before Bruno is awake. I give my hot food to my sister, and Dalton urges her to eat it, which might actually work. The first time my sister met Dalton, she’d described him—to his face—as just another of my short-term lovers, using a term that was breathtakingly rude for my very proper sister. Within a month, she’d done a complete about-face, questioning whetherIwas good enough forhim.Dalton might say he doesn’t try to win anyone over, but he does it anyway, at least for those who value competence as much as my sister does.
Once Dalton has asked her to eat my dinner—promising he’ll get more for me later—we head inside, leaving her on the porch with Anders while I conduct the interview.
Bruno lies in the bed, staring blankly, his light brown skin almost ashen. If he hears us enter, he gives no sign of it.
“Hey, Bruno,” I say.
He glances my way then, but his dark eyes remain empty, devoid of even a spark of curiosity.
“I’m Detective Butler,” I say. “I’d like to talk about what happened to you. Do you think you feel up to that?”
He seems to weigh his answer.
“I know you probably don’t feel like talking, but we’re still looking for Penny, and I could really use your help.”
His brow furrows. “Penny?”
“She went missing the night you did.”
“Penny?” He seems to take a moment to rouse himself. “I don’t understand.”
“Neither do we,” I say with a self-deprecating smile. “Which is where you come in.”
“I… Penny?” He gives his head a shake and then looks like he’s going to vomit from the sudden movement. He swallows. “You’re saying Penny—the architect—went into the forest when I did, and now she’s missing?”
“Yes.”
“I… I know I hit my head, so maybe I’ve forgotten something, but I didn’t go into the forest with Penny or see her in there. If we both disappeared that night, I… I don’t know what to tell you.”
“Let’s start by talking about you then. Can you tell me what happened to you?”
He relaxes into the bed with a twist of his lips. “I did something really stupid. I went walking in the forest at night. I had a flashlight, but I was shining it ahead of me. The last thing I remember, I took a step, and there was nothing under my feet. I fell over a cliff or something. Hit my head, blacked out for a second and woke up when I hit the bottom.”
“And then?”
“I lay there for… I have no idea how long. I tried to crawl, but my wrist and leg hurt too much, and I kept losing consciousness. Finally, I lost it altogether and passed out.”
“Did you wake up after that?”
“I’m… not sure.” He lifts his hand, as if to make a gesture, but pain crosses his face, and he lowers it again. “I had what I think were just some really weird dreams. Maybe I was delirious?”
“Can you tell me what you thought was happening?”
“I dreamed that a wolf found me. And then the wolf was a person, and I started thinking it was some kind of werewolf, you know? A wolf one minute, a woman the next. It kept going back and forth. I’d see a wolf. Then I’d see a woman. Someone was cleaning my wounds, and I thought it was the wolf, but its tongue was cold. Then I was being wrapped up and dragged.”
“You say it was a woman?”
“Iimaginedit was a woman. It had to be a dream, right?”
“Someonedidfind you and bring you here.”
His brows knit.
