“She won’t have to go right away,” I say while Ronnie collects the sample.
I take my phone out and look up a number. I dial and it’s answered on the first ring.
“Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office. Detective Osborne.”
“It’s Megan, Clay. I need a favor.”
Seventeen
I call Sheriff Gray while we’re on the road to Tacoma. “We’ve found Mrs. Delmont’s daughter.”
“Is she coming to identify the body?”
“I told her not to. She couldn’t possibly identify the body anyway.”
“And you’re worried about her safety,” he says.
Sheriff Gray is a smart guy, an old-time detective. “She’s going to be protected until she can get someplace safe.”
“No need to tell me where,” he says. “You can reach her if you need to, right?”
“Yes. Are you somewhere that you can talk freely?”
What I’m really asking is if he’s anywhere that Nan can use her super-hearing.
“I’m in my office. Door closed. And I’ll talk quietly. Will that do?”
He’s aware of Nan and her foghorn mouth. She tells everyone everything. “Have you heard when the autopsy will take place?” I ask.
“Tomorrow morning, Andrade said. Where are you?”
“We’re going to Delmont’s house in Tacoma to see if we can find out why she was in Port Townsend. And we’ll need to find a DNA sample. We got one from her daughter. The daughter gave us Monique’s house key and her permission.”
Sheriff Gray stays quiet and I go on, “Ronnie is doing exactly what you ordered. I won’t get her into a fight. I promise. And she’s been a big help. I’ll need her to help me search the house, anyway. And she’s the one who came up with the daughter’s information.”
“You don’t have to convince me, Megan. Just keep me informed. You don’t have any authority in Tacoma, so don’t get in any trouble that I can’t get you out of.”
Sheriff Gray is more of a father than my stepfather Rolland was—although Rolland really tried to act like a father and I knew he cared about me. “I’ll stay out of trouble,” I say.
I can’t guarantee that, of course. If Michael Rader is in Tacoma, I’m going to end him. I’ll worry about Ronnie later.
I have been to Monique’s house just the once. I don’t want to go there any more than I want to be in Port Orchard, but my past follows me. When this day is over, I might have to call Dr. Albright. She always knows the right things to say to put me back together after I have come apart.
As we cross the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, Point Defiance Park is at the tip of the peninsula. The place where Leanne was kidnapped. Ronnie’s GPS directs me toward the outskirts of the city. I let Ronnie’s GPS take us all the way to Monique’s house.
We arrive and Ronnie’s jaw drops. Just as mine did when I first saw it. The Delmont residence grabs the edge of a cliff that overlooks Tacoma and the surprisingly pristine-looking waters of Commencement Bay. It is by far the biggest and nicest house that I’ve ever seen outside of a magazine. It’s twice the size of the rental house where Monique was staying. The front door is huge and all glass. I wonder how anyone can keep such a thing clean.
The first time I saw all that glass, it made me think of Hayden and his dirty little fingers, which would have made a mess of it in about two minutes. The thought of my brother Hayden, the way we’d left things when I last saw him, makes my chest hurt. My heart is as broken as it has ever been, and that’s saying a lot. He is the last family I have. I knew he hated me before he showed up out of the blue, in Port Townsend, around a month ago. He agreed to stay the night in my spare room so we could talk it out in the morning. But he left before I woke and left a note telling me he never wanted to see me and I should stop trying to contact him. I held out hope that I could explain things. That he would somehow realize that I was his only family and forgive me for leaving him. I can see how my words hurt Gabrielle today. Monique was her world. But at least she has a son whom she loves and who still loves her. Knowing this, why do I expect the relationship between Hayden and my mother