“Let’s just say he had a good reason.” She sighed raggedly. “And you guys were right. I should have pursued it further.”
“You were hurting, Savvy. No one could blame you,” Bri said.
“Have you told him what happened?” Sammie asked.
“Not yet.”
“You know you’re going to have to. Right? Even if this goes nowhere, you’ve got to tell him.”
Savannah swallowed around a sudden lump. “I know. I’m just taking it one day at a time right now.”
“You know we’ve got your back, don’t you?” Sammie said.
“Whatever you decide, we’re a thousand percent behind you,” Bri added.
“Thank you, guys. I love you.”
“We love you, too,” Sammie said.
“I hate to cut this party short, but I’ve got a lead to run down ASAP,” Bri said.
“Let’s talk about this again tomorrow,” Savannah said. “That’ll give you and Sammie a chance to read the letters and put your thoughts together.”
After saying goodbye and disconnecting from her sisters, Savannah dropped her cellphone on the seat beside her but didn’t move to start the car. As she stared out the window, her mind whirled with doubts and fears. Was this just a wild-goose chase? Should she ignore her grandfather’s letters and let this go?
Loving memories of her mother were always with her, but rarely did she allow her father to enter her mind. Avoiding thoughts of Beckett Wilde was, for Savannah, a matter of self-protection. She had learned to cope with his awful betrayal by simply refusing to acknowledge he had ever existed. And if by chance a stray thought emerged, hatred and bitterness were the only emotions she felt.
But what if he was innocent? What if it had all been a big cover-up? Didn’t she owe it to him and to her mother to find out the truth? Didn’t she owe it to herself and her sisters? And to her grandfather, who had grieved every day for his son and daughter-in-law? The answer came back a resounding yes. She had no choice—she had to find out the truth. And if it turned out that her father had indeed committed the awful crime, then nothing would be different than it had been. But if he hadn’t …
Pulling out of the hospital parking lot, Savannah headed back to Midnight. Her grandfather’s letters had to have more information than what she had read yesterday. She had rushed out to see Gibby having read only a dozen or so. Her urgency showed her just how upset she had been. Usually she picked through evidence with meticulous concentration. She had a reputation for finding invisible needles in mountainous haystacks. If there were any clues to be found, she would get them.
Which reminded her. Had Gibby talked with anyone yesterday about their conversation? Even though Harlan Mosby had been expected to die, she couldn’t get it out of her head that his death too conveniently coincided with her investigation.
She pressed a speed-dial key on her cellphone. As soon as Gibby answered, Savannah said, “Hey, Aunt Gibby, it’s Savannah. I—”
“Savannah Rose, where in heaven’s name are you? I’ve been trying to reach you all morning.”
“You have?” Pulling the phone away from her ear, for the first time she noticed that not only had she put the ringer on silent, she had five missed calls.
The phone back at her ear, she said, “Is something wrong?”
“There certainly is. I went by your house a little while ago and there was a dead possum on your doorstep.”
She had left by the side door this morning and hadn’t opened the front door. “How sad. Did it crawl up on the porch and die?” She wasn’t usually squeamish but the thought of a poor dead animal dying on her front porch wasn’t a pleasant one.
“So you haven’t talked to Chief Tanner?”
“Zach? No, I haven’t. I left for Mobile early this morning.”
“Mobile? What for?”
“I wanted to talk to Harlan Mosby.”
“But he’s dead.”
Savannah rolled her eyes. She probably could have saved herself a trip if she had bothered to wait until later. The news of Mosby’s death would have reached Midnight quite early. If anyone had been at Faye’s this morning, his passing would have been the main topic of conversation.
“I didn’t know he’d died until I got to the hospital.”
“You need to come on home and soon.”
Admittedly, having a dead animal on her doorstep wasn’t pleasant, but there was a strange tension to Gibby’s voice. “What’s wrong?”
“Just come home, honey.” The energy and liveliness in Gibby’s voice was missing. For the first time in Savannah’s memory, Gibby actually sounded like