Running on Empty (18 page)

The closer of which was now the mayor of her hometown, sitting in the chair next to
her and across the desk from the chief.

'I did not,' Bobby said. 'I merely asked—'

'Enough, already,' Chuck thundered. 'This is why law enforcement in a small town is
such a pain in the ass. Everyone's a buttinsky.'

Now both Bobby and AnnaLise looked at him.

'I'm just saying.' The chief centered a piece of paper on the desk in front of him.
'So here's what we know and, I should add, this is all — or will be — public knowledge.'

He raised his thumb. 'One, there was blood on the cane belonging to Ichiro Katou.'

Bobby flinched.

'Two.' Index finger. 'Mrs. Peebly is absolutely positive...'

AnnaLise leaned forward.

'… that she's not sure if the cane was there or not when she put her car away yesterday.'

A released breath AnnaLise hadn't realized she'd been holding. 'Maybe Mrs. Peebly's
covering for someone.'

'If only,' Chuck said. 'When I knocked on your neighbor's door this morning, all she
was wearing was her nightgown. A diaphanous nightgown. Any cover-up would have been
much appreciated, believe me.'

'Diaphanous, huh?' AnnaLise said. 'Who says you don't talk fashion?'

Chuck's glare made it very clear who said it. And what his job was.

Properly put in her place, AnnaLise said, 'I was saying to Bobby that maybe Mrs. Peebly—'

A knock on the door interrupted her, and a nervous officer stuck his head in. 'Chief,
there's—'

A manicured hand swept him out of the way and Bobby's mother swept in. Daisy and Mama
were close behind.

'May I ask what is going on here?' Mrs. B demanded.

'To be frank?' Chuck remained seated. 'No.'

Mrs. B hesitated, though whether it was because she didn't understand the sentence
structure or wasn't used to being told no, wasn't clear.

Mama took advantage of the opening. 'AnnieLeeze, have they arrested you?'

'Arrested me?' AnnaLise leaped to her feet. 'Wherever did you—'

'Girl, the whole town's talking,' Mama said. 'That the chief here came out from seeing
Mrs. Peebly and then up and took you and Bobby into custody.'

'I did not,' Chuck said, rising now, too, if slowly.

Meanwhile, Daisy had somehow slipped into AnnaLise's seat. 'Told you so,' she said,
folding her arms and crossing her legs.

'Bobby and I were merely having a... discussion,' AnnaLise said.

'Looked more like a fight from where we were sitting,' Mama put in. 'Ain't that right,
Daisy?'

'Yes, ma'am.' AnnaLise's mother was busy looking around the office.

Mrs. B seemed to have gotten a second wind. 'What are you doing about all this, Chief?
I understand an assault weapon was found in Lorraine's garage.'

'Assault weapon?' AnnaLise squeaked. 'It's a cane, not an AK-47. Besides, our garage
is unlocked. Anybody could have put anything in there.'

'Just what are you insinuating?'

'Me? What about you?' AnnaLise and Bobby's mother were toe-to-toe now.

'Do not use that tone with me, missy.'

'Ma...' Bobby got up, too.

'And you, do not "ma" me, child.'

'Child?' Daisy cupped her hand over her mouth like a kid caught telling secrets. 'But
he's... old.'

'You stay out of this, Lorry,' Mrs. B snapped. 'Mind your own business.'

Daisy twisted to face the woman, tears springing to her eyes. 'Don't you dare yell
at me, Ema Sikes. I am just trying to help.'

Mrs. B's mouth dropped open in astonishment as she realized what AnnaLise knew the
moment she saw tears in her mother's eyes.

Daisy Griggs — the adult version — did not cry. Not even when her young husband had
died. But apparently Lorraine 'Lorry' Kuchenbacher still could. And did.

'What are you going to do?'

Bobby and AnnaLise had returned to the Griggs' kitchen. And also to being friends.

'I don't know.' She walked over to glance up the stairs to where Mama and Daisy, now
seemingly back to normal, were watching television in one of the two bedrooms.

'What I
do
know,' AnnaLise said, sitting back down and drumming her fingers on the table, 'is
that I can't leave tomorrow like I planned.'

'Are you going to bite my head off if I tell you I'm glad? I've missed you.' He raised
his hands as if to ward her off. 'Platonically, I mean.'

'I've missed you, too,' AnnaLise said. 'And I'm sorry I yelled at you. I'd forgotten
what it's like to have a friend without limits on what you can tell him.'

She stared off into the distance for a moment and then met his eyes. 'Especially things
you've been afraid to tell yourself.'

Bobby covered her hand with his, probably to quiet the drumming. 'Saying something
out loud makes it real, remember? That's what we always thought as kids, at least.'

'Which is why we never 'fessed up, even to each other, about breaking Mrs. Peebly's
window.'

Bobby nodded. 'I looked at you and you looked at me.'

'Then we ran away as fast as we could and hid in the crawl space under the market.'

He nodded again. 'And got stuck down there.'

'Three hours, and not one word was spoken about that window.'

'Until now.'

Silence.

'Bobby, I
hate
that crawl space.' AnnaLise gave his hand a squeeze before pulling away her own.

'So say it.'

'Say what? That we broke Mrs. Peebly's window? There, it's been said.' She stood up
to open the refrigerator door. 'You want something to drink?'

'No. And that window's not what I'm talking about and you know it.'

AnnaLise turned, can of Diet Coke in her hand. She held it out to him like a wireless
microphone. 'So tell me, Mayor Bradenham. What things do
you
think I'm not admitting to myself?'

He took the can away and set it on the table, but that didn't stop AnnaLise.

'Let's see.' She plopped into her chair and popped the top on the soda. 'How about
that I thought I was crazy in love with a married man in Wisconsin who, as it turns
out, is pretty crazy himself?'

Bobby's eyes widened.

'That when I came to my senses and ended it, he apparently wasn't listening, because
he keeps texting and calling.'

She lifted the cellphone which had been face down next to her hand. It showed nineteen
incoming messages. AnnaLise slammed it back onto the tabletop.

'Have you contacted the police up there?' Bobby asked, reaching out to cover her hand
again.

'The police?' AnnaLise wanted to laugh. 'Now
that
would be a little awkward. He's the district attorney. Besides, he hasn't been threatening.
He just — ' she shrugged — 'wants me back.'

'Can't blame him for that.' The smile on Bobby's face invited her to smile back.

She tried. 'I'm sorry to unload like this, Bobby. It's just...' She pulled back her
hand once more and looked skyward, blinking back tears. 'This is my fault. I had an
affair with a married man. A high-powered one at that, so—'

'So you've been keeping this all bottled up inside you.'

AnnaLise bit her lip. 'Who could I tell?'

'Me, Annie,' Bobby said. 'You can always tell me.'

She studied his face. It wasn't — wouldn't ever be — that of a lover, but Bobby was
her best friend. How could she have forgotten that?

'I know. And now I have and, buddy — ' a nervous laugh — 'aren't
you
sorry?'

'Never. What can I do?'

'You've already done it.' AnnaLise drew in a deep, amazingly cleansing breath, then
let it out. 'Thank you.'

'Any time.'

'The real question for me now is... Daisy.'

'There's something very wrong,' Bobby said. 'You do know that, right?'

'Hell, I knew — or feared —
that
when I decided to come back here. Alzheimer's, dementia — I've been trying to convince
myself otherwise, but...' She shrugged.

'Listen, Annie. I don't blame you for being afraid. That spell in Chuck's office was...'

'Creepy,' AnnaLise finished for him. 'And you're right, I am scared. Scared for Daisy
and — I'm so ashamed — but I'm scared for me, too. Despite everything that's haywire
with my life up north, I don't want to stay in Sutherton for the rest of it.'

Now she put her hand out to him. 'I'm sorry, Bobby, but I don't.'

'Not to worry. I'm the mayor and sometimes
I
don't want to be here.'

'But you are.' AnnaLise shook her head. 'You're a good person, Bobby. Me? I'm selfish
and self-absorbed — the prodigal daughter — what kind of caregiver does that combination
make?'

'Human, Annie. Forgive yourself.'

She mustered the ghost of a smile. 'First you want me to talk to myself, now you want
me to forgive myself? What is this? Do-it-yourself confessional?'

He grinned back. 'You're not Catholic. What do you know about repentance and absolution?'

'Not much, but I'm aces on guilt. You Catholics don't have anything on us Lutherans
when it comes to that.'

When Bobby let that lie, AnnaLise squared her shoulders. 'OK, first thing I'm going
to do is get Daisy in to see Dr. Stanton. Tomorrow. Second, I'm going to contact my
boss at the paper and tell her I need to take some personal leave. Then...'

'
Then
you'll go on from there,' Bobby said. 'No need to make any further decisions right
now, and you've got a lot of good friends here to help you with future ones.'

'Right.' AnnaLise picked up her cellphone and moved toward her computer.

'And one more thing?'

She turned. 'Yes?'

'Don't you dare underestimate yourself, Annie. You
can
take care of Daisy. No matter what.'

AnnaLise closed both eyes, tears now really threatening to fall. 'How can you possibly
know that, when even I don't?'

'Because you already are.' Bobby's voice was low. 'And you always have, ever since
the day your daddy died.'

AnnaLise Griggs began to sob, then shudder, until she felt Bobby Bradenham's hands
clamp on her shoulders. First gently, then more strongly, helping his friend keep
herself together, while she allowed herself the first full-body cry since the age
of five.

Crying for a father she'd barely known, and a childhood she knew was past.

Words. You can place them on the page or on the wind, but can you ever take them back?

Though that was precisely what AnnaLise had considered doing with both Dickens Hart's
check and archived memories as she'd toted the boxes out of her car and up the staircase,
on each trip barely clearing her father's old gun cabinet that stood on the landing
to the upper level.

Stairs safely negotiated, AnnaLise had dropped the boxes in her bedroom. She couldn't
see the bed or dresser past all Hart's crap, but AnnaLise did feel better when the
stevedoring was done.