Where Truth Lies (9 page)
“Don’t you think I know that? Josh does, too, although he won’t admit it. He didn’t want to arrest your father, but dammit, man, the way your father stormed out of Pat’s with murder in his eyes—”
“He went home to confront Denise.”
“But he can’t prove it. He has no alibi between the time he left Pat’s and the time the police came to arrest him.”
Matt leaned forward, his voice barely above a whisper. “He was framed, George. Whoever set him up was very clever about it. He knew my father’s habits, knew where he kept his gun and knew that he would go into orbit when he heard about Denise.” He straightened up. “And the Badger brothers have something to do with it.”
“What?”
“Why else would they choose that precise moment when my father entered the pub to start talking about Denise?”
“To rile him. They never liked him, you know that. When your father was police chief, those two spent more time in jail than on the job site.”
“I’m not buying it.”
George looked around him, as if to make sure no one was eavesdropping. “Look, Matt, Josh is giving you a lot of leeway here, and I’m glad. In fact, I encouraged him to do just that, but going after the Badger brothers?” He shook his head. “That scares the shit out of me.”
“Don’t worry about me. I can handle the Badger brothers.”
“Who said you’re the one I’m worried about?”
“I
’m glad you called.” Sitting on Steven’s sofa with her hands cupped around a coffee mug, Denise kicked off her shoes and made herself comfortable.
“I didn’t mean for you to come over in this downpour,” Grace replied. The intermittent rain had intensified at rush hour, saturating the roads and causing traffic jams throughout the county.
“I didn’t want you to be alone when Bernie got here.”
“I thought you said he was harmless.”
“He is, but…” She shrugged. “I just thought you’d be more comfortable if I was here.”
Grace held back a smile. Like it or not, Denise had appointed herself Grace’s friend and protector, with everything the title entailed.
“He won’t mind my being here,” she continued. “I’m one of the few people in this town he likes. Maybe because he knew about Steven and me.”
“I wasn’t aware of that.”
Denise took another sip of her coffee. “He saw us kissing one day in the gallery’s back room. I was mortified, and worried, but Steven was cool about it. He just made Bernie promise not to tell a soul, and that was it.”
“Who would he tell, if he doesn’t talk to anyone?”
“Unfortunately, he must have told someone, unintentionally of course. You can imagine what happened next. That someone told another person, and before you knew it, we were the gossip du jour at Pat’s Pub.”
“Did you ask Bernie if he had let it slip?”
“He swears he didn’t, but I’m not sure I believe him—not that he’s a liar or anything,” she hastened to add. “It’s more like…he was scared or something.”
“Scared of—” Loud banging on the front door made Grace jump.
“Help!” a female voice shouted. “Please help! A car went off the road and into the river!”
Denise and Grace scrambled to their feet and ran to the door. A woman in an ankle-length navy raincoat stood on the front porch.
“Maureen,” Denise said. “What are you doing here? What’s wrong?”
The woman pointed frantically toward the river. “A car just went over the bank,” she shouted. “And I don’t have a phone!”
“Denise, call 9-1-1,” Grace said. Then, turning back to the woman, she added, “Where exactly did it happen?”
“Follow me.” The rain had stopped. They started running, crossing the slick, winding road. “That’s my car,” the woman said, pointing at a van with its headlights turned toward the river. “Can you see it? Can you see the car in the water?”
Grace ran down the embankment. “Oh, God.”
It was already half-submerged. Grace could see the driver, frantically trying to open the door. His eyes were filled with panic as he looked back at them.
Denise had caught up with them. “A rescue team is on the way.” She bent at the waist, peering through the bright headlights. “Dear God, is that Bernie? Maureen, is that Bernie?”
Maureen came to stand beside her. “It
is
Bernie!”
Grace, too, recognized him. “Do you have a tire iron in the van?” she asked Maureen.
“Yes.”
“Get it, please. Hurry.”
Maureen was back within seconds and handed Grace the tire iron.
Focusing on only one thing—saving that poor man—Grace walked into the icy water.
“Grace!” Denise cried. “Are you insane? The current! You’ll drown!”
“I’ll be fine. Go get some blankets.”
The water quickly reached Grace’s waist as she got closer to the car. She took slow, careful steps, her arms extended over the water for better balance. The current was strong, but fortunately, the car hadn’t begun to drift yet. She thanked her father for making her take those lifesaving classes years ago. The training would come in handy, although she never had to do a river rescue before.
The water level inside the car was rising, and only Bernie’s head was visible now. The look on his face was one of sheer terror. He was screaming something at her and although she couldn’t hear the words, she could read them on his lips.
“I can’t open the door!”
She pointed at her chest, signaling she was going to try.
But just as she reached the handle, there was a loud sucking sound and the entire car disappeared under water.
“I
’m going to need help,” Grace shouted over her shoulder. “Denise, get in here.”
“In the water?”
“Yes, in the water. I’ll try one door, you try the other.” She held on tightly to the tire iron, ready to use it if she had to.
“I can’t swim!”
She couldn’t swim? Who couldn’t swim?
“It’s not that deep. All you need to do is hold your breath and follow my lead.”
Denise shook her head and took a few steps back. “I can’t! I’m terrified of water.”
Grace took a deep breath and went down.
The car had settled on the bottom of the river, which, at this particular spot, wasn’t very deep. Grabbing hold of the handle, she tried to open the door, but it wouldn’t budge.
Her lungs felt as if they were about to explode. With one kick, she went back up, took a big gulp of air and went back down, aware that Denise was screaming something at her. This time, she swam around the car to the passenger’s door, but it, too, was stuck.
She swam back to the driver’s side, trying to stay calm, and not look at Bernie’s terrified expression. Treading water now, she motioned for him to get away from the window. Then, holding the tire iron with both hands, she broke the glass.
The force of the water rushing in thrust Bernie back, but now that the pressure inside the car was off, Grace was able to open the door and pull Bernie out.
One hand around his waist, she gave a strong kick, then another, and at last, they broke through the surface.
She only had to swim a few strokes until she could stand. Still holding on to Bernie, she pulled herself onto the wet grass and fell to her knees, exhausted.
Denise quickly wrapped a blanket around her shoulders while Maureen did the same with Bernie. “You crazy girl,” she said. “You could have drowned.” She knelt beside Grace. “Are you all right?”
“Yes.” Between deep breaths, Grace looked up. “You really can’t swim?”
“Not a stroke. I’m surprised I managed to get this close to water without having a panic attack.”
“I don’t know anyone who can’t swim.”
“I almost drowned when I was eight. It took me a year to find the courage to step into a bathtub. I’m sorry. I wasn’t much help, was I?”
“Don’t worry about it. Bernie is fine, that’s all that matters.” Grace turned to look at the man she had pulled out of the water. Except for a few cuts on his hands from the glass, he seemed fine.
“Here they come!” Maureen said when the wail of a siren broke through the night. She ran up to the road and started to gesture wildly.
Within moments, the riverbank was flooded with lights. Two men in green scrubs jumped out of a rescue vehicle while a cruiser let out two uniformed officers. A third car pulled up behind them and Chief Nader stepped out, wearing a yellow slicker and a matching hat.
“What the hell happened out here?” he demanded.
While the paramedics examined Bernie’s hands, Maureen and Denise gave a rather incoherent account of what had just taken place. Somehow, the chief made sense of it all. He looked toward the river, where Denise was pointing, before looking back at Grace. “
You
rescued Bernie from the bottom of the river?”
“It was either that or let him drown.”
“You could both have drowned,” he said in his chief’s voice. “This river can be treacherous at times, especially in bad weather.”
“I’ll remember that next time,” she said dryly.
As though aware that he had been insensitive, the chief tried to make amends. “What you did was very brave, Miss McKenzie. Are you sure you’re all right?”
“The paramedics say I am.” She just wanted to go home, slip into a hot bath and go to bed, but the chief wasn’t finished yet. He was barking orders, telling his deputy to call a crane or whatever was needed to pull the car out of the river.
When he was done, he turned to Bernie. “Now, Bernie, tell me what happened. Were you driving too fast? Or did you fall asleep at the wheel?”
Wrapped in Maureen’s blanket and no longer shivering, Bernie gave an emphatic shake of his head. “Neither. Someone in a pickup truck pushed me into the river.
Intentionally.
”
The chief and his deputy exchanged glances. “Pushed you? Maureen didn’t say anything about someone pushing you into the water.”
“That’s because I didn’t see it happen,” Maureen interjected. “I was driving up the road when I heard a loud plop and saw the car in the water.”
“I was hit from the back twice,” Bernie continued. “But I managed to keep the car on the road. That’s when the pickup started hitting me on the driver’s side. He kept doing it until I went rolling down the embankment.”
“Did you recognize the pickup? Or the driver?”
Bernie shook his head.
“What color was the truck?”
“I don’t know—dark, maybe dark green.”
“Did you read the license plates? Or part of it?”
Bernie shook his head again. “I was too concerned about staying on the road.”
Although he looked skeptical, the chief turned to his deputy. “I want a county-wide search for a dark-colored pickup truck, possibly green, with heavy front end and side damage.”
He turned back to Bernie. “What were you doing on this road at this time of night? Don’t you live clear across town?”
Bernie glanced at Grace, who answered for him. “He was coming to see me, Chief. I found a tackle box that Steven had bought for Bernie’s birthday and I wanted to give it to him.
“In fact,” she added, “if it’s all right with Bernie, he can come and dry off at the cottage. Steven has a closet full of clothes that I’m sure will fit him.”
“I don’t know.” The chief scratched the back of his head. “The paramedics tell me they want to take you both to the hospital for a checkup.”
“I don’t need a checkup. I’m fine.”
“I don’t need a checkup, either.” Bernie’s tone was firm. “But I’d like to call my sister at the hospital so she won’t worry when she hears what happened.”
The chief handed him his cell phone. Bernie talked for a little more than a minute before handing it back. “She said it’s okay for me to go to the cottage with Ms. McKenzie. She’ll pick me up after her shift.”
“All right,” the chief said. “But I’ll need you to stop at the police department first thing tomorrow morning and give me a signed statement. You, too, Maureen.”
“I’ll be there, Chief. May I go now?”
“Yes.”
“What’s going to happen to my car?” Bernie asked the chief.
“We’re not going to be able to pull it out until morning, but once we do, it’ll be evidence in an accident of a suspicious nature. That means that I’ll have to impound it. As far as driving it again—” he shook his head “—I’m afraid that after the bath it took, it’ll probably be totaled.”
Bernie gave a resigned nod, then, at Grace’s invitation, he started walking up the slope, followed by Denise.
