“She called me. Some customer had been a jerk, and I heard Jimmy in the background,” Augustus went on, his eyes moving toward him, mournful and sad. “I could hear Jimmy, how excited he was, calling out, ‘Daddy’s home! Hey, Daddy’s here!’ And... and that’s when Eliza started screaming.” He closed his eyes, tears falling freely down his face.
Jimmy’s heart had twisted into a knot, hanging on Augustus’ every word. That wasn’t right. He didn’t remember his father coming home before his mother was killed. That didn’t happen until after it was already too late.
“Eliza started screaming, ‘It’s him, Augustus! It’s him!’ Jimmy was crying, he was crying so much.” Augustus took a deep breath, his shoulders shaking as a decades-old weight was finally lifted. “Jimmy kept crying, crying, ‘No, Daddy! No!’ Eliza was screaming for Jimmy to run. And the line went dead. That was the last time I ever heard her voice.”
Jimmy was frozen, he couldn’t breathe. It couldn’t be true. That’s not what happened. David wasn’t there. He wasn’t. Jimmy started panting, his fingers digging into the arms of the chair.
The night started happening all over again in his head. He couldn’t take a breath in, trembling down to his bones as his memories played the horrible event on repeat in his brain.
He saw his mother being stabbed, he saw the Man in the White Coat standing over her with the knife. He knew it wasn’t David. He couldn’t see the man’s face, but he knew deep down in his soul that it wasn’t his father.
“When I saw David, he was wearing his doctor’s coat. A white coat,” Augustus went on, his voice shaking. “Jimmy was still crying about the man in a white coat when I got there... he was confused. He saw David killing his mother, and I don’t think his mind could handle it.”
“No,” Jimmy cried, shaking his head wildly.
“Jimmy,” Cold began, attempting to soothe and quiet him.
“No! That’s, that’s not what happened!” Jimmy yelled, trying to stand up, but the world jerked violently beneath his feet. All he could hear was his own shaky breathing and his pulse drumming louder and louder, drowning everything else out as his vision went dark.
He saw something, something new. Something shiny and flickering before him. A door. He knew it was a memory from his childhood because the doorknob was the wrong height. It was so high, too high. Through the glass of the door, bleary and out of focus, he could see a flash of bright white.
Daddy! It was Daddy! His younger self was so excited, giggling as he reached for the lock.
No.
No, no, no.
“The glass. It was foggy,” Jimmy stammered, his chest shuddering as sudden clarity stole away his breath. “I thought it was my dad. But, but it wasn’t! I let... oh, my God. I let him in.I let him in.”
“You let David in,” Augustus said, tense and uncertain.
“No,” Jimmy insisted, the memories flashing vividly before his eyes. He hadn’t even realized it, but Cold was suddenly right beside him, folding their hands together. “I thought it was. I did. That’s why I opened the door. But I was wrong.”
The memory continued to move forward, the Man in the White Coat brushing by him and going straight to his mother. They were arguing. The knife, where did he get the knife? It hit her in the stomach first, and that’s when Jimmy started to sob.
No, Daddy.Not Daddy at all. It wasn’t David, but why couldn’t Jimmy see his face? Why couldn’t he see who it was that was hurting his mom?
He let him in.He let him in.
Jimmy collapsed into Cold’s strong arms, sobbing hysterically. “It’s my fault... the Man in White... I let him in the house. I thought it was my dad. But it wasn’t. It wasn’t him!”
Augustus had the decency to look upset, but he was still clearly not convinced.
“Breathe, Jimmy,” Cold ordered, his tone firm and soothing. “It’s not your fault.”
Jimmy cried harder, trembling all over. Maybe Augustus was right... maybe David...
No! Jimmy forced himself to examine the memory, as painful as it was, looking at the white coat of the man who killed his mother. It wasn’t a doctor’s coat, no, it was a white suit jacket.
The memory was shaky, but he could remember when David came home and found him and his mother later. Yes, he was also wearing a white coat, but it had his name embroidered on it, still wet from the rain. Jimmy could recall the damp feeling on his face when David hugged him close, much like the damp pressed against his cheek now from crying so much.
Jimmy slowly began to calm down, taking deep breaths. He didn’t care what Augustus said. David didn’t kill Eliza. There was another man there that night.
Holding Jimmy close, Cold gently rubbed his back, not even caring about the wetness Jimmy was leaving all over his shirt. He glanced back at Augustus expectantly, nodding for him to keep going.
“When the Luchesis contacted me to keep the case rock solid against David, I didn’t even ask why,” Augustus sighed, holding out his hands, looking at Jimmy without a hint of regret. “It wasn’t the first time they’d asked me to do something like that... and everything I ever did helped put guilty men behind bars.”
“All men who also happened to be enemies of the Luchesi family,” Cold said dryly. “Except David Poe. You didn’t find it odd?”
