‘What is it?’ I ask.
‘I got a call from that detective earlier today. She left me a voicemail. I haven’t even looked at it yet. Let me just read the transcript real quick.’
She goes silent for a few seconds.
‘Well?’ I ask when she doesn’t come right out and tell me.
‘She says that she heard I'm back in town and she wants to meet with me. I guess about Joe’s death, or maybe it’s about John and Joseph.’
Daisy glances up at me.
‘Anders is sort of like a dog with a bone, isn’t she? I guess detectives have to be like that. Do you think Andy will spend money on a lawyer for me? I don’t think I should meet her without one.'
'Definitely not. I'll make sure you have a lawyer there,' I say, my hands gripping the steering wheel so tightly it creaks. 'There's no way you're meeting with her alone.'
She nods and the rest of our way back to Richmond is made in relative silence, each of us in our own heads.
We listen to music, and every once in a while, Daisy touches my hand or squeezes my thigh.
'How was Blake last night?' I ask as the hotel comes into view.
'Troubled,' she says quietly. 'We worked out ourissue, but things are worse for him now. I wish I could help him. All of you.'
'You do,' I say, giving her what I hope is a reassuring smile, 'just by being with us. Just by being you.'
She gives me an incredulous look, like there's no fucking way that's the truth.
'No, really,' I say. 'I don't think you understand howmuch we care about you, and how glad we are that you're around, how amazing being with you feels.'
'Why?' she asks, looking genuinely confused.
'Are you fishing for compliments?' I ask, teasing her a little.
She chuckles. 'Maybe. But genuinely, I don't understand. Surely I'm interchangeable with any other girl. I'm not special.'
I look over at her as we pull into the spot across the street from the graveyard. Now it’s my turn to look incredulous.
'Of course you are,' I say, flabbergasted that she doesn't understand. 'You're— You're everything to us.’
A nasty thought enters my mind and I park the car before I turn back to her.
‘Are we…interchangeable with other guys?' I ask carefully.
'Of course not,' she says, wrinkling her nose. 'But you guys are….'
I give her a look. ‘Special?’
She frowns at me as she gets out of the car.
'Yeah,' she says.
'But we can't think the same thing about you?' I ask as we sneak into the crypt and into the tunnels.
She’s silent as we walk through the underground passages and doesn't answer until we’re at the hotel and going up in the elevator to the penthouse.
'Okay,' she concedes. 'I get it. I don't understand, but I sort of understand. It's weird, isn't it? That you're so important to me and I'm so important to you?'
'Weird,' I echo.
