“Not sure. He could claim he didn’t know for sure the woman did it. The ramblings of an insane woman. Find a sympathetic judge and he might get community service and a fine.”
“And you’re okay with that?” I asked incredulously. “A little girl died, and another girl was kidnapped years later!”
Mav turned to me, cocking his head at me. “I’m not saying I want him to get off. But I do get it. It’s fucked up, but that woman went insane. I’m not sure she even knowingly committed murder, and she’s dead now, thanks to you, so it’s not like we can ask her anything.”
My blood boiled. “She was holding a knife on a little girl.”
He slapped me on the shoulder. “And that’s why it’s not my job to be judge, jury, and executioner. We caught her. The little girl is home. What we have to do now is go inform Dakota’s family so they can finally be at peace.” He jerked his head at me. “Come on. They’re in my office.”
Fuck, this was gonna be bad.
We stepped into the hall, and that’s when Blake approached. “I’m going in there with you.”
“It’s not an easy conversation to have—” Mav started.
Blake lowered her voice, making sure the family didn’t overhear. “I told them I would find Dakota. I’m not staying out of it now just because it’s difficult.”
“Your choice,” he said, holding out his hand for her to enter his office.
So, there we were, the three of us crammed in Mav’s office with the mayor and Mrs. Walker. I stayed at the back of the room, letting Mav and Blake take the lead on this one.
“Mrs. Walker, I promised you I wouldn’t stop until I found the person who murdered your daughter.”
“You found him?”
“Her,” Blake breathed, gripping the woman’s hand.
I couldn’t watch as Blake explained every last detail of the case, but that didn’t mean the events of the last few hours didn’t run through my head on repeat. If I had gotten there just a few minutes later, what would have happened? Would the little girl have died?
Would Blake still be here?
“Thank you for letting me know,” Mrs. Walker said, her voice shaky.
“What about John?” Mayor Cameron asked. “I hope you throw his ass in jail and?—”
“No,” Mrs. Walker spoke up, surprising us all. “He was just protecting his family.”
“And your daughter died because of?—”
“No, she died because a woman was sick,” Mrs. Walker said to me. “All John did was try to uphold a promise to his brother.”
She took in a shaky breath. I could see that this was tormenting her.
“I don’t like that he kept what happened to my daughter a secret. I can’t deny that—that things would have been easier on all of us if we had just known. Maybe?—”
She pressed her hand to her lips as tears streaked down her cheeks. Mayor Cameron held her hand, her own eyes welling.
“Mom, he deserves to be punished.”
The woman shook her head, pulling herself together. “I will not destroy anyone else’s life to bring justice to my daughter. The woman who killed her is dead, and she’s been paying for her sins for years. Jim is dead. And John…I have no doubt the guilt is eating him alive. He’ll have tolive every day knowing that everyone in town knows what he did. Now that I know, I just want to live in peace. Dakota’s finally at peace.”
I didn’t agree with a damn word of what she said. The Callahans had made a huge mistake, and maybe it was in the name of love, but what they did was wrong. John shouldn’t be walking away with a slap on the wrist, and if the state chose not to press charges based on Mrs. Walker’s wants and needs, no one would ever pay for Dakota’s death.
“Thank you for letting us know, and for finding out the truth,” Mrs. Walker said, getting to her feet. “I think I can finally sleep through the night.”
After a few more goodbyes, the two of them left, and then it was just the three of us.
“Well, that didn’t go how I expected,” Blake sighed.
