But still. It was the principle of it. The fact this guy justwouldn’tgo away.
This was spiraling more than it had fifteen years ago. Thankfully he’d been kept away from most of it and only got updates.
Should he have done nothing when Rory came to town? Should he have just let Rory nose around for his book, scribble down his little notes, and then disappear? Maybe he’d overplayed it and showed his hand too soon.
But retreating wasn’t an option now. Not after everything he’d done.
He clenched his fists, forcing his brain to come up with the next move. Tonight, he’d try something different. Something Rory wouldn’t be able to ignore. He didn’t want it to come to this, but his options had long since been stripped away.
There was no turning back.
27
ALL BUSINESS
“How does it feel to know you’ve got everyone talking?”
He turned over in bed and groaned at Rene’s words.
“I’ve had people talking for the past fifteen years,” he said. “If not in sympathy for what happened to us, then as pity over me spinning my wheels.”
“Eventually the car will move though,” Rene said. “Like it is now. Make sure you give this asshole hell for botching my case.”
Rory laughed. He thought nothing could make him laugh in a situation like this, but Rene always did.
Was he losing his mind dreaming the way he’d been lately? It was more frequent than in the past. More heightened too.
This time was almost humorous and he hoped to hell that didn’t mean he was off track.
“I’ll make sure he knows,” he said.
“Wake up, Rory, you don’t want to be late.”
Rene clapped her hands again, like she’d done before to wake him. Only this time it was morning and the sun was shiningthrough the window. There were no sounds going on outside either.
He threw the covers back and got out of bed, then went to the bathroom to shower. Once he had some toast and coffee, he hit the road with his laptop and all the questions in his head.
Did he really think he was going to learn much new today? Not really.
This was more about looking the guy in the eyes who had fucked up his sister’s case.
The man who made it almost impossible for them to get a lead to even find Rene’s killer.
When he got to the facility, he gave his name and was shown to a room Detective Denning was sitting in alone. It’d give them privacy.
“Hi,” he said, moving forward with his hand out. “I’m Rory Connors. I’m not sure if you remember me or not?”
The guy hadn’t aged well, but he wasn’t even seventy.
Detective Denning turned his head to look at him and lifted his hand. They shook and he sat. “Hi.”
“Your son said I could come talk to you about a case you used to work on.”
“I worked on a lot of cases. Call me Scott.”
“We met before, Scott.”
“We did?” Scott asked, his eyes moving over Rory’s face, but he didn’t see any recognition in them. Not much at all, to be honest.
