Page 22 of Little Dark Deeds

CHAPTER 10

Ron Wheeler wiped hiseyes, blowing his nose into a handkerchief as we made eye contact.The first thing I wondered was how long he’d been standing there, listening to Silas and I go over all the horrifying details of his daughter’s tragic end.

I stood and approached him, pulling him in for an embrace.Then I took a step back and said, “Hey, I ...I’m sorry it took me so long to get here.I just heard the news about Tiffany this morning, or I would have been here sooner.”

“How was the wedding?”

“It was ...”

Not right to talk about my best day when it was his worst.

“Listen, with all that’s happened, we don’t need to talk about it right now,” I said.

“Oh, I don’t know.It beats talking about the reason we’re all here.Wouldn’t you agree?”

His eyes were bloodshot, puffy and red, and I was certain he’d done a fair amount of mourning in the last twenty-four hours.His hair was disheveled and sticking out all over, like he’d wrapped his hands around a live wire.And his clothes were loose and wrinkled as if they’d been worn for hours on end.

I doubted he’d slept much at all.

He looked at me like he knew I was making a silent assessment of his person.As if sensing the awkwardness of the situation, Silas gave me a nod and ducked out of the room.With the two of us alone, I wasn’t sure what to say or what to do.Maybe it was because there wasn’t anythingtodo.No amount of consoling him would change the fact that his daughter was dead.

“Ron, I ...”

“You know what I keep thinking?”he said.“What if I had arrived earlier to pick her up for the airport?Thirty minutes, an hour, two hours.I could have saved my little girl, and none of this would have ...”

As soon as the words left his mouth, he bent over, his shaking hands pressing onto his knees as he began saying “what if, what if ...”over and over again.With each repetition, he became louder, the sounds of a broken father echoing throughout the house.

It wasn’t long before Foley rounded the corner, eyes wide when he saw Ron.

He approached us, placing a hand on Ron’s shoulder.“Ron, you shouldn’t be here right—”

Wiping the tears from his eyes, Ron said, “Oh, come off it, Foley.This ismewe’re talking about, the former mayor of the city, may I remind you.”

“I understand, it’s just ...protocol.”

“Screw protocol.I’m her father.I have every right to be here.”

“It’s just, we’re still processing the scene.”

“No kidding.I won’t touch anything if that’s what you’re worried about.”

“It would just be better if you—”

Ron thumbed in my direction.“Oh, so what you’re saying is it’s okay for Georgiana to be here, but not me?Haven’t heard you askherto leave yet.”

Foley gave me a nervous, look like he was struggling to come up with an adequate response.He landed on, “I’ve asked Georgiana to assist us on this case.”