‘No, it’s not important. I just came by to explain.’
‘You don’t have to do that.’
‘I know, but I want to. My father tried to kill you and Steve. You deserve an explanation.’
I’d gotten my explanation from Brennan after Mr Baker had made a full confession. With Alison and Alex’s wedding looming and all previous attempts to break up the engagement failing, Mr Baker latched onto Derek’s death threat. He crippled Alex’s car in the hopes that Derek would play the part of the scapegoat. When I began nosing around, he had to tie up all the loose ends. He mugged Paul for his camcorder recording, attempted to burn down Archway to destroy any evidence on Alex’s car with the petrol can he’d taken from Alex’s garage, and ransacked Steve’s house for the phantom videotape I proclaimed to possess. He decided to kill me when he saw history repeating itself as my bond with Alison developed. My burgeoning relationship with Alison explained how he’d been aware of my every move. Every time I shared a development with her, she told her father. But these weren’t the details Alison wanted to convey.
‘My father was loving and caring. He took Jennifer’s rejection of our family hard and her death even harder. He was never the same after that. I don’t know if someone’s heart can break, but something broke inside him. Since I was his only remaining child, he focused all his attention on me. He became obsessive, checking up on every one of my boyfriends.’
‘And giving them a few stern words,’ I said without any malice.
She flashed me a glimmer of a smile. ‘Yes. You saw what he did. I believed that was as far as he would go. Never in a million years did I think he’d take things any further. I wish I could have done something to stop him.’
‘You had no way of knowing. All you can do now is give him your love and support.’
‘I’m not sure about that.’
I hoped that wasn’t true. Her father wasn’t a bad man, just a desperate and sad one. Then, I remembered what she’d said at the banquet. ‘I want him to beg me for forgiveness. I’ll never give it, not to the person who killed Alex.’ Those were easy words to bandy around when a faceless killer was to blame, but a lot harder to stick by when they were about your own father. The mix of emotions had to be tearing her apart. I wanted to help her, but I felt the wall she was putting up in front of me.
‘Aidy, you put me in that car knowing full well I could be killed.’
‘I had to force your dad to come clean.’
‘What if he hadn’t? Would you have stopped me?’
‘Of course.’
‘You should have told me. I trusted you.’
Trusted. The past tense. The implication that she no longer did stung. I could have told her that I didn’t know for sure if her dad had killed Alex until he intervened, but there was no point. The damage was done. ‘You know I couldn’t.’
Steve poked his head out the door. ‘I’m making some tea. Can I make you some, Alison?’
She shook her head. ‘No, I have to be going.’
‘Don’t go,’ I said.
‘I think it’s best.’
‘Call me.’
‘I will.’
I watched her get into her car and drive away. I waved, but she didn’t wave back.
Steve came over and dropped an arm over my shoulders. ‘She’ll come around. She just needs time. You’ll see.’
I didn’t think so. I’d helped destroy her family. I’d dug into her fiancé’s murder only to discover her father was the killer. She’d lost her husband to be and now her dad. My interference was going to send her father to prison for the rest of his life. Someone needed to be blamed and I was the best candidate for the job.
‘C’mon, we’ve got somewhere to be,’ Steve said.
We went inside and I pulled the drop cloth off Alex’s car for the last time. I stared at the wrecked car.
‘You did right by Alex. He deserved justice and he got it thanks to you. His killer will get what he deserves. You should be proud,’ he said.
‘At what cost?’ I asked. ‘A lot of lives are a mess now.’
‘There’ll always be innocent victims.’
I had hoped for a better response from the Fannings, but I didn’t get it. Mrs Fanning had called to thank me for finding her son’s murderer. The thank you was perfunctory, which was understandable under the circumstances. I hadn’t been totally truthful about my interest in their son’s death. I called Myles Beecham and told him I’d be stepping down from the administration of the safety fund. I expected sniping, but he was very understanding and told me that was probably a good thing.
‘What’s the latest from Brennan?’ Steve asked.
Brennan called every couple of days to fill me in on the latest developments. I think this was his way of keeping tabs on me. If he kept me up to date there’d be no need for me to run off in search of the answers myself and make a mess of his investigation. Derek and Hancock wouldn’t be seen until the day of the trial. Rykov was also under protection. His own people would be eager to erase him before his trial could destroy their organization. Brennan estimated he wouldn’t last a week in prison after his inevitable conviction. Rykov was aware of his endangered status, but he refused all offers of turning against his people. He was loyal to a fault. The man was tough. I counted my lucky stars that I wasn’t in his sights anymore. Brennan expected the attempted murder charges to go to trial first seeing as it was the easiest case to prove. It’s hard for any lawyer to defend against three people being forced into a car crusher. He told us to keep our calendar free in the New Year.
I heard the familiar sound of Dylan’s car pulling up outside before he appeared in the doorway. ‘Are you two ready to go? I just got a call. A bunch of the guys are already at the salvage yard. Even Myles and Eva are there.’
‘Are we ready?’ Steve asked.
There were a lot of things that needed time before being resolved. This was one thing that didn’t. ‘Yeah,’ I said. ‘We’re ready.’
We loaded Alex’s car into Steve’s van, drove it to the salvage yard and paid our final respects to a friend.