Cloaked in Blood (44 page)

“Confess my sins,” I said.

“And mine,” he gave me a lopsided
grin.  “Can I come in?”

I stepped aside and followed him into this
house I never intended to become attached to, the life that I swore
I could walk away from at any time.  Well, it hadn’t quite
worked out that way.  Now that I would likely lose it, I
couldn’t bear the idea of letting it go.

“Please don’t cry,” David said.  “I’m
sorry, my dearest friend.  And really, that’s all I came here
to say.  I know you’ve gotten quite the reputation for lying
to people out here, Helen, but you’re not the only one guilty of
sparing people the brutality of the truth.”

“I don’t want to do this.”

“Since when don’t you want the truth?”

Oh, I don’t know.  Since I finally
found something I didn’t want to lose by acknowledging something as
ugly as facts.

“It’s not nearly bad as you’re imagining,
Helen, I promise.”

And my truth wasn’t nearly as benign as he
imagined.

“You see, I should’ve put my foot down right
away when Rick died.  I should’ve never allowed Mark Seleeby
to go on that witch hunt, Helen.  It simply fueled the fire
when he connected with Eddie Franchetta.  Thanks to Danny
Datello, the prosecution is now convinced that Eddie’s mysteriously
changing stories about what he did or didn’t see the night Rick
Hamilton committed suicide could be linked back to his intense
dislike of you, Helen.  Danny even offered an explanation as
to why that animosity existed.”

“Oh?”  Gratitude makes even ones
nemesis offer protection in my crazy world.

“Wendell,” David sighed.  “Though I
have no idea how Danny Datello possibly found out about this, but
it seems that your father was responsible for the incarceration of
Eddie’s father, Helen, a very long time ago, even before Wendell
made the rank of detective.”

Dad.  That was how Danny learned about
Franchetta’s axe to grind with the Eriksson family. 

“I shouldn’t have let you bear the burden of
guilt over Datello’s alleged death either, Helen.  I’m glad
you, and especially Danny’s wife know the truth.”

“I’m not really angry, David.  None of
this even matters anymore, does it?”

He nodded.  “It matters because I feel…
incredibly guilty.  You see, Eddie Franchetta made all sorts
of wild claims, Helen.  Some of them were too ludicrous to
believe, but others…” his voice faded to silence.

“Like the night he claimed to see Rick
die.”

“No,” David said adamantly.  “I never
believed that, but he said some other things that we followed up
on, Helen, things that panned out.”

“What things?”  Fear lodged in my
throat, thick and suffocating.

“He said that he believed Wendell Eriksson
was contacting him, trying to blackmail him into saying very
specific things about what really happened to Rick in that
park.”

“I see,” I said.

“We connected the calls to Alfred Preston,
Helen.  And then, well, when he tried to murder Danny Datello
–”

“Oh God.  That’s why Soule was in
Darkwater Bay!”

“Yes.  We had already developed a very
deep suspicion of one of our agents.”

“Why didn’t you tell me when I asked
specifically about him, David?”

“Because we didn’t know what he was up to
Helen, beyond being one of the men with Seleeby when he accosted
you in October.  We had no idea that… well, what he was truly
doing might’ve killed more than just Datello.  I feel
responsible for that infant’s abduction.  We should’ve looked
harder, sooner.  The man should’ve been placed under a
microscope until he either confessed or went up in flames.”

I reached for David’s hand.  “It wasn’t
your fault.  The people responsible for what happened to Sofia
Datello, to all of us who were abducted, are dead now.  Well,
except for Melissa Sherman.”

“Yes, and as I understand it, she’s more
than willing to cut a deal now.”

True.  Johnny was practically dancing a
jig in the streets when she made her full confession to him and
Devlin at OSI.  That little DNA test I had Billy Withers run
on Lyle Henderson solved the final mystery – at least as far as I
was concerned.  It was a paternal match made in hell, only
Melissa had no idea that her mother and her grandfather were really
her mother and her father.  Still made me queasy thinking
about it.

“And so that’s pretty much all of it, why
you had every reason to feel paranoid.  I did lie to you, but
it wasn’t because I was looking for evidence against you,
Helen.”

“But if you had looked –”

He placed one finger over my lips.  “If
I’d looked, I wouldn’t have done anything differently.  You
know, Wendell Eriksson was a lucky man.  To call you daughter,
I can’t think of anything more wonderful, Helen.  And parents
love their children, no matter what.  They accept it all, the
good, the bad, the reasons that otherwise terrible things don’t
seem so awful after all.”

A single tear streaked down my cheek. 
“You know.”

David smiled brightly.  “I know that I
love you.  I know that you’re as dear to me as the daughter I
never had.  I know that everything worked out better than any
of us could’ve imagined, Helen, and I also know that none of it
would’ve happened if you hadn’t come here, sweetheart.  None
of it.  The case against Marcos is a slam dunk.  And
why?  Because you found that disk, because you arrested Danny
Datello, and unwittingly put him in the safest place he could’ve
been in.”

“Yeah, well somebody still got to him.”

“Well it wasn’t Sully Marcos, and because of
you
we knew that Preston needed to be watched.  Do I
wish it had unfolded differently?  Yes.  I even wish that
Aidan Conall hadn’t been a coward that tried to fight his own
son.  He deserved prison.  He should’ve lived with the
scorn of this city staring him in the face.”

“I agree, but I’m glad he can’t hurt anyone
anymore.”

“It’s important that those who harm others
not do so again,” David said gently.  “Sometimes, the second
chance is wasted, Helen.  I always hate to see that
happen.”

My sons chose that moment to voice an
opinion – with a vigorous kick.  One hand settled over the
swollen flesh.  “I know, David, and I have every reason in the
world to embrace where my second chance marriage has taken
me.  I promise not to disappoint you.”

“Have you chosen names yet?”

I laughed.  “Honestly?  We’ve been
so busy since almost the moment we found out I was pregnant, I
doubt Johnny’s even given it a moment’s thought.  I know that
I assumed he’d be John Junior, but now that there are two?  I
have no idea.”

My friend, my mentor, the gift-giver of my
second chance rose and smiled.  “I’ve always been partial to
the name David, myself, but then, that’s just me.  Take care
of yourself my dearest, and don’t wait until things are spinning
out of control before you call me again.”

“I promise,” I said. 

And this time, I actually meant it.