Page 54 of Deeper Than the Dead

“We,” Bent corrected. “I’m pretty good with a paintbrush.”

The surprises just kept coming—from this man ... and whoever else was intent on making their lives miserable.

Luna rounded up the can of yellow paint she used to refresh the door from time to time and a couple of brushes, along with a stir stick. By the time the paint was blended sufficiently and Bent and Vera were applying it to the door, Eve and Luna were long gone. And, thankfully, so were Patricia Patton and her sidekick.

For a while Vera and Bent didn’t talk. She had a feeling he had something to say, but it required some fortification.

Finally Bent said, “I need to try and question your dad, Vee. I can’t put it off any longer.”

She’d expected that would be coming.

“Like I told you already,” Vera reminded him, “I don’t believe it’ll do you any good, but if you feel it’s necessary, then we’re okay with that.”

Although she hadn’t mentioned it to her sisters, it was unnecessary. That excuse had been for buying time, nothing more. At this point, she recognized there was no avoiding the step.

Long ago she had learned that when trouble started, it was best to choose her battles. She had a very bad feeling that the real war was yet to come.

Hillside Manor

Molino Road, Fayetteville, 2:55 p.m.

When they found her father, he sat in a chair in the garden beneath the shade of trees. Nearby, a bubbling fountain in a small pond appeared to have his interest. The residents loved the pond. It was full of koi, and whenever they were outside, one of the attendants manned the perimeter of the shallow water to ensure no one decided to take a dip or tried to catch a fish.

“Hi, Daddy.” Vera sat down next to him.

“Vee,” he said, smiling, “what’re you doing here? Did you finally decide you could leave the big city long enough for a visit?”

She smiled, grateful he seemed lucid for the moment. She’d seen him when she first arrived, but obviously he’d forgotten. He’d probably forgotten that Sheree’s remains had been found, as well.

“It was time for a visit, Daddy.”

Bent sat down on a matching bench that stood at an angle to the one where Vera and her father sat, giving all seated nice views of the pond.

“Daddy, you remember Bent, don’t you?”

“Course I do,” he said, his smile gone now. “Evelyn was always trying to help him.” He shook his head. “But I had him figured for a lost cause.” His gaze narrowed in on Bent. “Guess I was wrong.”

Maybe they really had caught him on a rare good day.

“I’ll take that as a compliment, Mr. Boyett,” Bent said. “I came by today to ask if you recalled anything from when Sheree went missing that might help us find out who took her away.”

Vera’s father shook his head. “I tried to do right by that girl. Tried to give her a nice home and everything she needed, but there was no making her happy. She just kept cheating and whoring around.”

Vera cringed. “Daddy, I need you to think carefully before you speak. You loved Sheree.”

He nodded. “I did, but I also knew what she was. I finally had enough, and I told her to leave.”

His words stunned Vera. “When did you do that?”

“Right after I found out she was back with that no-good bastard again. I told her to leave and never come back. If she did, I intended to make her regret it. I meant every word of it too.”

Oh hell. “Daddy,” Vera warned, “I’m sure you had no intention of hurting Sheree.”

“I thought about it,” he said, eyeing Vera now as if he suspected she was some stranger, “but lucky for her, she took off before I had no other choice. At least she left Luna with me. That was likely the best thing she did in her whole rotten life. I couldn’t bear the thought of her dragging that baby off to her disgusting rendezvous.”

“Can you tell me who she was involved with at the time she disappeared?” Bent asked.

The question had been asked and answered twenty-two years ago, and Vera saw no reason for him to dig up that business now. Her father had suffered enough. She started to say as much, but her father spoke first.

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