Page 93 of Deeper Than the Dead

Please keep talking, Daddy.

All she needed was some idea of what the hell he was talking about. The image of those other two women’s remains kept flashing in her mind like a fluorescent light going bad.

He shook his head again, tears shining in his eyes now.

Vera felt sick that she was in some way the cause of his pain.

“I can see how you thought you were doing the right thing ...” He stared at his hands.

Vera held her breath. So often when he paused, he lost whatever he was saying or his grasp on where he was at the time.

His gaze lifted to hers once more. “I should have taken care of it.”

A new tension slid through her. She clamped her teeth together to prevent herself from saying a word. To interrupt him now would be a mistake.

“I should have protected you. It was my place.”

She leaned forward in anticipation of what he would say next.

He blinked. “Forgive me.”

What had he done? Vera silently screamed for him to go on. When he didn’t, she offered, “I forgave you a long time ago.”

He smiled, the saddest expression Vera had ever seen. Her heart fractured just a little, looking at it. Oh Daddy, what did one or both of you do?

“Be careful,” he warned, glancing around as if he feared someone might be listening. “A secret isn’t a secret if anyone else knows.”

Vera waited. Afraid to move ... to breathe. Tension vibrated in the air while the seconds ticked off, and still he said nothing more. Eventually he shifted his gaze back to the television screen and that empty expression overtook his face once more.

Vera reached out, placed her hand over his. “I love you, Daddy.”

His attention shifted to her, but there was no recognition there. “Yes, I’m ready for breakfast.”

A few minutes were required to gather herself together and prepare to leave. When she stood to go, he didn’t look up, so she left him without saying more.

Her heart ached. She hated the disease. Hated the one that had taken her mother.

She dropped by the desk and told them he wanted his breakfast, and then she hurried from the facility, the disinfectant smell suddenly overwhelming. Outside, she sat in her SUV and cried. She hadn’t meant to, but she couldn’t stop the flow. Damn it.

After a minute or so, Vera pulled herself together and called Eve. They had to figure out what secret their parents had been keeping.

It couldn’t possibly be as bad as the one she and her sister had kept for two-plus decades. Their mother had been far too kind and good to hurt anyone. Ever.

The call went to voicemail. Which meant her sister was in the process of preparing someone. Vera left a message for Eve to call as soon as she could.

Her sister needed to know about the exhumation and ... whatever the hell their father had been talking about.

She started the engine. Thought about going to Bent and telling him what her father said, but she couldn’t. Not yet. Not until she knew more.

But she had to do something.

She had gone through the house and found nothing.

There were the barn, the chicken house, and the well house. Oh, and her mother’s potting shed.

Feeling a purpose now, Vera headed for the farm.

With the discoveries in the cave, it was a miracle there hadn’t already been a request to search the remainder of their property, including the house. No doubt because Bent was in charge. But the FBI was involved now. They were likely planning the search at this very moment.

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