Page 154 of Head Room
“A classic romantic triangle,” Diana said as I tried to call Kam.No answer.
Her apartment was in a building at the end of a cul-de-sac with single-family homes around it.It stood out — not in a good way — because the front yard was paved and lined for parking.
Inside a central door, Mike pointed to a list of residents, then upstairs.I called again and we heard her phone ringing in the unit on the left at the top of the stairs.
Mike knocked loudly.
I called out, “Kam, it’s E.M.Danniher.We met at the fire station.”When friendly didn’t work, I added, “I know you’re in there and I’m not going away.”
I didn’t mention that if Kam Droemi held out long enough, my mother might come and drag me away.
We heard footsteps approaching — the soundproofing was abysmal.The others split off to the sides so she wouldn’t see them through the peephole.
As soon as she started opening the door, Mike pushed it wide and we all half-stumbled in.
“Wh—?Hey.You can’t come in here—”
“Kam, we don’t have time.Tell us what you know about the shooting of Nance — Ron Sam Preet.”
“I...I don’t know—”
“Yes, you do.And he knew your address was being used to falsify his fellow veterans as registered agents for bad actor companies on a wholesale basis.”
“It’s not— I don’t—”
Despite the effort at denials, she was visibly crumbling.
“I let him use my address.That’s all.Trying to be nice to someone new in town and then he took advantage of me.”
“Nance wanted to date you.He found out about the scam.He probably hoped you weren’t involved.Or maybe he wanted to warn you.He came here—”
A good guess because confronting her at the fire station offered too many opportunities to be overheard by volunteers coming and going, possibly by a deputy from next door.Right now, pressing her with details, even if I didn’t have them all right would accelerate her crumble.
“—and demanded to know the truth.You must have been scared.”
She latched onto that.“He was crazy.Ranting.I told him and told him I didn’t know anything about it.All I did was get mail and hand it over—”
For a price, no doubt.
“—I didn’t know anything about vets or bad companies or any of it.But he kept yelling about breaking trust with the people who fought for us.And then he said he was going to go see Jay Haus and have it out with him.”
“Jay Haus?”I repeated.
A memory — two memories — popped into my head.Jay Haus coming around the corner from the direction of the sheriff’s department, looking angry, agitated.
Except that was also the direction of the fire department.
I’d assumed he’d been at the sheriff’s department.
Shame on me.
“The lawyer,” she said.“And that was the last time I saw Nance.”
****
Jennifer found theaddress.
We’d left Kam swearing she knew nothing else and sobbing.We certainly would revisit her, but didn’t voice that threat/promise, to avoid pushing her over an edge.
