Page 10 of Dark Memories
They’d celebrated their one-month anniversary and their second and third, and then her happiness—and his—had been snatched away without warning. It still hurt.
“Okay. That will be easy to remember. What’s next on your tour?” She knew she was avoiding the conversation he seemed to want to have, but she couldn’t do this with him. Not if she was going to keep the walls around her heart. She needed those walls if she was going to get through the next few days unscathed. Although that was beginning to feel doubtful.
“This way,” he said, walking past her without a glance.
She’d hurt him, and she was sorry for it, but he couldn’t just walk back into her life and expect to pick up where they’d left off, to pretend there weren’t eight blank years between them.
The next stop on his tour was a library. Dark wood bookshelves filled with books were built into three of the walls, and on the fourth was a stone fireplace with real logs. In the center of the room, a deep blue love seat faced two blue and gold patterned chairs with matching ottomans.
To Cara, a book-loving librarian, this room would be a dream. To Harry, who occasionally read true-crime books, it was still impressive. Maybe she could get Zach to let her invite Gabe and Cara over someday. Zach and Cara would instantly bond over their love of books.
He showed her another guest room as lovely as hers before moving on, and then paused at the next door. After taking a deep breath, he entered. She followed him in, understanding right away why he’d hesitated.
This was Kali’s room, and when she glanced at Zach, it was to see him intently watching her. This was his little girl’s room, Kali, the reason they’d broken up. He must be wondering what she was thinking, how she felt about being in his home and seeing the things important to him and Kali.
She walked to a white dresser and picked up a photo in a purple frame shaped like a heart. A pain pierced her own heart at seeing Kali for the first time. She had Zach’s coffee-brown eyes and rich chestnut-colored hair.
The photo was one of Zach and Kali dressed to the nines, him in a tux and her in a purple and pink dress that stopped at her knees, the hem a white ruffle. White Mary Jane shoes, white socks with pink ruffles, and a pink bow in her hair all made her look like a little princess.
“Her first father-daughter school dance.”
“She’s beautiful, Zach.” They both were.
She set the photo down, then glanced around the room, taking in the shades of purple on the walls, on the bedcovers, and in the drapes. A white shelf that matched the furniture held rows of dolls, some looking as if they were collectibles and some appearing well played with. Another shelf was filled with children’s books.
“She inherited your love of reading.”
“Unless I’m away or have an event, we read together every night.”
Or when he was out on a date? She gave a little shake of her head, getting that mental picture out of her mind. “Purple is her favorite color.”
He softly smiled as he glanced around the room. “How’d you guess?”
“I’m a detective. We pick up on things like that.”
“Listen, I don’t want you to be offended, but I have to say this.” He stuffed his hands into his pockets. “I know you have reasons to resent her, but I’m the one you should hate.” He blew out a breath. “So I’m asking, begging you to put any negative feelings you have for her—”
“Zach, I don’t resent her.” She put her hand on his arm. “She’s not to blame for anything that happened between us, and I’m one hundred percent focused on bringing her home to you.”
He glanced down at her hand. “Thank you for that.”
She’d touched him without thinking and stared at her fingers, willing them to let go. They didn’t want to. “That’s not something you need to thank me for. It’s my job, and you know how personal this is to me.”
“I do, and that’s why I asked for you. Because it’s not just a case to you, and you’ll do everything in your power to find her. This might be a game to someone, or it might be a dead serious thing and the person involved is willing to…” He shuddered, walked to the window, turning his back on her, and bowed his head. “I can’t even think it, Delaney, much less say it.”
The tremor in his voice and his slumped shoulders spoke volumes of the fear he was feeling for his daughter. She swallowed past the lump lodged in her throat. “Is there anyone you know of who you think capable of doing something like this?”
“I made a list. Just… ah, just give me a minute, okay?”
“Sure. I need to call my boss, see if they’ve found anything on the plates yet.”
She hesitated. There was a time when she would have wrapped her arms around him to give him comfort, to let him know she was standing strong by his side. The lump grew, making it hard to swallow.
How many nights had she cried herself to sleep when he’d ended things between them? Too many to count. She’d never stopped loving him. She knew that and accepted it. But she’d thought she’d put him in permanent storage in his box where her memories of him wouldn’t keep crushing her heart. Now, even buried under five dump truck loads of rocks, that box was refusing to stay closed.
Crushing the urge to walk up behind him and hold him, she forced her feet to carry her out of the room. She returned to the guest room and took a few minutes to get her emotions under control before calling her boss. Eve didn’t miss much, and Harry knew that if her voice was shaky, Eve would pick up on it. When she was sure she had her act together, she made the call.
“It’s Harry. Anything on those plates yet?”
