“Oh yeah? Where was he?”
“She was asking about David,” Holman said.
Carl nodded and took up the story from there. “Jack Krisanski used to go by John Krisanski years ago, then somewhere around his middle twenties, he started calling himself Jack. Said it made him feel like a Kennedy.” Carl rolled his eyes. “But his legal name is Jonathan Krisanski and that’s what he was listed as on all the paperwork for Invigor8. Remember when David told us he wanted to go through the Invigor8 files from his dad’s office?”
I nodded.
“Well when he called maintenance to see if they could wheel up the boxes, guess who answered the call?”
“Jack.”
“Exactly,” Carl said. “Jack got nervous that if David saw the name Krisanski on the investor declaration notice, he would put two and two and two together. David was one of the only people in a position to make the connection between Helen Krisanski’s death, John Krisanski listed as a principal investor in Invigor8, and Jack Krisanski working at the hospital.”
“And Bennett?” I asked.
Carl frowned. “Jack won’t say much about Bennett except that ‘it was a real shame.’ I suspect that once we take a look at all the evidence, what we’ll discover is that Bennett must have either found out or been suspicious about Jack’s involvement in Arthur’s murder. Maybe he even threatened to turn him in. In any event, I think it’s safe to assume that Jack killed his old friend and made it look like a hunting accident, and then planted all that stuff in his PO box to make it look like Bennett was the one who killed Arthur.”
I let this all sink in. Jack was an absolute sociopath. He killed two people, and he’d tried to kill two more. With each passing moment it was getting harder and harder to believe I’d walked away from my encounter with him.
A nurse walked in to check my vitals and Carl and Holman stepped outside into the hall. I knew my parents would be back soon and there was a part of me that ached to see them, to let them reassure me that I was going to be okay. But a bigger part of me felt so sorry for putting them through the worry of seeing their only daughter in the hospital with a gunshot wound. As the nurse checked the fluid levels in the bag hanging next to me, I laid my head back on the pillow and an intense exhaustion washed over me. I closed my eyes and all thoughts of Jack and Arthur and Bennett evaporated into a deep, dreamless sleep.
CHAPTER 50
By the time I woke up the next morning, I was feeling strong enough to try getting out of bed. Addie, the nurse taking care of me, helped me into a wheelchair and asked if I had anywhere special I’d like to go. A few short minutes later, I found myself face to face with my goddaughter, Rosie Elizabeth Sanford.
“She’s beautiful,” I said, unable to wipe the smile from my face.
Ryan perched on the side of Ridley’s hospital bed. They looked tired but happy. “So you’ll do it?” Ryan asked.
I had been a little shocked when they asked me to be Rosie’s godmother. And even more shocked when Ridley explained why. “You are my best friend in Tuttle Corner. Admittedly you are also my only friend, but I trust you and think you’ll make a wonderful role model for our daughter.”
I felt a bit startled, but also moved. As much as I hated to admit it, Ridley was growing on me. She was confident and open, kind and self-assured, and for some reason, she really wanted to be my friend. And I wasn’t exactly in a position to be turning friends away. The truth was, I really didn’t have any girlfriends left because, like an idiot, I had let all my female friendships wither during the years I was with Ryan. Maybe it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world to get to know Ridley a little bit better.
“How could I refuse this little girl anything,” I said, looking down at Rosie’s half-moon eyelashes pressed against her cheeks in sleep. She had impossibly tiny pink lips that parted slightly as she breathed in and out and in and out. It was mesmerizing. I leaned in to kiss her forehead. “She’s just perfect.”
“She is, isn’t she?” Ryan said, looking at his daughter with so much love I thought his heart might burst right out of his chest.
The three of us talked for a while about all that had happened since Saturday night. I filled them in on Jack, most of which they already knew. Word travels fast in Tuttle Corner. Addie came back to get me and I carefully handed Rosie back to her daddy.
When Ryan leaned over to take her, he kissed my cheek and lingered there for a moment longer than he should have. “Thanks, Riles,” he whispered.
It felt good to have him so close, a complicated mix of longing and sadness—and in light of Rosie, hope and joy. And, if I allowed myself to examine my feelings too closely, maybe even a soupçon of envy. “It’s an honor.” And then I pressed my cheek against his a moment longer than I should have.
CHAPTER 51
What else can I get you?” My mom hovered nearby, clutching a vegan banana muffin in one hand and a bottle of painkillers in the other. This had been her constant refrain over the past five days since I was discharged from the hospital and sent home in my parents’ care. I had another couple of weeks before I could put any weight on my leg, so we decided that until then it’d be best if I moved back into my old room. And by “we” I mean “they.” I didn’t argue too much because the fact of the matter was, it
