“Nah.” She shakes her head. “You can’t help it. It’s who you are.”
I have no idea where she got these ideas about me, but I’m no goddamn unicorn.
I drink the last of my beer and set the glass down just as my phone chimes. Looking down at the screen, I see it’s Finch. He’s finally getting back to me after I sent him a text before my run. Holding up my finger, I tell Kat I’ve got to take the call. Sliding out of the booth, I walk to the back of the bar where it’s a little quieter.
“Golden,” I answer quickly.
“Man, you won’t believe the shit that just went down here.”
“What?” Please don’t tell me Daisy’s hurt.
“We just got the fingerprints back from the pink envelope and the photos.”
Here we go. “And?”
“The outside of the envelope had Daisy’s prints like we expected. It also had Kara’s and Dorian Buchanan’s.”
“We expected that as well. So what’s the issue?”
“It’s the photos on the inside.”
“Yeah?” Jesus. Spit it out, man.
“They only had one set of prints on them.”
I hold my breath, waiting. “Whose prints?”
Chapter Thirty-Six
Gage
“Thanks for coming,” the captain says with a scowl. “As soon as we’ve got this wrapped up, you and me, we’re gonna sit down and talk about all of this. Yeah?”
I nod, but I’m not actually listening to him. Instead, I’m looking through the two-way glass into the interrogation room at Dan, who’s sitting across from someone I care about. “So you think Dan should be the one to talk to her?”
“I do. You’re too close to her.”
“Don’t you think she needs a lawyer?”
“Finch Mirandized her. She waived her right to an attorney.”
Damn it, Daisy. I see my scowl in the reflection on the glass.
I should be in there with her.
“Dan’s able to ask the tough questions without it being personal.”
Now my reflection reads irritation. I’m able to separate my personal feelings… well, shit, maybe he’s right.
“Let’s see if Dan can find out what happened that night.” He shrugs. “Hell, maybe we’re wrong about everything.”
We both watch as Dan begins. “Daisy, my name is Detective Trumbull. I’d like to ask you a few questions.”
“Where’s Gage?” she asks. “You told me Gage was going to be here.”
“He’s on his way.” Dan pretends to jot something on a piece of paper. “The sooner we get done here, the sooner you can talk to Gage.”
That’s bullshit. I hate that he’s lying to her.
“So let’s get started, okay?”
“Okay.” Daisy smiles sweetly.
“Let’s talk about the pink envelope.”
In milliseconds, her smile falls and a frown appears. “The one in my father’s desk?”
“That one, yes.”
“What about it?”
“How did the pink envelope end up in his desk?” Dan asks.
“I put it there.”
I can’t believe she just admitted to that.
“When?”
“Today. I took it into the house with me and put it there. Duh.”
I guess it was as simple as that.
“There were photos inside,” Dan tells her, though of course she already knows.
She sits quietly.
“Photos of your dad and Kara.”
Still no reaction from her until Dan says, “They were having an affair.”
“I know.” Her voice is firm and unwavering.
“How did you know?”
“I followed them.”
She what?
“Why did you follow them?”
With a shrug, she sits back in her chair and crosses her legs. “I just needed to know what he was up to.”
“Why did you need to know that?”
“Because. He’s always monitoring me. It was my turn to do the same to him. I wanted to show him what that felt like.”
“Did he know? That you were following him?”
With a shrug, she looks at her fingernails.
Dan keeps going. “Why did you take the photos, Daisy?” His voice has gotten soft, almost friendly. He’s trying to put her at ease.
I’m afraid of what she’ll say next.
Slapping her palm down onto the table suddenly, she growls, “Because. Why does he get to do whatever he wants? Cavorting with students.” She pretends to shiver. “It’s disgusting.” Pointing at Dan, she adds, “He’s still fucking married to my mother.”
“I understand.” He says it so quickly I’d be surprised if she understood a word out of his mouth.
“It’s disgusting. Don’t you think?”
“Sure.” Dan nods.
I give her words some thought. Dorian’s relationship with Kara is definitely inappropriate, but disgusting? I can’t go that far.
I scoot my seat closer to the window. The urge to reach out and touch her is so strong I have to fight it.
“So, what did you plan to do with the photos?” Dan asks.
She shrugs. “I needed money.”
“From your father?”
“No.” She scoffs. “That penny pincher. Kara was going to pay me for them.”
“Kara? Why would she pay for the photos?”
“Because.” She rolls her eyes like Dan’s an idiot. “I threatened to tell her father about her little affair and about her sudden grade improvement.”
Daisy knew about Kara’s grades?
Dan asks, “Did you help your dad with his grades?”
Wait. She told me she hadn’t helped him.
“Of course.” Another hard eye roll. “My father is a lazy asshole. Hell, I write his books and papers for him too.”
Wait? What?
“Is that how you got the pink envelope? When you graded for him?”
“Yeah. Kara submitted her papers in it.”
Which is how it has both Kara’s and Dorian’s fingerprints. But here’s the part I wish Dan would ask her about. She writes for her father?
“You said Kara was going to pay you. Did she?”
“Some.”
“But not all?”
Daisy’s voice lowers, and she growls, “No.”
“Why not?”
She looks off to her right.
“Why didn’t she pay you, Daisy?”
“She said she didn’t have the cash, but I knew she was lying. She’d just gone shopping. She came home with a whole new outfit. A pretty flowered dress, shoes, the works.”
A flowered dress? She was wearing a flowered dress….
No.
“When was this?”
Daisy looks at Dan and then at me. Or at the two-way glass. Her eyes pierce my heart. “Is Gage here yet?”
Yes.
“Not yet.” He shifts some of his papers around on the table. “Was it that night, Daisy?”
“I’m not sure. I don’t remember.”
“Daisy, I need you to be honest with me.”
“Honest with you?” She slaps the table again. “What do
