‘Not really. Ashlynn never flaunted her wealth, and honestly, she didn’t have much money of her own. We didn’t give her a blank check. The Mustang for her sixteenth birthday, that was about the only grand gesture I ever made.’
‘How did Ashlynn feel about the feud between the towns?’
‘She hated it,’ Florian replied. ‘I’m sure she was angry that so much of the venom was directed at me, but on a religious level, she was simply distressed by the violence.’
‘Wasn’t she dating one of the boys who were behind the feud?’ he asked.
‘Who?’
‘Kirk Watson.’
Florian’s face darkened. ‘Nonsense. Ashlynn never dated Kirk. I would never have allowed it.’
Chris felt as if he had tiptoed onto an unexploded mine. ‘Is it possible she didn’t tell you? Parents are sometimes the last to know.’
‘It never happened,’ Florian insisted.
‘Okay. I’m sorry. I got some bad information.’ Chris made a mental note to find out what was really going on between Ashlynn and Kirk.
‘Do you know who she
‘I don’t believe she was serious about anyone.’
‘What about friends?’
Florian hesitated. ‘Ashlynn could be a bit of a loner. I felt bad about that.’
Chris didn’t push Florian. It was obvious that the man didn’t really know his daughter well at all. Like a lot of busy fathers, he couldn’t say what was going on in Ashlynn’s head, or her heart, or her life. Chris felt the same way about Olivia. He wondered if Florian’s wife had greater insights into her daughter.
‘Can you think of anyone who had a grudge against Ashlynn?’ he asked.
‘No, of course not.’
‘You mentioned environmental extremists.’
‘So?’
‘I was wondering if you had received any threats from those groups against your family.’
‘No, nothing like that. I’m a target. Mondamin is a target. No one has ever come after Ashlynn or Julia.’
‘What about this person who calls himself Aquarius?’
‘What about him?’
‘His notes seem personal. They’re directed at you. I was wondering if you had any idea who he is or why he’s making threats against you.’
Florian shook his head. ‘None at all.’
‘Did Ashlynn ever talk to you or your wife about anyone who was making her uncomfortable? Anyone who was following her?’
‘No, of course not. I see where you’re going with this, Chris. You want to use this mystery man – this Aquarius – as an alternate suspect. He killed my daughter to get back at me.’
‘It’s not impossible.’
‘It’s a desperate lawyer’s trick. No one will believe it.’
‘I realize you don’t want to hear this, Florian, but I don’t believe Olivia killed Ashlynn. Not by accident. Not on purpose. She didn’t do it. I also don’t believe someone stumbled onto your daughter in that ghost town. Either they knew she was there, or they followed her.’
‘You can make up stories for a jury,’ Florian snapped, ‘but don’t do it with me.’
‘Where was Ashlynn coming from on Friday night?’
‘What?’
‘If someone followed her, they had to know where she was. She told Olivia and Tanya she’d been driving all day. The principal at her school said she’d been gone from school for three days. Where was she? What was she doing?’
Florian was silent. Chris tried to decipher in the man’s face whether he didn’t know, or whether he didn’t want to say where his daughter had spent those days. Either way, he wasn’t going to answer. Florian stood up, and his face was flushed and angry.
‘No one followed Ashlynn,’ he told Chris. ‘Not Aquarius. Not anyone. She was alone that night. Then your daughter found her and killed her. That’s the whole story. You can pretend all you want, but that’s what happened.’
11
Chris sat in one of the Adirondack chairs on the porch outside Hannah’s house. It was dark, but the twin post lights on either side of the front steps cast shadows onto the lawn. He sipped a glass of cheap red wine. On the quiet street, he saw a glint of a match inside a light blue Thunderbird, and smoke blew out from the driver’s window. The man inside was a retired cop in his mid-fifties from Granite Falls, which was another of the nearby towns built on the banks of the Spirit River. Chris had hired him to do overnight security.
The porch door banged as Hannah joined him. She studied the car, too, with her hands on her hips and a frown on her face.
‘I don’t really like being watched, even by someone trying to protect me,’ she told him.
Chris didn’t argue. Hannah knew it was the right thing to do, but her world was black and white. If it offended her values, she railed against it.
‘He’ll circle the house three or four times an hour,’ Chris said.
‘Other than that, he’ll be in his car. You won’t know he’s there.’
‘Does he have a gun?’
‘Yes.’
‘I hate guns,’ Hannah said.
His ex-wife sat down beside him. She kicked off her flip-flops, leaving her tiny feet bare. She wore cargo shorts and a loose-fitting T-shirt over her skinny chest. With the sun down, it was cooler outside, but she didn’t act cold. He saw the dust of rice flour on her arms; she’d been baking bread. He could smell it in the oven through the open front door. Rain drizzled off the porch roof, splattering on the wooden steps.
He took another drink of wine. Hannah had sparkling grape juice in a plastic champagne glass. Her eyes were focused beyond the reach of the porch lights, into the darkness of the trees hugging the river.
‘I love a warm spring,’ she murmured. ‘No bugs yet. I’m always swatting mosquitoes when I’m out here in the summer.’
‘It’s a beautiful spot.’
‘It must drive you crazy,’ she said.
‘Why?’
‘No hustle bustle. No Starbucks. No deals closing on Christmas Eve.’
‘Once, Hannah. That happened once.’
‘Once was too many, Chris.’
He didn’t want to debate their lives again. ‘You’re right. I made mistakes.’
She looked surprised. ‘So did I.’
‘You’re a local hero,’ he said, changing the subject. ‘Good for you. People love you here.’
‘Some do, and some hate me. We got picketed when we started handing out condoms last year.’
‘How are your finances holding up at the Center?’
‘We pay the bills month to month and pray we get a check from the state or a grant when we need it. It’s touch and go.’
‘I tried to help,’ he said. ‘You sent the checks back.’
‘I don’t want your money, Chris.’
‘It was just money. No strings attached.’
‘There’s no such thing.’
He wondered why she was afraid of his help. ‘I wasn’t trying to buy my way back into your life,’ he told her,
