Crawford nodded. “But I killed him with his own pistol, not yours. I took this the other night. It was never fired.” He set the pistol on an end table. “Can I borrow a shirt?”
Grace, still looking stunned, left and returned shortly with a plain white undershirt, the kind Joe wore year-round. She showed Crawford into a powder room. After closing the door, he looked at himself in the mirror above the sink, and the image was shocking, frightening.
But he didn’t dwell on how ravaged he looked. He removed the bloodstained shirt and washed his chest and hands. Tap water mingled with his father’s blood, forming a red whirlpool that eventually faded to pink. As he watched it drain, tears dripped from his eyes. He splashed his face with cold water and raked back his sweat-soaked hair.
When he came out of the bathroom wearing the white t-shirt, he said to Grace, “If I could bother you for one more thing. A paper bag. I need to save this shirt in case it’s needed as evidence.” When that had been seen to, he asked, “Where’s Georgia sleeping?”
Joe thrust his chest out, taking an all too familiar combative stance. “That restraining order is still in place.”
Grace shot him a quelling look. “Joe, for godsake.”
She led Crawford from the main room and back down the hall, stopping outside a closed door. “I’m truly sorry about your father.”
“Thanks.”
He let himself into the bedroom and closed the door. There was a nightlight, by which he could see Georgia sleeping on her side, Mr. Bunny hugged against her. He didn’t want to wake her up and get her excited to see him, only to have to leave her again, and, in any case, the filth on him would ruin the bed.
But he knelt beside it and couldn’t resist hooking one of her curls with his little finger and raising it to his lips. To keep her safe, he would have killed Otterman or anyone else a thousand times over.
He watched her sleep, smiling as he listened to her soft snores, which he would have recognized anywhere in the world. Her sweetness and innocence were like a balm to his punctured heart. After about ten minutes, he whispered that he loved her, kissed the lock of hair again, then tiptoed out and pulled the door closed behind him.
The other three were waiting for him in a strained silence. Holly looked particularly anxious about his state of mind. Grace sat as rigid as a two-by-four, her features frozen with tension.
Joe unleashed the anger he’d kept bridled up till now. “How dare you come here, looking like you climbed out of a charnel house.”
“It’s just not in me to fight with you tonight, Joe.” He nodded Holly toward the door.
“Congratulations on getting the bad guy,” Joe said.
“Thanks. ’Night, Grace.”
“How many rules did you break in order to get him?”
Crawford stopped, turned, and, feeling incredibly weary, faced his father-in-law. “A few. I bent others. But I’ll be damned before I apologize for it, especially to you. Otterman spent four years plotting this, and he wasn’t going to stop until he killed me. Or people around me.”
“I gave you a second pass on the restraining order because of the threat he posed to Georgia.”
“I’ve thanked you for that, and my gratitude is sincere. So why are we having this conversation? Let’s go, Holly.” He took her arm.
Joe, however, wasn’t willing to call it a night. “You’ll be a hero again tomorrow.”
“I know how that galls you. I don’t like it, either.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“The only thing I expect from you, Joe, is to be a horse’s ass, even on a really, really bad night.”
“I just want you to know that I’m not backing down from my fight to keep my granddaughter.”
“See you in court.”
“And you won’t have her on your side.”
Holly, to whom Joe had been referring, stepped forward. “Please don’t talk around me, Mr. Gilroy. If you have something to say to me, I’m right here.”
“You made a deal with me. Don’t forget that.”
“I haven’t forgotten it. Crawford is aware of it. When I take the stand, I’ll testify to the truth.”
“You will, he won’t.”
“Crawford wouldn’t lie under oath.”
“He’s been lying under oath since we started this mess. He’s living a lie.”
Crawford noticed the triumphant gleam in his father-in-law’s eyes, and in that instant, in that moment of raw clarity, realization struck. “Jesus.” His head dropped forward until his chin almost touched his chest. He pressed his hands against his temples.
“Crawford?” Speaking his name with obvious concern, Holly placed her hand in the center of his back. “What? What is it?”
He lowered his hands, raised his head, and walked slowly toward Joe, searching his eyes, and reading in them the fact of the matter. “You know.” He delved deeper into Joe’s indomitable gaze. “You’ve always known, haven’t you. It was your silver bullet.”
No longer looking so self-satisfied, the older man said querulously, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”