The Zero Night

35

“Jonah Fallon,” Stride said, as he lay in bed with Serena later that night. “After all this time. That case drove Abel Teitscher crazy. Most of the time, with hit-and-runs, you catch them eventually. Guilt wins out, or someone sees the car and calls it in. But Abel was never able to put that one to bed. I’ll have to call him in New Mexico and tell him we finally know what happened.”

He watched Serena, who lay next to him, her eyes wide open. He hadn’t turned out the lights yet. It was almost two in the morning, and the cottage was quiet. Cat was asleep in her bedroom, and Delaney was there, too, using a sleeping bag on the floor. They hadn’t wanted the girl to be alone.

Serena didn’t say anything, not at first.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“The things we do for our mothers,” she said.

“Even those that don’t deserve it.”

“Yes, even them.”

“Delaney’s a very resourceful girl.”

“She is. I just hope her life doesn’t get ruined by this.” Serena raised herself on one elbow with new concern on her face. “Jonny, seriously, do you think I should stay quiet? Not report this?”

He shook his head. “You know you can’t do that.”

“I know, but now I wonder if I was wrong. Did I make a mistake? Maybe this is one secret that should have stayed buried.”

“We don’t have the luxury to decide that,” he reminded her. “You’ll help her through it. She’ll get a good lawyer who will walk her through the whole process. She was fifteen years old. She was protecting her mother, and she’s already paid a hell of a price for the things she did. No way the county attorney will try to press charges against her. They’ll work out a deal. In the meantime, we’ll make sure Ben Larsen is punished for taking advantage of her. And we’ll finally be able to give a little bit of peace to Jonah Fallon’s family, too. It may not be perfect, but it’s how the system is supposed to work.”

Serena nodded. “I’ll look up Jonah’s wife in the morning and go see her. I’m worried that she may not feel as charitably toward Delaney as we do. She must have gone through a lot of pain not knowing what happened.”

“Well, people can surprise you,” Stride said. “Let’s hope she focuses on the big picture. Nikki didn’t get away with what she did. She killed a man in a terrible accident, but within two weeks, she was dead, too.”

“Yeah.”

He heard hesitation in Serena’s voice. “What is it?”

Her mouth curled into a frown, but she said nothing.

“In the end, Delaney will come out of this stronger,” Stride went on, wanting to believe that was true. “She’s obviously strong to begin with, but you can’t keep that kind of secret without it screwing up your head. Telling the truth is the first step in getting her life back.”

“I hope you’re right.”

“Give yourself some credit, too,” he said. “You solved a cold case. One that’s been open for two years.”

“Did I?”

Stride brushed a few loose dark strands from her troubled face. “What’s going on? Talk to me.”

Serena got out of bed and went to the light switch and turned it off. She opened the window a little farther to let in cold air — she knew he liked that — and got back under the blanket with him. She kissed him in a way that told him they’d found the rhythm they’d lost for a while.

Then her voice came out of the darkness. “Do you remember where Jonah Fallon was killed?”

“It was somewhere in Bayview Heights, wasn’t it? I took a look at the file in Abel’s office the other day. Getchell Road, I think.”

“Yes, exactly.”

“That’s a remote area,” Stride said. “A two-lane road and no overhead lights, and the accident happened at night. Even if Jonah was wearing reflective gear, Nikki probably never saw him. I remember the forensics team concluded that the vehicle didn’t even slow down. She was too drunk to know she’d hit him.”

“That’s what it looks like.”

“Except you don’t sound convinced. Why not?”

“Well, it was something Delaney said. I may be making too much of it, but it’s been bothering me. There’s nothing up there. No bars, restaurants, nothing. What was Nikki even doing in that area?”

“Does she need a reason? She was drunk. At night, most rural roads look the same. She got lost.”

“And then what? She was too drunk to know where she was or what she’d done, but she was sober enough to find her way home and park in the garage?”

Stride narrowed his eyes. “What are you saying?”

“I’m saying that the accident gives Nikki a reason to kill herself. Fair enough. I didn’t know about that before, and if that was the end of it, I’d say okay. I’d say we can close the book on the case. And on Jonah Fallon’s death, too. But someone tried to kill Delaney tonight. Someone tried to run her down. It has to be connected. And if it is, that means I’m still missing something.”

He frowned. “What about Ben Larsen? He had to be worried when you showed up asking questions after all this time. Maybe he was afraid that Delaney would talk about what happened between them.”

“I thought that, too. That’s the only explanation that makes any sense.”

“But?”

“But I checked. I called Ben’s house. He has an alibi. I shook him up, no doubt about that. When he got home from work, he got into a big fight with his wife. He put a fist into a mirror and cut up his hand. He spent the whole evening in the emergency room. Ben didn’t do it.”

Stride listened to the cold breeze whistling through the window. “Who else would want to harm Delaney?”

“That’s what I can’t figure out,” Serena said. “According to Delaney, only three people knew the truth about what happened to Jonah Fallon. Her, Nikki, and Ben. Except now we have someone else who’s willing to commit murder to keep Delaney from revealing the secret. Why?”