Unspoken (Shadow Falls: After Dark #3)(84)

Knowing Miranda, she was probably pissed, but Kylie … Kylie was always more forgiving, and she probably told the witch to just give her some space. But it wouldn’t last for long.

With no other leads to hunt down on her father’s case, Della had been expected to go to school today. Fifteen minutes into English, she’d gotten up and walked out.

“Did either of the half weres give us anything? Have you proven that the two cases are connected?” she asked, and bam, just like that, the smell of death found its way back into her sensory memory. She’d actually thrown up twice today.

The look in Burnett’s eyes told her the answer before he did. “No, but I’m going back in a while and taking another go at it.”

“I heard you chose not to go to school,” Burnett said.

“Couldn’t do it,” she answered.

After she’d left English she’d gone back to her cabin and written her sister another email, asking if things were okay. The email she’d gotten yesterday and hadn’t read until the middle of the night when she’d given up trying to sleep was just another angry message about how she wouldn’t forgive Della for abandoning her.

Della had written her back and tried to explain that it hadn’t been her choice, but of course her sister wouldn’t believe it.

This morning Della had also called her mom to see how things were. Nobody answered.

Was it already happening? Had her father forbidden either of them to communicate with her? The possibility that he knew she was vampire seemed more and more likely.

Della dropped into the chair across from his desk. “We already knew the girlfriend was murdered. How does that help?”

“We can have the FRU investigate it.”

Tears filled her eyes. “We’re not getting anywhere. We don’t have anything to prove my dad innocent.”

“We have Mr. Timmons—he’s a damn good lawyer—and we have a DA assistant working with us.”

“The judge? Any news on that yet?” Della asked.

Something in Burnett’s eyes told her he had news about that, but bad news. “They’ve assigned a judge to the case.”

“And he’s not one of us?” she asked and felt a tear slip from her lashes.

“No, but the FRU is still trying to get that changed.”

She shook her head. “If he’s convicted, Burnett, I’m not going to be able to live with this. I swear, I’m not.”

Burnett frowned. “Della, I know this is hard, but you’re looking at this all wrong. Even if we went to court right now, Mr. Timmons says he feels certain that we have a good case.”

The knot of pain rose higher in her chest. “They have what they think is his blood on the murder weapon.”

“I know, but he was there during the attack. I spoke with Mr. Timmons this morning. He said the police forgot to take pictures of your dad, or they got lost. He’s going to argue that your father tried to defend his sister and received a small cut that went unnoticed.”

Della stopped to consider it. “The police file didn’t say if he went to the hospital,” Della said, remembering.

“I know. The lawyer has asked your father; at first he claimed he didn’t remember, then said everyone was just so upset about his sister.”

“Mom said he went in later, like to a mental hospital.” She considered that. “What if he remembered something then and told them about it? That would look bad. Does the doctor-patient privilege law prevent them from getting those?”

Burnett’s brow tightened. “You dad didn’t mention that hospital stay. So far the DA hasn’t brought it up. We don’t know if they are just being sloppy and haven’t discovered he went in, or if the lead DA is afraid of opening up those records for fear it might persuade your father to change his plea to insanity.”

Della concentrated on that for a second. “But Mr. Timmons could get them. Maybe there’s something in there that could help my dad’s case.”

Burnett leaned back in his chair. “If he gets them he’ll be required to share them with the DA.”

Della swallowed. “He’s not getting them because he’s afraid there’s something bad in there? So what you’re saying is that the lawyer thinks my dad’s lying. And if that’s the case, then my dad saw his brother in vampire mode and he knows what I am. I was right: He’s scared of me.”

Burnett frowned. “Mr. Timmons is just being cautious. I know this is hard, but don’t look at the negative. How about I give you some good news?”

“About my father’s case?” Della asked.

Burnett sighed. “Your lead about the shoes gave us the name of a were. And he has a record. There’s an APB out on him and I have several agents looking for him now.”

Della had forgotten all about that. “So the one Chase caught and recognized wasn’t one of them?”

“We don’t know for sure. They aren’t talking yet. But what we believe is that the guy with the shoes and the one Chase took down were both in on it.”

“Is that what Chase is working on?” Della asked. He’d dropped by her cabin last night, and she’d refused to see him. After their little make-out session in the front of his car, and after everything that happened after that, she didn’t know what to say to him.