Right Where We Belong (Silver Springs #4)(102)
He fell back. “That’s right. Damn it. We can’t catch a break.”
“What if she did that on purpose, Gavin?”
“Hit my truck?”
“Yeah. It wasn’t until I mentioned Emma Ventnor that she started to act strange, remember? Before that, she was determined to start a fight with me. After, she backed away and took off. I’m wondering if she was remembering Gordon coming home a year earlier with some story about how he accidentally hit something with her car.”
“And by crashing it into my truck, she was able to report it and have it repaired.”
“Maybe she hasn’t had it repaired. It’s very possible she hasn’t had the money to pay the deductible. But hitting you helps, right? Now she has a legitimate excuse for the damage, should anyone ask, and chances are no one will be able to say exactly what that panel looked like before.”
“That gives me chills.”
“Me, too. I have to go over there, see if it’s fixed. If it’s not, I’ll take some pictures and send them to Sullivan and March, in case there is something remaining from Emma’s car. I asked Sullivan to search Dorothy’s house once already, told him that Gordon stayed there on occasion and could easily have hidden trophies or other evidence in her garage or basement, and he said he couldn’t get a judge to sign off on the warrant. Maybe this will change things.”
“Whoa, wait. Don’t go over there alone.”
“Dorothy’s twenty-two years older than I am.”
Gavin had heard enough about Gordon’s mother to believe she was also a little unstable. “That doesn’t mean she isn’t dangerous. She could...hit you with something or who knows what.”
“I’ll only take a peek in her garage. She won’t even know I’m there.”
“Savanna...”
“I have to do something, Gavin. What we tried didn’t work. That means, in a very short time, a very dangerous man will be dumped back into society. Gordon’s release feels so imminent that I’m more afraid of seeing that happen than I am of facing down Dorothy.”
Gavin hated the thought of her being up there on her own. “I should’ve come with you.”
“I’ve got this. Don’t worry. Her garage isn’t even attached to the house. I’ll slip in tonight while she’s sleeping, use the flashlight on my phone to check the car, take all the pics I might need and get out.”
“Then why can’t you catch your flight in the morning?”
There was a slight pause before she said, “Oh, that.”
Gavin felt a fresh wave of concern. “Yes, that. You’re making me nervous. What do you have planned?”
“I’m also going to take a look through the house once she leaves for work. She freaked out when I brought up Emma Ventnor’s name. I have to figure out why.”
29
It was nearly two in the morning when Savanna walked down the alley that led to the detached garage of Dorothy’s rental house. She wore black jeans, a black top and a black beanie she’d bought at a twenty-four-hour Walmart. The goal was to blend in, go unnoticed, but no one else was out. The neighborhood remained quiet and dark, with only a sliver of moon grinning above the treetops.
Off in the distance, a dog barked. Savanna wasn’t sure what she’d do if she happened to set off a dog who was much closer...
There was nothing she could do, she decided, except take the pictures and get out before Dorothy and the neighbors reacted to the noise.
Fortunately, she didn’t encounter a dog. She reached the small one-car garage without incident, and she didn’t have any trouble getting into it, as she’d feared she might. Dorothy hadn’t even bothered to lower the door. Or maybe it was broken. The house and garage Dorothy rented were built in the 1930s, and nothing under her stewardship was in particularly good shape. That was one of the things Gordon had always complained about. He’d often called his mother a slob and recounted stomach-turning incidents of foraging among pots and pans filled with food that’d been left out for days in order to get enough to eat as a child.
Savanna wasn’t looking forward to searching the house, partially for that reason. But she was going to do what she could while she was here. Gordon’s taunting smile had made a lasting impression. She thought of that, pictured it, whenever fear threatened to stop her. She had to make sure he didn’t get away with what he’d done. He believed she was powerless, had mistaken her inherent kindness for weakness. But she’d show him she had far more grit and determination than he’d ever given her credit for.
At least, she hoped she’d be able to show him that. It would depend on what she found here tonight, and tomorrow when she returned to look through Dorothy’s house.
Once she stepped inside the garage, Savanna used the flashlight on her phone to walk around and inspect Dorothy’s Toyota Celica. Sure enough, evidence of the accident with Gavin’s truck was still there. Dorothy or someone else had pulled off the front bumper—or it had fallen off—but the damage was mostly to the right front panel, where Savanna would expect to see it if that same car had been used to hit Emma Ventnor’s car.
“Did you hit Gavin’s truck on purpose, Dorothy?” Savanna whispered. “And, if you did, did you do enough to camouflage that earlier accident?”