The Bad Daughter(49)

“We can move to a hotel, if you’d prefer,” Robin offered.

“Yeah, that might not be such a bad idea.” Melanie leaned back into her seat. “The press seems to have lost interest. Turn left here. In two more blocks, make a right.”

They drove the rest of the way in silence, Robin feeling lighter than she had in days at the thought of leaving her sister’s house. Fifteen minutes later, they arrived at the hospital parking lot. Five minutes after that, they were pushing open the door to their father’s room.

A woman—dark-haired, well dressed, mid-fifties—was sitting in the chair beside Greg Davis’s bed, her right arm extended, resting on the sheet covering his torso. She jumped up when she heard the door open.

“Who are you?” Melanie asked before Robin could form the words.

The woman was about five feet six inches tall and slender. Her hair was pulled into a bun at the back of her neck, and the buttons of her suit jacket strained around the ample swell of her bosom. It was obvious she’d been crying. “My name is Jackie Ingram. You must be Greg’s daughters.” She looked from Melanie to Robin, her lips quivering in her attempt to smile.

“And what is your relationship to my father?” Melanie pressed.

“I’m his office manager.”

“Oh. So you were sleeping together,” Melanie said.

“What? No…”

“Oh, please. He sleeps with all his office managers. It’s a matter of principle.”

Jackie Ingram looked as if she didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

My sister has that effect on people, Robin thought, feeling genuinely sorry for the woman.

“I should go.”

“Yes, you probably should,” Melanie agreed.

Jackie Ingram fled the room.

“Was that really necessary?” Robin asked as the door closed behind her.

“Probably not,” Melanie said. “But it was fun. Come on, you have to admit, it was fun to see the look on her face.”

“You really think she was…”

“Fucking dear old Dad? I don’t think there’s any doubt. Rumor has it that her husband found out about the affair a few weeks back and threatened all sorts of nasty things. You can ask Sheriff Prescott if you don’t believe me.”

“So her husband’s a suspect?”

“I believe there are several husbands on that list. Isn’t that right, Dad?” Melanie approached his bed. “Lots of people had it in for you, didn’t they? Not just members of your immediate family.” She glanced over her shoulder at Blake. “And in case you’re wondering who this person is, he’s Robin’s fiancé.”

Blake stepped closer to the bed.

“Handsome guy, isn’t he?” Melanie said, referring to her father. “Quite the stud in his day.”

A groan emanated from deep within Greg Davis’s chest, followed by another.

“Dad?” Robin asked, approaching cautiously. “Dad, can you hear us?”

“Maybe we should get the nurse,” Blake said.

The nurse confirmed that there had been several indications during the night that their father might be on the verge of regaining consciousness, although she cautioned them not to get their hopes up. He was still in an exceptionally precarious position. Even in the unlikely event that he woke up, his brain had suffered a tremendous trauma and it would be a miracle if he survived, let alone ever returned to being the man he once was.

“Which, depending on how you look at it, could be a good thing,” Melanie said, her voice radiating fake cheer.

“He might be able to tell us who did this to him,” Blake said.

“We should tell Cassidy,” Robin said.

“Think I’ll stay here,” Melanie said.

“You’ll come get us if anything…”

“My shouts of hallelujah will echo down the halls.”



* * *



—

The door to Cassidy’s room was closed, and Robin heard voices coming from inside as she drew closer. She knocked.

“Come in,” Cassidy called, her voice sounding stronger than it had in days. She was sitting up in bed, her hair brushed away from her face and secured with a pink ribbon. Standing at the foot of her bed were two teenage girls, both in tight denim cutoffs and Day-Glo halter tops. Kenny Stapleton was leaning against the far wall, watching them. “Robin! Come in. Meet my friends. I think you’ve already met Kenny.”

Robin smiled as she approached the bed. “Yes. Hello, Kenny.”

He nodded, glancing from her to the floor.

“This is Kara and Skylar. They go to my school.”

“Are you classmates?” Robin thought the girls looked a few years older than Cassidy.

“We’re juniors,” Kara said. “But we wanted to come by and say hello, make sure our girl Cassidy was okay.”

You mean you wanted to find out what happened, get the dirt straight from the horse’s mouth, Robin thought. Impress the senior boys.

“This is Robin,” Cassidy said. “She and my mother were best friends.”

“It’s so awful about Cassidy’s mother,” Skylar said, her voice low.

“Yes, it is.”

“Cassidy was telling us about what happened.” Kara shuddered. “I don’t think I would have been so brave.”