Page 101 of Fatal Witness

“What I found was basically what my psychologist told me years ago.” Dani shared what she’d told Mark.

“Photos, you say?” Alex sipped on her coffee. “Mae should have some ... and Gram may have some of the three of us—you and me and Morgan.” She raised her eyebrows. “And Morgan may have photos. I’ll call her and tell her to bring any she can find when she comes today.”

“Do you think we could go to my parents’ house after they leave? I still think seeing it is the key.”

“We’ll see—this time I’d like to go with you along with a couple more deputies, and I’m short-staffed on weekends.”

“Tomorrow, then?”

“That should work. There’ll be a briefing on the case tomorrow afternoon. Would you like to sit in on it?”

“I think that’s a great idea,” Mark said.

“Could I really?”

“Definitely. I’ll send a deputy to pick you up.” Alex checked her watch, then drained her cup.

“Someone made coffee.” Dani’s grandmother cinched the belt on her housecoat as she came into the kitchen. She poured a cup and brought it to the table and joined them.

A few minutes later, Mark and Alex scattered to get dressed for church, but Dani lingered behind with her grandmother. She hadn’t spent nearly as much time with her as she would’ve liked. “How are you feeling?”

“Better each day, but I’ve discovered I have my limitations—I’m not as steady on my feet as I was.”

“Maybe you need to use a cane?”

“I have a walking stick at the house. When you go to Eagle Ridge, maybe you could bring it back?”

“Of course.” Dani tilted her head. “Do you have any photos of me?”

“A whole box full. You can get them as well—they’re under my bed. Maybe that will help you remember.”

“That’s what I’m hoping.” She picked up the sketch pad she’d laid by her computer. Dani flipped to the older sketches. “When I showed you my sketches the other day, I didn’t show you these. I sketched them before I knew about you or Pearl Springs.”

She scooted the chair beside her grandmother and waited while Nonny looked at them. Dani pointed to a sketch of a girl with light-colored hair. “I figure that’s Alex. And this is probably her with Morgan.” She pointed to the same girl with a dark-haired girl.

“Oh, my goodness.” Her grandmother looked up at her. “How ...?”

“I don’t know. These faces came to me randomly, and after the second or third time, I started sketching them.”

“God was opening your mind even then.”

“Maybe so.” Dani flipped the page and pointed to a woman with short hair who looked to be in her fifties. “Is that Judith?”

“It is.”

She flipped the page again. “Is this you?”

Nonny pressed her hand to her mouth, then she turned to Dani, her eyes bright. “That’s the way I looked when you were nine. I hadn’t cut my hair yet and wore it in a braid.”

“How about these people?” She turned to another page. “I think the older man is Mr. Peterson. The younger one looks a little like Kyle ... but not.”

Her grandmother leaned closer. “That’s probably Kyle’s dad. He died maybe a year before everything went bad.” She pointed to a younger man. “That is either Ben’s dad or his uncle—they favored a lot at that age.” Then Nonny looked at the clock. “We better get dressed if we’re going to church.”

“I’ll be ready.” Dani studied each of the men she’d drawn before she closed the sketch pad. Was one of them the person trying to kill her?

50

Dani grabbed her robe and slipped into it when someone tapped on her door. “Who is it?”

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