Page 106 of Fatal Witness

Dani smoothed the material in the yellow dress her mom had made. It was an exact replica of one of Belle’s dresses inBeauty and the Beast. Well, maybe not exact. Her mom hadn’t been the best seamstress and hadn’t wanted Dani to wear it to the party. But she loved the dress. It made her feel like a princess.

Her grandmother had brought her to the party, and Dani ran to her in tears. That’s when Nonny had told her she was made of sterner stuff...

“No. We’ll stay.” Dani straightened her shoulders and opened the door to her bedroom. She caught her breath and covered her mouth with her hand.

“What is it?” Mark asked.

Instead of answering, she walked around the room and touched the blue gingham bedspread that covered a white twin bed, then ran her fingers over the white chest. “I remember this room.”

A bench abutted the wall under the window, and she sat on it. Mark joined her and slipped his arm around her waist, and she leaned into him.

“I used to look out this window at the moon and stars, and sometimes Mama or Daddy or even Uncle Keith would tell me the names of the constellations.” She sighed, and Gem laid her head on Dani’s knee. “Why do people have to be so evil? We had a good life here.”

Mark pulled her closer. “I know this isn’t easy.”

She jutted her jaw and stood. “No, it isn’t, and sitting here thinking about the good times isn’t getting the job done.”

“You said your uncle told you the constellations. Was he here much?”

She looked at him. “I don’t know, but if he took me with him, we must have been close.” Dani turned to the door. “Let’s go to the kitchen.”

Mark and Gem followed her down the hallway. When she stepped into the kitchen, the temperature seemed at least ten degrees cooler than the rest of the house. Maybe because a huge oak shaded the back of the house? Or was it because her parents had been killed here? Beside her, Gem whined.

“Are you all right? You look as though you’re about to pass out.”

“I’m not all right, but this has to be done.” She walked around the kitchen, looking for anything familiar.

Angry voices. Someone was here, and he was yelling at her dad. She tried to pull the memory out, but only bits and pieces came.

“Dani?”

The memory fled, and she looked up into Mark’s concerned eyes. “Another fragment.” She dropped her head and studied her feet. “I just don’t remember enough of anything to make sense. I know that whatever happened that night happened in this room, but some of the memories I have could be from other times.” She sighed. “Why don’t you have Alex join us? Maybe she can help prod—”

Gem barked, and Dani jerked her head toward the tires that sounded on the gravel road. Scenes flashed through her mind. Nothing she could pin down ... but she’d heard tires that night...

“Let me see who that is.” Mark glanced out the back door. “I don’t see anyone other than Alex and the deputies, but it sounds like a vehicle is coming from the summer rentals up the road. I’ll check and tell Alex to join us.” He turned to Gem. “Stay.”

When he left, Dani slowly turned in a circle. The yellow curtainson the window seemed familiar, and then she scanned the painted white cabinets, the coffee cups hanging from little hooks. Her gaze stopped on the bottom cabinets. “Why can’t I remember, Gem?”

She opened the one nearest the door. Her uncle had said he’d found her in a cabinet ... had it been one of these? Somehow, she didn’t think so.

A memory tugged at her subconscious. She closed her eyes...

It was afternoon. Dani was supposed to be resting, but hermama and daddy were arguing. She’d slipped out ofthe house and was practicing walking quietly through the woods like the Native Americans they were studying in school.

The back door to the house slammed and she looked up. Why was her daddy running? He never did that. Maybehe was looking for her, and Dani stepped back into the shadows of the trees. She’d just seen deertracks and didn’t want to go inside yet.

Instead of looking for her, he went to the well house and pulled out a shovel. Then he hurried tothe edge of the woods. She almost called out tohim, but something held her back. Instead, she followed him,being careful where she stepped so she didn’t make any noise. In her heart, she knew he would beupset if he saw her.

He started digging in the ground with the shovel, and Dani edged closer ashe buried a small box.

She stepped on a dry branch, and it snapped, turning her ankle. “Oh!” she criedas she fell.

“Who’s there?”

Dani scrambled up and her eyes widened. Her father held a gunin his hand. “It’s me, Daddy!”

“Danielle?” Heslipped the pistol in his front pocket. “What are youdoing here in the woods?”

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