Page 67 of Fatal Witness

“I feel so guilty,” she said, stepping back.

“Why?”

“Because...” She took a deep breath. “I was so angry with Keith. It hit me just how much I’d missed because he kept my past from me. I keep thinking if I’d answered his phone calls as I drove from Cincinnati to Pearl Springs, if I’d told him what I learned, he might still be alive.”

“That’s assuming his death is connected to your past.”

“You know it is—he’s dead less than twenty-four hours after someone breaks into my grandmother’s house, reads her journal and the magazine—there’s no other answer.”

“I told you before—you are not responsible for the evil someone else does.”

“That’s easier to hear than to internalize.”

“You have to, otherwise it’ll eat you alive.” He ought to know. A text dinged on his phone from Levi letting Mark know he was almost there. He showed it to Dani.

“Guess we better close up the house,” she said. “And thanks for coming with me.”

“I’m glad I came along. I’ve enjoyed getting to know you better.”

And he had. Dani had continually surprised him this week, whether it was going through Keith’s things, or tending to the hundred and one details one had to take care of when a family member died, or patiently dealing with the sheriff, who was looking for a motive behind Keith’s murder or details about her uncle that Dani couldn’t provide. She had no knowledge of Keith’s finances or business dealings and had pointed the sheriff to Keith’s attorney.

Dani had met each hurdle with a patience Mark envied. She’d even handled the sheriff’s doubts when she didn’t find anything missing other than the original letter Keith had emailed her. She also hadn’t found Keith’s smartphone. Mark figured the killer took it.

They both turned as Levi’s cruiser pulled through the gate. They started toward the house. “Guess we better get our luggage.”

“And some earplugs.”

31

“You want to grab something to eat?” Mark asked as they walked past the food court in the Billings airport.

Dani checked her watch. An hour before their two o’clock boarding. They’d had a late breakfast and no lunch, and she was hungry. “Sure. You choose.”

He glanced at the kiosks. “Looks like it’s a sandwich or a bowl of soup.”

“Make it a bowl of soup—that’s hard to mess up. I’ll get us a table.” She took Gem’s leash and found a spot at the edge of the kiosk.

While she waited, Dani dialed her grandmother’s number just to hear her voice, something she’d done each day.

“Are you at the airport?”

“We are and will board in an hour. How are you feeling?”

“Better than I should.”

Dani laughed. Nonny had said that each day.

“If that’s Mae, tell her hi,” Mark said from behind her.

Another voice chimed in at her side. “And tell her that her pastor says hi as well.”

“Who is that?” her grandmother asked.

“I don’t know.” Dani didn’t recognize the voice and swung around. A man, not quite as tall as and stockier than Mark, stood beside him holding a Styrofoam cup. She quizzed Mark with her eyebrows.

“Tell Mae it’s her pastor.”

“I guess you heard that,” she said into the phone.

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