Page 69 of The Dollmaker

McLean turned to Sharp. “Get the lovely lady a beer.”

“Right,” Sharp said.

As he moved into the kitchen to get a beer, he heard McLean say, “Sharp doesn’t bite. At least I don’t think he does.”

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Friday, October 7, 9:45 p.m.

“What pictures did you bring?” Dakota asked.

Leave it to him to keep the target in his sights. Work came first. But she wasn’t angry. He was who he was. “They’re all taken the night of the Halloween party.”

“What can you recall about that night?” Dakota asked.

“I don’t remember anything. My memory was wiped for the few days leading up to the accident. I wasn’t even sure these pictures still existed until I found them at my aunt’s house tonight.” She dug her fingernail into the label on her beer bottle. “I saw my cousin Holly, and she remembers that Kara and I had a fight. She said I was walking back to the dorm early. A few minutes later, I was tagged by a car.”

He laid his fork and knife down. “I always wondered how you could just step into traffic. You’re one of the most alert people I know.”

“Everyone gets tired, I suppose. And I must have been distracted by the fight.”

“I always assumed you were drunk,” Dakota challenged.

“Thanks a lot.”

“It was college, Tessa. Kids do stupid things.”

“I never got that stupid.”

“Do you think your drink could have been drugged?” McLean asked.

“I never considered that.”

“Why not?” Dakota asked.

“I don’t know. I was at a party with friends. I thought I was in a safe place.”

“Not friends. Acquaintances,” Dakota said. “Were you drinking draft beer?”

“I assume so. But I was never a big drinker.” She and Dakota had talked about the accident before, but never in great detail.

McLean groaned. “It makes sense. I’d bet money someone slipped a roofie in her drink.”

She’d always attributed the car accident to her own distracted thinking. But what if she’d been drugged?

Dakota balled up his napkin and tossed it on the table beside his plate. “Do you remember what Kara was drinking?”

“Beer, I suppose. Like I’ve told you before, I have no memory of the night. The concussion wiped out about three days’ worth of memories.”

“Who gave the party?” Dakota asked.

“My aunt told me later it was at someone’s house near the cemetery. I did go back later when my leg was healing. It was near the graveyard. I suppose that made sense for a Halloween party.”

“Who owned the house?”

“I don’t know. I never asked. But I do remember where it was. It won’t be hard to trace.”

He tapped his finger on the table. When they’d been together and he’d worn his wedding band, the clink, clink of the ring on the table meant a case bothered him. She could tell by the speed and rhythm of the clinks if the case was going well or not.

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