Page 49 of Finding Silence
Phil’s hand twitches in mine, and I realize she may have blocked or missed a lot of what went on in that room. I regret being so blunt, but I need to know.
Savvy looks startled at my abrupt question at first, but then understanding floods her features.
“Geeze, Daddy, I’m sorry, I should’ve led with that. Too much on my mind. No, she ended up being airlifted to Spokane where she underwent surgery, but she’s expected to live.”
Relief has me deflate like a balloon, as all the tension I’ve been holding drains from my body.
“It’ll be a while before I can question her though,” Savvy continues. “Which is why it’s important I get as much information as I can from you.”
The last is addressed to Phil, who nods.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” I ask her, noticing her wince.
She turns her eyes on me and produces a tired smile. “Yeah, let’s get this done.”
Rather than bombard Phil with questions, Savvy invites her to fill us in on the circumstances of last night. It’s hard to listen to her recounting the events, especially when she explains how she was tackled to the bed by Brothers, who had already been in the house. She takes her time trying to recall what was said, but by the end of her account we have a pretty vivid picture of what happened.
“Maybe I’m still a little foggy,” Phil states, “but it all still seems so surreal to me. I mean…why? I could tell Duncan was far gone, but I already knew that. He’d become a slave to the drugs and was a willing puppet to her, but what on earth could’ve motivated her? I’ve always treated her well. Hell, for the longest time she was the only friend I had. It’s not like this was done in a flash of anger, she must’ve planned this for a while. But why?”
“All we can do is speculate, at this point,” Savvy answers her. “But I think you’re right, she used Duncan’s anger to create a situation where all eyes would be on him. I think initially Grace hoped you’d overdose after drinking the whiskey. That would’ve been the ideal outcome for her, but when that failed, she had to come up with another plan. It sounds like she lured Brothers to your place with the promise of drugs, setting him up to kill you. She’d then shoot him, claiming self-defense. He was nothing but a weapon to her, set up to take the fall. But I don’t think he wanted you dead. It’s clear from what you told us he wasn’t completely on board, so she was about to take matters into her own hands when Dad intervened.”
“I’m willing to bet she somehow managed to sabotage your security system,” I volunteer. “We should have Roy go over it with a fine-tooth comb.”
Savvy grins at me. “Already on it.” Then she turns back to Phil.
“As for motive, I may have an answer for you. We found your phone in your guestroom. We couldn’t open it, but the screen showed several missed calls, and part of a text message from a Ken Winfield, marked urgent.”
“That’s my lawyer,” Phil clarifies.
Savvy nods. “I know. I remembered seeing his name on the press release posted on social media debunking the overdose story. Anyway,” she continues, “I contacted him to inform him of what happened, and he told me he’d been trying to get a hold of you. Apparently, something odd popped up when he was prepping the paperwork for the closing on the sale of the Portland property. When you first bought the house, you took out a line of credit on the property.”
“I did. That was for renovations I wanted done to the place. I was still touring at the time, and Grace needed a way to pay contractors.” She shakes her head. “But I paid that outstanding balance when I finally got home and closed that account.”
“I’m guessing Grace was supposed to take care of that?” I suggest.
“That was for half a million dollars,” she shares, looking shocked.
“Actually, make that one million and then some,” Savvy fills her in. “The account was never closed, and the money you paid into it is gone too. According to Ken, this is just the tip of the iceberg. He’s uncovering more stuff.”
As realization sets in, I watch Phil’s energy drain, leaving her looking sunken and pale.
“Good God,” she mumbles, her eyes closing.
“That’s enough for now. She needs rest,” I tell my daughter.
“Of course. What about you, Daddy? You should go home and get some rest too.”
“You should,” Phil agrees, barely able to lift her eyelids.
“I’m not going anywhere.”
Savvy rolls her eyes at me and grumbles, “Stubborn old coot.”
That draws a snort from Phil.
“Stubborn, I can see. But I’m not so sure about the old part. From what I’ve seen of him, he’s still in prime working order.”
Savvy slaps her hands over her ears.
