Page 82 of Nowhere to Hide
“You’d know if you didn’t set up camp in the entry. Come on, and join the party.”
Sandra took Eric’s hand, and they walked toward the dining room.
The evening passed with light, upbeat conversation, and Margo was in rare form. She had a lot of energy in part because of an afternoon nap that Dana said came close to a coma.
“Don’t be crazy,” Margo had responded, along with shaking her head and smiling.
Sandra was so happy that Margo was happy. She blew out the candles on the cake they had specially made for her. The writing in icing on top said,Margo, the warrior.
Margo laughed when she saw that, and the rest of them followed along.
They ate dessert and drank tea in the library, and at eight thirty, Margo was drifting on them.
Sandra helped her mother to bed and came back down to find that Olivia and Avery were gone, and Dana was nowhere to be seen.
“The girls are in Liv’s room,” Eric told her.
She had a bedroom in Davenport Manor, just as Sandra had one. “And Dana?”
“She retired to her room. The catering crew are finishing with the cleaning up, and they’ll be leaving soon.”
“It was such an enjoyable night.” Sandra let out a deep breath.
“That it was. Thank you for including me.”
She dropped next to him on the couch and took his hands in hers. “You’re always included, Eric. Always.” It was only last month he’d met Margo and Dana, but to her it felt like he’d always been a part of her family. She trusted her instincts about people, and Eric was one of the good ones.
He swept her hair back and kissed her temple. “Ditto.”
As they sat there for a few minutes looking in each other’s eyes, she peered deeper. He was present, living in the moment, just as he’d been all night, but his mind was working. She’d wager his thoughts were on getting closure about the crash. “So you go back to the auto rental company in the morning?”
“That’s the plan. And hopefully they have the hard copy on file.”
“Assuming they weren’t paid to destroy it.”
“Don’t even say that, but it’s crossed my mind. It’s just everything from the start of this…” His voice drifted off, and she saw the light dim in his eyes. “There’s something I haven’t told you, but the officer on Susan’s accident…”
“Todd Levine,” she eased in when he fell quiet.
“Yeah, well, sergeant now, but he was my training officer. He taught me everything coming up in the force, how important it was to follow the law. How we don’t bend it to make it work for us. All of it was a lie.” Eric shook his head.
Today was harder on him than she’d imagined. Sandra considered what to say. It wasn’t forgotten that Ryan had felt the same about his life. “I think we get ahead of ourselves sometimes. It seems easier to make a blanket assessment when it’s really only based on our feelings of hurt and betrayal in the current moment. Often anger is there too, ego. But the journey, the lessons, the experiences were all real regardless of any awakening we might have. If you think of it another way, Todd may have groomed you into the amazing cop you are because he was dealing with a guilty conscience over his part in Susan Crawford’s crash. It’s not a reflection on you or your career. And just because he did one bad thing, that doesn’t mean he’s a bad man either. We all make bad decisions.”
“He covered up a murder.”
“So areallybad decision, but you get my point?”
“Yeah, and I appreciate your take on this, Sandra. I get it too, but it’s still hard to accept. I guess that’s my fault, though, because I idolized him.”
“From my experience, no one deserves to be put on a pedestal. Whenever I’ve put someone on one, they’ve toppled at some point.”
“You’re probably right. It’s just… Levine.” He rubbed his forehead.
She took his hand in hers. “When you go in tomorrow, you should talk to him friend to friend, and see if you can get him to open up.”
A few seconds passed before he said, “I could try that, but…” A pulse tapped in his cheek. “I can hardly believe this happened. I keep telling myself it didn’t, but when I was leaving, he threatened me.”
Sandra shifted on the couch. “Threatened you with what exactly?”
