No One Knows Part 24

God, she could hardly draw the details of his face into her mind. The dark hair, the blue eyes, yes, but the minute qualities, the little bits that she used to know better than the back of her hand, were gone.

His head thrown back in ecstasy as he got head from a strange woman.

The ICU was on the fifth floor. When she arrived, she was denied entry. She asked the nurse to let Tom know she was there, and she left to get him. They returned a few moments later, Tom looking haggard and drawn, his skin pale. He fell into Aubrey's arms, and she hugged him automatically. He smelled of fear.

"What happened?"

"They think that one of the broken rib slivers poked a hole in her heart and they missed it. She's been telling me all day something was wrong, and I just didn't listen. They thought she needed a shrink, that it was in her head-" He broke off, sobbing, and Aubrey led him to the ugly gray chairs and sat him down. There was a box of tissues strategically placed nearby. Aubrey handed one to Tom.

When he had calmed a bit, she asked, "So what's the next step?"

"They're trying to get her stabilized and they'll do surgery as soon as she can handle it. Pretty soon they're going to have to go in whether she's stable or not. They're saying it's fifty-fifty right now."

"I'll take those odds, Tom. Daisy is the most stubborn woman I know. She's fighting in there." The words sounded empty, flat. But they seemed to help Tom, because the tears began to slow, and he worked his way back to calm. She sat with him while he composed himself.

"The police came by to check on her. They're going to charge her with DUI and vehicular assault, they want to set a court date. You have to tell them it wasn't her fault, Aubrey. You have to let them know she didn't mean any harm. We can't let them charge her with assault."

Well, we can. But she patted his arm. "Let's cross that bridge when we get to it. You should probably talk to a lawyer before you do anything."

"You're right. Of course you're right. I will."

He went silent, pulling the tissue between his hands until it shredded.

"There's something else. When I got down here, she was going in and out of consciousness. She said the strangest thing before she went under all the way."

"What's that?"

"She said she had sons. Two sons."

"You must have just misheard her."

"No. She was very clear. And I've been thinking about it since she said it. You know she was married before me, right?"

"Sure. To Ed Hardsten. Josh's biological father." He tensed, and she smoothed her hand over his arm. "Josh always felt you were his father, Tom. Always. You gave him his name. You gave him your love. And he loved you, very much."

"Thank you, Aubrey. Though I guess it doesn't matter now. No, Daisy was married briefly before Ed Hardsten. To a soldier who died while he was on assignment. Very top secret stuff. She never talked about him; she only mentioned him once, before we got married. She didn't want to go into our wedding day with lies between us. But she wouldn't tell me much about him."

"Do you know his name?"

"No. It was years earlier, when she was just a kid. It pained her to speak of it, so I never pushed her."

And that was why Daisy had married Tom in the first place. Security and love, no questions asked.

Tom continued, "But what if she had a child with him and didn't tell me? Or had a miscarriage or something? She always held something of herself back from me. Could this be it?"

"Does she have any papers or anything from that time?"

"I'm sure she does. I don't go into her desk."

Of course you don't. "Do you want me to?"

He looked torn for a minute. Then the most decisive look she'd ever seen from him crossed his careworn face. "Yes. Yes, I do, Aubrey, if you're willing. I know Daisy hasn't been much of a mother-in-law to you. I understand if you'd rather stay out of this. But if there's something there, and she wakes up, maybe we can put her mind at ease. She was so upset, so disturbed. You should have seen her. It was horrible."

He started to cry again and Aubrey shushed him, patting him on the back like she would a small child.

Children, rather. The idea that Daisy had more than one child freaked her out. But for Tom, and for Josh, who might actually be out there somewhere, she'd go digging.

A nurse who had just hung up the phone came around the desk to them. "Mr. Hamilton? They're going to take her into surgery, sir. She's crashing again, they don't want to wait any longer."

"Go, Tom. I'll handle things out here."

"Thank you, Aubrey. I love you."

The words blew her away. Very few people had ever told her they loved her. Her parents, when they were alive. Josh. Meghan. And now Tom.

"I love you, too." And she meant it.

CHAPTER 43.

It was cresting six and the sun was fighting its way into the sky, reluctant but inevitably persistent. Aubrey left the hospital and went directly to Meghan's house. She hadn't decided yet whether to tell her about the photo. For some reason, she felt like she needed to keep it to herself. But she'd make that call if it came up.

Sons. Daisy said she had two sons.

Meghan lived in an A-frame in Sylvan Park, and Aubrey knew she was a morning person. Sure enough, when she rolled up to her house, Meghan was outside on the front porch in a robe and slippers, drinking a cup of coffee and reading a book. She parked, and Meghan waved at her with a smile.

"What up, buttercup? You're moving bright and early today. But you look like crap. Don't you sleep?"

"Rarely, it seems. I need your help," Aubrey said.

"With what? I'm still looking into Derek Allen. I asked Daniel to pull everything he could find on him. We're meeting later this morning to talk about it. You have another problem, sugar?"

"Daisy took a turn for the worse and is back in surgery. She said some crazy stuff and Tom wants me to look into her files, see what I can find."

"Crazy stuff like what?"

Aubrey leaned against the column that held the roof up over the porch. She hadn't had breakfast, even tea, was running on fumes. "Like she has more than one son."

Meghan rocked back in her seat. "Seriously? Wow. That's . . . intriguing."

"I don't know. She could have just been corked out of her brain on morphine. Tom asked me to look into it. You game? You are the one who was married to the PI, after all. I don't really know what I'm doing."

"Hell yeah, I'm in. Let's do it!" She stood and started down the stairs.

"Um, Meghan? This isn't a clothing-optional field trip."

Meghan stopped and looked down. "Oh, yeah. Give me a sec."

She roared back inside and came out five minutes later, hair wet and glistening, combat boots unlaced, miniskirt only slightly askew.

They got in the Audi and buckled up. "I need to stop by the house and check on Tyler and Winston first. Will only take a second."

"Tyler's back?"

"Sweating it out on my couch."

"Bless his heart."

"You know it."

The drive was quick. Meghan offered to stay in the car, just to be safe.

"He doesn't bite, you know."

"He hates me."

"He doesn't hate you," Aubrey said. "You just represent all the worst ills of society to him."

"I don't get it. I'm a rebel. You'd think he'd love me."

They'd been through this before. Tyler felt like Meghan was a poseur, just faking being this romantic rebel to make her coffee shop cool to the college kids. Aubrey didn't think Tyler had any room to complain, considering. They'd argued about it more than once.

"Fine, stay here. I'll be quick."

Winston was thrilled to see her. Tyler was sitting at the kitchen table, eating a box of cereal. Without a bowl.

"Feeling better?" she asked, the suspicion in her voice clear. He usually didn't eat when he was coming down.

"Not really. But I thought I should try something. Your moms-in-law okay?"

She collapsed in the seat next to him, rubbed Winston's ears.

"No. She's in emergency surgery right now. I need to go by their house, get some things." She was hedging, and Tyler knew it. He sat back in the chair and eyed her.

"What kind of things?"

"Not money, Tyler. Records. Seems Daisy might have had more than one child, but no one knew about it until now. Is there any tea?"

"Do I look like your waiter?"

It was her turn to eye him. "You're obviously feeling better, smart-ass. Anything I need to know?"

He shook his head. "The pills started to work. I had to go back and get some more, didn't get back here till late. You were passed out in the bed."

"It was a long day. Meghan did a search online and found some news about Derek Allen. Did you ever see the guy you overheard talking about Josh?"

"Yeah, though I don't think he saw me. Dark, Mediterranean dark. Greek or Italian like. My height. Probably fifty-five, sixty. Silver hair."

"That sounds like the guy who was at the hospital. That's Derek Allen."

And then Aubrey remembered where she'd seen him before. The accident. She couldn't believe the penny hadn't dropped before now. It was the hair: he'd gone completely gray over the past five years.

"What is it? You look like you've seen a ghost."

"Uh, maybe I have. I just now realized Derek Allen is the man we rear-ended the day Josh went missing."

Tyler's eyes went to the table. "I don't know about you, Aubrey, but I don't believe in coincidences."

She touched his hand. "Neither do I."

"There's something I have to tell you."

She pulled back, shoved her hands in her pockets. Something in his voice . . .

"What is it?"

He hesitated, then the words poured out of him. "Josh. His death. It's my fault."

Aubrey took a deep breath and sat down. "What do you mean?"

"Dude who gave me info on Derek Allen? He was a guy I knew years ago, back when I ran with the G2 crew. We were looking for alternate revenue streams. I mentioned Josh worked at Vandy and had access to all kinds of great drugs. I didn't know he was going to tell anyone, especially not this Allen dude. I was just bragging. I got popped the next week, hadn't talked to him again until now. That's why I slipped, I had to use to make him trust me. At first, he thought I was a narc."

Aubrey shut her eyes. There it was. The key. The link. What she'd been missing all along. The how behind Josh's downfall.

A coldness filled her. How simple and cavalier he'd been with Josh's life. Tyler, her brother, her helper, had betrayed her savior.

Something in her felt like it was going to burst.

Pull it together. Don't do something you'll regret.

Tyler reached over and grabbed her hand. "Aubrey, I'm sorry. I'm really, really sorry. I'd do anything to go back and redo that conversation. I had no idea it was going to end up this way."

"You're the link. You're the reason he's dead," she said softly, and his face went ashen. Tears came to his eyes.

"Aubrey, forgive me, please. I didn't know what I was doing. I was so fucked up back then."

She nodded once, removed her hand from his. Stood up. "Thank you for telling me. I'm glad the methadone is working. I'm glad you're feeling better. I have to go, Meghan is waiting for me."

His face collapsed into a grimace. "I will never understand what you see in her."

Her voice was steady. "She was there for me when I had no one. I will never understand why you don't like her. She's never been anything but nice to you."

"Something about her I don't trust. You be careful around her. I'm going to go lie down. That is, if it's cool that I crash here for a while? I completely understand if you want me to leave, and never see me again. If I were you, I'd want me dead."