Laurie was finally ready to call it a night when she noticed light glowing beneath her father’s bedroom door. She tapped gently on the door and cracked it open.
He was beneath his covers, reading a copy of Sports Illustrated.
“Sorry, I saw the light.”
He set the magazine down and waved her in. “You holding up okay, baby girl?”
If she had any doubt that she looked like she’d aged a decade in a day, his question sealed the deal. She plopped herself horizontally at the foot of the king bed, her head resting on his blanketed shins. She couldn’t think of a more comfortable place at that moment. “I used to hate it when you called me that. And then somewhere down the road, it became music to my ears.”
“Sometimes dads do know best.”
“Not always. Remember when you tried to push Petey Vandermon on me?”
“I’m not sure I’d agree with that wording, but I’ll concede that my matchmaking effort was what Timmy would call a fail.”
“Petey was the worst,” Laurie continued with a laugh. “You convinced me to go to that stupid carnival out in Long Island with him. He got terrified in a mirror maze and ran out screaming. He left me bumping around in there for twenty minutes in search of a way out.”
Leo chuckled at the memory. “You stormed into the living room, swearing you would never speak to me again if I ever tried to play Cupid. Then I got another lecture from your mother that night before I could go to sleep.”
“You had good intentions, though.”
“If I recall correctly, Petey was supposed to distract you from that Scott whoever-he-was.”
“Mr. Future President. Intern to a congressman. Carried a briefcase to high school.”
“I didn’t like him. He was . . . weaselly.”
“I don’t think I ever told you this. He became a lawyer and got indicted for embezzling client funds.”
Her father flipped back the covers with excitement. “See? Daddy does know what’s best.”
“Sometimes I think no one knows best. Look at how I met Greg.” The word “met” was an overstatement given that she’d been unconscious at the time. She’d been hit by a cab on Park Avenue, and Greg was the ER doctor on duty. At the time, Laurie’s parents—and eventually Laurie—had been grateful for the reassuring treatment, but she wound up engaged to him three months later. Then Laurie’s mother had died a year after that, and Greg had been there for everyone.
Her father sat up and stroked her hair. “You only reminisce like this when something’s troubling you. I know you’re worried about Jerry. He’s going to be fine.”
Laurie took a deep breath. She couldn’t cry again today. “Not to mention, I just got off the phone with Brett. I swear that man might be a vampire—I don’t think he sleeps at night. I was the one who had to beg him to cover the Cinderella Murder, and now that someone’s coming after the show, he’s dead set against canceling it. Part of me is relieved I don’t have to make the decision, but he won’t even delay the production schedule. He gave me a big song and dance about how Jerry would want us to keep working, but I know it’s all about the bottom line.”
“I was wondering whether that bottom line had something to do with your decision to stay in this house. If so, I’m going to strangle that man.”
“It’s just a few more days, Dad, and we’re all on high alert now. And you heard what Detective Reilly said about the police keeping an eye on us.”
“You do what’s right for you, Laurie. You know I’ve always got your back.”
“Thanks, Dad. It’s okay. If anything, this attack on Jerry has me convinced that whoever killed Susan is one of our participants. That makes it all the more important to me that we follow through on this.”
“I called the police up in Alameda County. They’re going to send some surveillance pictures of cars that were near Rosemary’s house around the time her neighbor was killed. I’ll go through them. Maybe we’ll catch a break.”
“You don’t sound too optimistic.”
His shrug said enough. She stood and gave him a hug. “I better call it a night. We meet with Frank Parker tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow? You weren’t kidding when you said Brett didn’t want to disrupt the schedule.”
“Hey, we saved the big celebrity interview for last. Then it’s on to the big summit session, and then back home to New York.”
“You do know you can’t set a timeline like that, Laurie. Don’t get your hopes up about solving this thing. All I want right now is to keep everyone safe. And don’t you dare—not for one second—blame yourself for what happened to Jerry.”
“Of course I do. I can’t help it.”
“If it’s anyone’s fault, it’s mine. We realized after you and the others left to meet Madison that we didn’t have enough house keys to go around. Jerry gave me the last copy, assuming it would be fine to leave the door unlocked if he had to run out for a few minutes here and there.”
“Dad—”
“My point is that you can drive yourself crazy asking whether things would have been different if a, or b, or x, y, and z.”
He didn’t need to say any more. How many times had they both wondered if they could have done something to save Greg? She saw the light click off beneath the door as she closed it but knew neither of them would find sleep any time soon.