Dark Waters (2013) Read Free Page B

back together.
    She opened the door. “Can I help you, Officers?” Her voice sounded high-pitched and frightened, and she stiffened her spine.
    The older guy’s mouth tightened, steeling himself for something. “Anna Silver?”
    She nodded, standing back to let them inside.
    “Daughter of Davis Silver?”
    Oh, God. What’s he done this time?
“Yes.”
    “I’m afraid we have some bad news.”
    Her lungs stopped working properly and she had to breathe deep to draw out enough oxygen. The cops looked out of place in her floral living room, with its satin throw cushions and white couches. The older guy cleared his throat and the younger one refused to meet her gaze.
    “Chicago Transit Authority contacted us earlier. There’s been a terrible accident, ma’am. Your father died.”
    The world whirled as the floor rushed up to meet her. She grabbed the back of the couch.
    “Are you OK, ma’am?” Helping hands maneuvered her onto the sofa.
    Was she all right? Of course she wasn’t all right. The younger one fetched a glass of water, but she put it straight down on the floor when her hand shook so much it spilled over the lip. Her father couldn’t be dead. There had to be some mistake.
    “What happened?” she croaked.
    “Your father fell under an ‘L’ train, ma’am.”
    She flinched. The cops exchanged a harried look.
    “Police are investigating claims he was being chased on the platform.”
    She covered her mouth. This couldn’t be happening.
    “Was your father in any trouble, Miss Silver?”
    Her eyes snapped to his. “Not that I’m aware of.”
    “Is there anyone you can call to sit with you?” the older guy asked, at the same time edging toward the door.
    “I’m fine.” She rose shakily to her feet. She just wanted them gone. “You’re very kind, but I’m sure you have a lot of important things to do.”
    “As long as you’re sure you’ll be all right,” the younger one said.
    Anna laughed, and it came out as sharp as broken glass. Cops had never been this considerate. Maybe they didn’t know who her dad was. “Will someone be in touch about the arrangements…?”
    “About his body?” The older one wrote a number on a piece of paper and handed it to her. “Call this number. Someone there will be able to help you with those details. I’m sorry for your loss.”
    “Thank you for coming in person.” She held herself together as she showed the officers out and then closed the door. Her father was dead? She’d talked to him yesterday. He’d called her tonight. He couldn’t be dead, the idea didn’t seem real.
    Her mother…
    Oh, heck, she didn’t want to be the one to tell her mother.
    Her mom had shut down when her father had been arrested nine years ago. Turned in on herself and stopped functioning as a human being, let alone a parent. For a short time Anna had become the adult, and then Ed Plantain arrived on the scene and picked up all the little broken pieces of their lives. Ever since her mom married Ed, she and Anna had been drifting inexorably apart, like big lonely land masses going in opposite directions.
    And it was all so damn unfair.
    They’d had a good life before her father stole that money. Sure, they’d been poor, but Anna had never really cared. But her dad had constantly promised he’d one day give them the world, shower her mother with diamonds and buy Anna her own computer. Her mom hadn’t wanted diamonds, she’d just wanted a car that ran. Money had caused the only real friction they’d had in their house and, in the end, it had blown the family to smithereens.
    How would Katherine react after years of hatred? Would she let go of some of the vitriol that poured from her when anyone mentioned his name? Somehow Anna doubted it. She might be the one person in the world who gave a damn that he was gone.
    She picked up her phone with fingers as spongy as cotton wool and checked her voice mail. Her heart cinched painfully when she heard his voice. “Anna, I’m