Daddy's Little Killer

Chapter 37

Chapter 37

 

Hartley opened the door with a snarl. "You again."

Johnny wisely stood beside the door out of sight. He waited until Hartley appeared before stepping to my side.

"Mr. Hartley, it's vitally important that we-"

The gasp cut me off. Hartley's not Orion's.

"Mr. Hartley?"

"That isn't Harlan Hartley, Doc. Meet Dennis Bennett," Johnny's dry pronouncement floated over my shoulder. "Curious that he's living out here in seclusion under an assumed name, wouldn't you say?"

"Is this true?" I asked.

"You'd better come inside," Dennis muttered. He stepped aside and let us pass.

"Where is Vinnie tonight?"

"Someplace safe," Bennett squinted hard at me. "I sent him away this morning, and I will not tell you where he is, not while somebody is threatening his life."

"I wasn't aware that happened, Mr. Bennett. I would like to know why you gave me a false identity. Or does Vinnie believe you're his dead mother's brother too?"

He sat at the kitchen table and sealed his lips defiantly.

"I can at least explain why he doesn't like me, Doc. Dennis blamed me for not keeping Masconi in jail for murdering Brighton. I wonder if he's aware that we had the wrong suspect after all."

"I think that's obvious," Bennett snarled. "Maybe if you'd done your job better all those years ago, Gwen wouldn't be dead, Mr. Johnny-come-lately."

There was no point in correcting his misuse of the slur. Johnny wasn't new to this case or what was going on in Darkwater Bay. 

"What I want to know, Dennis, is why this man has targeted your family so many times over the years."

He picked at the cuticle of his left thumb. "Maybe because he's nuttier than a fruitcake. Isn't that your job to figure out?"

"First Gwen, then Frank's Gwen, then Brighton, and now Frank's Gwen again. That's four assaults on three Bennett girls in over thirty years. Would you like to hear my theory?" I had his undivided attention after that.

"You know about my sister?"

I nodded. "I think that if Brighton and Gwen hadn't reminded him of her so very much, he would've left them alone. Dennis, tell me something. Is that black hair your natural color?"

He stiffened.

"It's unusual for a man your age. No gray, and it's so black. Some might say blue-black."

"He's a natural blond just like Gwen and Brighton were," Johnny said. "That's a good question though, Doc. Why did you dye your hair, Dennis? Were you trying to hide from someone?"

"It's none of your business."

"I think it's obvious, Johnny. Dennis here has been living a lie for a very long time. I doubt Vinnie knows he's really Dennis Bennett. Vinnie would've been what, three years old when Brighton died? That murder was so close on the heels of what Gwen suffered, I'm sure that Dennis and Frank both knew that their family was this guy's target. Gwen changed her name to hide her true identity."

"She wasn't married to Tom Foster?"

Dennis stared at the tabletop.

"Wow. She lied to me," Johnny murmured. "She told me that Tom was a youthful mistake that lasted less than two months."