The Bad Daughter

by Joy Fielding

  “Are you always this angry?” he asked in return.

  “You think I’m angry?”

  “Aren’t you?”

  “Maybe,” Melanie surprised Robin by answering. “Wouldn’t you be, if your sister suspected your son was a murderer?”

  “What?” Robin said. “I never said that.”

  “Not in so many words. But you’d rather think Landon is a killer than your precious Alec.”

  “If I really thought Landon is a killer,” Robin protested, sidestepping the real issue, “wouldn’t I be afraid to sleep under the same roof?”

  “Not necessarily,” Melanie said, as calmly as if she were discussing the weather. “I mean, even if he did shoot everybody else, he’d have no reason for killing you. Other than that you’re a bit of a wet blanket,” she added. “See what I mean, Blake? Not even a chuckle.”

  Blake squeezed Robin’s hand, the gesture telling her not to snap at Melanie’s bait.

  “Any idea how long you’ll be staying in Red Bluff, Blake?” Melanie asked.

  “Guess it will depend on what happens.”

  “You mean on how long it takes my father to die,” Melanie replied. “Your office doesn’t mind?” she continued, not waiting for Blake’s response.

  “I have my computer, my phone,” he said. “I can pretty much work from anywhere.”

  “We can move to a hotel, if you’d prefer,” Robin offered.

  “Yeah, that might not be such a bad idea.” Melanie leaned back into her seat. “The press seems to have lost interest. Turn left here. In two more blocks, make a right.”

  They drove the rest of the way in silence, Robin feeling lighter than she had in days at the thought of leaving her sister’s house. Fifteen minutes later, they arrived at the hospital parking lot. Five minutes after that, they were pushing open the door to their father’s room.

  A woman—dark-haired, well dressed, mid-fifties—was sitting in the chair beside Greg Davis’s bed, her right arm extended, resting on the sheet covering his torso. She jumped up when she heard the door open.

  “Who are you?” Melanie asked before Robin could form the words.

  The woman was about five feet six inches tall and slender. Her hair was pulled into a bun at the back of her neck, and the buttons of her suit jacket strained around the ample swell of her bosom. It was obvious she’d been crying. “My name is Jackie Ingram. You must be Greg’s daughters.” She looked from Melanie to Robin, her lips quivering in her attempt to smile.

  “And what is your relationship to my father?” Melanie pressed.

  “I’m his office manager.”

  “Oh. So you were sleeping together,” Melanie said.

  “What? No…”

  “Oh, please. He sleeps with all his office managers. It’s a matter of principle.”

  Jackie Ingram looked as if she didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

  My sister has that effect on people, Robin thought, feeling genuinely sorry for the woman.

  “I should go.”

  “Yes, you probably should,” Melanie agreed.

  Jackie Ingram fled the room.

  “Was that really necessary?” Robin asked as the door closed behind her.

  “Probably not,” Melanie said. “But it was fun. Come on, you have to admit, it was fun to see the look on her face.”

  “You really think she was…”

  “Fucking dear old Dad? I don’t think there’s any doubt. Rumor has it that her husband found out about the affair a few weeks back and threatened all sorts of nasty things. You can ask Sheriff Prescott if you don’t believe me.”

  “So her husband’s a suspect?”

  “I believe there are several husbands on that list. Isn’t that right, Dad?” Melanie approached his bed. “Lots of people had it in for you, didn’t they? Not just members of your immediate family.” She glanced over her shoulder at Blake. “And in case you’re wondering who this person is, he’s Robin’s fiancé.”

  Blake stepped closer to the bed.

  “Handsome guy, isn’t he?” Melanie said, referring to her father. “Quite the stud in his day.”

  A groan emanated from deep within Greg Davis’s chest, followed by another.

  “Dad?” Robin asked, approaching cautiously. “Dad, can you hear us?”

  “Maybe we should get the nurse,” Blake said.

  The nurse confirmed that there had been several indications during the night that their father might be on the verge of regaining consciousness, although she cautioned them not to get their hopes up. He was still in an exceptionally precarious position. Even in the unlikely event that he woke up, his brain had suffered a tremendous trauma and it would be a miracle if he survived, let alone ever returned to being the man he once was.

  “Which, depending on how you look at it, could be a good thing,” Melanie said, her voice radiating fake cheer.

  “He might be able to tell us who did this to him,” Blake said.

  “We should tell Cassidy,” Robin said.

  “Think I’ll stay here,” Melanie said.

  “You’ll come get us if anything…”

  “My shouts of hallelujah will echo down the halls.”

  * * *

  —

  The door to Cassidy’s room was closed, and Robin heard voices coming from inside as she drew closer. She knocked.

  “Come in,” Cassidy called, her voice sounding stronger than it had in days. She was sitting up in bed, her hair brushed away from her face and secured with a pink ribbon. Standing at the foot of her bed were two teenage girls, both in tight denim cutoffs and Day-Glo halter tops. Kenny Stapleton was leaning against the far wall, watching them. “Robin! Come in. Meet my friends. I think you’ve already met Kenny.”

  Robin smiled as she approached the bed. “Yes. Hello, Kenny.”

  He nodded, glancing from her to the floor.

  “This is Kara and Skylar. They go to my school.”

  “Are you classmates?” Robin thought the girls looked a few years older than Cassidy.

  “We’re juniors,” Kara said. “But we wanted to come by and say hello, make sure our girl Cassidy was okay.”

  You mean you wanted to find out what happened, get the dirt straight from the horse’s mouth, Robin thought. Impress the senior boys.

  “This is Robin,” Cassidy said. “She and my mother were best friends.”

  “It’s so awful about Cassidy’s mother,” Skylar said, her voice low.

  “Yes, it is.”

  “Cassidy was telling us about what happened.” Kara shuddered. “I don’t think I would have been so brave.”

  “Who are you?” Cassidy asked Blake.

  “This is my fiancé, Blake.”

  “Nice to meet you, Cassidy,” he said. “You’re looking amazingly well.”

  “Isn’t she?” Kara enthused.

  “They took out my IV this morning,” Cassidy said.

  “I’m Kara,” the girl said to Blake.

  Am I imagining things or did she just stick out her chest?

  “And I’m Skylar.”

  Skylar with the round little bottom sticking out from under her very short shorts.

  “Nice to meet you, girls.”

  “He’s really good-looking,” Cassidy whispered to Robin.

  Robin saw Kenny Stapleton’s back stiffen as he looked over at Blake.

  “The doctor says I might be able to leave the hospital in a few days.”

  “That’s great, sweetheart.”

  “Well, I guess we should be going,” Kara said, staring at Blake as she wrapped a strand of long brown hair around her finger and twirled it.

  Way to go, Lolita.

  “It was nice meeting you, girls,” Robin said.

  “You, too,” Kara said to Blake, glancing only briefly at Robin.

  “Hope we see you again,” Skylar echoed. “You—get better,” she said to Cassidy on her way out, an obvious afterthought.

  “That was nice of them to stop by,” Robi
n said when they were gone.

  “Yeah,” Cassidy agreed. “I was so surprised. I didn’t even think they knew who I was. When did you get here, Blake?”

  “Drove in yesterday,” he said.

  “Are you staying at the house?”

  “I have been.”

  “Then we’ll all be together,” Cassidy said.

  So much for moving to a motel, Robin thought. Who’s going to be the lucky one to tell Melanie? “We have some news,” she said.

  The girl looked warily from Robin to Blake and back. “Is it about Daddy?”

  “The doctors think he might be regaining consciousness.”

  “He’s awake?” Kenny asked.

  Robin spun in his direction. She’d forgotten he was there. “No, he isn’t awake,” she said to Cassidy, whose eyes were bright and big as saucers. “But he’s making sounds, and the nurse said there were some indications…”

  “That he’s coming around?” Cassidy said, completing the sentence.

  “That he might.”

  “So, he’s going to be all right?”

  “You can’t get your hopes up.”

  “But you just said…”

  “I said that he might regain consciousness. ‘Might’ is a really big word.”

  “But it’s a really good word,” Cassidy protested. “Can I see him?”

  “We should check with the doctor.”

  “The doctor said I could see him once my IV was out.”

  “Well, then, I guess it’s all right. If you think you’re strong enough…”

  Cassidy pushed her covers aside and swung her legs off the bed. Kenny was immediately at her side. “No, it’s okay,” Cassidy told him. “I can manage. You’ve been here all morning. You should go home. Blake can help me. Can’t you, Blake?”

  “Absolutely.” Blake came forward to offer his arm.

  Kenny stepped back as Cassidy took Blake’s hand, leaning against his side as his arm reached around her waist to support her.

  “Maybe I should get a wheelchair,” Robin suggested.

  “No,” Cassidy said. “The doctor said that I should try to get as much exercise as I can. You really think there’s a chance that Daddy’s going to be all right?”

  “Please don’t get too excited,” Robin told her, putting her arm around Cassidy, her hand folding inside Blake’s as they led her from the room.

  “See you later, Cassidy,” Kenny called after them.

  Only Robin acknowledged him with a goodbye wave.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  “Wow. Look at you!” Melanie exclaimed as Robin and Blake escorted Cassidy into Greg Davis’s hospital room. “Should you be out of bed?”

  “Is he awake?” Cassidy asked, ignoring the question as she moved closer to her stepfather.

  “No. Nothing’s changed.”

  “He’s so…still,” Cassidy said, her voice trembling as her eyes filled with tears. “I’ve never seen him so still.”

  Robin felt her own eyes well up. “Still” was the last word she would ever have expected to hear to describe the man who, for as long as she could remember, always seemed to be moving. A local journalist had once described him as “someone who never walks when he can march, who never whispers when he can shout, whose effortless authority vibrates through even the simplest of gestures.” It occurred to Robin that up until the shooting, she’d never seen her father asleep, never so much as caught him napping.

  “Can he hear us?” Cassidy asked.

  “We don’t know,” Robin said.

  “Is he in pain? Are you in pain, Daddy?”

  “He’s not in pain,” Melanie told her. “How are you doing?”

  “I’m okay,” Cassidy said. “Everything’s still pretty sore, and sometimes it hurts to take a deep breath. But the doctor says I should be able to go home in a couple of days.”

  “So soon?” Melanie asked. “Is that wise?”

  “The doctor says that the faster I get back to my normal routine, the better.”

  “Of course, she’ll have to take it easy for a little while,” Robin elaborated.

  “Of course,” Melanie said. Her lips curled into a stiff smile. “You can have your old room back. Robin and Blake are moving to a hotel.”

  “Oh, no. Please,” Cassidy said, her eyes widening in panic. “You can’t do that.”

  “It’s getting a little crowded,” Melanie said. “And they’d have to move into my old room across the hall, which is much smaller—”

  “I’ll take the smaller room,” Cassidy offered quickly. “Please. You have to stay,” she begged Robin.

  Robin glanced at Blake, and both of them simultaneously nodded their assent.

  “Then it’s settled.” Cassidy turned from Robin to her stepfather. “And when you get better, Daddy, you can come home, too. You can have your old room back.”

  Robin watched Melanie’s jaw tense. She wasn’t sure whether this was due to Cassidy’s continued use of the word “daddy” or the thought of having to relinquish the master bedroom.

  “I think we’re getting a little ahead of ourselves,” Melanie said. “Even if Dad regains consciousness, the doctors aren’t optimistic…”

  “I don’t understand,” Cassidy interrupted. “If he regains consciousness, doesn’t that mean he’s getting better?” Cassidy’s gaze bounced frantically around the room. “Doesn’t it?”

  “Hopefully, yes,” Blake told her.

  “He’s suffered grievous injuries,” Melanie said.

  “ ‘Grievous’…What does that mean?” Cassidy asked.

  “It means that whether or not he regains consciousness, we shouldn’t get our hopes up.”

  “He has to get better.” Cassidy spun back toward her stepfather. “You have to get better, Daddy. Please. You’re all I have left.”

  “Oh, sweetheart,” Robin said, taking Cassidy in her arms.

  Cassidy collapsed against Robin, her legs weakening, so that Robin was virtually holding her up. “They killed my mommy,” she cried, her voice disappearing into Robin’s curls. “Daddy can’t die. He can’t leave me.”

  “I’m sure he’s doing everything in his power to get better,” Robin said.

  “He’s made it this far,” Blake added. “And from what little I know about him, if anyone can survive this, he can.”

  “That’s true,” Melanie conceded. “I just think it’s a mistake to cling to false hope.”

  “Sometimes hope is all we’ve got,” Robin said, kissing Cassidy’s forehead. “Maybe we should get you back in bed.”

  “No. I want to stay here.” Cassidy backed slowly out of Robin’s arms, fresh resolve straightening her shoulders. “Daddy?” She reached over the bed’s handrail to take his hand in hers. “It’s me, Cassidy. I’m here. And the doctors say I’m going to be fine. But I need you, Daddy. I need you to wake up.” She looked back at Robin. “He’s cold. He needs more covers.”

  Robin looked around the room, locating a lightweight cotton blanket in the closet. She tucked it around her father’s legs, watching as Cassidy drew it up toward his chin.

  “That’s better,” the child said. “Isn’t it, Daddy? You’re warmer now.” She looked back at Melanie. “Where’s Landon?”

  “He’s at home.”

  “He should be here. Daddy should be surrounded by the people he loves.”

  “I’m not sure that would be such a good idea,” Melanie protested. “You know Landon’s behavior can be a bit…unpredictable.”

  “I know that Landon loves Daddy and Daddy loves him.”

  Melanie’s skepticism registered on her face. “Maybe so, but…”

  “He said he thought Landon had come a really long way, that you’d done an awesome job with him.”

  “He told you that?” Tears sprang to Melanie’s eyes. Quickly, she turned aside, swiping at them with the back of her hand. “What else did he say?”

  “Just that he loved you.”

  Wow, Robin thought.

  “Wow
,” Melanie echoed out loud. Then, her voice a whisper: “If only he’d said that to me.”

  “He will,” Cassidy said. “When he wakes up.” She squeezed her stepfather’s hand. “I love you, Daddy. We all do.”

  Robin held her breath, half-expecting her father to summon up all his inner strength and shout out in his booming voice, “I love you, too.” But he didn’t.

  He never had.

  She pictured her brother, saw the lingering hurt in his eyes at their father’s betrayal, and felt the rage behind it. Had he been angry enough to kill?

  Where are you, Alec? What were you doing in Red Bluff the night of the shootings?

  “Maybe you should sit down,” she said to Cassidy, in an effort to quiet those thoughts.

  “No, I’m okay.” Cassidy smiled shyly at Blake. “You didn’t tell me you were engaged,” she said to Robin.

  “Well, we really haven’t talked that much,” Robin said.

  “I’m sure there were more important things on her mind,” Blake said.

  Robin wondered if he was merely being generous, masking his hurt feelings, or if he really meant what he said. It occurred to her that she didn’t know the man she was engaged to marry very well at all.

  “So when are you getting married? Can I be a bridesmaid?” Cassidy asked, one question tumbling on top of the other.

  “Most certainly,” Blake said graciously.

  “That’s so cool. And I guess you’ll be maid of honor,” she said to Melanie.

  Melanie looked over at Robin. Robin glanced toward the floor.

  “First things first,” Blake interjected. “And first, we have to set a date.”

  “How about as soon as Daddy gets out of the hospital?”

  “That’s certainly something to consider,” Robin said, deciding to let the child cling to her optimism, however unrealistic.

  Plenty of time for reality later.

  Cassidy clapped her hands with excitement. “Did you hear that, Daddy? There’s going to be a wedding. So you have to get better, so you can give the bride away.” She glanced at Robin for confirmation.

  Robin nodded. What the hell? What harm could it do?

  “Have you met Robin’s fiancé, Blake? Oh—I don’t know your last name.”

  “It’s Upton,” Blake said.