Silent Fall

who my enemy was," he muttered, "so I knew who to fight."
    "Who else in your life, besides Senator Ravino, would want to torture you like this?" she asked.
    "That’s what I was just wondering. I have no idea."
    "Because it seems to me that a frame for murder is designed to make a person suffer over a long period of time, unlike a bullet to the head, which would kill instantly."
    "That’s a nice, cheery image."
    "Sorry, but it’s clear to me that someone hates you, Dylan."
    "Yeah, it’s pretty obvious to me, too." Her words had brought one person’s face to mind, but Dylan dismissed the idea immediately.
    Catherine shifted in her seat, and he could feel the heat of her gaze. His hands tightened on the steering wheel. He didn’t want her in his head, reading his thoughts. There was a part of himself that he didn’t allow anyone to see, a part that had been wounded a long time ago.
    "Stop staring at me," he told her.
    "I’m making you nervous. But it’s not my staring that’s really upsetting you. Who hates you, Dylan? It has to be someone close to you," she added. "You should tell me. I might figure it out anyway."
    She probably would figure it out. He might not be willing to buy into her psychic power, but he knew she was very perceptive. Finally he said, "There’s only one person who I know hates me, and that’s my father. But it’s ludicrous to think that he would spend any time whatsoever trying to set me up for murder."
    "Your father? Now I know why you didn’t want to tell me."
    "Because he’s not involved."
    "Why do you think he hates you?"
    "I don’t think it. I know it," he said firmly. "Richard Sanders never pretended to love me. In fact, he beat the crap out of me until I was sixteen years old and could fight back. Then he threw me out of the house, ending what little relationship we had."
    "That’s horrible."
    "It wasn’t good," he said through tight lips. He really did not want to talk about his father. "Fortunately I had Jake; otherwise I don’t think I would have survived my childhood."
    "Jake protected you?"
    "As much as he could. He even tried to take the blame a few times, but my father saw through it. He always went after me."
    "Was your father physical with Jake, too?"
    "I never saw him hit Jake, but he wasn’t above manipulating him or finding ways to make him feel bad. But I’d have to say that I was my father’s main target. After he kicked me out of the house, I went and lived with Jake. He was going to UC Berkeley at the time and had an apartment with a couple of guys. I slept on the couch and enrolled at the nearest high school and somehow managed to get a diploma. Jake made sure I went to college, too, and he paid for all of it. He worked two jobs, took out loans, all while he was trying to get his own education. I don’t know how he did it. He’s only three years older than me, but he was more of a surrogate parent than a brother."
    "Didn’t anyone else in the family try to step in and help you get away from your father?"
    "Everyone looked the other way, and Richard Sanders knew how to hit where it wouldn’t show. Besides that, he’s a rich, socially connected, well-educated man. No one would ever believe he’d use a belt on his kid. I tried to tell a teacher once. She called my father in for a meeting. He said I was a pathological liar. The next thing I knew I was in detention. I didn’t bother telling anyone after that."
    "I can see why you wouldn’t."
    There was no shock in her voice, just sadness and a weary acceptance, reminding him that Catherine was no stranger to abuse. She’d probably seen worse in her days in the foster-care system. He couldn’t help wondering again what her story was, but he doubted she’d tell him. She was as private as he was -- as he usually was, he silently amended. Around her he was becoming quite the talker.
    "I don’t know why I told you all that," he said aloud, giving her a quick look. "I don’t usually share my life."
    "You told me because you needed to. Don’t worry; your secret is safe with me."
    "It’s not a secret; it’s just a part of my life that’s over -- at least, I thought it was over."
    Was it possible that his father was responsible for his latest problems? They hadn’t spoken in over a year, and that brief conversation had occurred only because they’d happened to pass each other