Silent Fall

think he could have done it," he said, his voice bleak. The encounter with his father had taken a lot out of him. It was the one relationship he couldn’t fix, couldn’t make work no matter how hard he tried. And she suspected that even though he hated his father, there was still a part of him that wanted his father’s love, something Dylan would never admit.
    "He could have killed Erica -- maybe not himself, since he wouldn’t want to get his hands dirty, but he could have hired someone to do it," Dylan continued. "He has plenty of money."
    "What’s his motive?"
    "She knew too much about him. Perhaps he’s tied to Ravino. They could be working together."
    "Or not," Catherine suggested. "I watched your father. He did know Erica. I saw him twitch when you said her name. But he didn’t look guilty. He appeared more nervous than anything."
    "Because he killed her."
    "I don’t know, Dylan. I think it’s hard for you to judge your father fairly because he’s so horrible to you."
    "And what the hell were you doing sticking up for me?" Dylan asked, turning to look at her with irritation in his eyes. "I didn’t need you to get into the middle of a fight that didn’t concern you."
    "I couldn’t just stand by and let him say those things about you."
    "I’ve heard them before, many times."
    "Well, I haven’t, and he pissed me off. You’re not some worthless piece of shit, Dylan."
    "I know that."
    "Do you?" she challenged. "Your father has worked awfully hard to convince you otherwise."
    "I do," he said, the anger dissipating from his gaze. "It took me a while, but I finally figured out he was the shithead, not me."
    "Good. And you should be thanking me, not yelling at me. I could have said a lot more to the man. I was just getting started."
    A slow smile spread across Dylan’s face. "You’re something else, Catherine."
    "‘Something else’ could be good or bad."
    "In this case it’s good. And you’re right -- again. Thank you." He paused. "So, did you pick up any other vibes in the house?"
    "Your father lied when he told you that Jake invited him to the wedding. I think it bothers him that Jake didn’t."
    "But he had to save face in front of his girlfriend. I almost feel sorry for her. He’s an asshole, and sooner or later she’ll figure that out." He started the car and pulled away from the curb. "Just the way my mother did."
    "Did you mean what you said about finding her?"
    "When this is all over," Dylan said. "I can’t let it go any longer. But first I have to figure out what happened to Erica."
    "Let’s go over what we know," Catherine said. "Assuming Erica didn’t anticipate that she was about to be double-crossed, she went to Tahoe with the intention of drugging you and luring you into the woods, which she did. She took your tie and cuff link and cut your hand so she could place evidence in her cabin and also in the lake. But then something went wrong. Someone came to the cabin in the middle of the night and frightened her. She ran, probably hiding in the woods until morning. Then she fled back to San Francisco. Which means she must have had her car." Catherine paused. "Was her car at her condo?"
    "I didn’t notice it. I wasn’t really looking."
    "Or the car could be somewhere else in the city. Where else was she?"
    "In my apartment; then she went to the Palace of Fine Arts, then Golden Gate Park," Dylan finished. "Why are you worrying about her car?"
    "It just seems to me that if she had anything that might lead to whoever she was working with, then it would mostly likely be on her person or in her car, especially since we didn’t find anything at her house or yours."
    Dylan sent her an approving look. "Good thinking. So we need to find her car. She had a white Jetta; I know that much. It could be in the park. That’s the last place she was."
    "I think she was on foot in the park," Catherine said. "When I connected with her in my vision she was running and she was tired. I didn’t have the sense that she drove there and started walking."
    "Then we’ll back it up, starting at my apartment. I should have thought of this before."
    "You’ve had a lot on your mind. Don’t beat yourself up about it."
    "I’m usually better than this."
    She knew Dylan set the bar high for himself, but he was only human -- not that he’d admit it. They drove across town in silence. As they turned