Page 108 of Tanner

I feel bad about keeping anything from Tanner, but I don’t want to mention any of my thoughts about his mom’s accident until I get my dad’s opinion. Odds are, I’m a thousand percent off.

“What’s up, sweet pea?” Dad asks as he makes us a cup of Tetley tea.

“I have this nagging feeling about Tanner’s mom’s accident. Call it intuition or whatnot, but when I met his dad and stepmom the other day, something just rubbed me wrong. Things his stepmom said, the way his dad didn’t react. I don’t know. Something just felt off. Then, I found these photos, and now, I’m even more concerned. Or crazy. Possibly both.”

“I’m sure whatever you’re feeling is just nerves. You know, you’ve had a lot going on these past few days,” he jokes.

“That’s quite the understatement.” I open my purse and take out the photograph. “I just want you to see this. I want your opinion.”

He whistles through his teeth. “Shit. That’s …” He seems to have lost his words as he takes in the accident.

I brought the picture of the car in the brush, forty feet off a cliff and smashed to pieces.

“Is this his mother’s car? How did you get this?”

I bite my lower lip, ashamed to admit it. “I found it in his drawer. Tanner has the entire accident report. This was his father’s.”

“Does Tanner know you took this? He might not like you digging into his past, especially so early. Let him tell you on his terms.”

“He has. We’ve talked all about it. I know I should talk to him, but I need your expertise first. Look.” I lift the photo, pointing to it. “Look at her back tire.”

I wait for him to view what I’m seeing. He takes the picture into his hands. His head tilts to the side as he blows out a breath. He doesn’t patronize me. He’s actually looking like I asked him to. He squints his eyes, and I know his wheels are starting to turn.

“Apparently, a deer jumped out in front of her, and that’s how she crashed. They know this because his father was on the phone with her when it happened,” I say.

He glances up at me in question, waiting for me to continue.

“Yes, the car is pretty beat up, but tell me, have you ever heard of an accident like this where the wheel came completely off?” I point to the spot on the photo where the wheel is disengaged.

“Deer can damage cars more than you’d expect—”

“Where the tire is missing is the least damaged spot on the car. If she hit a deer there, it would be smashed in. If the force of the accident did rip the rim from the axle shaft, then there would be massive damage there to allude to that. Yet there’s none.”

My dad tilts his head, and I know he’s seeing what I see. “Where was the wheel?”

“I don’t know, but it wasn’t in any of the pictures that I could see. The report just says it was lost on impact. What are the odds of the wheel coming off like that?”

He takes a deep breath in, sighing deeply, shaking his head. “You know … I mean … it wouldn’t be impossible, but looking at this, I agree. Something doesn’t fit. Each wheel has five lug nuts to keep that rim attached to the axle. The odds of all of them breaking loose are very slim, especially since there’s minimal damage to that portion of the car.”

“Then, how would the tire come off?”

He hands the photo back to me, running his hand down his face, inhaling a deep breath. “Sweet pea, are you sure this is something you should be looking into?”

“You think it, too? Someone tampered with that tire. Someone wanted her to crash.”

I know my dad has dealt with people in the mob. His upbringing in Long Island City was a breeding ground for kids who wanted to make a quick buck and could be lured into a life of crime. Unscrewing lug nuts is probably small potatoes compared to stories my father has heard.

“Harper, I’m going to say this once. If someone did mess with the car, they are not people you should be investigating. I don’t want you getting involved in this.”

“So, you agree with me. You think someone caused her accident?”

“I don’t want you getting involved.”

“But I am involved. It’s Tanner’s family. I think his dad and stepmom set this up. And your actions are proving you agree with me.”

“Honey, just back off of it. If they did this, who knows what else they can do? I’ve seen much worse, and I don’t want you getting mixed up with any of it. Your mother and I moved here to get you away from that life. Here I thought, you’d met a nice kid from the West Coast, and it’s the same shit coming back at us.”

“It’s too late. I love Tanner. He’s my husband now, and if his mom was murdered, he deserves to know the truth. His stepmom said some things at dinner when she and Tanner got in an argument. It struck me odd then, and now, I just know. I feel it in my gut.”