Falmouth Echoes (A Cape Cod Series Book 2)

Chapter 23

Sophia pressed the phone to her ear and fell back against the mattress. “This better be important because if you’re calling me because you can’t sleep again, so help me, God, Ian, I will—”

“They caught the robber…intruder, whatever you want to call him,” Ian interrupted in a whisper-soft voice. “I have the night shift today, and I just got the news.”

Sophia shot up in bed and threw the covers off. “And? Don’t keep me in suspense here. What’s happening?”

Ian’s voice was muffled, then it came back on, quieter than before. “He’s refusing to talk without a lawyer.”

Sophia sucked in a harsh breath. “That’s not surprising, is it?”

Ian exhaled. “It’s not, but we’re still going to try. Since it’s late, we’re not sure we’re going to be able to get him a public lawyer at this time of night.”

“What about Cousin Terry? She’s a criminal lawyer, so isn’t this right up her wheelhouse? At the very least, she must know someone who can help.”

Ian paused. “You’re a genius. I’m going to give her a call right now.”

Sophia twisted to peer at the clock on her nightstand, blinking gray and blue at her. “Ian, it’s like three in the morning. Maybe you should—”

Ian hung up before Sophia could finish the sentence. She pulled the phone away from her ear and stared at it for a few seconds. Then she shoved it into the pocket of her pajama bottoms and swung her legs over the side of the bed. She patted Teddy on her way to the bathroom. By the light of the moon, she splashed cold water on her face and paused to grip the edges of the sink.

Was the intruder finally going to be brought to justice?

Was the nightmare finally going to end?

When Sophia came back out of the bathroom, her phone was buzzing. Her stomach gave an odd little lurch as soon as she saw Darren’s name flash across the screen. She paused to gather her hair up into a ponytail and slid to answer the call. His voice was frantic and rushed when he spoke.

“Whoa, calm down. I didn’t get any of that.”

“I wasn’t sure whether or not I should call, but I’m sure Ian must’ve told you. They’ve got the guy, Soph. He’s in police custody right now.”

“I know, but he’s refusing to speak without a lawyer. Aren’t you supposed to be on shift right now?”

“Shift’s ending. I’m on my way back. Do you want me to take you to the station?”

“To do what? I can’t be anywhere near this, or Ian might get in trouble.”

Darren blew out a breath. “Yeah, you’re right. Okay, I’ll get us some coffee and croissants. I’ll be home soon.”

When he hung up, Sophia made her way into the hallway with Teddy hot on her heels. She crept into the main house and down the stairs to the backyard. Giving the backdoor a firm tug, it wrenched free with a slight creaking sound. With a gasp, Sophia glanced over her shoulders, relieved not to find her dad at the foot of the stairs.

Once the front door clicked open and Darren stepped in, Sophia was sitting on the steps of the back porch, a blanket around her shoulders and her phone in her hands. She offered Darren a tight smile as he paused to pat Teddy and lowered the brown paper bag on the floor between them. Teddy sniffed at the bag, and Darren playfully shoved him away.

“Has Ian called back?”

Sophia didn’t look at Darren when she answered. “No, not yet. What if it’s just random, though? Like, what if none of it meant anything?”

Darren wrapped an arm around her shoulders and squeezed. “We’ll figure it out.”

Sophia was sipping on her coffee when Ian called. Her palms were sweaty, and she nearly dropped the phone a few times. Darren took it out of her hands and set it down on the steps between them.

“Is Darren there? I’m going to need you to sit down for this, Soph.”

Darren cleared his throat. “I’m here. What’s wrong?”

A door opened and shut in the background.

“It turns out that the intruder was hired by Eric Alrich, Lily’s dad.”

Sophia’s blood began to roar in her ears, and she tasted bile in the back of her throat. “What? That doesn’t make any sense. Why would he hire someone to break into people’s homes?”

It felt like someone had punched her in the stomach.

She half-expected the room to start spinning around her.

“He didn’t hire someone to break into people’s homes. He hired some skeezy private eye who hired this guy to look into the Wilsons.”

Sophia’s stomach clenched. “All of the Wilsons?”

“And the Cheffs,” Ian added in a tight voice. “He’s been following us for months, trying to gather evidence and build a case against us.”

Sophia looked over at Darren, and her blood turned cold. “A case to do what? We don’t have anything he wants. Ian, how do you know all of this? I thought he wasn’t talking.”

“Terry made a few phone calls. Apparently, she knows someone at the public prosecutor’s office, and she called in a favor. This lawyer walked in a short while ago, and the guy is talking because he’s hoping to strike a deal.”

“A deal?”

“Protection in exchange for information,” Ian clarified, his voice rising toward the end. “You should’ve seen the look on his face, Soph. He’s terrified of Eric. I don’t know what the man has on him, but it’s obviously enough to scare the bejeesus out of him.”

Sophia swallowed. “I still don’t understand. Why is Eric trying to build a case against us?”

“According to the guy, it’s because he thinks we’re to blame for Lily turning against him and for Amy leaving him.”

“I wonder if that’s why Amy was freaked out the other day when I was chasing the guy. What if she saw him and figured out who it was?”

“I’m trying to get in touch with Lily, but she doesn’t have a signal.”

“Try Ben,” Sophia suggested, pausing to run a hand over her face. “He practically lives there, but even if he isn’t there, he’ll be able to get a hold of her.”

“What can we do?” Darren took Sophia’s hands in his, and he rubbed his thumb along the inside of her wrist in slow, soothing motions. “Should I bring Sophia and Stu to the station? What about Zoe?”

“I don’t think Eric is going to try anything now that we have one of his henchmen.”

Sophia’s mind was racing at a million miles a minute.

It was a lot of effort to go through because of a wounded ego and pride.

Then again, Eric Alrich didn’t strike her as the forgiving sort, much less the kind to let things go. Since he knew where Lily and Amy were, it was unlikely he was going to stop coming after them. Not so long as he felt like he had something to prove.

A chill raced up Sophia’s spine. “How are we going to stop him? There’s got to be something we can do.”

“I’m trying to figure out the best plan of action. I’ll talk to the captain and see what he says. For now, please don’t do anything stupid.”

“Ian, what if—”

“No,” Ian interrupted a little too loudly. “Don’t even go there, Soph. They have nothing to do with each other.”

“Mom was killed in a robbery gone wrong,” Sophia said with a shake of her head. “You can’t tell me that you haven’t considered whether or not there’s a connection. There’s got to be one.”

“Soph.” Ian went so quiet that Sophia picked up the phone to check if the line was dead. A moment later, Ian’s heavy breathing reverberated inside her head. “It’s not that I don’t want to look into it, but do you have any idea how hard it’s going to be to convince them to reopen a case that happened years ago?”

Sophia picked the phone up and rose to her feet. “I know, but don’t you think it’s worth looking into it? I’m sure if you presented the case, they’ll—”

“They’ll what? The trail’s gone cold, Soph. You and I both know that. You know how hard I tried when I first became a cop. I made a lot of people angry because I kept pushing.”

After giving her a quick look, Darren fished his own phone out of his pocket and stepped away.

Sophia turned her back on Darren and blew out a deep, shaky breath. “So, that’s it? You’re not even going to try? Mom died alone, in a pool of her own blood, desperate for her family… Don’t you think she deserves justice?”

“How can you even ask me that when you know what I’ve done to try and find answers? I know she deserves justice, but I can’t whip it up out of thin air.”

Sophia’s ears were ringing now, and her heart was pounding unevenly inside her chest. “Please, Ian. You have to try. If they’re at all connected…we can’t let the answers slip away again. It has to be connected to what Eric is trying to do.”

Because there was no other explanation that made sense.

For most of her life, Sophia had always wondered what would’ve happened if she’d had the opportunity to revisit her mom’s case, to find answers once and for all—rather than push it to the back of her mind and accept that it was just a random, senseless crime that had no rhyme or reason.

For the first time in her life, Sophia felt like she was on the precipice of something great, something different, and she didn’t want to let go.

She couldn’t.

“I can’t make any promises,” Ian murmured, his voice trailing off toward the end, “but I’ll see what I can do.”

Sophia clutched her phone tighter. “Thank you.”

“I got a hold of Ben.” Sophia spun around to face her ex, whose face gave nothing away. “Lily is getting in touch with her dad right now.”

Sophia and Ian hung up, and she shoved the phone into her pocket.

She brushed past Darren, who was talking to Ben in a low, measured voice. On her way out the front door, she saw her dad at the top of the stairs, his hair in tufts on top of his head and his ratty old robe half open, revealing a wrinkled shirt and boxers underneath. Stu rubbed his eyes and blinked, but before he could say anything, Sophia took her sweater off the back door, reached for Teddy’s leash, and took off.

With no clear direction in mind, Sophia walked until she found herself on a bench on the sidewalk overlooking the beach. Teddy sat down at her feet as she leaned forward and stared out at the dark, choppy waters ahead. A short while later, Darren emerged, sat down next to her, and wordlessly bundled her up in another jacket, one that smelled strongly like him.

“I didn’t need you to come after me, you know,” Sophia whispered without looking at him. “I’m fine.”

“I know you are, but even if you’re not, that’s also okay.”

Sophia twisted to face him and frowned. “You think I’m crazy, too, don’t you? For wanting to find answers and a connection when there isn’t any. I know it’s been over forty years since she passed, but if there’s a chance…”

The rest of the words were lodged in her throat, and no matter how hard she tried, they wouldn’t come out. Frustrated, Sophia dashed away the tears that fell down her face.

After a brief pause, Darren took her into his arms and stroked her back. “I know this is all hard, but it’s going to be okay. I’ve got you, Soph. You don’t have to face any of this alone.”

Sophia buried her face in the crook of his neck and squeezed her eyes shut.

Whenever Darren held her like that, she could almost believe everything really was going to be okay, even if a small part of her still felt like she was waiting for the other shoe to drop.