Chapter 15
Chapter Fifteen
brUNO
She sets off, long legs eating up the marble, hair flowing, and that particular brightness she has that’s hard to quantify.
I have no stake in any of this. I shouldn’t care what she believes. She has asked me to stay in my lane.
But it’s excruciating.
She sent Christmas cards that came back unopened. She watched their lives through a fake Instagram account. She addressed wedding invitations with her sister like old times and took it as evidence that everything was fine, that they’d come around, that love had won.
No one wants her here.
I should tell her.
But would she hear it? Would she care? She’s too idealistic. How does a person like this survive in the world, thinking connection heals things and that emotions are more important than facts?
It’s obvious she didn’t steal that thing. How could these people think otherwise? What is wrong with them? She’s clearly the most sentimental person here. You could see the emotions fly through her face like a Pixar movie; she’s got tons of heart, but what she needs is a bit of armor.
I drain my scotch.
It’s not my place to get involved.
Even so, it grates on me. Just the principle of it, that’s all.
I pull out my phone. I scroll to Laney Waller, the investigator I used when I first looked into my mother. Discreet, thorough, expensive. The kind of professional who finds things that don’t want to be found.
I press call.
I give her the details: the tiara, the timeline, the pawn shop, the witness who saw a woman with dark hair with a purple streak. The patron whose deposit arrived at exactly the wrong moment. I tell her to focus on who had access to the party, who had motive, who might have known about the loan.
“Keep this discreet. It stays between us.”
A pause. “Understood.”
I hang up. Set the phone on the desk.
Wouldn’t you rather have people know your heart?
I go upstairs to get ready.