Chapter 3
Chapter Three
Aurora burst into her apartment, kicking off her shoes and throwing down her purse. The night from hell had followed her into day, and now it was one chaotic blur. She didn’t even know what time it was right now.
She couldn’t stop thinking of the look on the ponytail man’s—Eric’s—face when he pulled the trigger. The high-pitched yet shockingly small sound that the gun’s silencer made. The dull thud as Brandon’s body hit the carpet.
Aurora flinched at each memory.
Lana Marchetti walked in behind her and shut the door. “Should I run a warm bath for you first? Or maybe a glass of wine?”
“Don’t baby me, L. I get enough of that from Max.”
Poor Brandon Wolfson. And his family. Aurora had liked him, though she hadn’t known him well. But nobody, kind or not, deserved to meet such an end. Bile rose in her throat. No, she couldn’t think about it. She’d already cried and vomited enough. No more of that.
Last night, after those horrible men had run from Wolfson’s office at the sight of the blinking alarm, Aurora stayed hidden until her brother had arrived.
She had mixed feelings about Max, but she’d been so thankful to see him in that moment.
He’d wrapped her in his arms like she was still a little kid.
The police had shown up at The Lighthouse Club on Max’s heels, followed by the district attorney. They’d questioned Aurora all night and well into today at the police station, long after Max had returned to work. She’d told the detectives everything she could about the murder.
At the station, Aurora had changed out of her black evening gown. But the clothes the police gave her didn’t fit. They belonged to someone else. She scratched at her skin.
“I don’t want a bath or wine.” Aurora opened a cabinet in her chef-ready kitchen and pulled out a bottle of vodka. “A shot is more like it.”
Lana slid onto a stool at the countertop. “Maybe one. But getting drunk isn’t going to help, believe me. I’ve seen this before, and I know how it goes. You need to relax. Rest. Your stress hormones are off the charts right now.”
Aurora’s best friend was a district attorney, the second in command of their small county. Lana prosecuted hardened criminals on a daily basis. She was the most poised, intelligent, fearless woman Aurora had ever known.
Lana’s family had taken Aurora in as a kid, back when Max was overseas and the rest of their family imploded. Lana was years older, but they’d been dear friends ever since.
I should be as brave as Lana. Instead, I’m a mess, and I didn’t even lose anyone close to me.
What about Brandon’s wife and the rest of his family and friends? Or Jennifer? What were they going through, even now?
She poured a shot of vodka into a coffee cup and tipped it back. The liquid made her shiver. Right away, she went to pour another, but Lana stayed her hand. “Uh uh, no way.”
“Would you stop being so reasonable?”
“Everything’s going to be all right. We have detectives investigating Dominic Crane as we speak. We’re going to make sure the case against him is airtight.”
Max had already checked the Bennett Security cameras around The Lighthouse Club. Many hadn’t been functioning, and Crane had avoided the rest. But Lana had said Crane could be held liable for murder, even though he didn’t pull the trigger himself.
It all depended on Aurora’s testimony.
“We’re going to file a sealed complaint,” Lana went on, “charging Crane and his accomplices. Within a day or two afterward, they’ll be under arrest, and they won’t have a clue about your identity until after that happens.”
“And then I’ll have to testify?”
Lana nodded. “But I’m planning to arrange a special deal with the defense attorneys.
It’s possible to have a witness testify early when there’s a risk they may not be available at trial.
Usually it’s elderly witnesses, but there’s no reason it wouldn’t work here.
Crane’s lawyers would question you, and that way your testimony will be on the record. ”
“Because they’ll want to kill me once they know I exist.”
“Aurora…”
She threw back the second shot. “I know what you and Max were talking about. I’m not dumb. Crane will want to get rid of me before I can testify. Right?”
“Well… That’s what we’re afraid of. Yes. By having you testify early, I’m hoping they’ll back off. Though I can’t guarantee it.”
“Okay.” Somehow, she felt better hearing it out loud. As if having the worst in front of her made it easier to face.
You’re not a victim, she told herself. You can handle this. Be brave.
Fake it till you make it, right? That was Aurora’s motto for starting her party-planning business. It could work for this, too.
“When will I testify?”
“I don’t know yet. Like I said, several things need to happen first. And we have to get the defense to agree—”
“I just want it over with.”
“I know, sweetie. I know.”
How was she supposed to keep her fledgling business going?
Earlier last night, her prospects had seemed so bright.
The party had been a success, and she was supposed to hold a birthday party for Mrs. Wolfson next week at their gorgeous estate up in the hills.
She’d actually thought she could do this. Have a business, a life, of her own.
And now, everything was ruined. A man was dead, his wife despondent.
And I could be next.
But that thought didn’t make her want to hide. She’d done enough hiding inside that office. She wanted to run.
“Can we go outside? It feels stuffy in here.”
“Well…”
Don’t say I’m trapped here, Aurora thought. Please.
“How about the rooftop terrace? If you eat something first, and we leave the vodka here.”
Aurora smiled at her friend. “That’ll work. Thank you.”
Aurora sat on a wicker chair. A cool breeze blew from the water. The Pacific Ocean stretched out towards the horizon, sun glinting off its surface.
The commercial district along Ocean Lane bustled down below them. Waterfront seafood restaurants, trendy boutiques, and art galleries.
The Lighthouse Club was farther down the strip, in a building she could see from here. Police cars still lingered outside. Aurora suppressed a chill.
“Maybe we shouldn’t have come up here,” Lana said.
“No, it’s fine. I’m okay. But…I feel awful about what happened. I wish there’d been something I could do to stop them.” Her voice cracked on the words.
Lana hugged her. “But thank goodness you stayed out of sight.”
West Oaks didn’t have much crime, usually, and hardly any murders. She’d grown up in this town, though her family hadn’t lived anywhere near the beach. They’d lived a very different life back then.
Now, her brother Max owned this building.
He’d offered her an apartment rent-free when she told him she was moving back.
He hadn’t mentioned it would be one of two penthouses, with access to exclusive amenities like this rooftop terrace.
She’d been saving up money to get a place of her very own, but apartments in West Oaks weren’t cheap.
Everywhere she looked here, she saw her past. Her brother.
She was incredibly grateful for his help with moving back.
But she also wanted to forge her own life, like Max already had.
He’d founded a successful company, paid for their parents to retire early and travel, conveniently out of their children’s way.
People around here had no idea the founder of Bennett Security had been born on the wrong side of the freeway.
“Look.” Lana leaned over the railing. “There’s one of the squad cars. They’re keeping watch over your building. That should make you feel safer. You know, Max offered to send a—”
“Uh, no. No bodyguard. I already told him.”
“Rory, your brother runs a private security company. Assigning you a bodyguard is the easiest thing in the world for him. He knows what he’s doing. Max is only trying to look out for you.”
Aurora didn’t like when her friend called her “Rory.” That was what Max called her when she was a kid. But Lana had always gotten along better with her brother than Aurora did.
“Yes, Max has done a lot for me.” For much of her life, he’d been more like a parent than a brother. “But he’s done enough. He treats me like I’m a child. Like I’m stupid.” Like her ex, Justin, did. “He has no faith in me.”
Aurora had every intention of making sure that Wolfson’s killers were punished. But she wasn’t going to sacrifice her freedom in the process. She’d already started over once when she’d moved back here. She couldn’t do it again. Much less become a prisoner in her own home.
After her identity as the witness was revealed publicly? Then maybe she’d consider it. Not before.
“I think you’re being too hard on Max and on yourself. Which is understandable. You’ve had a terrible shock, and it’s easier to focus your anger on him than on what happened. I might be working on the case against Crane and his men, but I’m your friend first. You can tell me what you’re feeling.”
Lana put a hand on Aurora’s arm, but Aurora shrugged it away. “You know, I’m tired after all. I’m ready to lie down now.”
Lana sighed.
They took the stairs back to the penthouse level. But just as Aurora reached the bottom of the steps, she stopped.
“Something’s wrong.”
It took a moment for Aurora to pinpoint the issue. The other penthouse. Its door was open.
But nobody lived in that apartment. Max kept insisting his property manager hadn’t found the right tenant with the necessary level of income. Translation—I haven’t found anyone I trust to live next to you, dear sister.
What were the chances he’d found a tenant today, of all days?
As she watched, a man came out of the open doorway, closing it carefully behind him. Tall, muscular. Like Crane’s men.
Then he looked over at the other penthouse door. Her door. He dug into his inner coat pocket.
A gun. He had a gun.
Aurora pushed Lana backwards into the stairwell. She couldn’t breathe. Her heart rate had spiked, and her blood was racing.
“Go back up. Hurry.”