Chapter 23
Adalyn sat quietly next to Kayla Sonde as she spoke to the detective, Camila Flores, who had been questioning her. Sonde had light brown skin, dark hair that almost looked black, and a sharp tongue that dared anyone to argue with her. Adalyn doubted this woman ever lost in court.
“My client is in town because her sister’s roommate was brutally murdered. Then when she received a horrifying video from an old friend in danger, she ran to his side and heroically saved him.”
“Jesus, Sonde,” Flores muttered. “This isn’t your closing argument.”
“I’m well aware.” Her voice dripped with ice. “But everything my client has said has been backed up with evidence. I’ve reviewed the videos and—”
“I know, Kayla! And you are free to go,” Flores said, looking at Adalyn now, who’d long since had her handcuffs removed. “But if you’d just answer a few quest—”
“We’re done here.” Kayla stood, but Adalyn held out a hand and remained sitting.
“I’ve literally told you everything I know,” she said quietly.
The detective gave her a hard stare as she leaned across the table. “I don’t think you have. I’m working Clara Fournier’s case and it didn’t sit right with me that she was gunned down after giving up her purse. Especially when we couldn’t get a hit on the guy’s face on any nearby cameras. Whoever killed her was a pro. He moved like he had training or had killed before. Probably both.”
Adalyn didn’t say anything because the woman hadn’t asked a question.
“And then you come to town, and now someone else linked to you has been murdered—after you neutralized a bomb strapped to his chest. This all feels very personal. So I’m going to tell you what I think. I think that whatever is going on is linked to you somehow. I don’t know how, but your sister’s roommate, who’s basically a ringer for Fleur, ends up dead. Now your high school ex is dead. And your sister is in the wind. In hiding, I’m assuming?”
Adalyn simply nodded because admitting that wouldn’t hurt anything.
The woman gritted her teeth as she leaned back. “Then tell me what’s going on. We can help you. We’ve got resources.”
They didn’t have more resources than Adalyn. Not even close. “I honestly don’t know what’s going on but…you’re right.” She held up a hand when her lawyer started to interject. “I think the two things are connected and I’m pretty sure the bombing downtown was by the same person who killed both of them. Did you guys ever find out where the shooter…” She cleared her throat, forced the words past her dry throat. “Where he was hiding?”
The detective was quiet for a long moment, then nodded. “Second story of a neighbor’s house. The family’s out of town for Mardi Gras but there were subtle signs of a break-in, and a neighbor’s hidden camera caught a masked man going inside. It’s a camera just to watch birds and the guy must have missed it. No prints, though in the bedroom we projected where he took the shot from. Whoever killed Rory has done this kind of thing before. It was a difficult shot.”
As Adalyn digested everything, a thought wiggled free, started rolling around in her head. Could it be a hit for hire? She hadn’t actually thought that was a possibility since this was so personal. She’d been running on the assumption that Ali had been behind everything himself.
But maybe Ali had hired someone to do this for him. For some reason that didn’t sit right with Adalyn, not with the nature of the videos, the texts, the personal phone call. Her gut rebelled at the idea, but maybe it was a professional hitter and she was going about this all wrong. “I don’t think you’re wrong about the killer being a professional,” she murmured.
“Why do you think the bombing at the school is related… Wait, you went to school there?”
“Yeah, both Fleur and I did. Rory too.” She left out the part about the text warning.
“So who were the other people in the SUV going door to door telling people to evacuate because of the bomb?”
Oh, the detective had only asked that a dozen times. And Adalyn had simply shrugged, said they must be Good Samaritans. Which was not earning her any goodwill points.
Kayla tapped one of her long nails on the table twice. “Nope. My client is done here. And unless you’re going to arrest her, we’re leaving.”
Yeah, it was definitely time to leave.
Sighing, the detective slid her card across the table as Adalyn stood. “Call me if you change your mind about talking. And don’t leave town.”
Kayla snapped up the card instead of letting Adalyn take it and tucked it into her pocket before ushering her out into the hallway where Rowan was waiting.
Relief punched through her to see him, even as grief threatened to pull her under, drown her in misery. But she shoved it aside, would deal with it later after Rory got justice.
“You two, don’t talk to anyone without running it by me first,” Kayla said as she looked between the two of them. “Got it?”
They both nodded, then she handed both of them her cards. “My personal cell is on the back. If anything happens again—and I really hope it doesn’t—call me first.”
“We will, thank you,” she murmured.
The lawyer nodded, then paused. “I don’t think I need to tell you this, but whatever this thing is…just stay safe.” She patted Adalyn once on the shoulder before turning and heading down the hallway.
“Let’s get out of here,” Rowan muttered, pulling her in the opposite direction. “Kayla told me we should head out through the parking garage.”
She nodded, glad he already had a plan. “The cops are going to have someone tail us.”
Rowan’s grin was practically feral as he pushed the button for the elevator. “Our driver will have no problem losing them.”