Chapter 111
CLAIRE WASHBURN HAD taken a long break after she heard about the terrible incident in the courtroom.
Her friend, Yuki Castellano, was safe. But there had been casualties.
She’d had a nodding acquaintance with the bailiff Frank Hodges, who used to be a San Francisco police officer.
She could only imagine what his two kids were feeling about now.
But Claire had something to do. Something important to her that no one else ever knew about. It was a minor ritual. It held no actual importance to her job or to the criminal justice system.
First, she picked up her working file on Donna Harris.
The file on the young woman, whose body had washed up on Marshall’s Beach, had sat in her line of sight for weeks.
She now took the file and carefully placed it into an old olive-green file cabinet.
This was where cases with an arrest were stored.
It didn’t mean they’d have a conviction, but from everything Claire had heard, the case was closed.
Next, she picked up the file for Tina Barnes. This case had special meaning because she’d been present when the body was found in Golden Gate Park. She performed the exact same ritual. Claire placed the file directly in front of Donna Harris’s file.
Finally, she picked up the file for the most recent arrival in her autopsy lab: the body of missing waitress Amy Phelps, another of Kyle Anderson’s victims.
Claire never rushed these moments. Sometimes she felt like this was the only thing that kept her going. Being a medical examiner could be a tough job. But it could also be satisfying.
Claire thought about all the effort that had gone into the case. She also couldn’t help but lament all that these young women would miss out on. But they would see justice. She was confident of that.
Claire looked at her watch and realized she was running a little late.
She wasn’t looking forward to meeting Hope at a Starbucks a few blocks away.
But she couldn’t wait any longer. She’d played Nice Aunt for too long.
Hope had too much cash and her attitude had turned so negative.
Claire had to find out what was going on, and what it was her niece was involved in.
She just had to make sure not to drive Hope away or she’d never see her niece again.
By the time Claire made it through the doors of the coffee shop, Hope was already sitting at a table in the corner with two lattes.
“You sounded very serious on the phone, Aunt Claire. What did you want to talk about?”
Claire thought about chatting with her niece. She even considered abandoning her idea of confrontation completely. But she summoned the courage to speak frankly.
“I’m worried about you, Hope. You know what I see in my job and hear from my friends on the police force.
” She didn’t like how uncomfortable Hope looked hearing that.
“My friend Lindsay just broke up a local human-trafficking operation. And it made me wonder about you. I’m afraid you could be sucked into something like that. ”
“You mean trafficking people?” Hope’s voice betrayed how outraged she was at the idea.
“Not necessarily that. Maybe something a little shady, like escort work. I don’t know.
I just know you don’t seem to have direction…
and you have a lot of cash. You disappear and show up back at home late at night.
That’s why I had to ask you face-to-face.
And it’s only because I love you. Dearly. I know you can see that.”
Hope looked down at her latte. She didn’t say a word.
Claire looked down too and noticed Hope’s footwear. The young woman was wearing what looked to be brand-new, high-end leather sneakers. That didn’t help the awkward silence in any way. Then her niece looked at her with those clear, beautiful brown eyes.
Hope let out a long sigh like she’d resigned herself to confessing.
Claire braced herself for what she was about to hear.
“Okay. I’ll admit I’ve been doing something you and my parents wouldn’t approve of. And I’ve made some money. But I haven’t blown it. I have a bank account with over fifteen thousand dollars in it right now.”
“But how? Don’t mortgage your future for a few dollars. I can help you with whatever you’re going through. You can just walk away from it. I promise that I will support you a hundred percent.”
There was another long silence before Hope said, “Okay. At any rate, I’ve been doing it long enough.”
“Doing what?”
“I’ve been selling ZsaZsa.”
“I’m sorry, what? You mean like Zsa Zsa Gabor?”
“What’s that?”
“She was an actress. It doesn’t matter. What Zsa Zsa are you talking about? I’m very confused.”
“ZsaZsa is a form of synthetic marijuana,” Hope told her. “It’s been totally legal—I swear. I’ll admit I might’ve leaned into my looks a little bit to sell at clubs and places like that. But that’s it.”
Claire was taken aback, and it showed on her face. “You’re selling drugs?”
“I wasn’t doing anything illegal,” Hope insisted. “At least at the time. But they just passed a bill in the California Senate to ban ZsaZsa, so I was already planning to quit now.”
Claire couldn’t help but start to cry. Just a little, but it was enough to affect Hope. She started to cry too. Hope stepped around the table and hugged her aunt.
They held each other for a long time.