Chapter Twenty-One #5
“Yeah.” I forced a laugh. “Just trying to remember the last number. You know, all those experts might be right about screens and technology. The impact on our memories and attention span is...”
The date of the party shown proudly on the screen, where it did indeed log a call from Alex to his aunt... in the morning. There was no other incoming or outgoing call between them for the rest of the day. There was no call between them that night.
“Shocking,” I finished, meeting his eyes over the screen.
You lied to me. You didn’t go upstairs to make a call, Alexander Montgomery, so why did you feel the need to lie about where you were in your own house?
Unless you were somewhere you shouldn’t be.
Quickly, I hit the phone app and tapped in Courtney’s number. The forced smile remained on my lips as I backed away, breaking free of his gaze as the call picked up.
“Hello?”
“Court, it’s me.”
“Sarah? Thank goodness,” she cried. “Why’d you hang up on me like that? Are you okay?”
“No, that’s not a problem. We’re about to have dinner, but the guys will keep a plate warm for me.”
“What? What are you talking about?”
“Yeah, I’ll swing by your mom’s, pick up Taylor, fill her full of burgers and soda, then bring her home,” I said. “You finish up your order.”
“You need a reason to go out and you don’t want them to know the real reason why.” Courtney was nobody’s fool. “Are you in danger? Just yes or no.”
“Nope,” I breezed, drifting into the bedroom.
“Where are you really going? I’ll meet you there. Back you up.”
“Nah, that’s okay.” I quickly went to the dresser to gather my purse and keys, straining to keep the voice floating through the open door relaxed. “You don’t owe me. Anything to cement my destiny as best auntie ever.”
A presence loomed behind me.
“Sarah—”
“See you soon, bye.”
Click.
“Everything okay?”
I turned around, the smile already fixed on my lips by the time it met Alex’s eyes.
“Everything’s good. Courtney’s assistant called out sick, and she’s finishing up a big order by herself.
It’s taking longer than she planned, so she needs me to pick up Taylor.
” I gave him a crooked smile. “First rule of not burning down your business and home—don’t leave when the stove’s on and the oven’s running. ”
“Good rule,” he agreed, chuckling.
“I shouldn’t be long.” I sidestepped him and made for the door. “Save a plate of the spicy shrimp for me, yeah?”
“Rhodes will do that. I’ll go with you.”
“No need.” I didn’t slow my steps. “You’re busy helping Lily with her homework.”
“Micah can do that too.” A hand slipped around my waist, snuggling me against his chest and sinking me in a cloud of cedar and cinnamon. “It’d be nice for us to have some time alone together.”
I forced out a giggle. “Except, we won’t be alone. There’ll be a five-year-old in the car.” I turned in his hold, peering at him through my lashes. “But if you really want some alone time with me, naughty boy, then let’s make it count.
“Stay and order some candles and dessert from room service.” I winked. “When I get back, we’ll see about ending that dry spell—hard.”
A pleasantly pleased grin stole across that handsome, charming, disarming face. “Really? Are you sure?”
“Oh, I’m very sure.” Rising on tiptoe, I kissed him. My lips burned everywhere they touched his. “But no ice cream,” I continued, nipping his nose. “Despite what the movies say, eating ice cream off each other is not as sexy as it sounds. It’s just a sticky, runny, cold mess.”
“No ice cream.” Alex winked right back. “You got it.”
With that I hurried out, tossing a quick goodbye to Rhodes, Micah, and Lily on my way to the door.
I need to go back to the manor. I need to retrace it all in my own steps, and see it through my eyes. There has to be another explanation. Another perfectly valid reason why Alex wouldn’t share the real reason why he went upstairs.
Alexander has been the most closed off to me, but that was only because he thought he was dealing with his lying, cheating, gaslighting wife. The same wife who already knows him. He has no idea that our relationship is beginning again with a ten-year gap in the middle.
I’m sure if I just look through everything again with no interruptions and no false explanations, I can fill in the gaps on who these men I love have truly become—
—because killers cannot be the answer.
I threw open the door. “Ah!”
“Ah!” Balogun cried out, grabbing her chest. “Goodness, Mrs. Kim, you scared the daylights out of me.”
“I scared you?” I held my racing heart in the same way. “What are you doing here?” I flicked over her shoulder to her partner, Kaplan, and a woman I didn’t recognize. She wore a cream pantsuit and a kind smile. “What are you all doing here?”
“May we come in?” Balogun asked. “There’s something important we need to discuss with you and your husbands.”
“I— Uh—” I glanced over my shoulder. “I was just on my way out. Can we do this tomorrow?”
She didn’t budge. “I’m afraid it really is important.”
“Sue?” Rhodes stuck his head out of the kitchenette. “What’s going on?”
“The detectives are here,” I replied, backing into the room. “They say they have to talk to us.”
“We do.” Kaplan’s large presence entered our suite, trailing me. He spotted Lily. “Would it be possible for us to speak to the four of you in private?”
Micah frowned, but agreed. “Lilybug, take your iPad into the bedroom. We’ll be right out here if you need us.”
Lily happily took her pad and went, completely unconcerned by the no-nonsense, unsmiling faces that were unnerving me.
“What’s the problem?” I asked, then straightened. “Wait, is it good news? Have you finally caught the real killer and let Mrs. Finley go? She should be surrounded by family while she grieves her son, not surrounded by bars and cinderblocks.”
Detective Kaplan gestured to the couch. “Please.”
Our dinner cooled on the counter as Rhodes, Micah, Alex, and I claimed the sectional, and the detectives and their friend sat in the armchairs across from us. The way the seats were divided, it felt like we were in an interrogation room.
Balogun released a deep breath. “The first thing I must do is apologize to you, Mrs. Kim.”
“Who? Me?” I cried, whipping my head around like she was talking to someone else. “Why?”
“Because you told us we had it wrong. You said all the deaths on your property had to be connected, and we needed to look harder. While we were doing our jobs and following the evidence,” she stressed, “it doesn’t excuse us for not listening to you.
.. especially as you turned out to be tragically correct. ”
“What does that mean?” Rhodes leaned over, taking my hand. “Right about what?”
“Our investigation into Mr. Layton’s murder took a new and terrible direction this week, and it has shed light on the recent events in a way that has been both chilling and illuminating,” Balogun said.
“I won’t beat around the bush. We believe that Mr. Layton was blackmailing your mother’s former nurse, Mr. Agassi, into giving him drugs he didn’t want a record of receiving.
“I say we believe, but the evidence is ample. Prescriptions with Madame Kim’s name on them were found in a hidden compartment in Mr. Layton’s car.”
“So, he was an addict?” Micah questioned.
She shook her head. “These drugs don’t get you high. For a woman, like Madame Kim, they are a harmless acid reducer, but for men they have a powerful side effect. Which is why they are rarely prescribed to men,” she said. “These drugs cause low libido, or in simpler terms, chemical castration.”
“Chemical... castration?” I repeated slowly. “I don’t understand. Why would he want that?”
“He wanted them because he was a pedophile,” Kaplan stated bluntly. “Who was clearly afraid he couldn’t control himself, so he wanted the drugs to do it for him.”
The four of us gaped at him, the wind collectively whooshing out of our lungs.
“What?!”
“Pedophile?” Micah shouted, jumping up. “Oh my God, Lily!”
And then we were all jumping off the couch and sprinting across the living room.
“Wait— Wait!” Balogun and Kaplan cried, shooting out in front of us. “We understand, believe us we do, but that’s why Mrs. Zeller is here.” Balogun pointed to the woman getting up from the couch. “She’s a child psychologist with our department. She’s here to interview Lily.”
“That piece of shit never touched her,” Alex roared. “I was in the room for every lesson. I never left them alone. And if he ever fucking thought of it, I’ll dig him up and kill him again!”
“We’re sure you protected your daughter to beyond the best of your ability,” Mrs. Zeller soothed, “but we wouldn’t be doing our due diligence if we didn’t have a conversation with Lily to be sure.
So, if one of you wouldn’t mind sitting with Lily while I chat with her, the rest of you can hear what the detectives have to say. ”
She said it in a nice, soothing psychologist voice, but her tone still brokered no argument.
It took some tense discussion with her, and then among ourselves to decide that Alex would go in with Mrs. Zeller to talk with Lily.
Only after the door shut behind them did we heed Balogun’s fifth request to claim our seats.
“And you’re sure,” I pressed. “You’re certain he was taking those pills because of... that... and not a bad case of heartburn?”
“You can get heartburn pills from any pharmacy,” Balogun said. “You don’t need to steal or commit fraud for them. But when you have the kind of photos hidden on your laptop that Mr. Layton did—”
A low, furious growl ripped from Rhodes’s throat.
“—it becomes clear Layton was more interested in the side effects, not the main purpose of those pills,” she finished.
“So he was a fucking pedophile and he got stabbed in the back for it,” Rhodes barked. “Good riddance.”