Chapter 31
Mia stared down at her phone, looking mortified.
I waited as she scrolled through a series of text messages.
“What do you mean you made a big mistake?” I asked.
She lowered the phone and looked at me. “I drunk-texted my cousin last night.”
“Renee?”
She nodded.
“Maybe that’s a good thing,” I said.
“You haven’t seen the texts yet.”
“You don’t remember texting her?”
She shook her head. “I had no idea.”
“How bad are they?”
“A twelve out of ten, and I haven’t even finished reading through all of them yet.”
“Do you want to read them to me? Maybe I can help.”
She groaned, then nodded, scrolling through the conversation one more time.
“The first text is from me,” she said. “I typed I owe you an apology.”
“That seems all right.”
“Give it time.” She cleared her throat. “Renee replied: ‘Mia? I can’t believe you reached out. It’s so good to hear from you.’”
“It’s hard to interpret a person’s tone through text message, but it sounds like she’s shocked.”
“Oh, I have no doubt about it.”
“What did you say next?” I asked.
“I wrote: ‘I’ve been thinking about a lot of things since Wren died, and I know I could have handled things better after Grandpa died.’” She glanced over at me. “It seems tequila turned me into the bigger person, for once.”
“Maybe this needed to happen. How did she respond?”
“She said: ‘You don’t need to apologize. I’m just happy that you reached out.’” Mia paused. “Then she asked how I was doing and how the investigation was going.”
“What did you tell her?”
“Not much. I said it’s been hard, and that I’ve been struggling with thinking about how to live a life without my sister.” She huffed a frustrated sigh. “It’s just, not like me, you know? I’d never admit this stuff to Renee. We aren’t close.”
Alcohol had changed that. Beneath the wine, tequila, and late-night emotions, she had finally allowed herself to be honest.
“What else did Renee say?” I asked.
“She said she wished she was here so she could give me a hug.”
It seemed like something she would say.
Mia glanced back at her phone. “She asked what she could do for me, and …”
She cringed.
“Oh, no,” I said. “I’m guessing you said something you regret.”
“I told her I was having a hard time being alone, and Renee offered to come to Cambria for the weekend. She said she could leave her kids with a friend.”
“How did you respond?”
“I said I’d like that, which is crazy. Even drunk, I can’t believe I’d ever say such a thing.”
“I’m guessing she was thrilled about it.”
“Yeah, she said: ‘See you soon!’” Mia lowered the phone, slapping a hand to her forehead. “That was the end of last night’s conversation.”
“With everything going on, if you don’t want her here right now, I’m sure there’s a polite way to let her know it would be better if you caught up with her another time.”
“It’s far too late. You know how my phone buzzed a few minutes ago?”
“Yeah?”
“It was Renee texting me to say she’s on her way. She left Bakersfield over an hour ago. She’ll be here soon.”
I thought back to my conversation with Renee.
The tears she’d shed when talking about Wren had seemed genuine, as had her regret over never having a closer relationship with her cousins.
But if she believed Mia might have been the killer’s intended target, I would have expected some hesitation about coming to visit.
A killer was still out there, yet Renee didn’t seem concerned.
“Georgiana, did you hear what I just said?” Mia asked.
Not wanting to alarm her, I offered a slight smile. “Sorry, I was just thinking.”
“About Renee?”
“Yes.”
“What about her?”
I paused a moment to consider what I wanted to say and how I wanted to say it.
“When I spoke with Renee, I got the impression she has wanted a relationship with you for a long time. Now that you’ve opened the door, I’m not surprised she’s jumped at the opportunity.
It’s just, she knows the case hasn’t been solved yet.
There’s an element of danger in her coming here, but she’s still coming. ”
Before Mia had a chance to respond, Giovanni entered the house with Luka and Coco. The dogs bounded into the kitchen, thirsty and looking for water.
Giovanni looked at the two of us and said, “Is everything okay?”
“Everything is not okay,” Mia said.
Giovanni bent down and topped off Luka’s water bowl before doing the same for Coco. As the dogs lapped it up, he said, “Did something happen while I was out with the dogs?”
“When I was drinking last night, I sent some text messages to my cousin,” Mia said. “I invited her to come see me for the weekend. She’ll be here in an hour.”
“You seem unhappy about it.”
“I’m mortified. We’re not close. We’ve never been.”
“There are worse drunken decisions a person could make. Perhaps this is a way for the two of you to reconnect.”
Mia’s expression was a mixture of embarrassment, guilt, and grief.
“I don’t know how to do it,” she admitted.
“You don’t know how to do what?” I asked.
“How to mend things with a person I’ve always kept at arm’s length.”
“You just take it one conversation at a time. Do you want a better relationship with her?”
She moved a hand to her hip. “I don’t know yet.
I feel like my entire life is falling apart, and yet somehow I managed to have an emotional breakthrough last night with a cousin I never knew I wanted to connect with until now.
I may have sent those messages while I was intoxicated, but I still sent them.
I must want her to be in my life on some level, right? ”
“Are you close to any of your other relatives?” Giovanni asked.
“I’ve never been good at keeping in contact with most people, which I’ll admit is something I should have cared more about. After losing my grandfather and now Wren, though, it puts it all into perspective.”
“I think it will be good for you to see her,” I said. “There’s no reason to rush anything. Take it slow and see how you feel.”
“I suppose I can do that.”
I believed it would be good for Mia to lean into this moment, to get support from a family member who was so eager to give it to her.
“Maybe this is a good thing, and I should have done a better job of communicating with her after our grandfather died,” Mia said. “If I had, she might not have wanted to challenge us over his will.”
“Having met Renee, and hearing your perspective on her, I wonder if she took you to court for attention. It seems like a strange thing to do, but when we spoke, she said if the house had gone to her, she would have put you and Wren on the deed.”
“She did? Why would she—”
“Because having your approval matters to her.”
Mia glanced at the time. “Renee will be here in an hour. I should shower and clean myself up so I at least look like I’m making an effort to keep myself together.”
“You look better than you did last night.”
“That’s a low standard.”
“It’s still progress.”
Mia left the room, and Giovanni smiled at me. “You look like there’s something on your mind.”
“There’s always something on my mind these days.”
“Yes, but right now you’re doing the face.”
“What face?”
“You know the one.”
“I was just replaying the conversation I had with Renee in my mind,” I said.
“And?”
“I told her I thought Mia was the killer’s intended target, and yet she’s still coming. Most people would hesitate to visit until the case was solved. So why isn’t she?”
“What is your gut telling you?”
“Part of me believes she’s desperate for a connection with Mia, and she’s decided it’s worth it to insert herself into a dangerous situation in order to get it.”
“And the other part?”
“Renee has an alibi for the night of Wren’s murder. But what if the neighbor is protecting her?”
“Do you think Renee is capable of orchestrating a murder?”
“The house her grandfather lived in is worth a lot of money. I’m not saying she’d kill for it, but if Wren and Mia were out of the way, or even just Mia, I could see how she’d assume it would go to her.”
I let out a long sigh.
“What is it?” he asked.
“I’m grasping at anything and everything right now, aren’t I? I don’t have a speck of proof to back up what I just said.”
“Better keep an eye on Mia just in case.”
“I will.”
Giovanni pulled me into a tight embrace, and for a moment, I let myself sink into it, wishing I could remain in the comfort of his arms a lot longer.
When he pulled away, he met my gaze. “If there’s anything I can do, say the word.”
I nodded and headed to the bedroom. Somewhere beneath the calm of the morning was a restless feeling that wouldn’t go away, the same feeling I’d had since the case began. I felt like I was standing too close to something dangerous, and I still didn’t understand what it was yet.