Chapter Twenty-Two
Annalise
They were all there when I walked in, arrayed around the dining room table at the end closest to the fireplace. Aiden, of course, had taken the head of the table. The seat to his left was empty, presumably saved for me. The seat beside that was occupied by Gage.
Sometimes the men in my family could be overbearing, but on days like this, I appreciated the way they looked out for me.
I sat between my brother and my cousin and busied myself pouring a cup of coffee from the tray in the middle of the table. Cooper sat directly opposite me, on Aiden's right, and Knox beside him. Riley was on the end, a notebook and open pen in front of him.
He pulled his glasses out of his shirt pocket and put them on as he glanced down to the notes on the page, picked up his pen and made a slight correction. I tried to ignore the flip in my belly.
What was it about those glasses? And the scruff on his cheeks, not quite thick enough to be a beard. His untucked white button-down, sleeves rolled up, made him look almost professional until I got to the worn jeans and motorcycle boots.
I wanted to hate him.
He’d played me. Lied to me.
But he was still Riley. My Riley.
He glanced at me, his hazel eyes narrowing on my bare left hand. The engagement ring was on my dresser. We weren't planning to go out until later, and I didn't see the point in wearing the ring at home.
We weren't engaged. The ring was a prop. It meant nothing, but seeing it on my finger depressed me. I could put on a front for everyone else, but I knew the truth. I wanted that ring to be real. I wanted all of it to be real.
Was it better or worse that I'd had one night with him? One night where I really believed in love. In forever.
I couldn't decide.
My aching heart said it was worse to have tasted heaven only for it to turn sour. My brain repeated the old platitude about better having loved and lost, blah blah.
I’d loved and lost him once. I could have skipped doing it a second time.
I curled my hand into a fist and hid it under the table, pretending to ignore Riley's scowl.
"Where are we?" Cooper asked, getting everyone's attention. Aiming the tip of his pen at me and then Riley he said, “You two went out yesterday, pumped the gossip machine through Sloane. Any action since then that we haven't heard about?"
Riley tapped his pencil on the pad of paper. "Nothing since the yellow hyacinths and begonia on the seventeenth. Abigail is working on a benefit next week, co-sponsored by the Winters foundation. It would be a good opportunity to be seen."
"I thought all the tickets were spoken for," I said, remembering Abigail mentioning it at dinner the night I'd stayed with them.
I wasn't a big fan of formal affairs. I wouldn't have anything to wear.
But Riley was right; it would be an excellent place to be seen. All the best gossips would be there.
"I asked her to hold back a few tickets, just in case we needed them," Aiden said.
"Sophie and I will go," Gage offered.
"So that’s settled," Cooper said, making a note. "Between now and then?"
"I have some ideas for lunch, dinner out," Riley said. "What do we have from the flowers?"
"No trace evidence worth a damn," Cooper said. "We still don't know where they came from, and the account that paid for the delivery goes back to a prepaid credit card and a dummy email."
I looked from Cooper to Knox. “I don't understand how after all this time we have no clue who it is. How many times has he sent me flowers? He's here somewhere. He's watching me. You guys are supposed to be the best. How does he keep getting away from you?"
"Lise," Cooper said, looking pained, his voice placating.
"I know this is frustrating. We're going to get this guy.
He's been different than other stalkers we've dealt with. More careful. He resists escalating, getting sloppy. These last few weeks are the closest we’ve come to pushing him into making a mistake. "
"He hasn't made one yet," I muttered, under my breath.
"No, but he sent three arrangements in less than two weeks. I'd call that an escalation," Knox said.
I looked across the table at Riley, meeting his gaze for less than a second before my eyes skipped away. "I just want this to be over. Tell me what to do. I'll do anything. I don’t care if it’s dangerous. Just tell me what to do.”
Riley leaned forward and pointed one finger at me. "No. No way, Lise. The idea is to push him into escalating. To push him into getting sloppy. All you do is pretend to be happily engaged to me. Safely engaged to me. You're not going to do anything."
"Do you have any idea how hard it is to be passive? To do nothing? I admit running away from home and staying away was not a great plan. But at least it was doing something. This is just—waiting. Waiting and hoping. It's driving me nuts."
"Lise, I know you're frustrated," Cooper said again, "but—"
“She's not wrong," Riley said, interrupting Cooper.
Cooper shot him an annoyed look, one Riley ignored.
"We've been doing the same thing for over ten years. Protecting Annalise, trying to figure out who’s sending the flowers and the gifts. None of it’s working. We're looking in the wrong direction."
"What do you mean, Riley?" Aiden said.
"I mean, I don't think Lise's stalker is a stranger. I think it’s someone she knows. I think it’s someone all of you know. And I think it has to do with Anna Winters."
Riley sat back, apparently waiting for a response. He got nothing but blank stares.
"Riley, that's a stretch, don't you think?
" Cooper asked, his voice strained as if he were trying to be patient.
"Annalise had a lot of media on her when she was younger.
She was an uncommonly pretty little girl in the middle of a scandal, and it shouldn't have surprised anyone that she drew the wrong attention.
I don't know why you think this has to do with Anna. "
“And I don't know why you’re so resistant to the idea that it might," Riley shot back. "This isn't the first time I’ve brought it up and every time you shoot me down. Annalise looks like her mother. And there's a lot we don't know about Anna Winters."
"Are you suggesting we investigate my mother?" Gage asked, his voice tight.
The vein in his neck throbbed. Gage was pissed. I didn't like the idea either. My mother was dead. Her secrets were hers, and they’d died with her. The idea of digging in to her past felt wrong. Disloyal.
But… Before I could tease out the logic, Riley put it into words for me.
"Your mother and father were murdered," he stated baldly.
"Unless you believe the murder/suicide story?
" he asked, one eyebrow raised, knowing none of us thought for a second my father had killed my mother and then himself. It was the police department’s favorite theory, but there was no way it was true.
"No, but—,” Aiden said.
Riley cut him off. "There were no signs of forced entry. Whoever killed them, your parents let the murderer in the house. It could've been a stranger, but what stranger would've come all the way to their door? I know no one used the gates back then, but their house isn't exactly in plain sight.”
"My father looked into it," Knox said. "There was nothing to find."
"That's bullshit," Riley said. "I liked your father, but he was twisty as hell, and you know it. Just because he didn't tell you what he knew about the murders, doesn't mean he didn't know anything."
"Watch it, Flynn," Cooper said, his ice blue eyes narrowed dangerously.
"No, I won't, goddammit. This plan puts Annalise’s life on the line. We're using her to push this guy, and if there is even the slightest chance he had anything to do with the murders, we have to be smart. We have to be fucking careful. We cannot afford to be blind."
"Yeah, well, it sounds like you're accusing our father—,” Cooper started to say.
"I'm not accusing Maxwell of anything except having information he didn't share,” Riley said.
“You know, you said yourself that his fingerprints are all over Anna's missing son.
My guess is she asked him to hide the kid, and he did.
But the truth is we don't know. There are a lot of people who were involved with Anna and James, Olivia and Hugh. "
"Who do you think we should be looking at?" Aiden asked, quietly.
"I don't know," Riley said. "But all of you assumed it was a man leaving those pictures of the murders, and it turned out to be Marissa Archer. A socialite from the country club wasn’t on my list of suspects either, but there you go.
Perfect example. Here's another one, did you know your uncle William used to date Anna when she was still Anna Marlow?”
"No way," I said, in disbelief. Uncle William and my mother? "When? She and my dad started dating in college."
"Before that," Riley said.
"How did you find that out?" Knox asked.
"It was in your father's files on the murders," Riley said.
"And what the fuck were you doing going through our father's files?" Knox demanded, his voice rising.
"What you should have done years ago. Looking for any information that would help me figure out what the fuck is going on."
"You had no right—"
"I had every right," Riley shouted, surging to his feet. "Are you serious? Do you think there's anything I wouldn't do to keep Lise safe?"
Riley and Knox glared at each other, Cooper looking between them, his eyebrows knit together. I couldn't tell if he was going to break up the fight or jump in. My head was reeling.
Uncle William and my mother? Maxwell Sinclair hid my missing half-brother? So many secrets. So much I didn't know about my parents.
"Settle down, both of you," Cooper said. "Riley's got a point."