Chapter Twenty-Four
Riley
This wasn't the first time Knox had gotten on my nerves, but it was the first time I'd considered swinging my fist into his face. He was driving, so I held back. I didn't for a second believe that he thought I was the stalker, so what the fuck?
"What was that about?" I demanded. "Why the fuck would you make Annalise think I took the earrings or fucked with the cameras?"
Knox slid his eyes in my direction for a long moment. "I didn't say it was you. I just pointed out that you had the opportunity."
"Yeah, but why? You don't think it's me," I said, watching his face. I maybe, possibly, saw the corner of his mouth twitch. Knox had a first-rate poker face.
"Maybe I do," he said.
"Fuck you," I said, without heat. "I don't need you confusing her. She's confused enough as it is."
“That's on you,” he said. “You had the perfect chance to tell her the truth when you talked her into this fake engagement. You're the one who confused her. I told you to fix it. You're not fixing it."
"And you are? By telling her I'm the stalker? How the fuck is that helping?"
Knox laughed. "Did I say I was helping? What makes you think I'm on your side?”
I let out a grunt of irritation and stared through the front windshield, again fighting back the urge to plant my fist in his face.
"Annalise is like a sister,” he said, the taunt gone from his voice.
“We grew up together, and however fucked up my family is, the Winters family is on a whole other level.
The money, the murderers, the paparazzi.
It's fucking chaos, has been ever since Anna and James died. I was just a kid, but I remember like it was yesterday. One minute we’re all the fucking Waltons—"
"I don't think the Waltons lived in mansions in Buckhead," I interrupted.
"Whatever. You know what I mean. Bedtime stories and picnics.
Happy family shit. The next Anna and James are dead, the police are saying he killed her, and Hugh has to keep the gates shut because everybody wants pictures of the grieving kids.
Just when things started to calm down, some psycho starts sending notes and presents to Annalise. She's had a shit time of it."
"I know. I know all of this," I said, annoyed. Knox scowled at me.
"No, you don't. Not really. And maybe you think that once you find this asshole sending her flowers you’ll get rid of him, convince her to forgive you, and you two will have smooth sailing. Walk off into the sunset and get your happily ever after."
I didn't take the bait. I wasn't going to admit that's exactly what I was thinking.
"If it were that simple,’ Knox said, “I’d have kept my mouth shut.
But whoever ends up with Annalise—that guy is going to have to be willing to fight for her.
She's going to have to be willing to fight for him.
Because her life is always going to be complicated.
She'll always be a Winters. No matter what their last name is, her kids will be Winters.
If either of you is going to run scared, might as well find out now. "
"You're an asshole," I said, knowing he was right about all of it. "When did you get so talkative? I don't think I've ever heard you string this many words together."
"Fuck you."
That was more like it. “That doesn't explain why you were trying to pin the stalking on me. That's fucked up, Knox."
“You’re both idiots,” he said, shaking his head.
“I was hoping she would defend you. The fact that she didn't tells me how much you fucked with her head by lying.
I figured the two of you would gang up on me, but instead, you turned on each other.
You've got a lot of work to do. And you might want to figure out exactly what you want from her.
If you're not going to step up, then back off and let her go. "
“I’m in love with her,” I said.
“No shit. But love isn’t enough.”
“What more is there?” I asked.
Love was fucking huge, so big my chest burned, my lungs got tight when I let it loose, let myself really feel everything inside me for Annalise. How could that not be enough?
Knox gave me another of those sidelong looks. “When you figure it out, maybe you’ll be able to get your girl back.”
I didn’t have an answer for that, so I kept my mouth shut and stared out the window. We were almost to the Sinclair Security building. I needed the distraction of work. I needed answers about those earrings. We neared the mirrored building that housed the Sinclair Security offices.
The company took up most of the four-story structure.
When I’d first signed on with Sinclair, they’d owned the building but leased most of it to other tenants.
As Maxwell had become increasingly distracted by other things and his sons had taken over, Sinclair Security had expanded.
Now only the first floor had outside tenants. The rest was all theirs.
Knox pulled into the underground garage. I followed him to the elevator, then down the hall to Cooper’s office, a floor above my own. Cooper was on the phone when Knox opened his door. Cooper took one look at us and ended his call.
“What happened?” he asked. Knox answered by dropping the plastic bag containing the black jeweler’s box onto his desk. Cooper pulled gloves from his desk drawer and eased the box open, leaving it in the bag. His ice blue eyes warmed, then went dark as he recognized the earrings.
“How did you get these?” he asked, examining the earrings with narrowed eyes.
Knox explained about the gift bag left on the rock. When he got to the cameras, Cooper held up a finger to stop him and picked up the phone. “Jackson. In my office. We have a problem with the security at Winters House.” A pause. “Cameras. Get in here.”
He hung up the phone and gestured for Knox to finish. When Knox was done, he pointed to the earrings and said, “Do you remember these?”
Knox shrugged. “Not really. Lise did.”
“She would. She and her brothers picked them out,” Cooper said, sadness lurking in his eyes as he slowly closed the velvet box, hiding the diamond lilies.
“How do you remember that?” Knox asked.
“Anna lost them,” Cooper said. “Or she thought she did. I overheard her telling Mom about it. She didn’t want James or the kids to know they were missing and she couldn’t figure out where they could be.
I didn’t remember them. What eleven-year-old notices his friend’s Mom’s jewelry?
But Mom commented that Anna wore them every day.
She went over to the house to help her look. ”
“Are we sure they didn’t find them?” Knox asked. “Maybe they did, and these disappeared later.”
“Maybe,” Cooper said. He picked up the phone and dialed. After five rings, a female voice answered.
"Mom, Cooper. I have you on speaker.”
“Cooper,” the woman crooned, “You never call me anymore.”
“I know, I'm sorry, mom. Work has been really busy.”
“You’re just like your father,” she said, a wobble to her voice. “Always working. Never any time for me.”
At her plaintive tone, Cooper’s jaw tightened.
Knox turned to look out the window. I didn’t know Lacey Sinclair well.
We’d only met a few times before her husband’s car drove off that bridge, presumably with him inside.
She’d moved to Florida shortly after, where she seemed to be spending her days playing cards and drinking gin.
“I’ll try to get down there soon,” Cooper said. “Or maybe you should go to Vegas for a vacation. Axel would love for you to come visit.”
Knox let out a choked laugh and shook his head at Cooper, who sent him a devilish grin. The fourth Sinclair brother, Axel, ran the western division of the company out of Las Vegas and he most definitely would not appreciate his brothers siccing their mother on him and his wife, Emma.
“Ooh, that would be fun, I’ll call him this afternoon,” Lacey said.
“Mom, I need to talk to you about Anna Winters,” Cooper said.
“Oh, Cooper. Do we need to rehash all of that? You know I don’t like talking about Anna.” Her voice wobbled again, this time I thought as much from emotion as alcohol.
"Mom, it's important. Do you remember a pair of earrings that went missing? The flowers the kids gave her?"
"The diamond lilies." Lacey exhaled a watery sigh. "She was heartbroken when she lost them. She couldn't imagine what could have happened to them. You know Anna didn't grow up like us. She never got used to having diamonds, and she was so careful with her jewelry. We looked everywhere."
"So you never found them?" Cooper pressed. "I remember her telling you they were lost, and you saying you'd help her look. But you never found them."
"No, we didn't. And we looked. Everywhere. Olivia helped. Oh, it was so silly, trying to keep it from James and the children…" She trailed off and then, her voice almost crisp, she asked, “Why are you asking about Anna's earrings? What's going on up there?"
Cooper hesitated, sharing a look with Knox. Silent communication passed between them, and Knox gave a shrug of one shoulder. Cooper looked back down at the phone on his desk and said, "Annalise is still having problems—"
"Annalise is home? You boys never tell me anything. Is she staying, or—"
“She's staying, mom but she’s still having trouble. Remember the flowers? And the gifts?"
"Oh, that was so silly. So much fuss over a few flowers."
My hand fisted at my side and I had to remind myself that Lacey Sinclair was half drunk and didn't mean most of what she was saying. Knox paced to the window and looked out, making a sound in his throat that was almost a growl.
His voice coated in ice, Cooper said, “It's not silly, and it's more than a few flowers. Whoever it is has been following her back and forth across the country. People have been hurt, mom."
"What do you mean people have been hurt?" She asked, sharply. "It was only ever flowers, a few presents. Every girl should have a secret admirer."
This time Knox did growl. I paced across the room, trying to put as much distance as possible between me and the flighty, tipsy voice coming through the phone speakers.
His voice so tight his words were choppy with tension, Cooper said, “He sent Lise those earrings, and we're trying to figure out how he got them."
"Oh, well, I can't imagine. Anna lost them so many years ago."
"Okay, thanks, Mom. I'll call you tomorrow." Cooper stabbed a finger at the phone and hung up on his mother. Knox opened his mouth, but before he could get a word out, Cooper lifted his hand and said, “Just let it go Knox. This isn't about mom."
I tried to clear my head of anger at Lacey Sinclair and her thoughtlessness. "What are the chances Anna lost those earrings, and they just happened to turn up over twenty years later?"
Knox said, “Zero. I don't believe in coincidence."
"Neither do I," Cooper said. "My bet is Anna never lost the earrings. They were stolen, probably right from her jewelry box. If she was careful with her jewelry, like mom said, she wouldn't have left them sitting around."
"Someone with access to the house. A close friend," I said. "That narrows it down."
"Not necessarily. James and Anna didn't entertain as much as Olivia and Hugh, mostly because the big house was better suited for it, but they had a Christmas party that year. Lots of people in and out of the house. I remember because all of us kids were invited, but we got in huge trouble for playing in the snow in our dress-up clothes.” He looked at Knox.
"Remember? It snowed that year right before Christmas. "
“You nailed Vance in the face with a snowball,” Knox said with a grin. “He had a black eye for a week. The moms were so pissed.”
“Dad thought it was funny,” Cooper said, shaking his head.
“So did James and Hugh,” Knox said. “That was the last—” Knox fell abruptly silent. Cooper cleared his throat.
Getting us back on track, I asked, “When did Anna lose the earrings?"
"Shit. I didn't think to ask that. I'll have to call her back," Cooper said with an aggrieved sigh. He picked up the phone, then set it back down when Lucas Jackson stepped into the room.
"I talked to the gatehouse about the cameras," he said, “and checked the feeds. That's what took me so long."
"And?" Cooper asked, eyeing the phone, impatient.
“It's electronic interference, not someone hacking the feeds. Whatever they're using, it's high-end. Not easy to get your hands on."
"Is it something we have?" Knox asked. When he caught my glare, he said, “Relax, I'm just asking."
Lucas looked from me to Knox, then shook his head. "It is, but all our equipment is accounted for. Whoever this is, they’re either very well-connected—NSA, covert ops, shit like that—or they're involved with some really sketchy people."
"So, who do we know who would've had access to Anna Winter’s jewelry box in nineteen ninety-five and is connected with the kind of people who could provide this level of tech?" Cooper asked.
The four of us stared at each other. The first criteria wasn't that hard. A lot of people would've had access, especially considering the Christmas party that year. But the second?
"Fuck," Cooper said, putting all of our thoughts into one word.
Lucas's phone beeped in a distinctive trill that sounded like bells.
"Charlie," he said, under his breath. He pulled the phone from his back pocket and answered.
"What's up, Princess?" He fell silent, dark brows drawing together, green eyes suddenly intent, focused as a laser beam.
After what felt like an hour he said, “We're on our way. You, Sophie, Amelia, and Mrs. W go straight to the gatehouse and stay there. Understand me, Princess? Do not go wandering around. Do not stay in the house, even if the alarm is on. Go to the gatehouse and stay with the guards. Text me when you’re there. Promise me."
Whatever Charlie said must have satisfied Lucas because he hung up the phone and shoved it back into his pocket.
"Annalise is missing. Charlie, Sophie, and Amelia planned to eat lunch with her at the house.
When they got there, Annalise wasn't there. Purse and camera are in her room, car keys on the board in the garage. Mrs. W thought she was with Riley.”
I was already headed to the door, Cooper, Knox, and Lucas right behind me. Cooper clamped one hand on my shoulder and said, "I'm driving. Lucas, you see if you can access the camera feeds from the car, see if we can catch anything. She can’t have gone far. We’ll find her.”
We would. I wouldn't stop until we found Annalise, no matter what it took. I just had to hope I wouldn't be too late.