Chapter Eleven
Sitting in the break room of the station, Livvy finished yet another statement of her account of a dead woman. The second one in as many days.
And both were connected to New Hope.
Until Livvy had seen Chloe lying dead on the floor, she’d believed Chloe could be a killer. That was possibly still true. She could have murdered Ivy all those years ago and then Zadie when she’d threatened to uncover the truth. But if Chloe was truly guilty, then someone had murdered the killer.
Ethan must have finished his statement, too, because he muttered some profanity under his breath and leaned back from the laptop that he’d been using.
Not in Grace’s office this time. Things had been too hectic for them to use that space, and they hadn’t wanted to do reports in the bullpen, considering Grace had ordered all three of their remaining suspects to come in for questioning.
Franklin, Anthony and Vernice.
Livvy doubted any of them were happy about being interrogated, but with two deaths, Grace had more than just cause. Maybe something would come out in the interviews that would help them solve this case.
Since Ethan was in the chair across from the sofa where she was sitting, when he looked up, their gazes connected.
She managed a smile. Yes, it was barely there, but she wanted to try to assure him that she wasn’t on the verge of falling apart.
She probably failed big time, but he returned a lukewarm smile of his own.
“I want to know what Vernice was doing at New Hope,” he said, voicing something that she, too, wanted. “Whoever questions her will certainly ask about that, but no way is Grace going to allow either of us in that interview.”
Livvy nodded in agreement. It was a conflict of interest, which was too bad because she thought she might be able to trigger Vernice’s rage just by walking into the room. Riled people often spilled more than the calm, calculated ones.
The baby kicked, snapping her mind away from Vernice. Livvy hadn’t meant to grunt, but the movement had been a lot stronger than usual and had surprised her.
“Girl kicks,” she said, smiling for real this time. And watching Ethan’s reaction.
He didn’t give anything away. “Are you sure you don’t want to know the sex of the baby? It’ll make it easier to narrow down names. Mellie for sure if it’s a girl, and if it’s a boy, we can come up with a name for him.”
She considered letting him tell her the gender. And dismissed it. Then, she took a huge emotional risk: “I think I’d rather you tell me right after a kiss. A kiss like the one at the pasture fence before Vernice showed up.”
Again, he didn’t react, and Livvy realized she was holding her breath. Heck. Saying that had been a huge mistake. It was too soon. She was pushing too hard. And Ethan wasn’t ready for that.
“All right,” he finally said.
Livvy blew out her breath and got hit with a whole lot of relief. Relief that brought on some guilt because she’d pushed Ethan into saying that.
“No kiss required,” she backpedaled. She had to give him an out so that it didn’t strain their already strained relationship.
“Livvy, kissing you isn’t a hardship.” But his forehead bunched up, and she saw the slight tightness in his jaw.
No hardship, but it still wasn’t easy for him. Not in some ways at least. The attraction drew them together, but most of the time, they were mindless and ruled by lust.
Most of the time.
That caused her to smile again, but the sound of approaching footsteps put a quick end to joy. They set aside their laptops and got to their feet just as Rory came through the door.
He volleyed glances at them, and she didn’t think it was her imagination that he was assessing how she was. “I’m fine,” Livvy said in a preemptive strike.
“Good.” Rory bobbed his head and seemed more than a little relieved about that. “We’ve got a couple of updates, and I figured you two wouldn’t want to wait until the reports were all done.”
“You figured right,” Ethan let him know.
Rory hitched his thumb toward the hall with the interview rooms. “Franklin and Sienna are here, and Sienna is giving her statement to Eden now. Franklin lawyered up, and we’re waiting for him to show.”
“He lawyered up to give a statement about his dead sister?” Ethan asked.
Livvy totally understood his surprise. Most people were in too much shock after something like that to ask for their attorney. And most innocent siblings didn’t think they needed legal representation for something that wasn’t their fault.
So, was Franklin guilty? Or was he just the sort of person who wanted to play it safe?
“The ME gave us some preliminary info on Chloe,” Rory went on a moment later. “She died from a single gunshot wound to the head.”
“Accidental?” Livvy suggested. “Perhaps hit with a stray bullet the shooter was firing?”
Rory shook his head. “There was stippling on her right temple.”
Stippling was the marks caused by gunpowder burning or coming in contact with the skin. That meant Chloe had been shot either point-blank or from a very close range.
Livvy thought of the mess in Chloe’s office. It looked as if a struggle could have taken placed there. It was possible that she had run and gone into her brother’s office, only to be murdered there.
“Were there defensive wounds on Chloe?” Ethan asked.
This time Rory shrugged. “Possibly. There were red marks on her arms. Maybe from where someone had grabbed her. Bennie and Garrison are getting statements from the staff and clients at New Hope to try to learn if Chloe had recently been injured.”
Garrison Zimmer was one of their fellow deputies, and even though he was a rookie, his instincts were good. Added to that, his calm, friendly manner might put the surrogates and others at ease.
“Garrison and Bennie have already done a search of the house and the perimeter, and they found no signs of a shooter,” Rory explained. “There are no indications of a break-in either.”
“Vernice was there,” Ethan pointed out.
“So I heard.” Rory checked the time. “She should be coming in soon. Anthony, too. We’ll find out if either of them have alibis for the time of the shooting, and we’re already getting a warrant to test them for gunshot residue.”
Good. Because with Chloe being killed up close, the shooter might have some GSR on their hands or clothes. Of course, if Vernice and Anthony were smart, they would at least have tried to clean themselves up. Franklin, however, wouldn’t have gotten the chance.
The three of them turned when there was the sound of yet more footsteps, and Livvy expected to see Grace or one of the other deputies step into the break room. Instead, it was a young woman with pink hair, wearing jeans and a sweatshirt.
“May I help you?” Ethan asked, but it wasn’t exactly a welcoming tone. Understandable because this wasn’t an area for visitors.
Despite Ethan’s gruff tone, the woman smiled. At Livvy. “I’m Nova Bonetti,” she said, as if she expected that to ring a bell for Livvy. It didn’t. “The sketch artist,” she added when she obviously saw the blank look on Livvy’s face. Then, the woman took out her ID to show them.
“Oh, I wasn’t expecting you until…” Livvy checked the time and groaned softly. “Now.” Only then did she recall the appointment that Grace had arranged. “Sorry—we’ve, uh, had a lot going on this morning.”
“Yeah, it looks busy out in the bullpen.” Nova hiked her thumb in that direction. “Do you need to reschedule?” she asked.
Livvy debated that. She was exhausted from the spent adrenaline that’d come with the shooting, but this could end up being important.
Critical, even, if the images from her nightmares could be matched to a specific person.
Of course, this could be a waste of time if the nightmare hadn’t actually happened.
She prayed that it hadn’t.
That she hadn’t witnessed something so horrific, though Livvy suspected that it wasn’t an actual dream but rather memories trying to leak through the gaps in her mind.
“I don’t want to reschedule,” she let the woman know. But then she considered a good place to do the session. “How about here?” she finally suggested when she realized that all the interview rooms and Grace’s office would likely be occupied.
“Works for me,” Nova said in a cheerful tone that didn’t match the mood of anyone else in the room. Rory and especially Ethan knew this wasn’t going to be a piece of cake for her.
“I’ll leave you to it,” Rory said.
He headed out, easing the door shut behind them. That wouldn’t guarantee them any privacy. People came and went from this room all the time, but Rory would no doubt spread the word about what was happening.
“This is Deputy Ethan Oakley,” Livvy said, introducing him and shaking Nova’s hand. Ethan and she sat on the sofa while Nova took the chair. “And you can call me Livvy.”
“All right, Livvy,” Nova repeated, opening the backpack she’d brought with her.
She didn’t take out a sketchpad but rather a tablet.
“I don’t use digital imaging software,” she explained.
“I do the drawing from what you can tell me. So, relax, take a few deep breaths and try to clear your mind so you can focus better.”
Livvy dragged in a few breaths and did her best to tune out the past hours and home in on the past.
“Just start with the basics,” Nova instructed, “and we’ll adjust as we go.”
“A woman,” Livvy managed. “In her late twenties or early thirties. Slim build. Blond hair cut short and choppy. Green eyes. An oval-shaped face with no distinguishing marks,” she added as Nova got to work. “A slight cleft in her chin. Beautiful,” she murmured. “She was beautiful.”
Nova made a brief glance up from her screen. “Was,” she repeated. She didn’t seem unnerved by that fact, only curious. “How long had she been dead when you saw her?”
Livvy had to shake her head.
“All right, then I won’t be able to estimate skin tone,” she said as she just kept working. “Tell me about her cheekbones and jaw.”