CHAPTER TWENTY

  Chloe watched the whole thing happen and it was like having an out of body experience. She was both surprised and saddened to see that Danielle really didn’t even fight it. She didn’t protest too much and there were very few arguments. Greene stood with Chloe while another agent put handcuffs on Danielle and started leading her out of the apartment.

  Danielle only looked at Chloe once, right in the middle of having her rights read to her. There was a heartbreaking stare between them in that moment—a moment in which Chloe realized just how broken and lost her sister was. It was also a look that made Chloe feel that maybe—just maybe—Danielle would have been capable of killing Martin. Even though Danielle had admitted to sinking the car—something that would surely come up in questioning—did that mean she could kill him, too?

  Maybe…maybe she did do it.

  She felt her heart breaking as she looked at her sister. Maybe if I’d been a better sister over the years…reached out and tried to get to know her better. Maybe then I would have seen this coming…

  It started to sink in, a dark reality that she could feel on her like cobwebs. But still, it just made no sense. For one thing, how the hell would frail little Danielle have lifted the rather built body of Martin enough to get him into the trunk?

  These thoughts whirled in Chloe’s mind as she walked out behind the other agent who escorted Danielle through the doorway.

  “Do you have a lawyer?” Chloe asked.

  “No. And don’t talk to me. You turned me in, didn’t you? You didn’t even give me a chance. You thought it was me right away.”

  “Danielle, I—”

  “I said don’t talk to me,” Danielle snapped.

  “I’ll see that you get a good one. I’ll—”

  “Don’t,” Danielle said. “I don’t want you involved in this.”

  Chloe did as her sister asked. She stopped talking as she walked along with the agent, who led her to a generic black sedan. Chloe watched helplessly as Danielle ducked down and got into the back seat. The agent closed the door and then shot Chloe an apologetic look before getting behind the wheel.

  Chloe’s thoughts flashed back to the morning she and Danielle had watched her father ushered into the back of a police car. For a moment, it felt like her life had come full circle.

  “Will they take her to HQ?” Chloe asked Greene.

  “Yeah, at the start. They’ll interrogate her there. Depending on how that goes, they might move her. I imagine they’ll angle for a DNA test, too. To try to match that stray hair they found on Martin’s arm. I doubt they’ll keep her long. Really, this doesn’t have the weight of a bureau case. Pinecrest PD will likely wrap it up.”

  “I need to go,” Chloe said. “I need to be with her.”

  “Give it some time,” Greene said. “You know how the system works. You can be there right away but you won’t get to speak with her for a while. Let the feds to their job. I’ll make a call for you. I’ll make sure you’re allowed to speak with her as early as possible.”

  Chloe nodded and did her best to keep the tears from coming. She’d already almost puked in front of Agent Greene. Did she really want to cry in front of him?

  “I want you to go home,” Greene said. “Take the rest of the day. I’ll cover with your supervisor.”

  “You’ll call me when she’s available to talk?”

  “Absolutely. Do you need a ride? Are you going to be okay?”

  “I don’t know,” she said.

  And with that, she turned her back and headed for her car. The tears came right away now, and she did everything she could to not let Greene see them.

  ***

  It was rare that Chloe allowed Steven to see her in a vulnerable state but that’s exactly what he saw when she returned home. He was sitting on the couch, slipping a card into an envelope. She saw that it was a thank-you card for the tailor who had helped him with acquiring the perfect tuxedo for the wedding.

  “You’re home early,” he said, uninterested. But then he saw her face, the clear signs that she had been crying, and got to his feet. “What is it?” he asked.

  She told him everything. She told him about Martin’s car…about Martin’s body being found in the trunk and the stray hair and the fingerprint. She told him where Danielle currently was and how something just didn’t seem to fit.

  “Are you sure?” Steven asked. “I hate to mention it, but you did say that she was skipping some medicine to help with mood swings, right?”

  “I did,” Chloe said. “But even though I don’t really know my sister, I know her well enough to know that she’s not capable of killing someone.”

  Do you, though? she wondered, thinking of the sinister smile from the block party.

  They sat down on the couch, Chloe feeling the weight of the day finally pressing down on her. She watched as Steven sealed the thank-you note. It actually made her feel a bit better to see that he was actually taking initiative in anything related to the wedding.

  “What can I do for you?” Steven asked.

  “Nothing,” she said. “Just…just be here right now. I don’t know how to handle this, Steven. And I just need you to be here for me. No snide comments about Danielle, okay? Can you do that?”

  He put an arm around her, drew her close, and kissed her on the side of the mouth. “Of course I can,” he said.

  And he did. They sat together on the couch like that for a very long time. And while it was comforting, Chloe couldn’t help but wonder what she had missed during those years she and Danielle had spent apart. What had Danielle been through? Had she encountered something that had shaped her in some unimaginable way—maybe even some way that would indeed make her capable of murder?

  The scary part was that Chloe simply did not know the answer.

  Scarier still was the fact that she’d likely find out within the next few days.

  ***

  Chloe skipped her morning run the following day. She simply didn’t have it in her. Her stomach was a knot of worry, nearly to the point of making her feel sick. She had a cup of coffee but was unable to eat much breakfast. She kept looking to her phone, waiting for Green to call or text.

  He finally did, just after seven o’clock. “You’re going to be mad at me,” he said.

  “Why’s that?”

  “We were given permission for you to talk to her around midnight. But I wanted you to get a good night’s sleep. This isn’t looking good for her, which means these next few days could be very long for you.”

  She was angry at first but was then able to see the care in his gesture. He was just trying to look out for her.

  “Are you there right now?” Chloe asked.

  “No, but I’m on the way.”

  “Then I’ll see you in about half an hour.”

  She ended the call and took her uneaten breakfast of eggs and sausage links to the kitchen counter. Steven was sitting at the bar, scrolling through his newsfeed on his phone, slowly eating a bowl of oatmeal.

  “You want this?” she asked, offering the plate.

  “Sure,” he said. “Who was on the phone?”

  “Agent Greene. I’ve been cleared to go speak with Danielle.”

  “Oh,” Steven said. “Do you think that’s a good idea?”

  “Why wouldn’t it be?” Chloe asked.

  “I don’t know,” he said. “It’s evident that you feel certain she didn’t do it. But if you go down there around people you’re going to have to eventually work with and most of them think she did do it…that could cause some tension.”

  “You’re absolutely right,” she said. “But this is my sister. I have to be there for her.”

  When he nodded and sighed, his frustration was apparent. Chloe thought it might be something they’d need to discuss at some point. But for now, she was more interested in getting to her sister.

  As she gathered up her things and headed for the door, Steven called out to her. “If you think you’re going to be late getting home today, let me know. Don’t forget, we’re supposed to go to my folks’ house for dinner tonight.”

  “Yeah,” she snapped. Being around his parents was about the last thing she wanted to even think about considering everything that was happening. And the fact that Steven could even mention it right now was maddening.

  She left the house without another word and made the drive to Baltimore. It was a tense ride as her mind pinballed back and forth between Danielle’s situation and the growing turmoil between her and Steven. Deep down, she supposed this current situation with Danielle would really show Steven’s true colors. Would he support her while Danielle went through this hell or would he continue to voice his disdain for her?

  It was a selfish way to think, but she knew that in one way or another, her own life would be significantly different when all of this came to an end. She could beat herself up over not being an attentive sister all she liked, but it would change nothing. But if Danielle came out of this unscathed…well, things were going to have to change.

  When she parked in the parking garage beside HQ, she did her best not to break into a sprint toward the building. When she entered, there were people looking at her with sympathy, some managing a nod of greeting while others quickly looked away.

  As she made her way back to the interrogation rooms, Greene met her with a cup of coffee in hand. He gave it to her with a look of worry in his eyes.

  “What’s that look?” Chloe asked. “Is there something wrong?”

  “No, not really. But we told her that you were coming to speak with her. We figured it might help to lift her spirits, you know? But she’s refusing to see you.”

  “What?”

  Greene led her into a nearby vacant conference room and closed the door. “She’s in a bad state,” he said. “I think she’s afraid that she’s disappointed you. She’d depressed and honestly just doesn’t want to talk to anyone.”

  It broke Chloe’s heart a little to hear these things, but she supposed she understood.

  “She thinks I turned her in. She thinks I automatically assumed she’s guilty.”

  “Yes, that too.”

  “Has she said anything that indicates she killed him?”

  “No. But her alibis aren’t strong at all. Being antisocial by nature, she doesn’t really have much to offer. No one other than Martin would have seen her. She said she saw and spoke to you between the block party and the discovery of the car, but the time scale really doesn’t even matter. It couldn’t be used as a reliable alibi.”

  “You have to know…this is impossible for me to believe,” Chloe said, almost pleading. “She has her issues, sure…but she’s not a killer. At least I didn’t think so. But…Jesus, I just don’t know now. It doesn’t seem like my sister, you know?”

  Greene seemed hesitant to say anything. After a moment of thought, though, he finally said: “I think I believe you. But for now, we have to go with what the case gives us. You understand that, right?”

  “I do,” she said. “Thanks for the support. Look…there’s this medicine she’s on for her mood swings. I don’t know which drug, honestly. Is there any way for you to check in to see if she’s taking them?”

  “She is,” he said. “She requested them not too long after she got here. We had an agent go back to her apartment to get them.”

  “Good. Thanks.”

  “I can’t imagine how tough this is for you. But keep a level head. I know you have to be a sister first, but this is a great time to prove that you can be an effective agent above all else. I know it might not be where your head is at right now, but this is an opportune time to prove yourself.”

  “That’s a sobering thought,” she said with a shaky laugh.

  But the more the comment stuck with her, the more she could appreciate it—and the more determined she became to find some way to prove that Danielle was innocent.

  CHAPTER TWENTY ONE

  After the heartbreak of finding that Danielle was refusing to speak to her, Chloe decided to let it ride out for another day or so. While they had spent a great deal of time apart these last few years, Chloe felt like she knew her sister well. Danielle was going to clam up for a day or two, an adult version of the silent treatment. After that, she might allow some people in—hopefully her.

  With an assurance from Greene that she’d still have access to Danielle tomorrow, Chloe headed out for the day. She went home and was once again anxious to see how Steven would react to all of this. She found herself wondering if he’d be supportive or relieved that his troublesome sister-in-law was out of the equation.

  She rummaged around the house for an hour or so, trying to keep herself busy by cleaning, anything to keep her mind from obsessively latching onto Danielle. When she heard Steven pull up shortly after four o’clock, she felt like she was on the battle lines of some war no one knew was being waged. They had dinner with his parents tonight, and God only knew that was stressful enough. Adding all of this drama with Danielle was doing nothing more than firing the first shot.

  Steven came in and seemed to be in a good mood. He usually was when he found her already home when he arrived home from work.

  “Short day?” he asked.

  “Yeah.”

  “Any movement on the thing with Danielle?”

  She was a little surprised that he’d asked so blatantly. She was also surprised to find that there appeared to be genuine interest in his voice.

  “No,” she said. “Nothing yet.”

  He nodded and made a hmm sound of acknowledgment before heading off to the bedroom. Chloe had not realized until after they had been engaged just how tied down to his parents Steven was. Whenever they met with his family for dinner, he always made sure to get there on time. Even when they had visited them before they had moved back to town, even if it was out at a restaurant, Steven got stressed out about being on time. That was why she fully expected him to emerge from the bedroom ten minutes from now changed and completely ready for dinner—even though they weren’t due to arrive for another hour and a half.

  The fear that his parents might suffocate them a little had come to her before. But now that they were beginning to live out that reality, Chloe could feel it sinking in like a needle into her skin.

  ***

  While Sally Brennan had more than enough of her faults, there was one positive to the woman: she could cook her ass off.

  When Chloe sat down to Wayne and Sally Brennan’s table that night with their baby boy, she had prepared a rack of lamb, seasoned asparagus, and a from-scratch salad that was accompanied by a homemade vinaigrette. The pleasantness of the food itself didn’t last very long, though. Sally didn’t seem to be able to go a whole five minutes without throwing out a barrage of questions.

  “Steven, what’s the bruise on the side of your head?” Sally asked.

  Chloe winced a bit. She’d thought the bruising from the fight with Martin had faded enough so that Sally and Wayne wouldn’t see it. Now the ball was in Steven’s court. Would he gladly tell them that Danielle had brought a guy to their house that had made an ass of himself at a block party and started throwing punches? Or would he—God help us all—lie to his mother to help his soon-to-be-wife save some face?

  “Oh my God, it was the stupidest thing,” Martin said. “I left the medicine cabinet open the other night. I turned away for a moment and then turned around to walk back into the bedroom and ran right into the damned thing. The bruise was pretty nasty for the first day or two.”

  Wayne Brennan actually laughed heartily at this. “You always were sort of a klutz,” he said, taking a large gulp of his glass of red wine.

  “Still am, I guess,” Steven said.

  He reached under the table and gave her hand a little squeeze. That was for you, the gesture seemed to say.

  There was silence at the table for a moment, broken only by the clinking of silverware against the plates. An uncomfortable feeling started taking root in Chloe’s stomach as she noticed the thin and rather restrained look on Sally’s face.

  Then she spoke, and Chloe understood the uncharacteristic silence at the Brennan dinner table. She’d been holding back, trying to find the right time to drop her little bomb.

  “Forgive me for asking,” Sally said, looking directly at Chloe. “But I’ve heard from two different people that your sister was arrested on some absolutely ghastly chargers. Some are saying murder! That can’t be right, can—”

  “Mom…” Steven said, not only surprised but looking a little appalled as well.

  “Well, I just wanted to know,” Sally said, as if she was the one being attacked. “After all, if it’s true and Danielle is going to be…preoccupied…it does affect the wedding.”

  “With all due respect,” Chloe said, “my sister is being held for something she did not do. I haven’t really been thinking too much about the wedding.”

  “Is there anyone else you can ask to take her place?” Sally asked.

  The absolute nerve of this woman, Chloe thought. Sure, they were footing the bill for the vast majority of the wedding, but she was taking that responsibility like some sort of priesthood. To say she was using it as a control over Chloe was not overstating things. But now with this new development with Danielle, she apparently felt she had more leverage.

  Fuck that, Chloe thought.

  “No, not really,” Chloe said. “And if it’s bothering you that badly, Mrs. Brennan, maybe we should start talking about postponing the wedding.”

  The look on her face made it clear that she had not expected such a tactic from Chloe. She looked like someone had slapped her, being so dramatic as to even recoil from the comment.

  “Oh, I hardly think so,” she said. “I’ve already reserved the grounds at Elder Gardens! I don’t see the need to make so many other people change their plans just because of your sister’s misfortune.”

  “I didn’t insinuate that,” Chloe said. She had much more on the tip of her tongue but she bit it all back. Instead, she got to her feet and looked over at Steven. “Please…take your time in finishing. Enjoy your dinner with your parents. I’ll be waiting in the car when you’re ready.”

 

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21