Total pages in book: 173
Estimated words: 163802 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 819(@200wpm)___ 655(@250wpm)___ 546(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 163802 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 819(@200wpm)___ 655(@250wpm)___ 546(@300wpm)
Why could a man who has known my mother for six months cry for her, but I couldn’t? That lone thought lodged the pit even deeper.
“And now you’re asking me to help point you in the right direction, and I can’t do that e-either,” he choked. “I’m sorry, Sue. I’m just so fucking sorry.”
“I’m sorry too,” I whispered. “Only I could lose my mother right as I got her back.”
“Don’t say it like that.” He crushed me to his chest. “Your mom was always here for you. In her own way, she was here.”
No, she really wasn’t. “But I need to be there for her now. She was never the mother I wanted, but she was the mother I needed when it counted. If I let her killer go free, then I really will be the disappointment she thought I was.”
“Goodness, that’s a lot of unfair pressure to put on yourself. If the police fail in catching the killer, that is on them—not you.”
“Except there’s a real woman involved with a real child who’ll grow up only seeing her mother through wired glass.” My voice was hard. “No one should sit by with their thumbs up their asses, singing at the breeze when an innocent person needs help, and another—two other innocent people lost their lives.
“I won’t let this go, Reynard.” I looked him dead in the eyes. “Ever. I will find him. If I’ve got to burn this whole town to the ground, I’ll do it if it means I’ll get to yank his corpse out of the ashes and burn him again!”
He blinked at my ferocity. “I understand how you feel, Sue, but the more I think about it, the more I’m certain it had to be some deranged sicko thief who heard about the party—because everyone heard about the party—and figured that if he showed up wearing white, he’d be allowed in with everyone else. When that worked, he came up here scoping out things to steal, happened on your mother, and... well, he silenced her.”
“But nothing was taken, even though there was a jewelry box full of priceless gems on the dresser right next to her.”
Reynard tossed his head, looking helpless. “Then maybe he panicked after the murder, and realized he had to get out of there quick. Or maybe he heard someone outside and got spooked— I don’t know. I just know that your mother had limited to no contact with anyone outside of these walls for months,” he said. “Even before she was plagued with confusion, she never used social media, and she only used her phone to keep in touch with her friends, and even though I don’t understand Korean, shouting and harsh speech transcends language barriers. But I never heard any angry words pass between her and someone else.”
“I hear you,” I said, blowing out an angry breath. “No one my mother knew wanted to hurt her, so it had to be a stranger.”
“It had to be.” His voice was firm. “No question. No one who knew Madame Kim and how much she was already suffering would’ve had any hate left in their hearts after hearing she didn’t have long. Even Mr. Spencer let go of his rage, and accepted that if she really stole all of his and his parents’ money—”
I snapped up. “What?”
“—she would’ve come clean after learning she only had a few months left to live,” he blazed on, unaware of my falling jaw. “I mean, it wasn’t like she could take the money with her, and everything she had was about to be passed on to her only child, so if she did steal it—”
“Steal?!”
“—Micah was soon to know all,” Reynard finished. “In my time, I’ve found that when faced with the option of confessing your sins when it counts, or waiting until you face the judgement of a deity—most people choose confession.” He nodded to himself, convinced in the face of my astonishment. “Yeah, I’m sure of it. Either Micah finally believed your mother was telling the truth before she died, or he was waiting for the will to do that. But he didn’t need to kill her for the latter. The cancer was doing that for him.”
He flicked down to me. “What? Oh, shit, should I not have said that? I’m sorry, Sue, I know he’s your husband, but I’ve lived here for half a year. I heard the knockdown, screaming fights between you and Micah, and Micah and your mother. I don’t know why he was so convinced your mother was behind the scam that cost his parents everything, but if you’d have asked me four months ago who wanted her dead—I would’ve said Micah Spencer.
“But now that you’re asking me today...” He shook his head, smiling. “No. Over these last few weeks, this cold, forgotten manor has become a home again. There was a happy family living here again, and no one in this family would’ve ruined that.