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)
“When my scream brought the rest of the cop guards to me, Officer Callahan rushed his aunt out the other way—getting her out unseen, but deeply dissatisfied,” I told her. “She came here to get justice for her son, and instead left with nothing. She must see this confession as her second chance to fight for him.
“Everyone is going to want this story. Reporters are going to climb over each other to interview her. The trial will be televised. After a decade of being ignored and silenced, she gets to tell the world her and Colin’s story. She gets to tell them all that the devil’s name is Kim.”
“Wow,” she repeated, rocking back until she fell on the pillows—mind blown. “That’s... that’s just so sad. All of this—this whole miserable situation—breaks my heart.”
“It breaks mine too, Court. I only went along, pretending like I believed her because I’d have done anything to get you out of jail, even if it meant handing the police a recorded fake confession, but honestly, sitting there listening to that devastated woman, all I wanted to do was something I haven’t been able to do since this all started—cry.”
We fell silent, thinking of all the lives destroyed, and the acts that couldn’t be forgiven.
“So what now?” Courtney asked the ceiling. “The real killer is still out there, toasting his luck because someone else confessed to his crime. We’ve got to find them, and yes, I said we.” She flashed me a stern look like she sensed an argument coming. “You’re not searching for this guy alone. He’s fucking nuts. He murdered a woman and tossed her in a dirty fountain just for recognizing him. If he gets his hands around your neck, he’s not going to stop until he finishes the job, so don’t argue with me. We’re in this together.”
I cracked a smile. “I wouldn’t dream of doing this any other way. Together—let’s bring this son of a bitch down.”
We stared at each other.
“Uh, now seems like a good time to ask,” Courtney drew out. “How do we bring this guy down? Where do we go from here? I’m sure your event planner vets her staff, but if the killer just stole a uniform and blended in with the chaos, she’d know nothing about them, so she’s no help there. Ditto if some of the cops were being lax and weren’t actually manning their posts. If someone else made it upstairs like Mrs. Finley did, they may not know about it—so ditto on being unhelpful.”
I huffed out a groan. “I was thinking the same thing. Rhodes was in his office. Micah was in his parents’ room. Alex went up after the murder to make a call. Layton was in the library. Mrs. Finley was lost on the third floor, and Reynard has a photo of himself out with his friends at the same time Rhodes says he saw him in the garden, but either way, he wasn’t in my mother’s room. So many people weren’t where they were supposed to be, but they also weren’t near my mother, so what does that leave other than a stranger who slipped in here unnoticed? How can I track him down if that’s the case?”
“They can’t be too strange,” she murdered, chewing her lip. “It has to be someone who had a problem with your mother. Someone she knew. Someone we haven’t thought of yet.” She snapped her fingers. “Plus, they had to know the event planner and her fleet of minions would be arriving at the manor that morning. How many people could’ve known that?”
“That’s the problem, Court. I don’t know how many people could have known that, or who might’ve had a grudge against my mother. I haven’t exactly been around for the last decade.”
“True,” she gave in, inclining her head. “Very true. So, basically... we’re nowhere.”
“Basically.”
Courtney heaved herself up. “We’ll keep brainstorming in the car. It’s time to pick up the girls.”
Surprised, I glanced at the clock, seeing that she was right. Afternoon snuck up on us quickly.
Quickly we cleaned up, then took off in Sue’s car, first to pick up Taylor and then to pick up Lily.
“I’ll see you there,” Mr. Layton called, waving at us as he made for the car. “Short lesson today so Lily can play with her friend.”
“Yay,” Lily cried, jumping up and down and hugging Taylor like they were long-lost sisters reunited.
Seeing them made something broken and empty in my heart twinge. Not even at our best were Sue and I like this. We were always on opposite sides, and that war destroyed many lives—even got people killed. Even Courtney, the only real sister I ever had, got caught up in the poisonous miasma that seemed to follow the Kim family everywhere they went.
Makes me wonder if the real reason so many societies, cultures, and nations have a concept of curses... is because they’re real.