Marni shook her head. “I don’t get it. From a fire? Did the roof fall on her?”
News trickled out all morning. Lukas filled in the gaps. Town gossip churned out the rest. On this topic, I trusted most local sources. “Daniela has a head wound. The working theory is she was attacked. The building might have been set on fire to cover it.”
“None of that makes sense.” Hanna had stopped in front of us, staring us down with her pale face and pain-filled eyes. “She wasn’t supposed to be there. She should have been at home. Miles away. Jeremy was the one staying in the office.”
I hated to say this, but she should know about the town talk. “The police think—”
“That he’s pissed off at me because of the Xavier news and ran away. Yeah, I know.” Hanna started walking down the open hall again. “It’s bullshit and it doesn’t explain the fire.”
We stopped in the family room. This space had an airy feel to it. Paint the color of goldenrod and outlined in white brightened the area. Light poured in through the wall of windows on the far side. The furniture had been the same for as long as I could remember. Couches and chairs in shades of blue and yellow. Not patterns and pillows I could imagine Xavier picking but comfortable and not too stuffy. Not in this room.
Hanna plopped down, seeming not to care about the expensive fabric. Her faded jeans blended into the plush blue cushions. “The police keep telling me that he’s a college kid and got bad news and is somewhere cooling off and will resurface. But they don’t know him.”
“Maybe some of the information about Xavier was hard for him to hear. That’s understandable.” Marni’s tentative voice suggested she’d hoped to wade into this tough topic and take the temperature before diving in deeper.
“I get that but he was at the house earlier last night. We talked and...” Hanna blew out a long breath. “He was still pissed but he offered to install the security cameras. I thought he was going to do it this morning.”
I took a turn at being rational and, hopefully, supportive. “It’s possible he went out for a drive. I do that when I need some space to think.”
Hanna shook her head. “He did read the trust documents. Even if the provisions overwhelmed him, he’s not the type to bail. He’d never just run off.”
“Will he know to look for you here?” Marni asked.
“I’ve left a hundred messages. And the café... Well, he’ll know he can’t stay there.”
“I drove by today. The police are all over it...” The last part of Marni’s sentence faded as if she realized what she was saying. “But it’s still standing. The damage is on that one side but limited. The house part looks fine.”
“There will be inspections and investigations, but I don’t care about the buildings or the business right now.” Hanna stood up.“The attorney handed me the paperwork for this place. I’m here because I thought maybe—”
“Jeremy got curious after learning the specifics of the trust and came here.” A long shot but in her place I’d grasp at any possibility, too.
This time Hanna balanced on the armrest of the nearest chair. Restless energy pounded off her. “Wishful thinking.”
“We can help you search.” The offer sounded lame, but I extended it anyway, and Hanna didn’t balk.
Marni frowned. “You mean like in the closets?”
“It’s a huge house. There are acres to search.” My mind flashed to the pond and thoughts of a body floating there, but I shook them off. Hanna didn’t need that vision in her head.
But the pond wasn’t the only hazard. We had to avoid the crime scene tape, but the rest of the place could... Okay, there was no chance of stumbling over a brooding Jeremy somewhere on the grounds, but if moving around, lifting, and studying things helped Hanna, then I’d pitch in.
“The police.” Hanna’s flat voice broke through my jumbled thoughts.
“Are they okay with you being here?” Marni asked.
A fair question. One I’d planned to tiptoe around, but thanks to Marni for getting right to it.
“No, I mean, the police are here.” Hanna slowly stood up again and went to the window. Put her hand on the glass. Two cars, lights and sirens off, turned into the property’s main entrance.
That feeling you get right before the flu hits. That’s the shakysensation that moved through me. Heat, then chills. Pain everywhere. Bile rushing up my throat.
Hanna wandered back up the main hall toward the front door. When she glanced at us over her shoulder her stark expression telegraphed her fear. This was the visit she’d been dreading.
A second later the doorbell bonged. A deep, rich sound that screamed money.
Hanna froze. Her body seemed to shrink. “I can’t. I can’t.”
“Here.” I jumped up and wrapped an arm around her. She had a petite build, but she felt as if she’d shrunken into this stick figure. So fragile.
