“I’m sure President Marks will open a room for us if this is necessary, Detective,” I say. “But we are not leaving Bellthorn.”
I might have had to scrub the blood of my father off my fingernails, but his teachings will stay with me for longer. Bellthorn is the safest place for a Vale. These walls were built for us, and now that they are all dead, it’s only our interests that they’ll protect.
And the most important thing to all of us is Miss Briarwick.
“Follow me, gentlemen.” Marks nods and glances back at Sable. “And Miss.”
She rolls her eyes and follows them closely, making us all jump to flank around her. The president leads us through the main halls. Countless eyes stick to us as we go, but I’ve gotten used to that. It’s a different kind of attention than I would get for my music, but I don’t care who sees. I’m finally free in a way I never thought possible. I just killed all my problems, and the best part is that I’m… fine.
We all agreed with the plan, but my conscience whispered that maybe I was too much of a soft, pampered brat to kill. I said nothing to the others, not when the evidence of what our families did was so alarming. The four families are too powerful and have too much money. Prison wouldn’t hold them back; only death could end the cycle. And now, after all I did, I still think it was the best and only choice we had.
Marks opens a door to an office for us but never goes in. Sable shoulders her way in without looking back to see if we are following her, though obviously we are. She takes the chair across the desk, and we all move to make a wall around her, since there are not enough chairs to sit.
Detective Asshole doesn’t sit in a chair. Instead, he perches on the desk, his hips leaning against the oak. He’s so close to Sable that she makes a face and moves her chair away.
“You see, Miss Briarwick, I’m afraid you can’t be in this interview.”
“And why is that?” I ask, measuring him up and wondering why he needs to play nice.
“My current investigation isaboutMiss Briarwick,” he replies smugly.
“Investigating what? And talk fast, you’re losing me.”
“Of course, Mr. Morwen.” The words might be respectful, but we all hear the hate in every letter. “Miss Briarwick is accused of the death of her parents and uncle.”
“What?” Sable asks, laughing.
We are all taken aback. Sure, Sable killed her uncle, but her parents?
“Tell me, Detective,” Sable asks, full of amusement. “How did I plan to have my father killed when he drove me into that river?”
“This doesn’t even make sense.” Soren shakes his head.
“Miss Briarwick has been planning this for a while,” says the detective, as he opens a manila envelope and hands a pile of documents to me, completely over Sable’s head.
I grunt at his extended hand, but I take them anyway. I’m dying to see what each says, but I won’t let this fly. I hand them to Sable right away, letting her read things for herself.
“Are you insane?” she asks and then passes the documents back to me. “I don’t have access to any of that.”
My eyes scan the papers in my hand before passing them along to the rest of the group. Each one of them is a fraudulent money transfer for accounts that, as far as I know, didn’t exist until very recently.
“Sable never had access to that money,” Lex says.
“Until she finished her uncle off,” Detective Asshole says with a nod.
“Is that your professional opinion, Detective?” Sable chuckles.
The detective opens and closes his mouth like a fish. He’s clearly not very smart and is only following orders. The four families are behind this of course, that was the way they were dealing with the Briarwick problem.Theyset this up to frame her and make her look guilty. If we killed her, her having accessto her fortune wouldn’t matter. It wasn’t a terrible plan if not for our double-cross.
Sable is legally loaded again, all thanks to the founding families. I relax a little. Sometimes things just go your way.
“If this is an investigation about Sable,” Soren cuts off my thoughts. “Why is she not supposed to be here?”
Detective Askey smiles slowly and reaches for another document, this one folded in three and stored in his back pocket.
“Signed by your father,” he hands that one to Lex.
“That’s it? Sable is dead?” Lex asks.
