“That’s good. We need one,” I said softly. “But I can’t promise I’ll stop looking for the monster who killed my mother. I can’t, Alex. Right now the cops are two for two with putting the wrong person in jail for the crime, and three for three with how many innocent people this shitbag has murdered while they’re faffing around getting everything wrong. At this rate, a unicorn will find Atlantis before they find Omma’s killer!”
The sad look he gave me made my heart shrivel that much smaller. “Baby, why is this so important to you? I know in the last few weeks of her life you two made peace, but you hated her.” The words slapped me in the face. “You despised your mother with every fiber of your being, and going by the shouting match you two had shortly before she took a turn for the worst, the feeling was mutual.
“She was one hundred percent lucid and knowing when she called you filth. A worthless slut and her greatest shame. She said she never even wanted you,” he rasped. “That your dad threatened to leave her for a woman who would give him children, so she gave in and it wasthe biggest mistake of her life.
“Sue.” Alex cupped my cheek, sympathy etched into his face. “I heard her say that every day she was stuck with you was a waste of her time, her money, and her life. That she wished she caved in your skull and tossed you off the cliffs! Your own mother told you to your face that she wished she violently murdered you and disposedof your body.
“And then if that wasn’t enough of a blow, she finished off by saying, ‘I may not ever again know the peace of living in a world without you in it, but I will know the satisfaction of passing on and leaving you with nothing.’” He blew a hard breath. “And that was just what she said. The stuff you screamed back at her almost made me run in and pull you apart. I thought you were going to kill each other.”
Alex held me close. “I know you’re turning over a new leaf, and I love that, but you don’t have to take it this far. It doesn’t make you a bad person or a bad daughter if you choose to not risk your life chasing down a psychopath to get justice for a woman you hated and who hated you. Let the police do their job,” he whispered. “Because you have an even more important one—to be the mother you deserved to the most perfect little girl in the world.
“Lily can’t lose you too.” His soft, full lips teased my trembling mouth. “I can’t lose you.”
So many horrifying and sweet truths demanding an answer, but I couldn’t if I tried.
I had no idea that Sue and Omma had such a vicious fight. Omma’s mental state had deteriorated by the time I stepped back into her life, but the few times she did mention Sue, she didn’t bring up her name in anger or disgust.
Had Omma really forgotten saying those things to her child, or had their relationship gotten so toxic over the last decade, it was just another day for Omma—not worth remembering.
But even if Sue and Omma did hate each other in the end, what did that change for me? There were some things that a person just needed to do, and I needed to see the person who came into my home and made it an unsafe and frightening place again—punished.
My mother’s killer couldn’t get away with it. They simply couldn’t.
“You won’t lose me.” I hugged him back just as tightly. “I finally have a fresh start—a new life. No one is going to take that away from me.
“Not this time.”
Chapter Twenty
“All right, so we’re looking at everything again.” I opened Courtney’s car door before she had the chance. “Back to the beginning.”
“Good morning to you too.” She let me tug her out and lead her outside past the gaggle of workmen. “Installing a new security system?”
“A super sensitive one that flips out over everything—even shifty squirrels. Lantana’s no-violent-crime streak has officially hit the fan. We’re not taking any more chances.”
“Smart. Honestly, I’m doing the same thing.” She paused by the coatrack to shrug hers off and toe off her shoes. “Tay and I have moved back in with Mom. Her security system is ten times better than the shop’s, and right now I just need to know my daughter is safe.”
“Is the shop still closed? Are you going to be okay for money?”
She gave me thatdon’t ask me silly questions even though they make me love youlook. “I’ll be fine. I’m closed for the morning, but I’ll reopen in the afternoon. Catch a little bit off of that lunchtime rush.
“Despite what Detective Dumbass and Dumbshit implied.” She was calling Balogun and Kaplan that too. “I’m not broke or struggling. My bakery is the only shop in Lantana that serves upscale confections at Green Mart prices. All of the charity cliques hire me to do their desserts. I’m rolling in it.”
“Oooh, yeah, baby.” I wiggled, puckering my lips at her. “Shake that ass when you brag next time, put some more sexy on that sexy.”
Courtney doubled over, laughing so hard she tripped over her feet and wheezed at my feet. “You’re nuts! But I love it.”
“And you’re my partner.” I helped her up, sobering up quickly. “I can’t quit, but Alex was right about one thing last night. I’ve been reckless. It was idiocy in the extreme to confront Mrs. Finley alone. If Alex hadn’t gotten out of the car and checked on me when he did, I’d be dead.
“We’re in this together now, and we have to start by going over everything—checking to see what I missed.” Pulling out my phone, I showed her the app, and all of its saved recordings. “Ready?”
“Ready.”
That’s how we found ourselves half an hour later, sitting over a rough sketch of the manor’s floorplan in Sue’s room.
“Goodness, this is like Clue,” Courtney muttered. She was adorable in a pair of purple overalls with a purple bandana tying her hair up. You wouldn’t have known she was locked in a holding cell only a couple days before. “Colonel Rhodes in the office. Master Layton in the library. Sir Spencer in the guest wing.” She traced her finger across the floors. “If only we knew for sure where all the cops were, not just where theyclaimedthey were.”
“I know.” I chewed my lip, wishing something would jump out at me. “Hard to be trusting after confirming one of them did let a wannabe murderer right up the stairs.”
