I glared at him but didn’t really have the energy to make it stick.
“Give me your statement,” he said.
I did, and he nodded.
“That corroborates what Oliver Duck and Don McLerrison said. In addition, we have your phone and the photograph as evidence.”
I cleared my dry throat. “What about the real Spencer? Did you catch him?”
“Absolutely. We have both Wayne and Spencer in custody. Spencer started babbling like a wild brook the second we arrested him. He already has confessed.”
“Did he have any part in the actual murder all those years ago?” I asked.
Pierce shook his head. “No, he really was out of town. I mean, therealSpencer was out of town. I can’t believe I thought they were brothers, but all the background checks we did were just speaking with people from Silverville. Most of them didn’t know the real Wayne had been adopted. I should have gotten DNA from both of them.”
Aiden leaned back in his chair. “It happens, man. You would’ve figured it out eventually.”
“Yeah, but I have two bodies on my conscience now, Saul and Lenny.”
I didn’t like seeing the shadows in Pierce’s eyes. “They chose to go into business with Wayne Wilson, AKA sexy Cupid.” I tried not to gag. To think that I’d thought he had a sexy body. It was shocking. He really had camouflaged it perfectly with clothing and posture, down to the fake liver spots on his hand. I was quite irritated with myself that I hadn’t caught it. “What about Lisa Robinson?”
“She’s fine. She gave a statement and has already parlayed the situation into some good PR for the Rustic Relic. She gave Jolene O’Sullivan a full interview, just so you know,” Pierce said.
I shrugged. “Fine by me, so long as I’m not involved.”
Aiden and Pierce winced in unison.
I sat up straighter. “What?”
“She might’ve gotten a picture of you being brought into the hospital,” Pierce said, looking away.
“I tried to block her,” Aiden added. “But I was helping your nonna over the ice.”
“Okay,” I murmured. “That is a worry for another day.”
More footsteps sounded, and my parents ran into the room, followed by Aunt Yara, Uncle Buddy, and Violet.
Violet reached me first. “Are you okay? I can’t believe you’re back in the hospital.” She patted my arm nervously. “You got shot. Are you sure you’re okay?” Tears filled her wide eyes.
“I’m fine, Violet. Just a couple of stitches to the leg.”
She looked around. “You come here a lot.”
Aiden chuckled, but the sound completely lacked humor. “Yeah. We’re going to have a little talk about that later.”
“This wasn’t my fault,” I protested again.
“Nobody said it was,” Aiden said.
I thought fleetingly to his comments about locking me down.
Violet wrung her hands together nervously. “How long do you have to be in the hospital?”
“I should be out in about an hour,” I said.
“No,” my mom contradicted instantly, her slight Irish brogue coming through. “You’re here until tomorrow. I spoke to the doctor.”
Nobody moved. Nobody protested. Nobody even thought about arguing.
