There is space for the piano.
Once she gets this out, she will understand.
The music begins to slow.
I rise and go to get Remy.
“She is ready for comfort now.”
Chapter sixty-two
Remy
I try not to gape at the bombshell Erik just delivered and head for the sunroom.
She has stopped playing. Her shoulders are folded inward, the violin still clutched in her hands.
I move to her and gently take the violin from her grasp, setting it back in its stand. Then I draw her against me.
She collapses into my chest and the tears come. I wrap my arms around her and lift her easily, carrying her back toward the couch.
Somewhere behind us, the doorbell rings.
Meg answers it.
The Earls have arrived.
I murmur to her, nonsense words meant only to soothe. Her sobs hitch once more, then fade. Her body goes slack against mine. Her chest rises and falls, slow and even.
She has cried herself to sleep.
Erik takes the seat beside me and lifts her legs over his lap, his fingers tapping a quiet, restless rhythm while the rest of the room settles.
I look up. James and David sit across from us, their expressions set and unreadable. Meg takes the chair to my right. A tall man with prematurely silver hair settles into the chair on my left.
The room goes quiet.
The silver-haired man speaks first. “I’m Coulson.” He inclines his head. “I would shake your hand, but.” He gestures to my occupied arms.
“I reviewed the video and traced the upload. The IP address resolves to Brian Rasmussen. I sent an associate to his residence. He is deceased. Apparent suicide.”
I hiss in a breath. Erik’s fingers go still against her legs.
Coulson continues, voice flat. “The timing is too convenient. Rasmussen was a patsy. There is no record of firearm ownership and no digital footprint suggesting interest in acquiring one. Yet he died from a gunshot wound. The scene appears staged.”
He pauses, then adds, “Will NOPD question it? Unlikely. The medical examiner is an elected position, not an appointment. Ours is a former plastic surgeon who retired under pressure. He avoids controversy and closes files quickly.”
“This will be ruled a suicide.”
Chapter sixty-three
Erik
I study the man Remy has brought in. He seems competent. Very.
“If it were not Rasmussen, then who?” I ask. “Rasmussen made sense because James was involved. Otherwise, it only makes sense if the target is the opera house itself.” I pause. “Tianna’s tire was slashed yesterday.”
Coulson absorbs that and turns to the Earls.
