Considering there were two other sets of stairs in the house, Franklin could have fired those shots and then created an alibi of sorts for himself by joining Sienna. Of course, there was no evidence to back that up.
Not yet anyway.
“Do you know who ransacked your sister’s office?” Grace continued.
He gave a quick shake of his head, followed by a lift of his shoulder. “Maybe that woman who visited her this morning. Is she the one who killed Chloe?” he asked, as if the idea had just occurred to him.
Grace used her phone to pull up Vernice’s picture. “Was it this woman?” she asked.
“Yes, that’s her all right. Did she kill my sister?” he pressed.
“We’re looking into that along with some other persons of interest,” Grace assured him. “Had you seen her before?”
Franklin’s forehead bunched up while he gave that some thought. “Yes. I recall her coming to New Hope on at least one other occasion. I assumed she was a friend of Chloe’s.”
“Or she could have killed her,” the lawyer piped in. “I hope you’re grilling her the way you are my client.”
Grace made a sound that could have meant anything. “Dr. Voss, could you please tell me about the house where Zadie’s body was found?” she said, obviously switching things up again.
“The house?” he questioned, clearly surprised. “I don’t know what you mean. I don’t know anything about it.”
“That’s odd.” Grace pulled up something on her phone. “Because New Hope once owned it.”
The lawyer and Franklin exchanged a glance. “I wasn’t aware of that,” he said just as Helene snarled, “What does this have to do with the shooting today?”
Grace gave her a flat look. “You really have to ask?” And she didn’t wait for the lawyer to respond. “Two women, both connected to New Hope, have been murdered. A third, Sunny Covington, was attacked, and someone attempted to murder her. Everything regarding New Hope needs to be scrutinized. Including the property where Zadie’s body was found.”
“Zadie,” Franklin murmured, and he squeezed his eyes shut a moment. For the first time since the interview started, the man showed what Ethan thought might be actual grief. “Such a loss. But you have her killer, right? It’s the same man who tried to attack Sunny at the hospital?”
Grace made another of those sounds that gave away nothing of what she was actually thinking. “Did you know Hank Stover, the man who tried to kill Sunny?”
“No,” Franklin replied without hesitation.
“Strange,” she commented. “His sister used to work for you, and he visited New Hope.”
He sighed. “We’ve had a lot of employees and visitors over the years, and I don’t recall ever seeing that man.” He paused a moment. “How is Sunny?” he asked. “When will I be able to visit her?”
“We’re restricting visitors for the time being,” Grace said, obviously not addressing the doctor’s first question.
Franklin’s mouth went into a tight line, his lips pinching together for several moments. “Sunny will want to see me,” he insisted.
Grace ignored that, too, and checked something else on her phone. “Dr. Voss, there’s a rumor that you’ve fathered some of the babies born via surrogates at New Hope.”
“What?” Franklin howled.
His lawyer gave his arm a quick squeeze. Clearly a signal for him to hush. Franklin did, but Helene sure didn’t.
“That is just a rumor, nothing more, and has nothing to do with his sister’s death,” she insisted.
“It could,” Livvy supplied. “Someone ransacked Chloe’s office, maybe looking for something incriminating. That could have included allegations about the paternity of some of the babies conceived at New Hope.”
“And you’re on a fishing expedition,” Helene spat out, and her voice was ice cold. Ditto for the glare she shot Livvy.
Livvy made an odd sound, and Ethan glanced at her. Something was wrong. She had gone pale. Hell. What had happened? Was something wrong with the baby? Maybe she wasin pain. Ethan reached out his hand to her, but Livvy shook her head.
Obviously, Grace didn’t notice, though, because she pulled up something else on her phone. “Take a look at this,” she said, showing it to Franklin. It was the sketch Nova had created. “Does she look familiar?”
Something went through Franklin’s eyes. Not the fury he’d been tossing at them. But some emotion that Ethan couldn’t quite put his finger on. He wanted to know what, but more than that, he needed to know if Livvy was okay.
