I looked her in the eyes. Her skin was pale. No makeup. Puffy eyes.
“Are you the second mother you made them believe you were?” I asked. “Or were you just a friend tagging along all those years?”
I gave her a second to let that sink in. Then added, “Because if you are who we thought you were, then you’ll give these kids a place to feel loved and safe for a few days. If you’re not, I’ll walk away right now, and we won’t bother you again.”
Her pretty blue eyes narrowed again. Then drifted back to the car. A tear slid down her cheek. Then another.
She didn’t speak, just wiped her face with the sleeve of her oversized sweater, breathing slowly and shakily.
For a second, I thought she was going to close the door, which would be Lacey’s death sentence. I couldn’t put those kids in danger. This was my only chance to find the killer.
Then, almost startling me, Amanda stepped forward.
She brushed past me, brisk and silent, and headed down the stone steps toward the car.
And as she passed, she muttered under her breath, “Just for the record—don’t ever question my love for the kids again. That’s the one thing nobody gets to touch.”
Chapter 23
Nicole
I was standing in the fancy kitchen.
Sleek. Modern. Every surface wiped and spotless. The open-concept space spilled into a massive living room with fourteen-foot ceilings and a glass wall overlooking the beach and the ocean.
The kids were curled up on the couch, eyes locked on a movie, the noise blasting through the surround sound built into the walls and ceiling. Amanda moved through the kitchen. She slid frozen pizzas onto a baking tray, then quietly cut up organic apples and strawberries.
I didn’t move. I stayed close to the hallway. My presence felt tolerated, not welcomed.
“I have a question,” she said, peeling the skin off an apple with a knife. Her hands moved fast but steadily. I almost smiled. She remembered that Ethan would only eat them peeled.
“And if you don’t answer it,” she added, still not looking at me, “then you can just leave and never come back.”
“I’ll tell you whatever you want to know.”
She still didn’t look up. “Then tell me what the hell is going on. Why are the kids not safe at their home anymore?” Her voice was edged with something sharp underneath.
My eyes flicked toward the couch. Dylan hadn’t turned around. The volume was too high. Good. They couldn’t hear us.
“I don’t think you’re quite ready for—” I said, but Amanda looked up, eyes locked.
“Actually, Nicole, I think I’m quite ready for a lot of things right now. Including any information you might have that might help make sense of this all.”
“Fine,” I said. “I’m following a lead.”
“A lead?”
I nodded. “To Zach’s murderer.”
I let that hang, watching her, seeing if anything flashed across her face.
Nothing. Just tension.
“That night, a security camera at a gas station nearby caught a man on tape,” I explained, “covered in blood.”
“What?” Her head jerked back. Then shook. “Why didn’t anyone tell me?”
“Because of the attorney general. Let’s just say he doesn’t like me.”
