Total pages in book: 173
Estimated words: 163802 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 819(@200wpm)___ 655(@250wpm)___ 546(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 163802 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 819(@200wpm)___ 655(@250wpm)___ 546(@300wpm)
“So no,” I said clearly, “you haven’t narrowed your suspect pool down to my family. Not even close. And the fact that you think you have and that you walked me in here believing you were going to pull a gotcha, has me very concerned. I’m a twenty-eight-year-old former influencer and I blew holes through your best theory in two minutes. What does that say about your ability to find my mother’s killer, or Mrs. Prado’s?”
Balogun and Kaplan stiffened—their smirks and friendly smiles nowhere to be seen.
“If you two aren’t the best detectives for the job, I need you to leave and bring him the ones who are.”
Balogun roared up. “Mrs. Kim—!”
“And you,” I snapped, whirling on Davis. “I take back what I said last night. If you really believe the bloody clothes and knife are stashed somewhere in the manor, you have my permission to search everywhere—search everyone! You don’t need a warrant.”
“Oh, I—” He made to move, then stopped. “Are you sure?”
“Of course, I’m sure. You can only hold my guests for twenty-four hours, so don’t waste any more time. Find the bastard!” The shout made him jerk and twitch for his gun. “Because if you don’t, I will!”
Davis didn’t ask me again. Shooting out the door, I heard him address the other officers. “I want a full search of this manor starting with the rooms closest to Madame Kim’s rooms and spreading out. Find the owner of every bag or case you find. Ask their permission before searching them, and bring the names of everyone who refuses.”
I got to my feet. “I assume we’re done here?”
“Yes, Mrs. Kim.” A distinct and frigid chill blasted from Balogun’s side of the room. “We’re done.”
I left the room, covertly shutting off my phone’s recorder as I did, and nearly ran into Alex.
He threw his arms up to catch me. “Whoa, you okay?”
“I’m uh—” I glanced at the people who basically accused me of being the vicious, unhinged psychopath that wanted my mother dead. “I’m as okay as I can be right now.”
“Shit—of course, you’re not okay.” He scrubbed his face, aging ten years before my eyes. “I’m so sorry, Sue, I just... I’m just sorry. I can’t believe this happened.”
I nodded, throat too tight to speak. Even then, the tears wouldn’t come.
“I know this isn’t much, but do you maybe want to come with me to pick up Lily?” Alex had changed out of his formfitting white suit into a pair of black slacks and a blue tee. Simple on a regular man, but on him, he was runway-ready.
It should be a sin for someone to be this brightly gorgeous on a dark and hellish morning.
“My aunt leaves on her cruise early tomorrow morning, so she can’t keep her for another night.” He sighed. “Even though I wish we could give Lily one more day before she walks into this.”
By this, he meant the murder suspects in the ballroom, the irate rich snobs trapped upstairs, and cops and crime scene techs crawling over every inch of the manor.
“Are you sure it’s okay?” I asked. “Don’t you have to wait to be interviewed?”
He shook his head. “I’ve already been interviewed. It was quick. Apparently it means something that I didn’t go upstairs until after nine forty. They just wanted to know if I saw or heard anything strange.”
I glanced where he was looking, and it was then I noticed the two officers cross the front hall, escorting Courtney into the room where Lily usually did her piano lesson. Something flickered at the edge of my vision, drawing my eyes up.
The medical examiner’s team hit the stairs. Collapsing the gurney, they readied to carry my mother down.
“Yes,” I said, spinning around and walking straight out the door. “Let’s go.”
Alexander was right behind me. We were almost to the car when the gates rumbled open, letting in Reynard.
“What’s this?” he called, rolling down the window. “Why is the medical examiner’s van here? Did something happen?”
Alex turned to me. A surprisingly light touch caressed my cheek—momentarily catching my breath. “Wait for me in the car. I’ll tell him.”
I didn’t fight him. Crossing the lawn, I climbed into the blue Mercedes-Benz SUV waiting beside the crime-scene-taped fountain. Why were so many horrible things happening? Whether I was Soo Min or Sarang, why couldn’t either version be happy?
I got in the car as Reynard climbed out of his carrying a tote bag. He swung it up and on his shoulder, giving me a chance to read My Other Bag’s Full of Drugs written across the face with syringes and bandages all around it.
The joke almost made me laugh—almost.
The hard, sharp pit in my stomach that was my new companion, would not be letting anything resembling a laugh leave my lips for a long time.
“What! That’s not true! That can’t be true!” Reynard shouted, throwing himself away from Alex. “How could—! How could that happen!”