“Before you convict my mother, I want to know why you’re so sure Star can’t be a suspect.”
“Star was in her apartment,” Smolleck said. “She told us she had a migraine and asked your father to pick up her medicine from the drugstore.”
“But doesn’t that sound like a perfect opportunity for her to have followed him and tried to kill him?”
“Except that the driver of the car looked like your mother.”
“Star could have been wearing a wig.”
“The SUV was the same make and model as Jonathan’s.”
“What?”
“A valet saw a woman with shoulder-length dark hair and a white blouse drive out of the garage in Jonathan’s SUV minutes after he fell to his death. Unfortunately, it doesn’t have GPS, so we can’t track it.”
“It still could have been Star,” Aubrey said. “Have you checked out her alibi? Have you looked into her background?”
“Where is your mother, Aubrey?”
“I don’t know.”
“Your mother was seen at Jonathan’s condo shortly before he died. Someone who looked like her was seen driving Jonathan’s SUV away from the building immediately after his death. An eyewitness described someone who fits the description of your mother as the driver of the SUV that ran down your father, almost killing him.”
“But she didn’t arrange for the babysitter,” Aubrey said.
“I can’t explain that yet.”
“So you believe my mother was also behind Ethan’s kidnapping?”
He didn’t answer. Just kept his face in a rigid, unreadable mask.
Aubrey couldn’t find her breath.
“Where is she?” Smolleck said.
The corner of the courtyard was completely in shadows, and the old woman in the wheelchair was gone. “I don’t know,” she said.
“If you did know, would you tell me?”
“I don’t know,” she repeated.
He stood up. “Well, I appreciate your honesty.”
She watched him walk through the courtyard and back into the hospital. She wanted to call after him, tell him that he was chasing after the wrong person, that her mother wasn’t a murderer. But she knew he wouldn’t believe her.
Because neither did she.
CHAPTER 39
Aubrey left the courtyard and went around to the back of the hospital, past the emergency room and parking lots, to the broad bay.
Mount Sinai was on one of the most beautiful pieces of land in Miami Beach, once the site of a grand hotel. Now, a number of buildings made up the medical complex, most with fabulous views of the bay and downtown Miami.
She walked to the edge of the water. The sun was beginning its descent and hurt her eyes as she stared into it. She blinked. The bay spread out before her, clear and sparkling, but beneath the water, she could see shifting shadows.
She never should have let her mother leave the Circle. She should have called Smolleck and had the FBI pick her up, so another near-tragedy could have been avoided. Once again, Aubrey had allowed herself to be duped. She had wanted so much to believe her mother was innocent and that letting her go was best for Ethan that she’d ignored the signs of her mother unraveling—the angry denials, plaintive entreaties, ardent assurances. It should have been clear to Aubrey, given all her psychological training, that her mother was distraught and capable of doing things that would have been unthinkable in a sane state.
Mama could have killed Jonathan, believing that to be the only way she could get Ethan back. But why would she have tried to kill Dad, when just yesterday she had been defending him? Unless she feared he would reveal some incriminating secret from their past. One thing Aubrey knew for certain: both her parents had been hiding something from their college years.
Was Mama so unhinged that this killing spree was only just the beginning? Kevin had referred to their mother as the devil and believed she was lashing out at everyone close to her, that even her own children weren’t safe. Aubrey didn’t accept that. If her mother had killed Jonathan and attempted to kill Dad, it was because she believed their deaths would somehow save Ethan. Her mother may have murdered, but she wasn’t a psychopath.
Smolleck had also implied that Mama was behind Ethan’s kidnapping. Was that possible? Mama’s grief over her grandson’s disappearance appeared to be real, and unlike for Jonathan and Dad, she had no compelling motive to harm him. But that didn’t mean her mother didn’t know things that might help them get Ethan back.
She breathed in the muggy air. Shadows shifted beneath the water.
A few musical notes broke through Aubrey’s musings. It was her cell’s generic ringtone, but although she didn’t recognize the number, it was very likely her mother.
She let it ring as a cloud drifted in front of the sun. She needed a moment to prepare herself for what might happen if she answered. The phone went silent after the sixth ring. Aubrey stared at the missed call icon.
She could call back and arrange to meet, but Smolleck would most certainly follow her. He would probably bring in the police with a SWAT team. Helicopters, people in Kevlar carrying M16s and shotguns. They’d surround Mama. Would she run? Would they shoot?
Her phone began ringing again. Same number.
Mama had said something disturbing as she was leaving Circle Park.
Even if you end up hating me, know that I love you more than life itself.
Her mother may have killed her fiancé and tried to kill Aubrey’s father.
But she might also know who had Ethan.
Aubrey pressed “Answer” and held the phone to her ear. “Hello?”
“Sweetheart,” her mother said. Sweetheart, like Mama always called her.
She was still her mother.
“Meet me at Grandma’s place,” her mother said, then disconnected from the call.
Aubrey stared at her phone. Grandma’s place. Once again, her mother was being cryptic, probably assuming the call was being monitored, but she knew Aubrey would recognize the reference. Her mind raced over her options.
She pressed Smolleck’s number. “I need to talk to you.”