The kitchen was dark and smelled slightly of spoiled milk. The breakfast cereal bowls were still stacked in the sink, and Amelia immediately started a to-do list in her mind of all the things she should’ve been doing today rather than being chauffeured around by a distraught father with a lead foot.
It wasn’t that she was heartless. Amelia adored little Dawson, but after Randy’s story, she didn’t know whom to believe. It was almost too much for her already-packed life. Dawson was with his mom, and though Randy was anxious to get him back, he seemed far more distraught that Megan had found him than that his child was missing.
With Dad coming over that night, she had to get dinner prepared and the main-floor bedroom and half bath ready with her father’s raised toilet seat. Ellie took care of the actual bathing routine, thankfully, but the more often they got him on the toilet, the fewer awkward adult diaper changes there were. Amelia was getting better at caring for her father, falling back on her mothering skills quite often. But helping him onto the toilet on good days and changing adult diapers on off days was as much as she could manage without the onset of a major anxiety attack.
Amelia dropped her bag with a thunk and took extra care to hang the keys on her designated hook. The squeaky voices of cartoon animals floated in from the front room. Steve must be working in the office. Time to get started on dinner.
Amelia flicked on the kitchen light and retrieved an apron from the drawer closest to the stove. As she turned around to assess the level of disaster she’d need to tame before dinner, an envelope on the counter caught her attention. It was one of the letters she’d brought in from the mailbox.
In the upper left-hand corner was their insurance company’s familiar logo. It had been this logo that had kept her from examining the envelope closer, because anything from Country Life was always addressed to Steve. But today, her name stared up at her. She picked it up and brought it closer to get a better look. Amelia Saxton.
With one quick glance over her shoulder to make sure Steve wasn’t watching from the door to the office or the stairs or anywhere else, she slid the folded paper out and opened it quickly. She’d signed all the papers Suze sent home a few weeks ago, but this envelope was different, confusing.
Inside was a blank piece of paper folded around a thin, rectangular sheet of paper. She picked it up and read it at least ten times. In her hands she held a check with the same insurance logo as on the front of the envelope. A check made out to Amelia Saxton.
A check for twenty thousand dollars.
CHAPTER 23
ELLIE
Wednesday, May 11
3:24 a.m.
“I can’t believe you called him,” Collin whispered angrily, loud enough for Ellie to hear but just low enough that there was no way the officer on the other side of the front door could make it out.
“I can’t believe you played doctor for your brother’s gunshot wound and then, what, snuck him out the window?” Ellie spat back, but instead of running to the front door and letting in the police, she started to pick up the last bits of evidence and shove them into one of the nearly full garbage bags on the floor. “And I told you, I left my phone in the car. It must’ve been one of your nosy neighbors.”
The edges of Collin’s glasses were starting to steam up in the stuffy, humid bathroom. A smear of blood traced the line of his right cheekbone and covered his shirt and pants in random patterns. There was no way he was in any state to open the door and face an officer. The pounding started up again, this time harder and more urgent.
“I’d better get the door.” Ellie examined her hands and then checked her own shirt and pants.
Collin hesitated, scanning Ellie’s face. “Are you going to tell them about Caleb?” Fear and apprehension showed in Collin’s body movements. His eyebrows were turned in, and his hands were trembling slightly, making the plastic bag he was holding shake.
Ellie considered the question. If she told about Caleb, then they might find him. Might find out what happened in the Broadlands Roofing office that morning. Find out who tried to kill her sister and maybe even why. And Caleb would get the medical attention he clearly needed. But on the other hand, this would ruin things between her and Collin, and he could get in big trouble for hiding a known fugitive and for trying to clean up evidence.
When it came down to it, there was one question that decided it for her: Would telling the police about Caleb help Amelia get better? No, she had to admit that though it would feel good to get some answers and to be able to exact some justice, telling Travis right now about Caleb in Collin’s house would do nothing to help Amelia and everything to hurt her fiancé.
“No, I won’t. I promise.” Even as she said the words, she regretted them, but Collin’s features softened and he grabbed the spray bottle of cleaner and moved the bag he’d been holding to his side.
“I’ll keep cleaning. I’ll be done in ten minutes.” He inspected the room a little closer and then added, “Maybe twenty.”
She mumbled an okay and backed out of the bathroom. At the front door, she fumbled with the latch till it opened, revealing a figure in dark clothes—it looked like a man with his back to the door. A chill ran up Ellie’s arms and quaked through her shoulders. She should’ve been more cautious. This could be someone pretending to be a police officer.
Her fingers searched the wall for the light switch, and she flicked it on, her body halfway behind the door for protection, but as soon as the form turned around, she recognized him.
“Brown, you okay?” Travis stepped forward. “A 911 call came over the radio from one of your neighbors here. Domestic dispute. Recognized Collin’s name. Told dispatch I’d check it out.”
“Rivera, you’re supposed to be at the hospital.” Now no one was there to keep her informed of Amelia’s condition. Her sister could be awake. She could be worse. Ellie could have missed her chance to say good-bye.
“I left another officer with her. He has my number and yours.” Travis looked over Ellie’s head and into the dark hallway behind her. She instinctively pulled the door closer to her back to keep out his prying eyes. “So want to tell me why I got called out here?” He took a step closer, his dark eyes sweeping over her, making her relieved that she’d done the blood check before answering the door.
“I have no idea,” Ellie answered, searching for a reasonable explanation. “Collin was upset about his brother. We got in a little argument. He’s sleeping now, no big deal.”
Travis leaned in and put a hand on the door she was trying to keep closed like he wanted to push it open. “Do you mind if I come in for a moment? Grab a glass of water.”