Winter

by Michelle Love

  “God.”

  He stumbled from the car and rubbed his eyes, trying to figure out what the hell was going on. He saw the trunk of his car was lifted up and frowned. What the hell? As he stared at it, he felt his phone buzz. Voicemail. He listened to his sister’s words, and a sickening dread came over him.

  Slowly he walked to the back of the car. The flies were buzzing maniacally, and Olly could only stare in horror at the dead body of his ex-girlfriend’s mother. Olly whirled and threw up and up until he could no longer do anything but dry-heave.

  He staggered further away from the car, wondering what to do. He heard the sirens getting closer. Luna’s voice came back to him.

  They’re going to arrest you.

  He pulled his cell from out of his pocket and called her. She answered on the first ring.

  “Olly?” she was whispering but, as soon as he heard her voice, he crumpled.

  “Luna, Luna …” He started to sob. “They’re gonna say I did it …”

  “No. No. Olly, listen to me. I know you are innocent. I know it with every cell in my body. I believe you.” Her voice was stronger now. “Are you listening?”

  Olly’s sobs juddered to a halt and he panted, trying to catch his breath. “Yes.”

  She lowered her voice again. “I believe in you.”

  Olly shook his head. “You’re the only one who will,” he said bleakly.

  He pushed his way through the woods, towards the sound of the sirens. A couple of cruisers were parked at the side of the road. As he approached, the cop driving the closest one got out of his car. Olly went up to him, his whole body slumped in defeat.

  “I think,” he said, and his voice broke, “I think I’m the one you’re looking for.”

  Inca saw Knox’s face before Tyler did, and his expression said everything. An involuntary moan escaped her lips and Tyler looked up sharply. He followed her gaze, turning to the somber cop.

  Knox shook his head, his eyes sorrowful. “Tyler …”

  “No. Don’t say it. No.” Tyler began to shake and Inca, tears coursing down her face, darted around the counter and caught him as his knees gave way. She and Knox managed to maneuver him into a chair, and he leaned over, a gut-wrenching howl of grief echoing around the room. Inca leaned her head against his.

  “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” she whispered again and again, and he put his arms around her, holding onto her, muscles clenched. He drew in deep breaths, trying to get control of himself. Knox, his hand on the older man’s shoulder, waited, his own face wan.

  After what seemed an impossible time, Tyler looked up. “Where?”

  “In the woods near Desolation Point.”

  Tyler and Inca exchanged a long look. He saw his own confusion reflected in her eyes. “Was she stabbed?”

  Knox nodded. “Yeah. It’s the same killer.” The implication of what he had said hit him then as Tyler stood and darted into the backroom. They heard him throwing up and Inca gave a little sob.

  “With his knife. With Tyler’s knife.”

  Knox nodded and put his arm around her. “Look, I need you to stay with Tommaso. Take Tyler, if that’s okay. I don’t know why, but I think from everything we’ve found out, it has to have something to do with you. You shouldn’t be alone.”

  She gazed up at him. “What about Olly?”

  He hesitated. “Inca … he’s in custody. He was found with Nancy’s body in the trunk of his car.”

  “No, no, no …” She started to sob and Tommaso held her as she cried. Raffaelo cursed softly under his breath.

  “He turned himself in, Inca. Whatever the truth is, we’ll get it; don’t worry. If Olly’s innocent, we’ll find out.”

  She gathered herself, rubbing her eyes. “Sorry.”

  He looked at her kindly. “He’s asking for Luna. I need to find her.”

  Inca nodded. “She’s upstairs. Knox … I know Olly. He wouldn’t do this. He wouldn’t. He’s messed up, yes, but he’s not a killer. Should I come?”

  Knox’s face softened. “Sweetheart, you need to look after Tyler now. Olly’s cooperating. Funny he knew to come in almost as soon as the arrest warrant was issued—almost as if someone warned him. Look, we need a positive ID on Nancy’s body.”

  “I’ll do it,” she interrupted. “Tyler doesn’t need to see her like that.”

  Tyler had emerged from the bathroom, wiping his mouth. “Sorry.”

  “Tyler, I’m so sorry for your loss.” Knox was all business again now, his manner sympathetic but practical. “Inca’s going to come with me tomorrow and make the official identification.” He looked between them.

  Tyler opened his mouth to object, but Inca went to him. “Let me do this for you. I owe you. You don’t need to see her like that. Please.” She hugged Tyler, and he exhaled a long, almost relieved sigh, holding her close.

  “Thanks, Bubba,” he said softly, then turned back to Knox. “Knox, I heard what you said about Inca not being alone. I agree, bubs, no argument.”

  Tommaso cleared his throat. “You shouldn’t be alone either, Tyler. Our home is your home. Knox, will you let me know when Inca should be there tomorrow?”

  “Of course. They’re going to take her bo—Nancy, to the city morgue. I’ll go with you, so you won’t be alone, Inca.” He turned to Tyler. “Tyler, man, I’m so sorry. You need anything, you just holler, okay?”

  Inca hugged Tyler. “Just know, I will always be here for you, whatever you need. I’m so sorry.”

  Tyler let out a long breath. “Thank you.” He searched Inca’s face. “You okay?”

  She shook her head. “No. No, I’m not. Tyler, Olly didn’t do this.”

  He hesitated, then sighed. “For whatever reason, I believe you about that. I can’t imagine he would do this. Nancy’s gone. God, Inca.” His voice was so full of desolation, it made her cry. “What the hell am I going to do without her?”

  F.B.I. Agent Trent Burke leaned back in his seat and studied the young man in front of him. Olly Rosenbaum had refused a lawyer and just asked that his sister be with him during questioning. There was something so guileless about the kid, and he had answered every question, Trent felt, with honesty and frankness. No, he had no idea how Nancy’s body had gotten in his car, nor indeed how he had ended up where he did. No, he had no motive to kill her. No, he wouldn’t describe his relationship with Inca Sardee as obsessive.

  Trent glanced in the two-way mirror, knowing the cop from the island, Knox, was watching. He’d banned him from the interview even before he found out he was close to the main suspect’s sister.

  Jesus. Trent shook his head. What a goddamn mess.

  There was a knock at the door. Trey Ford walked in, a tray of coffee in his hands, a folder tucked under his arm. Olly and Luna thanked him for the drink. Trent took the folder and opened it, reading through the contents. Ford watched him carefully, and eventually, Trent nodded and turned back to Olly. The younger man looked exhausted; his sister, tense but protective.

  “So, Olly.” Trent kept his manner relaxed. “You want to tell me where you’ve been going nights?”

  Olly sighed. “The city. I’ve been moonlighting, I guess you’d call it, working construction.” He leaned forward and dropped his head in his hands for a moment. Luna, paler than ever under the strip light, rubbed his back. He took a deep breath.

  “Thing is, I got myself into bad debt buying two new places. So I got in touch with an old friend and asked him if he could hook me up with some work. And I guess I just wanted one thing in my life that was just mine. So I didn’t tell anyone. Not Inca,” he smiled at Luna. “Not even you, sis.”

  Trent nodded. “I get it. We’re going to have to check with your friend, you realize, and whether you’ve broken any conditions of your employment, well, I’ll leave that up to your boss.” He glanced over to Ford, who shrugged. “Well, we’ve got a long way to go here, so, take a break for five minutes, and we’ll be back. Ford?”

  Outside, Knox was waiting. “Though
ts?”

  Trent shook his head. “Something’s not sitting right. We’re gonna need more time, and I think we need to take him back to the city. He’s too close to everything here,” he added, throwing Knox a meaningful look. Ford nodded.

  “I think that’s a good idea—look, I’m not trying to interfere, but seems to me, Knox, you already got a lot on your plate without this. Let Trent deal with Olly. Keep out of it and handle what’s been going on with the murder scene. I know the victim was a friend. Take some time.”

  The door behind them opened, and Luna stepped out. She looked as if she’d been crying, but she gave them a weak smile. Knox put a hand on her shoulder.

  “I think my brother should have a lawyer now,” she said quietly. Ford nodded and reached for the phone.

  “They’re going to take him to the city for questioning, honey.”

  She nodded, sighing. “Okay … well, I should go with him.”

  Trent made a face. “Honestly, I think you’re better off here, Miss Rosenbaum. We could be a long time.”

  Luna looked at Knox, who nodded. “Sweetheart, it’s for the best. Inca and Tyler are going to need you too.”

  Luna’s face crumpled, and she hurriedly dabbed her eyes. “I don’t want him to be alone.”

  “He won’t be.” Ford was back. He squeezed her hand. “I’ll look out for him best I can. I promise.”

  Knox drove Luna to the Winters’ house. “I want you to stay with them and be with people when I’m working.” He glanced over, his face apologetic. “Sorry, I don’t mean to dictate – “

  “I get it,” she said with a small smile. “Thank you. God, what a mess.”

  He pulled the car up to the curb outside Tommaso’s place, and they sat there for a moment. Knox reached over and took her hand.

  “I’m sorry for all this crap, Luna. For what it’s worth … I don’t think Olly’s a killer. I had my suspicions, my doubts early on, but …”

  “It’s your job to be suspicious of his kind of behavior.” Her voice was soft and trembling. “It’s my job as his sister to believe in him. And I didn’t.” And she started to cry.

  Knox came to pick Inca and Tyler up the next morning. He nodded at the suitcase in the hallway. “What’s that?”

  “Tyler’s going to Connecticut. Nancy’s brothers are in a residential home; he doesn’t want them finding out from anyone else.” Inca lowered her voice. “They have Alzheimer’s. I don’t know how much they’ll understand about this, but he has to try. I’m going to take him to the airport after you’ve dropped us off.” Inca was pale; there were dark circles under eyes. Tyler came out to greet Knox, his own face drawn, his body sunken with grief.

  “I’ll take you to the airport,” Knox offered. “No point in you getting a cab when I have a perfectly good car.”

  “Okay, thanks.”

  At the morgue, Tyler stayed in Knox’s car, not even looking at the building. Knox led Inca to the viewing suite.

  “The post mortem was done this morning,” Knox told her, and she nodded, drawing in a deep breath as they stepped into the room. The medical examiner smiled sympathetically at her. Knox put his hand on her back as the doctor lifted the sheet. Inca could not help the little cry of distress. Nancy’s face was peaceful now, her eyes closed, but the shock was not lessened at seeing her so brutalized.

  Inca nodded at the medical examiner’s question, “Is this the body of Nancy Sardee?”

  Knox leaned in. “You need to say it out loud, honey.”

  Inca swallowed back the bile in her throat. “Yes. This is my mother, Nancy Sardee.” She looked at them both. “Can I have a few moments alone with her?”

  The doctor nodded, and Knox smiled softly at her. “I’ll wait outside for you, sweetheart.”

  Inca waited until the door had closed before she stepped closer to the table, placing a hand gently on Nancy’s head.

  “I’m so sorry,” she whispered, and fat tears dropped down her face. “This isn’t fair. Not you, Mom. How could you be gone?”

  She thought of all the times Nancy had gone on a rant about some perceived injustice, how she would accuse Tyler and Inca of ganging up on her when they would tease her, the way she would give Scarlett the stink-eye when Scarlett was too rowdy. All that energy snuffed out. Inca shook her head. She glanced behind her at the door; it had a window, but the blinds were drawn. She wanted to know what her killer had done to her.

  Sucking in a breath, she gently lifted the sheet covering Nancy’s body—and immediately wished she hadn’t. Although the medical examiner had done his best, he could not have concealed the brutal slashes, the deep stab wounds, the unthinkable violence inflicted on her. The horror. Inca was about to pull the sheet back when she noticed, almost hidden amongst the bloodstained skin and stab wounds, bruises on Nancy’s stomach. Someone had beaten her mother before he killed her.

  Inca dropped the sheet and stepped back, fumbling for the door handle behind her. She staggered out of the room, hyperventilating. Knox, sitting outside, darted to her side and held her while she tried to get her breathing under control.

  “Hey, hey, hey, it’s okay. C’mon. Let’s get you out of here.”

  Outside, she found she couldn’t look Tyler in the eye, just nodded when he asked her in a broken voice if they’d made a positive identification.

  “I’m sorry, Pops. It’s Mom.”

  She expected him to crumble then, but to her surprise, he merely nodded, his expression blank. “Better get me to the airport then.”

  At the airport, Knox said goodbye, then gave them privacy as Inca hugged Tyler tightly. He held onto her for a few long minutes.

  “You take good care of yourself, Bubba. Will you change your mind about coming with me?”

  She shook her head, trying to smile. “There’s things I have to do here, Pops.”

  He frowned. “Just be safe, then. Call me later. I should be in no later than seven. I’ll make sure my cell is on.”

  She studied him for a few minutes. “I love you, Pops. I wanted to tell you that. And I want you to know that I will be forever grateful for the life you’ve given me.”

  He kissed her forehead. “I love you too. You’ll always be my girl. No one could be more like a daughter to me, not even if you were my flesh and blood.”

  She waved him off with tears in her eyes. Knox came to collect her, and she looked at him gratefully. In the car, they sat in companionable silence.

  At the outskirts of the city, Knox glanced at her. “I’ll drop you off at home, okay?”

  “Thank you.”

  He nodded. “Look, Inca, we’re gonna catch the guy, whoever it is.”

  She looked at him. “Sounds like someone believes a certain someone else is innocent.”

  He laughed at her convoluted sentence. “I have questions. Like, if Olly killed Nancy, why the hell was he spotless? There was no blood on his clothing. Nancy had defense wounds—why isn’t Olly covered in bruises?”

  “And why would he kill Mom anyway?” Her voice was gruff but determined.

  He looked over. “Quite.”

  She sighed. “Do you think they’ll let him go?”

  Knox shrugged. “If common sense prevails, I hope so. He has alibis for about half the murders in the city. Just wish he’d let someone else know what he was up to earlier. I have to admit, his behavior when he broke up with you colored my vision of him, along with his attitude towards Tommaso and what you told me about the other day.” Inca looked away from his gaze.

  “And probably the things you had seen made you hypersensitive to everything, I’ll bet.”

  “Yup. I saw monsters everywhere.”

  Inca turned away from him then, not wanting him to see the fear in her eyes. “I know what you mean.”

  At the mansion, she turned and hugged him goodbye. He smiled at her.

  “I’ll see you back at home. I don’t want you alone until we get this asshole. I’ll be home as soon as I can, hopefully with Olly.”


  “Thanks, Knox, for everything.”

  Inside the mansion, Inca deliberately went straight to her room, wanting to be alone to grieve. She lay on her bed and the sense of loneliness, of hopelessness she’d been trying to bury, threatened to overwhelm her, and she pulled up the comforter to hide the tears. Exhausted, she leaned her head on her hand and closed her eyes.

  Before long, images and half-clouded dreams began to run through her mind. Kissing Raffaelo, standing with him at the edge of the cliff. Now they were at the bottom, Raffaelo lying motionless on the rocks. She was screaming for him to wake, but he was gone. There was a laugh, a movement, behind her. She turned. She expected to see Olly, but no, it was Tommaso driving the knife into her, grinning, giggling. Pain. Blood.

  Death.

  Luna had refused to stay at the Winter mansion—and neither of the brothers seemed keen on her staying with them. She could tell from their hostile eyes that she wasn’t welcome. They clearly thought Olly was guilty.

  As soon as Knox had taken Inca and Tyler into the city, she had slipped from the house and walked back home, letting herself into Olly’s place, tidying it up, looking for any clue. The detectives had clearly already been there, and she ignored the Keep Out crime scene tape. There had been enough secrets around her.

  And yours is one of the biggest, isn’t it, Luna?

  She closed her eyes. She could never take back what she had done. Never. And yet … it felt unfinished, what she felt she had to do. It’s time.

  She left Olly’s place and went to Knox’s apartment, sliding under his bed to ease up the floorboard she had removed a few weeks ago. From underneath, she took up the small bag, then crawled out again. She left a note on Knox’s desk, then, with tears streaming down her face, she walked into the inky black night.

  “Well, kid.” Trent pushed open the door to the interrogation room. Olly looked up, his eyes heavy and tired. His lawyer, Bryan, followed Ford in and patted Olly’s shoulder. Trent smiled at him.