Notorious

by Allison Brennan

  “Lindy called me Saturday morning and told me that William got that slut Carrie Voss pregnant. She said to forget William, Carrie was going to tell him about the baby and William was going to be paying for the rest of his life. Lindy said I could do better. I didn’t want better! I wanted William! And then—I saw William’s car parked down the street and saw them. Saw them making out. She wanted William all to herself. I didn’t even believe then that Carrie was pregnant, it was all Lindy’s lies to get me to walk away. While she got him. That wasn’t right! It wasn’t fair! I walked and walked and came back and he was gone. Lindy wasn’t in her house, so I went to the clubhouse and … and I saw her there, dead. He killed her. And that’s what I’m going to tell the police.”

  “Whose fingerprints are on the ultrasound picture? Yours? Or William’s?”

  Rage and fear twisted Caitlin’s face until Max was certain she saw the ugly, broken soul underneath the surface.

  She has no soul.

  “Give it to me.”

  The front door slammed closed and Max frowned. She hadn’t gotten a confession yet. No one should be here.

  “Mommy? We’re hungry.”

  Not Tyler. Not the boys.

  “In here, baby!” Caitlin called.

  “Tyler!” Max shouted. “Go back to the car!”

  He came into the doorway, a confused look on his face. “Auntie Max?”

  “Come to me,” Max said, crossing the room toward the four-year-old.

  Caitlin got to him first and ran out of the room.

  “Nick!” Max called.

  Nick and his team were upstairs recording everything, listening for the confession Max had promised she could get. She had failed, and now Tyler was in danger.

  Nick was already running down the stairs.

  Max met him in the hall. “She went out through the side door. She has the boys.”

  Nick ran out the front and Max ran out the side. Caitlin was already in her Range Rover. Max didn’t have time to get to the Jag, which was parked at a neighbor’s house.

  Caitlin turned the ignition and Max ran to the driver’s side of the car. The door was locked. Max jumped onto the narrow running board, wishing she had smaller feet but glad she’d worn her sneakers.

  The boys were crying in the backseat, and she could see that Tyler wasn’t buckled into his booster seat. Talbot was still in his car seat.

  All Max could think about was that Caitlin had nothing to lose. That she would kill herself and the boys to hurt William the only way she could still hurt him—by taking away the two things he loved more than life itself, his kids.

  As the SUV gained speed down the street, Max started to lose her grip. She grabbed the luggage rack on top and pulled herself up onto the roof. She faced backwards, holding on with both hands. She had no plan, her brain told her this was the stupidest thing she’d ever done, but she could not let Caitlin drive off with the boys.

  Caitlin wove through the wide streets of Atherton at thirty miles an hour. In two minutes, she’d be on a main street and it would be easy to force Max off by slamming on the brakes. She’d go flying.

  Nick was following them in his Bronco. Great, make Caitlin drive even faster. But he was gaining on them.

  Nick’s head came out the driver’s side window. He was holding his gun.

  What the hell did he think he was doing? There were two little boys in the car!

  Caitlin slowed for a stop sign, but didn’t stop. Nick used that opportunity to shoot out both rear tires. Because Caitlin was slowing, the SUV rocked but didn’t flip over. She tried to keep moving forward, but the rear wheels were rolling on the rims, and the car slowed down.

  Max jumped off the roof and ran along the slowing car. “Tyler! Unlock the door!”

  Caitlin was crying, trying to steer, putting on the gas but not going fast enough.

  Nick had jumped out of his Bronco and was running to catch up with them.

  As soon as Tyler unlocked the car, Max opened the back door and climbed in. Her breath was coming in gasps. Talbot was crying hysterically. Tyler looked terrified. Max hugged him tight.

  “No, no, no!” Caitlin cried as the car jerked forward, then came to a stop.

  Max unbuckled Talbot and took the two boys out of the car. She sat on the side of the road holding them close and watched as Nick put handcuffs on Caitlin. He walked her over to his Bronco and put her in the back, then came back to where Max was still sitting, trying to console the terrified children.

  Nick squatted next to her. “That was really stupid, Maxine.”

  She nodded. She couldn’t talk. She kissed each boy on the head, breathing in their little boy smells.

  And then Nick grabbed her face and kissed her.

  Chapter Twenty-seven

  Max sat in her grandmother’s library drinking scotch. She shouldn’t imbibe alcohol right now, but her nerves were still raw and she thought of all the things that could have gone wrong. What had gone right? She hadn’t gotten a full confession out of Caitlin, William’s boys had been scared to death, and she’d pretty much torn her entire family apart with very little effort. They’d been coming through all day, looking at her as if she were a wild, exotic animal, then leaving without saying a word.

  The boys were in the playroom with Eleanor’s dogs, hopefully sleeping.

  But Max knew the truth. And she would prove it, somehow. Nick had the partial confession, he had the gun from William’s office, and the ultrasound that Max was certain would have Caitlin’s prints on it. If she had been right in that bluff, then maybe Caitlin would spill everything. Max could only hope.

  David walked in to the library. He took one look at her and said, “I should throttle you.”

  “You look tan.”

  “I just got off the phone with Santini. He told me what you did.”

  “I don’t want to talk about it.”

  “But you’re okay.”

  She nodded. But she couldn’t muster up a smile. What would Tyler and Talbot remember about today? What would they know about their mother? How would they grow up, knowing what their mother had done?

  She couldn’t protect them from the truth, but they still had their father. And they had Eleanor. Max had to believe they would survive and be stronger for it. They were Reveres, after all.

  Eleanor came in a moment later. “Hello, Mr. Kane. Good to finally meet you.”

  “Mrs. Revere.” He took her hand.

  She smiled at his manners, and that made Max feel like maybe things would go back to normal. “Maxine, come, join us for an early dinner. William’s attorney is bringing him home. Just wrapping up the paperwork.”

  She shook her head. “I can’t. I just want to explain to William.”

  “He might not understand now, but he will, later.” She looked at David. “Would you please give us a moment?”

  “Of course.” He said to Max, “I’ll take you to the hotel when you’re ready.”

  He left, and Max asked Eleanor, “What did the attorney say?”

  “The dirt in William’s car was from the grave site where Carrie Voss’s body had been buried. That’s why they arrested him yesterday. But the police said there’s enough evidence against Caitlin that they’re releasing William, thank God.”

  “A good lawyer might get her off. The police have one solid piece of evidence against her. She had a copy of Carrie Voss’s ultrasound. Framed, behind her wedding picture, in her office.”

  “How did they find that?”

  “Grandmother, I set it all up. I called Nick last night and arranged for him to be in the house listening. They already had the search warrant, so they had every right to be there. I told you to tell Caitlin about it because I wanted her to come and try to remove the evidence.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “I used you.”

  Eleanor didn’t say anything for a long minute. “Why didn’t you simply tell me the truth?”

  “I didn’t know if you would agree to se
t up Caitlin for the police.”

  The door burst open and William stood there. He looked … defeated.

  “How could you?” he said to Max.

  “I couldn’t let you go to jail for Lindy’s murder.”

  “You destroyed my family!”

  “Caitlin killed three people and planned to frame you.”

  “She wouldn’t. It’s—it’s just not right.”

  “You’re not thinking straight.”

  “What am I going to tell my boys?”

  Max went to William, put her hands on his shoulders. “You are going to man up and be a great father. Tyler and Talbot have Grandmother, they have you, they have a solid family who loves them.”

  He shook his head and brushed off her hands. “Maxine, I don’t know what to do.” Tears coated his eyes. “My boys—they’re motherless. Wasn’t there another way?”

  “Caitlin made her choice a long time ago. You can’t condone what she did then, what she did only a few months ago.”

  “No. No, I can’t. But—there had to be a better way than yours.”

  Eleanor went to William and said, “You are strong. You will survive this. The boys are in the playroom. Go see them.”

  He nodded and left.

  Max wanted to go after him, to try and explain herself, but she knew it would be fruitless. At least for now.

  Her grandmother said, “You’ve chosen a very difficult path.”

  “Maybe I didn’t choose it,” Max said quietly.

  “I don’t believe that. We all make choices and must live with them.”

  “I couldn’t let Caitlin get away with murder. She destroyed so many lives. She impacted everyone. Andy isn’t getting out of this unscathed. I doubt he’ll do jail time, but he should. He has his reputation, and that is damaged. His friendship with William—he thought William was a killer. Had he not intervened, there may have been evidence pointing at Caitlin.”

  “And I wouldn’t have two precious grandsons.”

  “You cannot believe that she should walk away from this!”

  Her grandmother sat down wearily. “No. She shouldn’t. She is ill.”

  “She’s not insane.”

  “She might as well be.”

  Max knew exactly what her grandmother was going to do. “You’re going to have her committed. It’s not easy to get the court to accept an insanity plea.”

  “Do you doubt me?”

  Max thought about the disappearance of William’s ticket. About all the things Eleanor had done through the years to protect the family.

  “No, Grandmother, I do not doubt you.”

  “It is best for everyone—for William, for the boys, for the family—that Caitlin is in a sanitarium for the rest of her life.”

  “Grandmother, I need you to believe me. I didn’t do any of this to hurt you or the family.”

  “Some secrets are necessary. It’s better that the past stays in the past.”

  Max asked the question she’d been wondering since she realized that the postcards Faith received had been forged. She couldn’t help but think about the birthday cards from her mother that stopped on her sixteenth birthday. What if something happened to her mother the day she left town, like what happened to Carrie?

  “Do you know where my mother is?”

  “No.”

  “Would you tell me if you did?”

  Eleanor didn’t answer that question. Instead, she said, “Martha was always wild. James called her a free spirit and doted on her. I saw her—I see everyone—for who they are. I assess how I can protect them from themselves and protect the family from their actions. Martha was selfish. She wanted what she wanted when she wanted it. She was irresponsible with her wealth, irresponsible with her body, and irresponsible with her relationships. I don’t know where she is, and I never looked for her. I didn’t want to know.”

  “Why? I’ve been looking for her for years!”

  “I know.”

  “Have you been working to stop me? To thwart me?”

  “Of course not.”

  “I don’t know that I can believe you.”

  “Believe this: I don’t approve of everything you do, but you are my granddaughter.” “You are my granddaughter” was Eleanor’s way of saying “I love you.” “You were wild, but in a different way than your mother. You’re much smarter than she ever was. You have common sense. You’re responsible with your wealth and generous with your philanthropic duty. I respect you in ways I can’t say I do of William and the others. But you will never be happy if you think the truth is the key to peace. On the contrary, the truth is dangerous. Whatever truth you’re looking for, you will be hurt. And it pains me that I can’t protect you from the damage, I can’t protect William from his coming trials, or from his weakness for women. Your chosen path has filled you with an emptiness that grows with each day. I’m just relieved that my James isn’t here to watch our family suffer.”

  * * *

  Max went back to her hotel with a heavy heart. David, thankfully, understood that she needed to be alone, and he went to his room.

  She didn’t regret exposing Caitlin; justice had to be served.

  It didn’t make it fun or satisfying. She kept thinking of her cousins, and it left her feeling empty inside.

  All she wanted was to go home. To her apartment in New York City. To the trials and cold cases she didn’t have a personal stake in. Where the truth didn’t hurt her heart.

  She had a completely new perspective on the people she helped. She didn’t regret anything that she’d done, but she looked on the families, the victims, the survivors with an empathy she hadn’t had before. She didn’t know if this insight would make her a better investigative reporter, or if her emotions would cloud her judgment. Or worse, make her hurt like she did right now.

  She unlocked her door and was stunned to see Nick Santini sitting on her couch.

  “Breaking and entering?” she said.

  He held up a key. “You gave it to me when I stayed the other night. To make sure you didn’t lapse into a coma.” He smiled. As he watched her, he lost his humor. “What happened?”

  “Family.” She shook her head. She really didn’t want to talk about it, but she added, “I came here and set off a bomb, but I’m not staying around for the cleanup.”

  “It’s pretty messy out there,” he said.

  She didn’t know why, but she thought she might get a little more sympathy from him. She put her things down on her desk, averting her eyes. She was so tired and weary. “I need to go home.”

  He stood behind her and placed his hands on her shoulders. “Max, I wasn’t laying blame. It’s messy for your family, it’s messy for law enforcement, and I’m pretty certain the district attorney is sitting in a fallout shelter just waiting to wade in. But it couldn’t be avoided.”

  “I keep thinking about my cousins.”

  “You were really stupid,” he said.

  “You said that already.”

  “And brave. When I saw you swing up to the roof of the SUV, all I could think was that Wonder Woman’s real name is Maxine Revere.”

  She laughed. The first chuckle in days. “I wasn’t thinking. I just acted.”

  “I would have done the same thing.”

  “If you didn’t have a gun to shoot out the tires…” She hesitated, then said, “Off the record—”

  He turned her around and smiled. “Shouldn’t I be saying that to you?”

  She conceded the point with a tilt of her head. “Caitlin is going to push for an insanity plea. And my grandmother can make it happen. Don’t doubt that.”

  “We’ll see.”

  He didn’t believe Eleanor Sterling Revere could do it, but Max did. This was family. Eleanor would pay anyone and call in any favor to make it happen so Tyler and Talbot didn’t grow up with a mother in prison. Better to be insane than calculating.

  “William isn’t going to forgive me.”

  “Give him time. He can’t possibly hav
e absorbed everything yet. He’ll work through it. Especially when he learns that you saved his sons.”

  “Surprisingly, my grandmother didn’t disown me. Instead, she told me, in her own way, that she loves me. And that I have an empty life which will lead me to suffer greatly, and it’s a bed of my own choosing.”

  “You don’t believe that.”

  “She’s partly right.”

  “Your life is not empty. After I turned Caitlin over to the jail, I went to tell the Hoffman family that we have Jason’s killer in custody. They have peace knowing what happened. Yes, it would be better if he were alive, but I wouldn’t be a cop if I didn’t think that bringing criminals to justice wasn’t a worthy goal. If I can’t stop them, I’m sure as hell going to punish them.”

  She sighed. Spoken like a true cop. She just wished there was something more she could do, something to make it right.

  Nick said, “We’re not going to agree all the time, but you earned my respect, Max.” He stepped closer to her. “When do you have to be back in New York?”

  “If Ben has his way, I’d be on a plane tonight.”

  “I have tonight and Sunday off.”

  Max smiled. “I can leave Monday morning.”

  “Are you feeling a hundred percent yourself?” A half grin brightened his handsome face.

  “Better than one hundred percent,” she said and kissed him. In his ear she whispered, “Did you bring your handcuffs?”

  He pulled them from his back pocket with a lopsided grin. “Never leave home without them.”

  Acknowledgments

  After twenty books, I’m lucky and blessed to have a core group of experts who consistently help me get the details right. If there are any inaccuracies, they are my fault alone.

  I was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, in a small town called San Carlos. Much of what I have included is based on my memories, both from my childhood and my repeated trips home to visit friends and family. But this is fiction, so please forgive any liberties I may have taken—or faulty memory.

  A special thanks to FBI Special Agent Steve Dupre, who has always made himself available to answer even the most arcane questions I have. I particularly need to thank Steve and SWAT Senior Team Leader SA Brian Jones for allowing me to participate in numerous training scenarios with access to a broad group of law enforcement.