“I saw it that night. The red lights came and the men in black clothes took Mommy out of the tub and we never saw her again.”
“I’m sorry, Stevie.”
“Daddy cried.” She was so deeply sad when she said it. She pointed at the hot tub, her hand shaking just a little. “He was there and he cried.”
For some reason, the image her words conjured hit me somewhere deep in my soul. I thought my soul had darkened, that I wasn’t capable of feeling that sort of hurt anymore, but I guess I was wrong.
“He was very sad,” I said, touching Stevie’s shoulder lightly.
She nodded.
I picked her up and took her back into the bedroom, settling on the edge of Dunlap’s unmade bed. “What else did you see that night?”
Again, she was quiet for a long few moments. Then she looked up at me, tears in her eyes. “I saw my mommy floating in the water. And I saw my daddy get in and pull her out. He screamed and I thought he was mad at her. I saw Mommy and Daddy fight lots, but that was different. He hugged her and he was crying…” She reached up and rubbed her face. “Daddy was really sad.”
“I’m sure he was.”
“Then we had to buy new dresses and go to the church.”
I moved to my knees in front of her and took her hands between mine. “You are so smart for a girl your age.”
“Daddy says I’m a genius.”
I smiled. “Your daddy’s right.” I squeezed her hands. “What you saw that night…you shouldn’t have had to see that.”
She looked away. “Shawna was getting Mattie changed, and I wanted to talk to Daddy, but he wasn’t here.”
“Why did you go to the balcony?”
“I heard a noise.”
“Your daddy going outside?”
She shook her head. “Another noise. Like someone tripping over a chair. Mommy used to do that a lot, tripping over the furniture down there. It was always in the way.”
“Was your daddy already outside when you stepped onto the balcony?”
She shook her head again. “I saw him walk through the doors. He wasn’t by the furniture.”
Had Stevie heard someone else down there that night? If so, what did that mean?
I picked her up and carried her back into the nursery, settling her back at the table as Mattie began to fuss for her bottle. I went through the motions of fixing the bottle, thinking about what Stevie had said. If there was someone else there that night, did that imply that Colby wasn’t alone when she died? If so, who was with her?
I settled down with Mattie, watching Stevie as she quietly finished drawing her picture. No more complaints about the lack of SpongeBob, no more demands to do things her own way. We had lunch together, and she didn’t argue even a little. I think she was relieved to have had someone to unburden herself to. I just wished I understood what her confession meant.
I put the girls down for their nap after lunch and went into my bedroom to get the iPad. I wanted to review Colby’s autopsy report again. I’d looked at it before, but only briefly, assuming I wouldn’t need to know too many details. But now I was beginning to think the magic was in the small details.
I was about to settle on the couch in the living room when the doorbell rang. I cursed under my breath, hoping the loud bell hadn’t woken to children.
“Knox, right?”
Julep pushed past me before I could say anything, barging into the house like she owned it.
“You’re not supposed to be here.”
“Yeah, well, we both know I’m paying your real salary, so we can make an exception.”
“Mrs. Montgomery—”
“Where are the children?”
“They’re sleeping.”
“Did he get the papers my lawyer sent over yesterday?”
“He did.”
She smiled, her smile a little evil if you asked me. She walked around the room, touching this and that, her fingers lingering on things that seemed innocuous to me, but must have some sort of meaning to her. A tiny statue. A framed photograph of the girls. A crystal vase. And then I realized they must have been decorations picked out by her daughter.
“I’m sorry for your loss, Mrs. Montgomery. But I’m under strict orders to keep you away from the girls for right now.”
“How are they? Are they happy?”
“Stevie misses her mother, but she seems content otherwise.”
“And Mattie?”
“She’s fourteen months old. As long as she gets food and hugs, she’s great.”
Julep inclined her head. “She was four months old when her mother died. Never even had a chance to get to know her.”
“I’m sorry.”
Julep shrugged. “I just want to know they’re safe. That man…he won’t let me see them.”
“The fact that you accused him of murdering their mother might have something to do with that.”
She just nodded. I expected her to be angry, but seemed almost agreeable.
She was beginning to make me nervous.
“Can I ask you something about that night?”
She looked over at me. “You’re here to spy on my son-in-law and to keep my granddaughters safe. That’s all.”
“I’m aware of that.”
“Then you don’t need to know about anything else.”
“Okay.”
She continued to walk around the room, almost as though she was assessing the place. Like she was planning on an estate sale. I found myself wondering what she had in mind for Dunlap and his girls. Nothing good, I was sure.
I slipped my phone out of my back pocket and texted Tony, another of the operatives from GWS 2 who I knew would help me out in a pinch.
“I’m going to have to ask you to leave, Mrs. Montgomery.”
She didn’t even look at me. “Did you know that I paid for this house? That I gave Dunlap and my daughter the money they needed to get it off the ground?”
“I didn’t. But that’s between you and Dunlap.”
She studied my face a moment. “Dunlap? You call him by his first name already?”
I wasn’t about to dignify what she was suggesting—even if there was a small amount of truth to it. But she didn’t need to know that.
She leaned against the side of the loveseat and regarded me with her hands on her hips. “Dunlap claims that my daughter was unfaithful to him throughout their marriage. Says that after Stevie was born, she started drinking and she was promiscuous. Said she ran around with every guy she could entice into her bed.”
I bit my bottom lip, wondering what she was working up to.
“I think he was the one who stepped out first. Colby told me once that Dunlap liked to do things in bed that she wasn’t comfortable with. Said that he was pressuring her. I think that he stepped out first and Colby just responded in kind because she was heartbroken.”
“Sounds like a mature response.”
Julep’s eyes narrowed. “My daughter was a proper young woman. She did everything that was expected of her with a smile on her face. The fact that she married that man when her stepfather and I had picked out a perfect man for her was the only rebellious thing she ever did.”
“You didn’t approve of their marriage?”
“No. Would you? My daughter was given every opportunity, every privilege. Her stepdaddy was a state senator. His name alone could have given her anything she could have ever wanted. But she had this rebellious streak, and she had to go off and do what she wanted instead of listening to logic. If she’d done what I told her, she would have married a lawyer who is now on the cusp of being a district judge right here in Austin.”
“But that’s not what she wanted.”
“It wasn’t about what she wanted. It was about what was best for her.”
I tried to bite back the smile that suddenly came rushing to my lips. It was as if I was suddenly back home in my momma’s house. Those very words had come out of Momma’s mouth the day I came home from the Marines and discovered tha
t my sister had married my childhood beau. The man I’d waited to marry so that he could finish college and I could get out my desire to be a part of something bigger than myself. She’d gotten pregnant and married Drake while I was fighting ISIS in Afghanistan. Stole him right out from under me, married him, had a beautiful little boy and now she had perfect twins. And my Momma told me that I shouldn’t be angry. It was what was best for Sherilynn, as if I’d never done anything for the benefit of my little sister.
I turned away, aware that the red-hot anger that was flashing through me at that moment wasn’t aimed at Mrs. Montgomery. Not really. But that didn’t mean I didn’t want to take her down a peg or two just the same.
“Dunlap was a silly farm boy. Colby deserved so much more than that.”
“But that farm boy is doing pretty well for himself now. He owns his own company. He designed this house.”
“Yes, he did. But he didn’t have the money to bring it into reality. Without me, Colby and Dunlap would have had nothing.”
“But they were happy.”
“Happiness is overrated.”
I groaned, reminded again of my own momma. These two women could have been peas in the same pod.
“Were you here the night she died?”
You would think I slapped the woman. She reared up as if she’d been hit with a cattle prod, her eyes narrowing, as flames practically burst out of them.
“How could you ask me something like that? Of course I wasn’t here!”
“Do you know if anyone else was?”
“Dunlap. That man was here, and he killed my little girl! That’s all I need to know.”
“But he wasn’t here when she died. He wasn’t here until she was already gone.”
“How do you know?”
“Because there was a witness.”
She shook her head almost violently.
“Why would Dunlap want his wife dead?” I asked softly, aware that the question would only inflame her more.
“Because she cheated on him? Because that baby isn’t his?” She glared at me, flames again shooting from her eyes. “Because he wanted out of the marriage, but he didn’t want out of my money?”
“Dunlap isn’t about the money.”
“How do you know that?”
“Has he asked for money since she died?”
Julep’s eyes narrowed. “He didn’t need to. Colby left her trust fund to him.”
I turned away from her, my thoughts still spinning. Money. That was motivation, but I didn’t think it would be for Dunlap. His business was taking off. He was clearly doing well for himself. But even if he wasn’t…there was just something about him that told me he didn’t want the money. He was with Colby for Colby, not for what she could do for him.
And he had secrets. He hadn’t told me exactly what Colby had told him at her therapy session, but it was clearly something dark. He could have gone to the papers with it when Julep sued him for custody of the kids, but he didn’t. That said something about Dunlap’s character.
“You need to go, Mrs. Montgomery.”
“This is as much my house as much as it is his. I have every right to be here.”
“Why? Why do you want to be where you aren’t wanted?” I turned around, studied her. “I’d get it if I thought you wanted to be near the kids, but I don’t think that’s it. You’ve been here for over twenty minutes and you haven’t once tried to go upstairs to see them.”
“They’re napping.”
“Anyone else would have been up those stairs within minutes of arriving. Not you. You just want to be here, among Colby’s things.”
Her eyes narrowed. “She was my daughter.”
“From what I understand, the two of you were close.”
She shrugged, a slight blush touching her pale cheeks. “I like to think we were.”
“She’s your only child?”
“Yes.”
“Did you know about the difficulties she had after Stevie was born? The memories that began to haunt her?”
She looked away again. “That’s none of your business.”
“What was that about?”
Julep shook her head. “I wasn’t a perfect mother, but I don’t suppose anyone ever is. She had trouble as a child. She was beautiful, and people had trouble telling her no. And that caused issues from time to time.”
“I think it was more than that.”
“It’s really none of your business.”
I agreed. But there was a part of me that had to know what really happened to Colby. It was something to do with Dunlap…but I didn’t want to explore that. I just…I needed to know.
“Your husband was a state senator. I guess that comes with a lot of prestige. With a lot of respect in the community.” Julep looked up, and I could see in her eyes how right I was. “Would be bad for you if something dark about him were to come out publicly.”
“He was a prince among paupers. There was nothing bad to tell.”
I shook my head. “I don’t think so. I think Colby knew things, and I think what she knew could have destroyed his reputation.”
“He’s dead now, just like her.”
“Yes. He’s been gone for a while. But you’ve been living off of his reputation.”
Her eyes narrowed. “I stood behind my husband throughout his career. If I benefit from his reputation, it’s just what I earned all those years of supporting him.”
I nodded, agreeing with her. “But if that reputation was destroyed, you’d be the one to suffer the consequences because you’re the only one left.”
She had no answer for that.
“She knew things. She threatened to tell.”
Julep spun on me. “She was my daughter!”
“And now Dunlap knows those things and that threatens you. That’s why you’re trying to ruin him.”
Before she could answer, there was a knock on the door. She turned away from me, leaving me with no choice but to deal with whoever had come to visit now. I opened the front door, almost relieved to see Tony.
“Need help, sweet cheeks?”
I’d gotten all I needed out of Julep Montgomery for now. I inclined my head slightly, gesturing toward the living room.
“Just ask her to leave.”
He marched into the house like a cop on the beat. Or a former FBI agent taking charge of an urgent situation. He grabbed Mrs. Montgomery’s arm and pulled her around toward the front of the house.
“Time to leave.”
She resisted, tugging back from him. “This is my daughter’s home. I won’t be rushed out of here by people who are here at my request!”
“You aren’t welcome here, Mrs. Montgomery,” Tony said in a cold voice. “You have to go before the police are called.”
“Tony…” I said, hoping my tone was warning enough.
He ignored me.
“You will leave now,” he said, grabbing her arm again and pulling her toward the door.
Julep yanked open her handbag and pulled out a tiny weapon, pressing it into Tony’s ribs.
“Let me go!”
Tony spun around, slapped the gun out of her hand, and pulled his own weapon. Before I could react, Mrs. Montgomery grabbed Tony’s wrist and—in an impressive move for a woman her age—managed to catch him off guard, thrust his hand around, and force him to fire the weapon into his own chest.
The wide-eyed surprise in Tony’s eyes was disturbing.
I rushed across the room and yanked Julep back, tossing her onto the couch in a heap. Tony fell in the other direction, landing on the carpet in a heap of his own. I grabbed both guns, sliding them into the back of my jeans as I knelt and pressed my hands to the growing bloodstain on Tony’s sweater.
“Fuck,” he muttered. “What the hell happened?”
I just shook my head.
“Call 911.”
Julep didn’t move. I glanced over my shoulder at her. “Call 911,” I repeated.
She slowly pulled her phone out of her pur
se and made the call. I reached for my own phone, pressing the speed dial number for David.
“Don’t,” Tony muttered.
“You know I have no choice.”
He studied my face for a moment, then nodded. “Okay.”
I couldn’t believe this was happening. All I could think was thank God the babies were upstairs asleep.
Chapter 8
Dunlap
I walked into the house and found Knox on her hands and knees, scrubbing at a spot on the living room carpet. The girls were in the kitchen chatting with a woman I’d never seen before while two men I’d never met were talking in a back corner of the living room. Two police officers were on the couch, one writing furiously on a narrow keypad of an iPad while the other was watching the two strange men. Two more men, both incredibly tall and a little intimidating in their unusual good looks, were standing over Knox, watching her scrub.
“What the hell is going on?”
The men with Knox started my way, but Knox climbed to her feet and beat them to the punch, pushing me backward onto the front porch.
“It’s my fault,” she said. “I’m sorry. Things got way out of control so much faster than I could ever have imagined.”
“What? What happened? The cop said there was a shooting?”
She bit her lip in that way that drove me crazy, her eyes big with emotion. “Julep came over and she was refusing to leave.”
“Julep did this?”
One of the men who’d followed us outside brushed Knox back behind him, holding out his hand to me in one fluid movement.
“I’m David Grayson, co-owner of Gray Wolf Security. Knox tells me that you know who she is and who she works for?”
“I do.”
“It was one of my operatives who was shot. I understand that there was an altercation between this operative and your mother-in-law that ended in the operative being shot.”
My eyes widened almost painfully, the surprise I suddenly felt bigger than I could express.
“Julep shot someone?”
This David inclined his head. “I guess she pulled a gun on him, so he pulled a gun on her and she somehow managed to turn it around and fire on him.”
I laughed. I couldn’t help myself. “Julep shot someone.” I shook my head, my eyes moving to Knox. But then I sobered when I saw the emotion still bright in her eyes. “The girls?”
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