Heart of the Storm

by Nicole Stiling

  “Please,” Juliet said. She was desperate for something she didn’t know how to articulate. It was too early to ask for forgiveness, but she didn’t want him to shut her out completely.

  “Go!” Will shouted, slamming his fist on the marble countertop.

  Juliet looked up and saw Declan peeking at them over the railing. His eyes were red, and his lip quivered, like it had when he was a toddler.

  She let out a broken breath and headed for the door, not knowing what she’d expected to come out of the conversation. She knew how Will still felt about Sienna, so it wasn’t as though he was going to pat her on the back and wish them well. She’d known that starting something with Sienna was going to upend everything. She’d known but decided it was worth it. Juliet drove toward home in a daze, talk radio droning on in the background. Everything hurt.

  Chapter Thirty-five

  Sienna finished wiping down the counters and organizing the silverware drawer when she heard Juliet’s car pull into the driveway. She was anxious, and her back hurt, and she was afraid that Juliet would change her mind about the two of them when she was alone with Will and Declan. Maybe Will would sour her on Sienna and make her feel guilty for even entertaining the thought of ruining their lives. She took a hefty swallow of wine as she heard Juliet open the front door.

  “Hey,” Sienna said softly.

  “Hey,” Juliet said.

  Sienna could tell she’d been crying. Her eyes were puffy, and her cheeks were flushed. “Didn’t go well, I assume?”

  “No, it didn’t. I knew it wasn’t going to, but I had it in my head that I could make it all make sense and Will would see the light. Or some bullshit like that. But no, it didn’t go well.”

  Sienna stiffened. What did that mean, exactly? “What did he say?”

  Juliet poured herself a glass of wine and leaned against the refrigerator. “Just that I basically flushed our years of friendship down the drain and ruined everyone’s lives. You know, the usual.”

  “Oh, Juliet, I’m sorry. I should have been there with you,” Sienna said.

  Juliet shook her head. “No, I think that would have made it worse, honestly. He was just so angry at me. I’ve never seen him like that. Toward me, anyway. He gets all ragey at business stuff and things like that, but never toward me. I expected it, but I wasn’t prepared for it, if that makes any sense,” Juliet said.

  “It does.”

  Sienna contemplated walking over to her, putting her arms around her and telling her that everything would be okay, but that was probably a lie.

  “Where do we go from here?” Juliet asked, swishing the wine around in her glass.

  “Has anything changed? Do you think we should put the brakes on so you can figure things out with Will and Declan before we go any further?” Sienna asked. Her heart was on the verge of being torn in two, but she didn’t want Juliet to resent her. Ever.

  Juliet hesitated. “That’s probably the smart thing to do.” She sighed and put her glass on the counter.

  Sienna’s heartbeat began to quicken. They’d come so close. She tried to tell herself that it was probably for the best.

  “But no, that’s not what we’re going to do. I love Will. I love my son, and you know I would do anything for him. But this is for me. This is what I need, and the only thing that I want.” She moved closer and took Sienna’s hands in hers. “We don’t have to flaunt it or talk about it in front of them, but I’m not about to lose you, Sienna. What I said earlier, I meant it. I love you.”

  Relief flooded every one of Sienna’s senses. “I love you, too.” She pushed forward and brought her lips to Juliet’s. They were soft against her own, but firm in their persistence. Juliet’s hand found its way to the nape of Sienna’s neck and pulled her tightly against her. Possessive, almost. Sienna melted beneath her touch and her body reacted in kind.

  As things were starting to progress, there was a soft knock at the door. Sienna pulled back, giving Juliet a questioning look. Juliet shrugged, straightened her shirt, and went to open it.

  “It’s Declan,” she called out, opening the door.

  “Hey, Mom. Sienna. I didn’t want to walk in on anything weird. That’s why I knocked,” he said, as he walked into the living room. “I can’t stay long. I told Dad I was grabbing a pizza from Luigi’s. He’s really hurt and angry and he’s not going to let it go any time soon. Just wanted you to know that.”

  Sienna didn’t know what to say. Maybe Declan just needed to voice it to someone who would understand, she wasn’t really sure. She looked over at Juliet, who was frowning.

  Declan scuffed at the carpet with the tip of his shoe, his hands stuffed in his pockets. “I just wanted to come over because I know you were upset when you left, Mom. This sucks, what’s going on. But I love you both and I’m pretty mad right now, but I’ll get over it. Sienna, I wanted you and Dad to stay together because I didn’t want things to be different, and I liked our family just the way it was. But if this is normal now, like Mom said, then I’ll deal with it. I’m definitely on Dad’s side right now, but I’m sure I’ll feel differently the more time passes. So, I’m going to go get my pizza, with bacon and sausage and pineapple, because I’m upset too, and Dad said I could get whatever I wanted. So, yeah. I love you guys. But you both still suck a little.” Declan nodded at the end, as if to put a period on his thoughts.

  Sienna rushed over to him and hugged him, and Juliet did the same. He was mostly dead-armed, but that’s how he usually was, so it wasn’t a huge deviation from the normal Declan. She could see Juliet crying again and squeezed her hand as it rested on Declan’s back.

  “That’s all we can ask, Dec. Thank you,” Sienna said, though her words were garbled. Her face was smushed into his shoulder.

  “Okay, okay. That’s enough.” He wriggled out of their embrace. “I didn’t say everything was good. Yet. Now let me go eat.”

  Sienna backed away and Juliet reluctantly let him go. She whispered something to him on the front porch and Declan nodded before he took off down the street. She came back into the house looking lighter than she had earlier.

  “Thank God,” Juliet huffed, falling backward onto the couch. “I know he said it will take time, but at least he’s open to it. I can’t even describe how much better that makes me feel.”

  “Me too. He really is a good kid. I’m so grateful I get to keep him in my life. That weighed on me more than I can tell you. Seeing his journey from a goofy five-year-old into the man that he’s becoming…it’s been one of the great privileges of my life,” Sienna said. And she meant it.

  “I love that you love him,” Juliet said, smiling. She patted the couch next to her. “Alien is on channel twelve. I could use some mindless entertainment for a little bit. You down?”

  “Always,” Sienna said and sat next to Juliet. She curled her legs underneath her and rested her head on Juliet’s shoulder. Juliet was tracing her fingers over the curves and ridges of Sienna’s hand while Sigourney Weaver kicked ass in the background. Sienna hadn’t felt as content or as comfortable in as long as she could remember. Even after staring death in the face just hours earlier, Sienna felt peacefully safe.

  Chapter Thirty-six

  “Lieutenant, we have a problem,” Chief Quinlan said, dropping a file on Juliet’s desk.

  Juliet looked up at him curiously. “What problem?”

  “Monique Breen finally spoke to the interrogator and told him everything she knew. He noted that he doesn’t believe her to be lying, but he’s willing to use a polygraph to be sure.”

  “Why would we need a polygraph for a murder confession?” Juliet asked. She was utterly confused.

  “Because what she’s saying doesn’t match up with what happened. She could be concocting some story so she gets less time or so she looks like a patsy. She says she added one hundred milligrams of strychnine that Goodman had shipped to him from Canada, to a hot cup of coffee. She brought it to Kowalski and then when they were in his office, she panicked and
had a change of heart. She purposely knocked the coffee over and it spilled onto the floor. They mopped it up with paper towels, but she left the cup sitting on his desk. She thought that was the end of it, but when she found out he’d died, she assumed there must have been a little left in the cup and he’d drank it, and that the strychnine mixed with the nitro caused his death. I have the lab guys over at the library now testing the carpet.”

  Juliet stared at him, trying to comprehend what he was saying. “They didn’t find any strychnine in his system when they did the autopsy. So that’s not possible.”

  “No, it isn’t. So, either Breen is a masterful liar, or our case is still open. I asked her why Goodman went after Gretchen if she’d put the kibosh to their grand plan, and she told me that she’d chickened out of telling Goodman that the plan was off. He thought everything was still a go and decided to take matters into his own hands.” Quinlan shook his head. “How is it possible that two people were after Kowalski at the same time? Stranger things have happened, but this is really out there.”

  “You think Goodman could have somehow gone behind Monique’s back and used a different poison to accomplish the same goal? This time with Kowalski’s meds?” Juliet asked. It didn’t make sense, but talking out possibilities seemed like the best thing to do.

  “We would have seen him on the surveillance footage. Kowalski never left the building that day and it isn’t Goodman’s prints, or Monique’s, on the bottle we found the nitro in.”

  Quinlan paused. “There is one avenue we didn’t fully explore, due to the circumstances, and I hate to say this, but maybe from a bit of bias as well. Who is the one person who knows where Rich keeps his medicine, his dosage, and who knows his daily routine?”

  Juliet looked up at him.

  He nodded. “Gretchen.”

  “Come on, Chief. You really think Gretchen could have done this?”

  “No, I don’t. But at this point I don’t know who we can trust and who we can’t.”

  “Her story has been consistent from the beginning and her alibi is lying in a ditch. That seems pretty solid to me,” Juliet said.

  Quinlan nodded. “Okay. I’ll let you know what the lab guys say as soon as I hear from them. If you need me on this, let me know. Jeffries and Leland are up to speed on the latest as well. Check back once you’ve spoken with her, all right?”

  Juliet nodded. “I will. Are they going to polygraph Monique today?”

  “Not sure. Hopefully. They need to get their poly guy out to conduct the test, so it will depend on his schedule, most likely. Apparently, Monique is open to taking it.”

  “Thanks, Chief.”

  Quinlan left her office and Juliet just sat there for a minute, stunned. It was clear-cut just twenty-four hours earlier. Monique had poisoned Richard; Goodman had run Gretchen off the road. Murder one and attempted murder, with conspiracy to commit murder one charges.

  Juliet rubbed her face vigorously and checked her phone when it pinged a text message.

  Heard from my attorney this morning. Will signed everything as is and agreed to an expedited hearing if possible. I’ll keep my own retirement fund and my car, and that’s about it. Once the judge gives us the okay, it should be wrapped up shortly. I guess the conversation between the two of you is what did it.

  Juliet didn’t know how to feel. She was happy for Sienna and for herself but sad for Will and sad for Declan, and maybe even a little sad for Sienna, since the life she’d known for the last ten years was officially about to end.

  Ok. Let me know if you want to talk about it.

  That seemed to be the path of least resistance at that moment, and Juliet wasn’t sure she could handle much else.

  On my way to Gretchen’s. Wanted to check on her after last night. Her nephew is spending the day sightseeing up north, so I’d rather she not be alone.

  Juliet didn’t think Sienna was in any danger by going over to Gretchen’s, but the thought did give her pause. It wasn’t something she wanted to text or talk about by phone, she wanted to sit down with Sienna and hash through everything in person. It wasn’t like Gretchen Kowalski was a cold-blooded killer.

  * * *

  Two big trash bags and a few boxes were piled up on Juliet’s front stoop. She sighed when she saw them, knowing exactly what they were and who had left them there. She peeked into one of the bags and saw a sweater lying on top. She supposed it was better than finding everything strewn all over her front lawn.

  She picked up Sienna’s things and put them against the wall in the living room. She’d stopped at home to change into a short-sleeved shirt. It felt a lot warmer outside than she’d anticipated that morning and she’d taken advantage of some quiet time to reflect on everything going on.

  Her radio squelched to life.

  “Looking for 5A-12, Dispatch.”

  Juliet buttoned her last few buttons and answered, “This is 5A-12, go ahead.”

  “We have a 10-53, possible homicide, 37 Blanchard. EMS is en route.”

  Her head snapped up. That was Gretchen’s address. Sienna was on her way over there.

  “En route.”

  Juliet flew out of her house, the screen door of the porch slamming shut behind her. She didn’t even remember getting behind the wheel and activating her siren. She drove so fast to Gretchen’s house that she pulled into the driveway before the EMS vehicle arrived.

  Her stomach lurched. Sienna’s car was parked across the street and she wasn’t inside it.

  Juliet drew her gun and kicked open the front door, which was open just a hair. She saw Sienna kneeling on the floor, her hair covering her face. A body was beside her.

  “Sienna, are you hurt?” Juliet asked, pointing her gun toward the body.

  “No,” she whispered. “It’s Gretchen. She was like this when I got here. I haven’t seen anyone else.”

  Juliet sprang forward, kneeling next to Sienna on the floor. Gretchen lay unconscious, her eye swelled shut and her bottom lip split and swollen. Blood seeped from a wound in her chest, turning her white blouse crimson. She put two fingers to her neck and breathed a sigh of relief. “She has a pulse. It’s weak but it’s there.”

  Juliet stood and drew her gun again as she made her way through the house to clear it. She walked slowly into the kitchen, where she followed a trail of blood leading to the kitchen sink. She noticed the pixie cut first. In a heap, lying next to the sink, was Tara Wolfe.

  A carving knife, covered in blood, lay next to her.

  Juliet bent down and felt for a pulse. There was none. She had a bright red wound on her forehead, with a swirl in the center of it. Juliet lifted her head slightly, to see if there were any bullet holes or stab wounds or anything that would make more sense than what would presumably amount to a large bruise. Her temple was fileted open, and blood pooled beneath her head. The disruption to the body caused it to spread in a wide arc around her.

  Juliet jumped back to avoid the blood and looked around the sink area where she saw that the corner of the granite countertop had a few droplets of blood on it, and a tiny stream that stopped about halfway down the cherrywood cabinets.

  “What the hell happened here?” she whispered, backing away from the body. She did a quick search of the house and didn’t find anyone else or anything that suggested there was another person on the premises. EMS had arrived and she gave the all clear.

  “Did you see Tara when you got here?” Juliet asked.

  “Who?” Sienna asked.

  “Tara. She’s in the kitchen. She’s dead,” Juliet said, bracing herself for Sienna’s reaction.

  “What?” Sienna looked like she was about to lose it. It really was too much.

  Gretchen gasped for air as she was being loaded onto the stretcher. She looked around, wild-eyed as she regained consciousness. “It was me,” she croaked, sounding more like a bullfrog than herself.

  “Try not to speak, ma’am,” one of the technicians said, hooking her up to oxygen.

  “I ki
lled her,” Gretchen said, ignoring him. “It was an accident. She came at me with a knife, like a madwoman. She said I kept the only man she’d ever loved a prisoner. I thought I was dying, but I didn’t fall down. She seemed to be in shock, so I took my cane and hit her. Hard. I didn’t mean to kill her. Poor thing. Must have been having an episode.”

  “Ma’am, you really shouldn’t be talking. We need to get you to the hospital,” the other technician said. They wheeled her out of the house, while the rest of the police force arrived. Quinlan was calling in the forensics team, Celeste was calling the medical examiner, and Deagle was taping off the perimeter. It was much too similar to what had happened in late summer.

  “Why would Tara Wolfe go after Gretchen? Wasn’t she being held for questioning? How was she able to do this?” Sienna asked. She was clearly distraught.

  “That was over a week ago. They had nothing to hold her on, you know how that works.” Juliet tried to make sense of it along with Sienna.

  Quinlan walked back into the living room, stepping around the bloodstain on the carpet. “Tara Wolfe had recanted everything she’d said, said it was due to everything that had happened, and she was overwhelmed with emotion. She must have realized the gravity of what she’d sort of confessed to and decided to walk it back.”

  “The regional hiring committee actually hired someone new to take over the library. A woman from out of town, I think. Maybe that pissed her off,” Deagle said, shrugging.

  “How do we know that Gretchen didn’t ask Tara to come over, and then Tara stabbed her in self-defense?” Celeste asked.

  They all looked at her like she had three heads.

  “Gretchen just started walking without a walker about three days ago. Her legs buckle if she tries to move too fast or turn too quickly. I don’t think she was under any illusion that she could take Tara Wolfe in a fight,” Sienna said.

  “I’m sure forensics will be able to sort it out,” Quinlan said. “We’ll have to question Gretchen, again, when she is able to speak with us. How much can that poor woman take?”