Rick got to his feet. He approached Julia slowly, steadily, like a wolf closing in. Julia’s blood went cold.
Erika bolted from her chair, barricading herself between Rick and Julia.
“No, don’t,” she said, pressing her hands against her husband’s chest to hold him back. “It’s not her fault. She’s done nothing wrong.”
“But she knows,” he said.
Julia didn’t like the nervous flutter in his voice. She suddenly regretted letting her daughter and Izzy enter the home. Hopefully they’d be safe upstairs, but that didn’t help Julia.
Rick shoved Erika aside as if she were an empty paper bag. What did he plan to do? Julia froze, not knowing if she should fight or flee.
Before she could make a move, the front door came open for the second time in as many minutes. Julia swiveled toward the kitchen, surprised to see David make an appearance.
His face was plum-colored. He stormed into the living room, skin shimmering with a thin coating of sweat. His eyes were so wide they were primarily white.
“Good. Just the two people I was hoping to see,” David said, gesturing toward Erika and Rick. “Where is Fiona?”
“I… don’t know,” Erika stammered.
“Bullshit!” David spat. He shook his head in disbelief. “Blame is on me… partly,” he said, his tone softening. “I was too distracted by my hot new girlfriend to bother looking into her background. If I had, I would have found more lies than truths. You know what Detective Baker told me?”
Julia held a breath.
Oh, shit.
“She said that Fiona’s father is Jim Tracey from Bennington, otherwise known as your uncle James. You must have known that your dad put me to work with Jimmy years ago. Cormac and I were like family, but with Jimmy, it was always business. I knew nothing about his personal life—I never met his family.
“Butyouwere like family to Jimmy. You know what that means, Erika, don’t you?” David inserted a long pause that put Julia on edge. “You would have met Fiona at some point. For all I know, you even babysat her! So where is she? What did you two cook up and why? You’re going to tell me what the hell this is all about, right here, right now.”
“Or what?” Rick braved a step forward.
David was ready. With one swift motion, he snatched a rifle from the gun rack mounted to the wall directly below Cormac’s portrait, and aimed the weapon at Rick’s chest.
“I’m pretty sure this is the gun you use when you go coyote hunting,” David said. “And I believe you were the one who told me that armed intruders don’t wait for you to load your weapon. Do you follow your own advice, Rick, and keep a loaded gun on the rack?”
David hefted the rifle higher. He squinted as he stared down the barrel, taking careful aim.
Rick swallowed hard, but otherwise he didn’t move a muscle.
“I guess that’s my answer,” David said. “Sit down and stay out of this,” he ordered.
Julia saw murder in her friend’s eyes. Rick must have seen the same, for he obliged without protest, parking himself in the closest chair. He might be bold, but he wasn’t stupid.
“Now,you.” David swiveled until he had the rifle aimed at Erika. “Where is Fiona? I just spent hours getting grilled by Baker, who is convinced I killed her.
“Funny thatyoufound the bloody shirt under my porch even after there was a K-9 unit nearby,” David continued. “So start talking, Erika. Because I’m running out of patience.”
Julia hadn’t realized fear had a smell, but a new odor permeated the air, something harsh and pungent.
“I… I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Erika said, stumbling over her words, but she regained her composure quickly. “I don’t know anything about my father’s business and didn’t know Fiona until you pranced her around like your new trophy,” she insisted. “I think I met Uncle James’ daughter once when she was a baby, so there’s no way I’d recognize her as an adult decades later.”
Erika looked so confident, Julia started to believe her. Was it really that simple? A bizarre coincidence? But no, she had seen her friend’s fear. It was brief, but it was palpable.
Julia should have expected that the commotion might draw the teens, who surged down the stairs in one thunderous stampede. She felt as if she were moving through molasses. Her cry of warning got lodged in her throat, like those terrible nightmares where you watch tragedy unfold, paralyzed and unable to stop it.
By the time Lucas reached the bottom step, David had the gun pointed at his chest. Wisely, Lucas came to an abrupt halt. Taylor screamed as she foolishly stood beside Lucas, putting herself in harm’s way and thinking with her heart rather than her head. Thank God Izzy had the sense to pull Taylor away as she moved to stand next to Julia, though Lucas remained stuck in place with the gun trained on him.
Rick jumped to his feet. David didn’t even bother looking his way.
