“I don’t think Eric is going to try anything now that we have one of his henchmen.”
Sophia’s mind was racing at a million miles a minute.
It was a lot of effort to go through because of a wounded ego and pride.
Then again, Eric Alrich didn’t strike her as the forgiving sort, much less the kind to let things go. Since he knew where Lily and Amy were, it was unlikely he was going to stop coming after them. Not so long as he felt like he had something to prove.
A chill raced up Sophia’s spine. “How are we going to stop him? There’s got to be something we can do.”
“I’m trying to figure out the best plan of action. I’ll talk to the captain and see what he says. For now, please don’t do anything stupid.”
“Ian, what if—”
“No,” Ian interrupted a little too loudly. “Don’t even go there, Soph. They have nothing to do with each other.”
“Mom was killed in a robbery gone wrong,” Sophia said with a shake of her head. “You can’t tell me that you haven’t considered whether or not there’s a connection. There’sgotto be one.”
“Soph.” Ian went so quiet that Sophia picked up the phone to check if the line was dead. A moment later, Ian’s heavy breathing reverberated inside her head. “It’s not that I don’t want to look into it, but do you have any idea how hard it’s going to be to convince them to reopen a case that happened years ago?”
Sophia picked the phone up and rose to her feet. “I know, but don’t you think it’s worth looking into it? I’m sure if you presented the case, they’ll—”
“They’llwhat? The trail’s gone cold, Soph. You and I both know that. You know how hard I tried when I first became a cop. I made a lot of people angry because I kept pushing.”
After giving her a quick look, Darren fished his own phone out of his pocket and stepped away.
Sophia turned her back on Darren and blew out a deep, shaky breath. “So, that’s it? You’re not even going to try? Mom died alone, in a pool of her own blood, desperate for her family… Don’t you think she deserves justice?”
“How can you even ask me that when you know what I’ve done to try and find answers? I know she deserves justice, but I can’t whip it up out of thin air.”
Sophia’s ears were ringing now, and her heart was pounding unevenly inside her chest. “Please, Ian. You have to try. If they’re at all connected…we can’t let the answers slip away again. Ithasto be connected to what Eric is trying to do.”
Because there was no other explanation that made sense.
For most of her life, Sophia had always wondered what would’ve happened if she’d had the opportunity to revisit her mom’s case, to find answers once and for all—rather than push it to the back of her mind and accept that it was just a random, senseless crime that had no rhyme or reason.
For the first time in her life, Sophia felt like she was on the precipice of something great, something different, and she didn’t want to let go.
She couldn’t.
“I can’t make any promises,” Ian murmured, his voice trailing off toward the end, “but I’ll see what I can do.”
Sophia clutched her phone tighter. “Thank you.”
“I got a hold of Ben.” Sophia spun around to face her ex, whose face gave nothing away. “Lily is getting in touch with her dad right now.”
Sophia and Ian hung up, and she shoved the phone into her pocket.
She brushed past Darren, who was talking to Ben in a low, measured voice. On her way out the front door, she saw herdad at the top of the stairs, his hair in tufts on top of his head and his ratty old robe half open, revealing a wrinkled shirt and boxers underneath. Stu rubbed his eyes and blinked, but before he could say anything, Sophia took her sweater off the back door, reached for Teddy’s leash, and took off.
With no clear direction in mind, Sophia walked until she found herself on a bench on the sidewalk overlooking the beach. Teddy sat down at her feet as she leaned forward and stared out at the dark, choppy waters ahead. A short while later, Darren emerged, sat down next to her, and wordlessly bundled her up in another jacket, one that smelled strongly like him.
“I didn’t need you to come after me, you know,” Sophia whispered without looking at him. “I’m fine.”
“I know you are, but even if you’re not, that’s also okay.”
Sophia twisted to face him and frowned. “You think I’m crazy, too, don’t you? For wanting to find answers and a connection when there isn’t any. I know it’s been over forty years since she passed, but if there’s a chance…”
The rest of the words were lodged in her throat, and no matter how hard she tried, they wouldn’t come out. Frustrated, Sophia dashed away the tears that fell down her face.
