“She showed up at my apartment. I was single and living with a roommate at the time. Anyway, she said she was moving away, and she didn’t know if she’d ever be back this way. I gave her a hard time, telling her she was being dramatic making it sound like she was falling off the face of the Earth. If I’d known…” Shell pinched the bridge of her nose, dropped her hand.
“Do you have any idea why she was acting that way?” Trent asked.
“No, and I’ve spent years trying to figure it out. I’d say she was running from something, but I don’t have a clue what that could be.”
“You two weren’t close?” Amanda leaned in.
Shell toyed with the bracelet again. “We were connected. I thought we always would be.”
Trent pointed to the gold chain on her wrist. “When did she give you that?”
“The last time we spoke. When she came over to basically say goodbye. I never thought it would be all I had left of her.”
Trent couldn’t imagine being in Shell’s place. He had two sisters—one younger, one older—and they were close. They didn’t get together in person a lot, but they messaged on social media at least once a week, even if it was about nothing important. For Shell, to have her sister just disappear—and with no real justification—it would be impossible to accept and get over. Shell would always wonder about Claire—where she was, how she was, and who was to blame for the estrangement.
“You say you were connected,” Amanda said. “It seems an interesting word choice to describe your relationship with your sister. Just being blood would give you a connection.”
“There are a few years between us. I had my group of friends, and embarrassing to say now, but I spent a lot of my time hanging out in the woods smoking weed. It was what it was, though. Not like we had an easy home life. You do what you think is necessary to either numb or escape reality.”
“While you did that, where was Claire?” Trent asked.
Shell shrugged. “She was always rather reclusive, private. She often had her nose in a book. She was very smart and did well in school. Put me to shame anyhow. You might know as much as John at this point, Trent.” Shell ran her fingers over one trinket on the bracelet—a small golden book. “Our father was charged with killing our mother. Life was crap. We lived in a mobile home. Dad spent most of our money on booze. Mom did her best, but she wasn’t strong enough. And she wasn’t what you’d call independent. Her parents spoiled her, and she probably expected Dad to take care of her like her father had. Dad just wasn’t that type of man. He needed her to lift him up.”
Trent noted how robotically Shell had dispensed such painful details of her past. “Your father killed your mom?” If Amanda had known that she hadn’t passed it along to him.
“He says it was an accident, but that’s not what the charge on his record is. Murder in the third degree. He’ll be in prison most of his natural life.”
Shock, quickly followed by anger, rushed through Trent. He had an aunt he cared deeply for and after his uncle’s death she’d gotten herself embroiled with some loser who beat on her. Trent and the rest of his family tried to get her to break loose and see she deserved better, but it hadn’t sunk in yet. Given that years had passed, Trent wasn’t sure she’d ever rid herself of the loser. “He beat on her?”
“He had a drinking problem. Mom had a way of pushing his buttons.” She held up a hand. “Not an excuse, I know. Just telling you what I saw. Besides, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, right?” Her voice, that had started off firm and resolute, became softer as she spoke and nearly disappeared with the wordkill. “Do you have any idea who did this to her?”
“Not yet. But Logan Hunter has been charged.”
“He what?” Shell snapped. “There’s no way he killed her. That man wouldn’t hurt a freaking hair on her head.”
Trent was curious what her reaction would be, and this one was telling. “Claire was found in his house, Shell.”
“No. No way.” Shell was shaking her head adamantly. “There must be another explanation. He loves Claire. From the first time they met. Those two, like me and John, they had something.” She made a show of squeezing her husband’s hand.
“What are your thoughts about Logan?” Trent asked John. It was surprising given how their worlds intersected that Trent hadn’t met Logan long before now.
“Logan’s a good guy, in my opinion.”
Shell nodded as if to punctuate John’s conclusion.
“Do you have any other suspects?” John asked.
“Not yet, but Amanda and I are taking a closer look at the… case.” Somehow referring to the murder of Shell’s sister as acasefelt so cold and detached.
“Do you know of anyone that might have wanted to hurt her?” Amanda asked.
“As I said, I haven’t exactly been a part of her life for a long time, but Claire was always good about keeping secrets. Who knows what she was hiding?”
That brought up something else Trent should mention. “She had a license in her purse with the name Deb Smith. Does that name mean anything to you? Do you know why she’d have a fake ID?”
“No freaking clue. Claire was the wind. No pinning her down. It shocked me she got married, but she and Logan were a great match. She broke his heart too.” Shell frowned and a few tears fell, which she quickly swiped away as if embarrassed by the display of grief.
“After your father was arrested, I assume you and Claire landed in the foster system.” This from Amanda, and Trent was happy that she was keeping her focus. His mind kept going back to how the father had killed the mother. Would his family ever get such a call about their aunt?
