Brutality (54 page)

He nodded, but frowned.

“Well, you didn’t actually expect me to agree on the spot, did you?” she asked.

“Think about it,” he said, rising from the booth. “Let me know.”

“But now you’re leaving mad at me,” Fina said.

“No, I’m not,” he insisted. “I’m leaving frustrated, but I’ll get over it.” He leaned over and kissed her on the mouth.

Fina watched him walk away.

Why did life have to be so complicated?

—

F
ina showed up at Jamie’s office hoping to catch him before he left for the day. She had no doubt that Kelly would have told him about their conversation and that Fina’s access to the Barone/Gottlieb household was officially over.

“I don’t want to speak with you,” Jamie said at the receptionist’s desk.

“Fine. Just listen.” Fina steered him by the elbow out the glass doors to the elevators. The receptionist gawked at them.

“You need to come clean with Bobbi,” Fina said. “No pun intended.”

Jamie shook his head. “No, and you can’t tell her, either.”

“Legally, I’m obligated to tell her. She owns the work product from my investigation, which details your activities.” Fina enforced this rule on a case-by-case basis, and chose to invoke it this time. The situation was out of hand, and there were children involved. Not to mention, she didn’t work for Jamie; she worked for Bobbi.

“I can’t tell her, Fina.”

“You have to, or I will.”

“Why?” he asked. “Why does she have to know?”

“Because I don’t want to be responsible if you wrap your car around a tree with your kids in the backseat. I’m not going to enable your addiction like Kelly does.”

He shook his head. “Bobbi won’t understand.”

The elevator doors opened, depositing a group of young men into the lobby. They exchanged hellos with Jamie before entering the office.

“I think she might understand,” Fina said. “I haven’t known her long, but Bobbi seems like a fair and decent person. Give her a chance to help you.”

“I don’t need help.”

“Then give her the chance to prove that you do.” Fina pushed the down button and faced him. “If you decide you want my help, give me a call.”

Jamie hung his head and turned toward the glass office doors. His shoulders sagged. He looked broken, even from behind.

Fina got on the elevator and willed the doors to close quickly.

She could only stomach so much self-destruction.

—

F
ina went to bed early, hoping that sleep might lead to clarity about the case, the Rand situation, and Cristian’s revelation. Unfortunately, sleep was elusive; she spent most of the night rolling from side to side, her mind skipping from one quagmire to the next. Fina finally dozed off just after four
A.M.,
only to awaken with a start an hour later.

She sat up in bed, sweat matting her hair to her neck.

She got it now.

It made sense.

But things were definitely going to get worse before they got better.

35.

Fina jumped out of bed and called Cristian. His phone went to voice mail, so she called Pitney instead, who was displeased by the wake-up call. She agreed to meet Fina anyway and promised to get ahold of Cristian.

Fina threw on some clothes and grabbed a Pop-Tart in the kitchen. She ate it in the car on the way, washing it down with water from a nearly empty bottle she found on the car floor. It was still dark, and parts of the road were slick. Fina’s car slipped a couple of times, and she backed off the gas. If she got killed on the way, she’d never know if she was right, and she wanted to know.

At the house, Pitney and Cristian climbed out of their unmarked police car and joined her on the front steps.

“This is crazy,” Pitney said, “even for you.”

“Bear with me,” Fina said, ringing the bell. Upstairs, there was a small light on, but otherwise, the house was cloaked in darkness. Fina rang a second time, and just as she felt her desperation growing, the door opened.

A man in his late thirties stood before them, bleary-eyed, in sweats. “You know what time it is?” he asked.

Pitney and Cristian held up their shields.

“We’re really sorry to bother you,” Cristian said, “but we need to speak with your wife.”

“Why?” He rubbed his eyes.

“Is she here?” Pitney asked.

“Yeah, but—” Before he could say more, slippered feet appeared at the top of the stairs. Kelly descended and put her hand on her husband’s arm.

“I’ll talk to them,” Kelly said. “Will you go check on the kids?” She was wearing a pink chenille robe, and her hair was pulled back in a messy knot.

“I don’t understand,” he said.

“Please, Josh. It’s okay,” she said, and pushed him gently toward the stairs.

He acquiesced, and Kelly led them into the living room. No one bothered to shed their boots or jackets.

Kelly stared at the floor.

“Okay, Fina. You’re up,” Pitney said impatiently.

Fina looked at Kelly. “You pushed her. You pushed Liz, and she hit her head. I’m guessing you didn’t mean to kill her.”

The next moment was laden with anticipation and dread, the four of them holding their breath.

Then Kelly’s face crumpled, and a sob escaped her mouth.

“Is that true?” Pitney asked.

Kelly shuffled over to the couch and sat down. She buried her face in her arms and wept. Pitney looked at Fina with a question mark on her face.

“She knew that Liz’s latest bill from the lawyer was thirty-seven hundred dollars,” Fina said, “but there’s no way she could have known that if she weren’t in the house that night.”

“She told me about it,” Kelly cried.

“No, she didn’t,” Fina said. “Jamie told the cops that they fought about opening the bill that morning, and Liz put it off until later that day. It was on the top of the stack when you stopped by her house. The only other people who saw that were the cops, the EMTs, and anyone who saw the crime scene photos. There’s a record of all those people.”

Kelly rocked on the couch. “It was just a coincidence that I said that amount. A lucky guess.”

“Then why are you so upset, Kelly?” Cristian asked.

She didn’t answer.

“It will be better for you if you come clean,” Pitney said. “It will help your case if it was an accident.”

“Were you fighting about Jamie?” Fina asked.

The three of them were standing over Kelly, asking their questions. Fina considered sitting down, but didn’t want to get comfortable.

“I think Liz was angry that you were sleeping with Jamie and enabling his addiction,” Fina continued. “Meanwhile, Gus was providing the drugs and withdrawing support from her lawsuit.”

Kelly gulped in air. “She was so unforgiving!” she exclaimed.

Pitney snorted. “I wouldn’t expect her to be forgiving toward the mistress.”

“Liz wasn’t doing anything to help him, but she didn’t want me helping him, either,” Kelly said, brushing her sleeve across her face. “She called me terrible names. I just wanted her to stop.”

“Well, you stopped her, all right,” Fina said under her breath. “You know the worst part? If you’d called 911, you could have saved her. It didn’t have to be a fatal injury.”

Kelly’s sobbing made Fina cringe—because it was both tragic and selfish.

“Can I go, Lieutenant?” Fina asked.

Pitney nodded. “You may.”

Fina squeezed Cristian’s arm and left the house, pulling the front door closed behind her. She took a deep breath of cold morning air and returned to her car.

Her work there was done.

—

F
ina slept.

When she opened her eyes, the clock said twelve thirty
P.M.
She rolled onto her back and looked at the ceiling. Reaching over to the bedside table, Fina grabbed her phone and dialed Bobbi’s number.

“I was just talking about you,” Bobbi said when she answered.

“Really?”

“Yes. I had a nice chat with your brother Scotty.”

“Oh. That’s nice. Are you at Ludlow and Associates?” Fina asked.

“Uh-huh. There was a meeting with some potential plaintiffs who might join the suit.”

“Great. Are you going to be there for a little while? I need to update you on some things.”

“Depends on how long a while is,” Bobbi said.

“I can be there in half an hour,” Fina said.

“I’ll be here.”

Fina jumped in the shower, dressed, and was in her car twelve minutes later. She applied some mascara and lip gloss at red lights and arrived at the office right on time.

She found Bobbi in a small meeting room reading some files and sipping a cup of coffee. Fina leaned over and gave her a hug before taking a seat. She reached out and nudged the door closed with her foot.

“How’d the meeting go?” Fina asked.

“It was good.” Bobbi’s eyes widened. “Definitely an improvement from Thatcher Kinney.”

“I would hope so.”

“Your dad is getting a bunch of people on board—actually, they’re coming out of the woodwork—and he thinks NEU will settle.”

“He’s a good lawyer,” Fina acknowledged. “He fights for his clients.”

“How have you been?” Bobbi asked. “You look tired.”

“I had an early morning. Speaking of which, have the cops been in touch with you?”

Bobbi shook her head. “No. Why?”

“My early morning started at Kelly Wegner’s house.” Fina leaned forward, resting her elbows on the table. “Bobbi, she essentially admitted that she fought with Liz and caused her head injury, which in turn caused Liz’s death.”

She blinked. “What?”

“Kelly killed Liz. I don’t think she meant to, but she did.”

Bobbi burst into tears. “But why? They were friends.”

“Which leads me to my next question,” Fina said. “Has Jamie been in touch with you?”

“No. Why?” Bobbi asked, her voice climbing with anxiety.

Fina reached into her bag and pulled out a pack of tissues, which she handed to Bobbi. “I’m sorry to be the one to tell you,” Fina said, “but Jamie and Kelly are involved.”

“Involved how? An affair?”

Fina nodded. “Not only that, but Jamie has a problem with pills.”

Bobbi held up her hand. “Wait, Fina. This is too much.”

“I know, but you have a right to know. Do you want some water? Or how about scotch? I can steal some from my father’s office.”

Bobbi shook her head and blotted her face with a tissue. “Did Liz know all of this?”

“She did. She also knew that Kelly was acting as a go-between for Jamie and Gus Sibley, who was supplying pills.”

“Gus Sibley?”

“He first prescribed them when Jamie hurt his knee and then stopped, but their transactions recently started up again.”

“Pain pills?” She grimaced.

“Yes. I’ve spoken to Jamie about rehab or getting some kind of help, but he isn’t interested.”

“Addicts rarely are,” Bobbi said.

“I also told him that he needed to come clean with you about all of this or I would tell you. Obviously, he didn’t tell you.”

“No, he didn’t.” Bobbi massaged one of her shoulders with her hand.

“This may seem like a weird suggestion, but I know an amazing massage therapist. The last thing you need is physical pain on top of all of this.”

“Is he a miracle worker? That’s what I need.”

“He kind of is,” Fina said. “Tell him that I sent you, and he’ll give you a discount.” She wrote Milloy’s contact information on a piece of paper and tore it off. “You won’t regret it.”

“Thanks,” Bobbi said. “I may need to schedule extra sessions when I get your bill.”

“Yeah. I’m not going to send you a bill,” Fina said.

Bobbi shook her head. “You’ve worked hard and did what you said you would. You should be paid.”

“Oh, I’m going to be paid, but not by you—by my father.”

“But Liz’s death wasn’t connected to the lawsuit.”

“Maybe not directly, but the lawsuit played a role,” Fina said. “My dad is going to make plenty of money on the lawsuit. He can eat the cost of the investigation.”

Bobbi cried some more. After a few minutes, she seemed to catch her breath. “Thank you, Fina.”

“You’re welcome. Let’s get together soon. We can talk some more about this or something completely different if you like.”

Bobbi nodded.

“I told Jamie that I have resources if he decides to get some help,” Fina added.

“Okay.” She was silent for a moment. “Did Jamie know that Kelly attacked Liz?”

“I don’t think so. I haven’t asked him, but I don’t think that he was holding on to that secret, too. He had enough lies and misery to manage.” Fina reached over and squeezed Bobbi’s hand. “I can hang out for a little while if you’d like the company.”

“Thank you, but no. I’m okay.”

They stood and embraced. Fina could feel the wetness from Bobbi’s cheek on her own neck.

“I’ll talk to you soon,” she promised.

Fina left the room and wound through the hallways to her father’s office.

“Great. The gang’s all here,” she said. Carl, Scotty, and Matthew were sitting at the conference table.

“Speak of the devil,” said Scotty.

Fina frowned.

“We just heard that you were the target of the car bomb,” he said. “I knew it!”

“Woo-hoo! You were right,” Fina said, leaning her butt against the credenza. “Who told you?”

“I heard from one of the detectives on the arson bomb squad,” Scotty said. “So it was that guy Kevin Lafferty?”

“He didn’t attach it to the car, but he was behind it,” Fina said.

“Is that the man who was here the other morning?” Carl asked. “The one going berserk?”

“The very one,” Fina commented. “He really couldn’t stay away from me.”

“That was an expensive car, Fina,” Carl said, peering at her.

“Cost of doing business, Dad.”

“Not my business.”

“Are you referring to the business that includes a multimillion-dollar suit against NEU? The case that I brought to the firm?” she asked. “Why don’t you just count the car against my finder’s fee?”

Carl scowled. “You’re not getting a finder’s fee.”

“Nor am I replacing your SUV,” Fina said. “Nor will I be charging Bobbi Barone for the investigation.”