I had never seen a dead body before. Never watched someone dying. And the experience has made me no closer to understanding the kick her son gets out of it. Though he got off on the cruelty and control. On being the one responsible for taking that life.
The paramedic shines a light in my pupils and tells me to follow their finger. One of those silver blanket things is wrapped around me, though the shaking stopped a while back. I think I was in shock. Now, I’m just tired after the adrenaline crash. I mean, my skinned elbow stings, but that’s hardly something to bother bitching about.
The paramedic smiles and says, “You’ll live. Take it easy for a day or two. Just to be careful.”
“Thanks.”
Detective Hahn approaches with a very serious face. She is not happy to be out here in the middle of the night. Fair enough.
“She said she killed Grace,” I say. “Basically.”
She turns to frown at the small crowd gathered behind the police lines. An assortment of reporters and camera operators along with locals and the plain curious. “I’ve been looking for her to discuss some phone calls and payments made to your cousin.”
“So she was taking money from Dianne too?” I think it over. “Grace was probably supposed to make me look worse than she did. I think that’s what the angry phone call was about that night at the hotel. The reason Dianne gave her for wanting to meet.”
“Maybe,” says the detective. “I am just grateful we can hopefully give your aunt some closure.”
“Yeah.”
She pulls out her cell to record our conversation. Starting by giving the date and time. “Give me the rundown on what happened, Sidney. What were you doing out here?”
“We were walking the dog. Going to the lake and back again,” I say. “Then I noticed the same car that followed me earlier when I went to the hotel where my cousin was staying was following us now.”
“Why did you go there?”
“To see the place and ask some questions.”
Her expression isn’t happy. “And it was definitely the same vehicle?”
“I believe so.”
“Have you seen it before today?”
“It might have been parked on our street the other night. When Grace went missing. But I don’t know for sure.”
“You told me Ryan’s girlfriend had been hanging around,” she says.
“She has been. Though I haven’t seen her for a while. But apparently Dianne decided to get in on the action too.” I set aside the lightweight silver blanket. “Auggie, my dog, was peeing on the gnome a couple of houses back. Noah was holding the leash. I noticed the car just hanging behind us and then it started coming toward me. No chance I could outrun it, so I headed for the tree instead.”
“You were lucky.”
“Very. She said Grace was mouthy. That Ryan was going to get out. Then she mentioned you wanted to talk to her and she didn’t want to give you the satisfaction.”
“Was that everything she said?”
“I think so.” I take a deep breath. Then I take another. “Grace died because of me. I knew that was the likelihood…but it sucks to know for sure.”
“How did you contribute to what happened to your cousin? What deliberate steps did you take that you were cognizant of that were likely to result in her demise?”
I frown.
“That’s what I thought. You didn’t.” She presses stop on her cell and gives me a look. “Do you really think you have a chance of finding those other missing women’s bodies?”
“I don’t know. I hope so. But with any luck, this will slow down the #justiceforryan movement. Cast some doubt on his supposed innocence. Give us more time to search. He needs to stay behind bars for everyone’s safety.”
“Keep in touch, Miss Walsh,” she says.
Noah wanders over with Auggie in his arms. “He’s decided he’s had enough. We’ve been offered a ride home by an officer. Want to go?”
