Page 135 of You Know Why

I remember what Detective Lee was asking me about providing Roger with the drugs that killed him. About my dad trafficking into Europe. How Alex was always able to get the product. And now he’s working for them?

“Were my aunt and uncle doing something illegal with my dad?”

He ticks the side of his nose. “Money’s gotta come from somewhere. Who do you think bankrolled him from the beginning? These operations aren’t cheap. And your stupid husband got greedy and stole a whole lot of it. Where is the wallet, Brook?”

“I don’t have it. I don’t know where it is. I barely know what a crypto wallet is.”

“Oh, Brooklyn, come on.”

When Alex used to get exasperated with me, he threw his head back and muttered Russian epithets at the sky. He does this now. The action both unnerves me and emboldens me.

I reach for the gun at the small of my back. I have one chance here.

I pull it, but it catches on my belt. Fuck. The motion is jerky and Alex’s trained eyes land on me.

“What have we here?”

I get the gun free and bring it up to shoot, but he’s too big and too fast. He slams my hand, and my wrist cracks. The gun flies from my grip, and I shout in pain, cradling my injured hand.

“Not again, my sweet. You didn’t kill me the last time you shot me, but I’m not going to give you another chance. You might manage it this time.”

My heart stutters.

“I didn’t mean to shoot you in France,” I say quietly. “It was an accident.”

He says a word that sounds like choosh. I know it means bullshit. He used to curse in Russian a lot and taught me some of his favorites.

“You two were fighting. I was just trying to get you to stop before one of you got hurt.”

That moment replays, the shouting, the punches, the gun in his bag. I warned them to stop. I was just trying to get them to calm down.

“Yeah, I’ve always found shooting into a couple of guys throwing punches to be an effective way to stop them.”

“You know I wouldn’t hurt you. Not on purpose.”

“And I suppose having Roger throw my body in the river was not meant to hurt?”

“He told me you were dead.”

“And you didn’t bother checking. Just let him deal with things.” Alex is pacing now. “I have to hand it to you, that was cold, Brooklyn. But what you did to Roger that night was just masterful. Covered your tracks perfectly. Got rid of the witness to a murder and sailed away, innocent. He would have done anything for you, and instead, you killed him. You got to have a life. You and that identical twin of yours. So clever, to have her sitting quiet as a mouse in the hotel lobby so everyone thought you were in town instead of with us at the river.”

“What do you want from me?” I scream at him. “Apologies?”

“The wallet. I want the wallet. Give me that, and I’ll let you get back to your sweet, dying family. Eden really fucked them up.”

“How do you know Eden?”

His stare is unnerving. “I’ve always found the old adage to be true. ‘The enemy of my enemy is my friend.’”

“I’m confused.”

“It’s not rocket science, Brook. She wants your husband dead. I want your husband dead. We worked together. Your aunt and uncle know a lot of things, and one of them is your husband’s sordid past. Unlike you, they didn’t take Andrew at face value, and as they do with all their employees, they find choke points, and know where—and when—to apply pressure. His pretty dead wife was exactly what we needed. They pointed me at Eden, and that viper was all for taking him down.”

“So this has been an elaborate ruse that you and Eden put together? Are you with her now?”

He scoffs. “Hardly. Eden was a means to an end. She wanted revenge for her sister, and she was willing to do most anything to get it.” He taps his chest with the gun. “Two birds, one stone. We’ve been watching you two for a while, Brookie. Amazing that you’ve gotten so complacent. Suburbia tamed you. You never saw her coming, and she’s been right under your nose for months. In your house. In your life. Watching. Listening. Tracking.” His smile turns cruel. “Waiting.”

Now it makes sense, Stephanie seeing Eden in the school pickup line. But my mind is spinning. If he hadn’t told me, I might not have ever known.