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“Of course,” I interrupt her. “The Child Services lady is here, the one assigned to the boys. She’s staying until Tucker comes back.”

The line goes dead quiet and then Avery spits out a few curse words.

“I’m calling Liv, she had a dinner thing in the City tonight. She’ll be there in twenty minutes if traffic cooperates.”

The line goes dead, and I’m left with nothing but fear and an unsettling realization that I cannot let it show on my face.

The boys need me.

21

TUCKER

Baron and Beatrice are waiting in the lobby of the precinct when we arrive—thank Christ.

I don’t hurry to them, just keep strolling with Wes by my side.

“Thanks for coming so fast,” I murmur when I reach them and shake their hands.

“Do you have any clue what this is about?” Beatrice asks.

“Nope.”

“Lord is on his way over here.”

I sigh. “Thanks for that.” Baron’s younger brother specializes in criminal law, and Jim told me he used to be Baron’s Heir before Beatrice turned eighteen.

It’s good to have friends in all kinds of places.

“This way, please,” Detective Fairway tells us from a few feet away.

We follow her in a single file until we reach the door to the interrogation room.

“Are you coming in?” I ask Wes. I’m not sure why I ask, but I don’t think anything he can’t hear will be said in that room.

“Yes,” he says simply.

“All right.”

“Don’t worry, Tuck, I’ll blend in with the walls.”

I snort—and thank my lucky stars that he’s here to somehow manage to make me smile.

“The warrant for Amanda Barclay’s financial records finally came through this morning,” Fairway says as she and Preet pull out chairs on one side of the little metal table.

Baron and I take the other two while Beatrice stands next to her father and Wes makes himself at home on the wall next to me.

“That’s great,” I say, tone even.

“Is it?” Preet asks.

“Sure.” I shrug.

“We found this.”

He pushes a sheet of paper to me and I take it, hold it up so Baron can read too, but they explain before I get to the transaction.

“Her counsel has been informed that we found evidence of her accepting payment for the murder of Jim Barclay. A hundred million two days before the murder, and another hundred half an hour after the time of death, before anyone else knew about the murder. We searched her phone again, calls and texts, and found deleted texts. She texted ‘it’s done’ to a burner phone right before the second transfer.”