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“Spit it out.”
“Look, you know I love you like a brother and Stella like a sister—”
“Your attempt at making this inbreeding is your issue, Ali.”
“Very funny.” She swatted at me. “It’s just that I care so much about both of you.”
“And?” I motioned with my hand for her to get on with it as much because this topic was irritating the crap out of me than because I was anxious to get back to Stella.
“You need to understand that Stella is—”
I held up my hand. “Stop right there. What makes you think—even for a moment—that you know her better than I do?”
“She’s my friend, Buck—”
I cut her off again. “She’s my friend too. Do you know that for the last few weeks, including before Barb’s murder, Stella and I talked at least once a day? Sometimes more. Can you say the same thing?”
“That’s different.”
“How?”
“We’re both women. The friendship is different.”
“Are you better friends with Stella than you are with me?”
“No, I wouldn’t say that. Again, it’s different. Besides, you and I have spent more time together.”
Ali’s cheeks turned pink when she realized she’d just used my argument against herself.
I put my hand on the door handle. “I appreciate that you care about both of us, but, Ali, stay out of it. What is between Stella and me is none of your business.”
“Don’t hurt her, Buck.”
I thought about that for a minute. “It’s more likely that it’ll go the other way.” I opened the door and walked inside at the same time Stella came out of the bedroom. She was ghostly pale; I rushed toward her. “What happened?” I asked as I guided her back into the bedroom.
“He’s dead.”
“Stella’s attorney?”
She nodded.
“Have a seat.” When she did, I sat beside her on the bed. “Who told you that?”
“I called his office, identified myself, and asked for Mr. Owens. The woman who answered the phone told me she’d put me through to Mr. Clark and asked me to hold.” She took a deep breath and blew it out. “When he answered, he told me he’d intended to get in touch with me.”
“And?”
“He said that, last night, Mr. Owens had suffered a gunshot wound and, by the t
ime paramedics arrived, he was pronounced dead.”
“Where was he?”
“Leaving the building where their offices are located.”
“Did he say anything else?”
“Only that he and the other senior partners had divided Mr. Owen’s client list and were contacting them. Oh, and he asked if we had a meeting scheduled. I told him that’s what I was calling to do.”
