AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Martella stopped, looked back. “You’re my sister.” She straightened her shoulders, lifted her chin. “But she was my best friend. Cate. I’ll never forgive you for Cate.” And she walked away.
“Staff.” Natasha leaned back. “Anyone who makes friends or family out of paid staff is a fool.” She looked at Eve. “I was under duress. My husband’s petty cruelties and neglect, a lover flaunting his flings. I had a breakdown.”
“You can play that tune.”
“A breakdown. What happened with Trey that day? It’s as if someone else was inside my body. I couldn’t control myself. Catiana? She slipped. We were talking. I was upset, of course, but she slipped, fell. I was in shock. Again, out of my mind. No one in their right mind would strike themselves that way.”
“You’re going to learn the difference between legally sane and just being a cold, vicious, selfish bitch.”
“I’m in the hospital. I nearly died. I have a great deal of money to pay hard-hitting lawyers. No one mourns for Trey but me. And Catiana? She slipped.”
“You’re a good liar, but with the evidence I’m going to have stacked up against you, even your lies will sink. Natasha Quigley, you’re under arrest for the murder of Trey Ziegler, for the murder of Catiana Dubois, human beings. Additional charges will include but not be limited to obstruction of justice, lying to a police officer during an investigation. You will be held here, under guard until such time as you can safely be transported to prison to await trial.”
“I’ll get out on bail.”
“I wouldn’t bet on it.” Eve took out her restraints, stepped forward.
“Stay away from me. You can’t use those on me.”
“Wouldn’t bet on that, either.” Eve grabbed one of her wrists, managed to block the swipe of nails forearm to forearm. “Add resisting arrest to the aforesaid charges.” She let the slap come, though the woman had some punch to her. “And a little icing for me with assaulting a police officer. Which allows me to—”
She took out a second pair of restraints, cuffed Quigley’s other wrist.
“I’ll have your badge for this.”
“What you’ll have is a crappy life in a cage. Your cheating putz of a husband is probably going to get a nice chunk of your money after all. Your name and face are going to be splashed all over the media, and the only social club you’ll belong to is Big Nellie’s Bitch-Slapping Circle. You’ll be the mascot. Merry Christmas.”
“Big Nellie?” Roarke asked as they walked out.
“First thing that came to mind. Officer.” She signaled the uniform she’d ordered for the duty. “Sit on her. I’ve got you on four-hour rotations, so you won’t miss Christmas altogether.”
“I’m Jewish, sir.”
“Okay, Happy Hanukkah.”
She spoke to the head nurse on duty, relayed the status to Dr. Campo via ’link.
“Her sister’s going to suffer.”
“She’s married to a steady guy—a fricking rock. But, yeah, she’ll suffer. Murder doesn’t stop at the vic, not most of the time. She set him up good, and he was such an asshole, it played. Little niggles here and there, but it played. They’re so much alike—Copley, Quigley. He could’ve done it, for all the same reasons. Except, he doesn’t have the balls to damn near kill himself to get away with it.”
“You closed it. You got both your victims justice.”
“Messy, but closed. Now I have to go spring Copley, that asshole.”
“You could do it in the morning, let him rot just a bit.”
“I could, but I won’t.”
“It’s what makes you not a bit like either of them.”
“It’s a pisser right at the moment. It’s going to take me a while.” She looked up at him as they stepped out of the elevator. “Couple hours to deal with the paperwork, the lawyers. Screws up our Christmas Eve.”
“We’ve already had the crescendo, the rest can wait.”
“Yeah.” They stepped out into the night. The cold rain had stopped. She thought she caught the glimmer of a couple stars.
She took his hand, gave his arm a swing. “Nice coat,” she said, made him laugh.
