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He muttered a few words under his breath.
“What’s that?” she demanded. “Got something to say?”
“Just hurry up,” he ordered, then clicked off.
Savvy wasn’t near as bold as she’d been on the phone by the time she wheeled into the back parking lot of the TCSD. The rain had turned to a blowing wind, which shivered and bent the firs and caused the overhead wires to swing to and fro. The mud puddles were full of cold water, and Savvy skirted them as she made her way to the rear entry, hurrying up the few steps and then stalking down the hallway to the interview room without bothering to drop her jacket on one of the pegs by the door. As predicted, her Braxton Hicks contractions had disappeared, and she entered the room feeling more in control of her body than she had all day.
Hillary Enders sat at a table, a Styrofoam cup of coffee cradled in her hands, her head bent, long dark hair falling forward, screening her face. She was thin, almost waiflike, shivering and pale.
Lang was seated opposite her and was saying quietly, “I believe you. I don’t want you to feel interrogated. If you say there’s no truth to what we heard, I believe you.”
She nodded jerkily, her whole body rocking.
“It’s just that we really need to talk to Kyle, too, and he’s avoiding us,” Lang went on after shooting Savannah a look that warned her not to disturb him. Message received, Savvy stayed back by the wall, trying to blend into the surroundings.
“Kyle wouldn’t hurt anybody,” Hillary said.
“He told a reporter that you were having an affair with Marcus Donatella. Now, he may have been lying, or he may have really believed it.”
“He knows I would never.” She gulped at the coffee, spilling a little.
“So he was lying, then?”
“I don’t know. I didn’t see the interview.”
“We can sure get you a copy of it, but in the meantime, let me tell you what he said.” He looked down at the file in front of him. “‘She dumped me for her boss, but I didn’t kill him, and anybody who says I did is a lying piece of . . .’ The last word was bleeped out for all the viewers’ delicate ears.”
She shot him an upward glance to see if he was joking. “Sounds like him.”
“Well, it is like him. He said those things.”
“I wasn’t cheating on him. We broke up after what happened to Marcus and Chandra. . . . I was a mess. It was just awful.” She slowly shook her head, staring into the middle distance. “But Kyle . . . he didn’t get it.”
“Didn’t get . . . ?”
“Why I was so upset. I mean . . . really? He couldn’t understand?” She took a hand from the Styrofoam cup and placed trembling fingers to her temple. “It didn’t affect him like it did me, so he was just the same. It didn’t work between us anymore. Maybe he did think I was seeing Marcus. I don’t know. I haven’t talked to him in months.”
Lang considered. “Let’s assume he did believe you were in a relationship with Marcus Donatella, since that’s what he said on the news.”
She didn’t respond.
“Maybe he killed Marcus and Chandra Donatella as a means to get back at you.”
“No. Oh, no.” She was positive. “He’s not like that.”
“Was he over you? The relationship?” Lang asked.
She shook her head, whether in answer to his questions or just because she didn’t even want to consider them, Savvy couldn’t tell. “Where did Channel Seven get the idea that he killed the Donatellas?” she demanded. “It’s ludicrous. You don’t understand what Kyle’s like.”
“Maybe you could fill us in.”
“He’s a big doofus,” she declared. “We’ve known each other for years. Were we dating? Yeah. But it wasn’t going anywhere. He’s not marriage material, if you know what I mean.”
“Is that what you’re looking for?”
She turned her gaze from Lang to Savvy and then over to O’Halloran and Deputy Burghsmith, who were sitting at a back table, listening. Hillary had clearly allowed them to be there, but now she looked like she was changing her mind.
“You think I had designs on Marcus Donatella? That’s what Ella told you, isn’t it? Ella Blessert. Because I told her I thought he was good-looking and successful. Marriage material. Except, well, he was already married, and in my book, that counts for something. Ella’s a doofus, too.” She pressed her lips together and scowled at Lang. “I wasn’t having an affair with Marcus Donatella, and I’m not in love with Kyle and never have been. Maybe Kyle thought I wanted Marcus, but he never said so when Marcus was alive, so I don’t see how you people even got his name.” A moment later she said, “Ella. This all comes back to Ella, doesn’t it?”
