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She swallowed. “I think he must have hated me from the moment I was born. I heard him tell one of his friends once that I was a waste of space. That he should have been an only child. I think I was a ‘surprise’ baby, and that made Jeff angry. He wanted all my parent’s attention.” Her mouth twisted. “Maybe he didn’t like sharing them.”
“Did he ever hurt you when your parents were around?”
She stared into the distance, trying to remember. “I don’t think so,” she finally said. “I think they would have yelled at him. But they must have noticed that I tried to avoid Jeff.”
“But he was killed in the fire, too.”
Julia nodded. Stared at the congealing eggs on her plate. “His body was in the kitchen. The arson inspector said he might have smelled the gas and gone in to check the stove. Just turning on the kitchen light could have triggered the explosion.”
Nico frowned. “So he was still living at your parent’s house? If you were sixteen, he was twenty-six. Kind of old to be living at home.”
“He’d started a business of some kind.” She tried to smile, but it was forced. “I don’t remember much about it, but it was technology-related. Jeff was putting all his money into his company and didn’t want to pay rent until the business was stable and thriving. And my parents were fine with that.
“I think Jeff liked to pick my father’s brain. Run stuff by him. My dad was the CEO of a big corporation, and had lots of experience.”
“Did your parents lend your brother money?” he asked carefully. “To start his business?”
“I think so,” Julia said, frowning. “I haven’t thought about it in years, but now that you mention it, I remember hearing my father yelling at Jeff. Telling him he had sixty days to pay back the loan. He’d signed a contract, my father said, and the loan was coming due.”
Nico’s heart sped up. “When was that?” he asked.
Julia frowned. “Quite a while before the explosion. Two or three months, I think. It wasn’t like my father reminded Jeff that the money was due and the house exploded the next day.”
“Did the police ask you these kinds of questions?” Nico asked.
“Yeah. And I told them what I knew. What I remembered.”
“How did they react when you showed up the way you did?” Nico asked carefully.
Julia pushed a piece of cantaloupe around on her plate with her fork. “They were shocked,” she said after a long moment. “They were still looking for my body. I got hysterical when I walked up and saw the house. Began screaming for my parents. I didn’t want to think they were dead. A police officer came running. Asked me who I was. I managed to tell him my name. That it was my house that was gone. I don’t think he believed me.”
“Why do you say that?” Nico asked.
“He wanted to see my ID. I had just gotten my driver’s license a couple weeks earlier, so I showed him that. He wanted to know where I had been the night before.” Her lips trembled, and she pressed them together. “I didn’t want to get Denny in trouble, so I said I’d been at a friend’s house. But of course he demanded a name, and I eventually told him.”
Nico waited a beat, then said, “And…?”
She blew out a breath. “And they questioned Denny. He told them what we’d done, and they questioned some of the kids who were at the party. Questioned his parents, who of course had no idea I’d been there. But one of his sisters told the police I’d been there. She’d heard me talking to Denny but didn’t tell her parents.”
“Who did you live with afterward?”
“My father’s assistant.” Julia smiled. “Juanita Brown. She’d been his assistant for years, and I knew her well. Adored her. As soon as she heard what had happened, she came to the police station. Told them she was taking me home.”
“What did the police say?” Nico asked.
“They told Juanita I’d be staying with a relative. I told them I didn’t have any. Both my parents were only children, and my grandparents were all dead. They said they’d find a second or third cousin, but Juanita said that wasn’t happening. She said my parents had named her my guardian in their will. She gave the police my parents’ attorney’s name and told them to check. Then she scooped me up and hustled me away from the police station.”
“Does she still live in Seattle?”
“After I left for culinary school, Juanita moved to Los Angeles to be with her daughter, who’s an actress. My father had set up a generous pension for her. His company pays her every month, for the rest of her life, so she could do what she wanted. I see her a few times a year.”
Nico would have someone talk to Juanita. It sounded as if she was close to both Julia and her father. She might know something that Julia wouldn’t.
“Put her name and address and phone number on that list you’re putting together for me.”
Julia stared at the table. Nodded.
Ignoring the voice telling him not to touch Julia, he reached across the table. Slid his fingers around her cold hand. “I’m sorry I have to ask you these questions,” he said quietly. “But we need to figure out who’s behind this.”
