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Anger shot through Tori. “Where is Sarah?” The thin, not-so-steady voice was hers. The words had burst out of her. Tori blinked, stared at Alice. “When you called, you told me she’d run away from the hospital and was in trouble. We’re supposed to be going to help her. Where is she?”
Alice exhaled a dramatic sigh as if she had no patience for Tori’s questions. “I told her to wait at the warehouse. It was the only place I could think for her to hide. Her parents would never look there.”
“At the port?” Tori demanded, her bravado rallying. “How did she get there? She couldn’t have walked that far.” Hitchhiking would be too dangerous. Sarah would never do that.
Alice nodded to the driver. “How do you think she got there? She called an Uber. Don’t be stupid, Tori. She’s our friend. We’re going to help her. That’s what friends do.”
Tori held back the other words she wanted to shout. How could she not have realized the guy behind the wheel was just an Uber driver? She really could have run, and he probably wouldn’t have cared. Shewas an idiot. She had to think. Alice could be lying. Why would Sarah run away and ask Alice for help? Why hadn’t she called Tori? They had known each other the longest—way longer. Why hadn’t the police had a guard on her hospital room? Sarah had confessed to pushing Brendal. Wouldn’t the police be watching her or something? Tori squeezed her eyes shut. The whole thing—the whole story was some kind of crazy lie that Alice had probably convinced Sarah to believe. No way had Sarah pushed anyone.
Tori understood now what kind of liar Alice was. But she couldn’t risk letting Sarah down if she needed her. Ignoring Alice’s call hadn’t been an option any more than not seeing this through was.
But she should have told her mom instead of leaving a note and sneaking out. If this was another lie ...
“I don’t believe you.”
Tori froze. She’d said the words. Out loud. To Alice.
Alice held the bag closer to her chest; one hand slid inside. “Just shut up, Tori.”
Tori dared to meet her gaze. Alice’s eyes were wild and fierce. She was not kidding.
“We’re doing this together,” Alice said calmly. “Just like we planned.” She even smiled.
Probably for the driver’s sake, since he watched in the rearview mirror.
And they hadn’tplannedanything. Alice had told Tori what they had to do, and Tori had done it.
Tori said another hasty prayer. Since he apparently didn’t work for her family, she hoped the driver wasn’t one of those people who didn’t like getting involved.
Help me, please.
Tori stared at that rearview mirror and silently repeated the words over and over. Maybe her eyes would somehow telegraph her plea to the man.
39
7:30 a.m.
Devlin Residence
Twenty-First Avenue South
Birmingham
Kerri cradled her coffee mug in both hands. She and Tori had talked and cried until late in the night. They’d eaten pizza and popcorn and ice cream. It hadn’t been until after midnight that Kerri had left Tori asleep in her bed and made her way to her own.
She’d slept like the dead. Kerri hadn’t opened her eyes until seven this morning. She never slept past five. Never. Tori was generally up by six, seven at the latest. Kerri glanced toward the living room. Still no sign of the popcorn queen. Her daughter had won the popcorn-eating contest. Kerri made a face. Personally, she might never eat popcorn again.
Kerri finished off her coffee and set her mug aside. The urge to call Sykes writhed inside her. He was supposed to call her if there was any word on the missing Walker Academy student, Violet Redmond. He had promised to look more closely at the situation.
Falco had called late last night with an update. Tara McGill was dead. They’d found her body in her bathtub. An autopsy would be coming, butfor now it looked as if she’d swallowed a fistful of pills, then proceeded to drown her sorrows in a bottle of vodka and her tub. She’d left a note confessing to the murders of her boss and Walsh. The proper caliber of weapon was even right there next to the tub. How convenient was that?
Except her computer was missing.
Cross had confirmed the computer had been there on Wednesday afternoon, which was likely how she’d obtained the info on McGill’s financials. Kerri wasn’t judging. Cross wasn’t a cop anymore. She wasn’t bound by the same rules. All she had to do was not get caught.
The suicide note, along with the news that McGill was possibly stealing money from the tobacco shop and, according to Lucky Vandiver, using the shop as a way to distribute drugs, might seem like a break in the ongoing case. It was in reality a distraction. McGill’s death, in fact, elevated the case from a double homicide to a triple.
Not exactly an ideal break. She and Falco were meeting this morning to strategize how to prove their scenario to the LT. The wrap-up with McGill was obviously what the task force wanted, since a “speedy closure” had been underscored on numerous occasions. Especially by the mayor. In every single press briefing she’d tossed out that promise.
