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“Nonsense.” Peg frowned and shook her head as Brett had managed to get ahold of his father. Brook could tell from the way he was speaking into the phone that she was running out of time. “I’ll go get Nolan, Ms. Sloane. Please, make yourself comfortable in the den.”
Brook led the way, not having to verify that Bit was right behind her. She could hear the squeak of his rubber boots with every step. Once she’d entered the den away from prying ears, she made sure that Bit was ready for any situation.
“Unzip your jacket,” Brook advised quietly as she took a spot in front of the blazing fire facing the bulk of the room. It was apparent that Dr. Kolsby had been enjoying his evening before receiving a call from his daughter. “And hold your phone in your left hand. You’ll have easier access to grab your weapon should you need it.”
“But I won’t need it, right?” Bit asked, his gaze darting from his phone to the thick double doors that they’d used to enter the den. “Right, Boss?”
“You two need to leave now,” Brett exclaimed before Brook could address Bit’s concern. “We aren’t talking without our lawyer present.”
“Nolan called me, though. He specifically stated that he wanted to speak with me in person,” Brook said with a feigned frown of misunderstanding. She distanced herself from Bit slightly so that they weren’t too close together should Brett decide to get physical when she pushed the issue. “Mr. Kolsby, have you even informed your brother that I’m here?”
Brett lifted his phone without taking his irritated gaze off Brook, purposefully pressing three digits in a way that couldn’t be misunderstood.
“Feel free to initiate that call,” Brook said as she tensed slightly. Though the residence was quite large, it would have been impossible for Nolan not to realize that someone was here or to have missed Brett’s raised voice when he’d told Peg to call his father. “I’m simply here at the request of Nolan. I’m all for the police doing a welfare check on him.”
Brook had baited the hook, and Brett Kolsby had swallowed it. He slowly lowered the phone, but he was prevented from answering when Peg entered the room.
“I have the milk warming on the stove,” Peg said as she entered the room. “As you know, Dr. Kolsby isn’t here at the moment, but…”
Peg came to a stop when she sensed the tension in the room. Her brows furrowed as she studied Brett, who was standing with his feet shoulder-width apart with the phone dangling at his side.
“Brett, please go and tell Nolan that his guests are here,” Peg said sternly, clearly expecting him to follow her directive. “I’ll see that our guests remain comfortable. There’s no need to worry.”
In that solitary statement, Brook realized her mistake.
While Catherine was probably involved with the murders, Brook was confident that the bulk of them had been committed by Peg. The profile came together seamlessly now that Brook could visualize it clearly. She wasn’t clear on a few things, but she would be by the end of the evening.
“While Brett is fetching his brother, I’ll go and take the milk off the stove.” Peg never dropped the façade, and she even pasted on a welcoming smile just as she’d done earlier. “I won’t be but a moment.”
Peg quietly followed Brett out of the den as if this was any other ordinary evening. Brook quickly pulled her phone from her pocket and sent a text message to Detective Soerig before doing the same with Theo. Brook hoped to have the situation contained before Hadley decided to somehow enter the residence.
“Are you getting an M. Night Shyamalan vibe?” Bit whispered as he stared at Peg’s retreating back. “Or is that just me?”
“Bit?”
“Yeah?”
“Don’t drink the hot cocoa.”
Chapter Thirty-Four
Brooklyn Sloane
December 2022
Tuesday — 8:11pm
“Ithoughtstayinginthe house in Northern Illinois was bad,” Bit muttered underneath his breath. “I’ll take creepy dolls over being poisoned any day.”
Bit was holding up quite well under the circumstances. Brook hadn’t counted on her visit turning in more than anything else but a simple interview with Nolan Kolsby. The only reason Brook was hesitating to show their hand right now was Nolan’s notable absence.
Detective Soerig had sent them a text that she’d discovered the vehicles were not in the garage, but they had been parked behind the large structure partially covered by tarps. Brook had to assume that Dr. Kolsby had little to no idea what had been happening under his own roof. Then again, he had known certain details regarding a woman being stabbed. Had that been due to the knowledge that his daughter or Peg were murderers? Or had Millie reminded him of Donna Laurel?
There were many questions that still needed to be addressed, but Brook’s first priority was to ensure Nolan’s safety. He was somewhere in the house, and she needed to locate him. There was a chance that he was in on covering up the murders, but Brook couldn’t take the chance that his life wasn’t in danger.
Brook made sure that she had easy access to her weapon, just as she had advised Bit. He’d lost the redness in his nose and cheeks now that reality had settled in, but she noticed that his he’d switched cell phone into his left hand. He was as ready for any situation as his mind would allow him to be, and she was proud that he’d smothered the latter choice of his fight or flight response.
“Here we are,” Peg said as she walked into the den with a tray of mugs that had mounds of marshmallows on top. “While you two chase the chill away, I’ll go see what is keeping Brett and Nolan.”
