What Have You Done(10)

“Heckle and Keenan.”

“Okay. I’ll be there as soon as I can. I’m on my way.”

Sean disconnected and let his head fall against the wall leading down to the first floor below.

“You okay?”

Sean looked up. “What?”

Don walked through the steel door into the stairwell. “Everything okay?”

“Actually, no, not really. Liam just got called to a homicide at the Tiger. It’s Kerri. She’s dead.”

“Oh my God.”

“I gotta get down there. Can you cover for me for a few hours? I won’t be long. I’ll meet you back at the station.”

“Yeah, sure, I’ll cover. Go.”

Sean hurried down the stairs and ran out of the hospital toward his car. The air outside had turned warm and heavy. The sun that had been so radiant that morning was now hidden behind dark clouds that had slowly moved in like giant glaciers in the sky. A storm was imminent.





7

The Tiger Hotel was full of police activity. Sean hurried through the lobby, searching for his younger brother. The crime scene looked no different from any other he’d ever been a part of in the past. Why would it? Crime scenes were about procedure. There were things you did during the initial stages of a homicide investigation to preserve evidence and keep the integrity of the circumstance intact. The fact that he knew the victim meant nothing to the others around him.

An officer was leaning against the wall, fiddling with his phone.

“Have you seen the Forensics team?” Sean asked.

The officer scanned the lobby and pointed. “Yeah, some of them are over there by the exit.”

“Thanks.”

He approached Liam, who was writing something in his pad, and without speaking took him by the arm and guided him away from the others toward the opposite end of the lobby near the back door. Liam kept his head down as they walked. Sean could sense his relief now that he was there.

“Tell me what happened.”

“I got called in for a homicide, I get here, and it’s Kerri. I couldn’t believe it. Then I saw the paper flowers and her hair all chopped up like Mom’s. What is that?”

“I don’t know. Gotta be something, but I don’t know what.”

“She’s bad, Sean. I hardly recognized her. I wasn’t sure what to do, so I called you.”

“As usual.”

Liam chuckled, defeated. “Yeah.”

Sean looked at his little brother. Liam’s gaze was distant, the shock of what was happening beginning to take control. “You need to act like this is just another crime scene. No emotions. Keep it together.”

“I’m trying.”

“Try harder.” He looked around and watched the activity around them for a few moments, then turned back to Liam. “Did you ever tell Kerri about what Mom did to us?”

“We talked about it once.”

“You think it could be a suicide? Maybe she reenacted a scene from your childhood to get back at you for reconciling with Vanessa?”

Liam shook his head. “This was no suicide. A person can’t do that to themselves. Not what’s up there. Besides, she broke it off with me. That wouldn’t make sense.”

Sean leaned in close to whisper. “Does anyone here know about your relationship with her?”

“No.”

“Do they know you knew her, even casually?”

“No one knows anything. Jesus, Sean, I thought you’d be a little more shocked or freaked out instead of moving right into covering our asses. I played it as straight as I could. It took me by surprise, you know? Seeing her like that.”

“I know. And I am shocked. I just need to know where we stand with things so I can keep everything consistent.”

“You think we should tell someone I knew her?”

“Yes, but not yet. These things can get hairy fast. No one else needs to be in the loop for now. Just continue with the investigation, and keep your head up.”

“Last night was her birthday.”

“Damn.”

“Who could’ve done this?”

“I don’t know. We’ll figure that out later, and we’ll start with the people who knew about you and Kerri and what happened with Mom. Those flowers and her hair are too unusual to be a coincidence. Keep your cool, and we’ll be fine.”

“Yeah, all right.”

“Okay. Let’s go take a look.”

The two brothers broke from the corner and began to make their way to the stairs. From the bottom landing, they could hear activity and shouts of instruction from B11. The Forensics team had returned to the room.

Teddy and Rob were gently guiding Kerri’s body to the floor as Jane released the extension cord from the bed. Keenan remained just inside the doorway, watching. Sean and Liam entered the room.

“Hey, Sean,” Keenan said when he saw the detective. “What’re you doing here?”

“Liam thought I might know the victim.”

“Is that right?”

“Yeah.”

Keenan looked at Liam and held out his hands in surrender. “Something you could’ve mentioned. Pretty important, don’t you think?”

Liam feigned a smile and shrugged. “I wasn’t sure, so I didn’t want to cause a big scene. I just wanted him to take a look.”