What Have You Done(41)

“If you do talk to them, tell them we’re praying for them.”

“I will.”





29

Liam took a step back when he saw his brother’s face. Sean was standing on the threshold, leaning against the door he’d just opened, his eyes dreary and red. The porch light reflecting off the shadows of the dark afternoon made his skin look pale.

“What happened?” Liam asked. “You okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Come in.”

The house was neat but dusty. Sean kept very few items above and beyond the necessities. When their grandparents had passed, he’d called the local library and had them send a truck over so he could donate all of their grandmother’s books. Then he’d called for a dumpster and trashed anything he wouldn’t need. There was a coldness to the house amid all the emptiness. Liam had never quite gotten used to that.

“I called you a few times,” Liam said. “Where’d you go after I dropped you off at the diner?”

“Came back here. I was in the yard most of the day. Didn’t have my phone with me. Was doing a lot of thinking.”

“About what?”

“What do you think? I can’t believe all this is happening with Kerri. And you. It got to me.”

They made their way into the living room, where Sean sat on the couch and grabbed for the bottle of Jack Daniel’s on the coffee table.

“We got a hit on NCIC. Found a victim in Delaware. Homicide was from six weeks ago. Prostitute. Same MO that was in Kerri’s homicide except no stomach laceration.”

Sean stared at him for a moment, then slowly took another sip from the bottle. “And?”

“And what?”

“Were you in Delaware at the time of the homicide?”

“Of course not. I haven’t been to Delaware in years. Last time we passed through was on our way to the Outer Banks. What was that—six years ago? Seven?”

“That helps with things, I guess. Can you think of anyone who’s been to Delaware recently?”

“I’ve been wracking my brain since I heard the news. Nothing.”

“What was the date when the murder down there took place?”

Liam clicked through his phone to see the notes Jane had sent him. “Body was discovered February fifteenth. Homicide took place the night before, February fourteenth. Valentine’s Day.”

Sean shook his head and took another sip. “Back to square one.”

“What do you mean?”

“I hate to break it to you, but Vanessa was in Atlantic City at a medical conference that weekend. I remember because you went on and on about how you guys were going to miss your first reconciled Valentine’s Day. You were alone that weekend.”

Liam let the facts sink in. “I can’t catch a break here. This is unreal.”

Sean looked at his brother, who was still standing. “Can I ask you a question? Man to man?”

“Yeah, sure.”

“Are you messing with me?”

Liam stared back at Sean. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, are you messing with me? Think about all the evidence we’ve found that links you to Kerri’s murder. Think about how few people know about the details of the paper flowers and all the other stuff. Can you really not remember what happened that night, or are you messing with me?”

Liam reached for the bottle and took it out of Sean’s hand. “I can’t believe you just asked me that,” he whispered. “Drunk or not.”

“Well, I did ask you, so answer.”

“I am not messing with you.” Liam could hear his voice shaking with both adrenaline and fear. “I’m very aware that the evidence points to me, and I’m not lying to you when I say I can’t remember what happened that night. All I know is how I felt about her, and I can’t reconcile those feelings with what we saw at the Tiger Hotel. I can’t make that leap. So it has to be someone else. It has to be.”

“Then who?”

“I don’t know!”

Sean sat up in his seat. “If there really is someone else out there doing this, and we don’t figure out who it is soon, Heckle and Keenan are going to find something. They’re going to find something we missed, and when they do, you’re screwed. At that point it’ll be our word versus a stack of evidence that points only to you.”

“It points to you too.”

“No,” Sean snapped. “I get banged for trying to help my brother find out if someone else killed his girlfriend and not coming clean with my department. Slap on the wrist. Probably suspended, but that’s about the extent of it. Maybe Phillips sends me to another precinct. You get banged for murder, Liam. Life sentence. Big difference.”

Liam put the bottle back on the table and sat in a recliner across from his brother. “I got Kerri’s phone records like you told me. Cell and home.”

“Good. Did you erase your entries?”

“Yeah. I erased yours too.”

The two brothers stared at one another for a long while, neither saying anything. The house was still, the quiet overwhelming.

Liam took a breath. “Why was your number on her records, Sean?”

“You sure you want to know?”

“Positive.”