What Have You Done(83)

“I don’t know. I wanted to see Liam, and I figured if Don was there it would be okay. I had no idea Sean was going to be there. When I got to Don’s house, I heard all this yelling, so I snuck up to the porch to see what was going on. Sean was chasing Joyce. He had her cornered, but then Liam was there. Sean made Liam drop his gun, and it ended up right where I could get it. I knew I had to do something. In, like, a split second, I thought about what Sean did and how he was trying to blame it all on Liam. Instead of being scared, I got angry. I wanted him dead. I wanted all this to be over, so I crept inside the door, and before Sean knew what I was doing there, I shot him. Twice. He had to die for what he did to all of us. He had to.”

Vanessa fell back on her pillows. Phillips waited a few beats before continuing.

“How long were you and Sean having an affair?”

“A little over a year. It just kind of… happened. He was so supportive of me and what I was going through after my mom died. He became like this security blanket for me, and at the same time, things between me and Liam started falling apart. I guess one thing led to another.”

“And you had no idea about this other life he was leading?”

Vanessa looked at the lieutenant. “Of course not. Those other girls. The only thing I can think is maybe he wanted Liam out of the way so we could be together. Maybe he thought he could expose the affair Liam was having by killing Kerri? Maybe he was going to pin those other murders on Liam too. I have no idea. Or maybe no one was supposed to find out about those other killings.”

“That’s quite a theory.”

“What else would make him do all those things? It’s all such a mess. Maybe he knew I’d never leave Liam. We never talked about it, but he knew I wanted to work things out in our marriage. And we were getting better, Liam and me. I love my husband.”

Phillips nodded and stopped recording. “We’re going to have to match some dates and times with you to officially clear the investigation, but we can go over all that later. You need to get some rest.”

“Okay.”

“You did the right thing. My sister’s alive because of you. You’re a hero.”

“I don’t feel like a hero.”

“I know. But you are. You saved lives tonight. You’re my hero.”

The door swung open, and Liam walked into the room. Vanessa sat up when she saw him, a smile appearing instantly on her face. “You made it.”

“I made it.”

Phillips rose from his seat and motioned toward the other detectives to leave. “We’ll let you guys catch up. I need to get back over to Joyce’s house. She needs me right now. Vanessa, they’re going to discharge you first thing in the morning. They want you to stay here tonight so they can monitor that bump you took when you fainted. Better that way. Let the media out there die down a bit. I’ll come by in the morning, and we can talk more.”

“Okay.”

He looked at Liam. “You holding up?”

“Yeah. Considering.”

The men filed out of the room, leaving husband and wife alone together. There was a silence between them that was thick and uncompromising.

“Liam, I’m sorry,” Vanessa finally said.

“For what?”

“That you have to go through all this. Your brother. What he did to you. What I did to him. What I did to us. Everything.”

“Thanks. You came at just the right time. I’m pretty sure he was going to kill me and Joyce. You saved us.”

“I did what needed to be done.”

Liam walked farther into the room. “I can’t stay. I have to get back to the station and finish filing my statement. It’s been a long few days.”

Vanessa wiped a tear from her eye. “Can I have a hug?”

“I have to go.”

“Just one.”

Liam leaned over and hugged his wife. She whispered in his ear as she pulled him tighter.

“I’m not proud of what I did. I’m sorry.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Liam whispered back. “It’s over. Everything. We’re finally over. I’ll have my stuff out of the house in a few days.”

“Why? Why would you say something like that?”

“Because whatever we once had isn’t there anymore, and people died because of it. We both need to start fresh. There’s no recovering from something like this.”

“We can fix it.”

Liam let go of his wife and made his way toward the door. “I’m sorry, but this is how it has to be. Otherwise, every time I look at you, all I’ll see are the people who died for nothing. That wouldn’t be fair to either of us.”

“Please, Liam.”

“I have to go check on Sean. I’m sorry.”

Vanessa wiped another tear that slipped down to her chin. “Check on Sean? What do you mean?”

“He’s still in surgery. They think he’s going to make it.”

“Sean’s alive?”

“Yeah.”

Before Vanessa could say anything further, Liam walked back out in the hall and shut the door, leaving her in the solitude of her own thoughts.





64

Don’s house was empty and still. Word was beginning to spread about what had happened in Camden, but thus far no one had come by. A PBA representative and a priest were out on the back porch talking quietly. Soon, as the sun rose to usher in a new day, there would be a house full of officers, more lined around the block, waiting to pay their respects and offering support. Phillips would let them in, thank them, and then pass them on to Joyce, who would be on the couch, still numb and in shock. That’s the way these things worked.