Page 55 of Fatal Betrayal

"She doesn't dislike me at all. She was the first person to read my books. She actually talked to me before Neil did, but when they divorced, he got my project in whatever settlement they made." He pulled his phone out of his pocket to read a text. "Damn," he muttered.

"What's wrong?" she asked quickly. "Is that Neil?"

"No, it's my sister, Monica. My mom called in a panic. Dad isn't doing well. Tomorrow is a bad anniversary. She wants us to come over."

She saw the pain in his eyes and realized the anniversary had to do with Kyle's suicide. "I'm sorry."

Cooper looked around. "I know you want to get to the Guerrero house, but do you think you could drop me off? We're closer to my parents' house than to where I left my car. I can get a ride back with Monica, but it would be faster to just go from here."

"Of course," she said, as she changed lanes and directions. She didn't resent him wanting to get to his parents if there was some sort of emotional crisis going on, but she was unnerved by the idea of going back to her old neighborhood. There were so many memories there, so manybadmemories. But she was just going to drop him off and leave. She could handle that. As she glanced over at Cooper, she saw the hard line of his profile. "Are you okay?"

"No. I wish I knew how to help my dad. But nothing I say eases his guilt. It has sunk down deep into his bones, into his soul."

"I don't think you can talk someone out of that kind of guilt," she said quietly.

"I know, but I still can't stop myself from trying. Kyle had problems, but he wasn't a bad person. His brain just didn't work like everyone else's." He cleared his throat. "It will be ten years ago, tomorrow, that he took his life, but it feels like yesterday."

Ten years, she thought. Cooper would have been twenty-two, and Kyle, twenty-five. And Monica was probably seventeen at the time.

Kyle's suicide was no doubt the motivation behind Cooper's books, his desire to help free falsely convicted criminals, to go after the criminal justice system. Cooper wanted to do anything and everything he could to make sense of what had happened and try to stop it from happening to someone else's family.

She didn't believe Kyle had killed himself just because he'd been a person of interest in Hannah's kidnapping. By the time he committed suicide, eight years had passed since Hannah disappeared. The spotlight had long since faded. Kyle had had other problems, as Cooper had said.

But maybe she was just trying to let herself off the hook, because she hadn't ever needed Cooper to make her feel guilty, she'd seen what had happened to Kyle and Cooper's whole family when the police and FBI zeroed in on him. She'd wondered even then if maybe she'd made a mistake, but she couldn't talk to Cooper. He'd cut her off. His anger had been beyond anything she'd ever seen from him, and she'd been defensive, because she didn't want to be wrong.

As she got closer to their old neighborhood, her nerves tightened, and she braked hard at the stop sign by Hannah's house, her mind going back to that hot summer night, to her and Cooper riding their bikes to this very corner, hearing the police sirens, seeing the neighbors coming out on their porches wondering what was wrong.

She drew in a shaky breath. It felt like it was yesterday.

Cooper shot her a piercing look. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," she said automatically, but she didn't feel fine. She felt sick to her stomach.

"You've never come by here, have you? You only visited your dad at other locations. So, this is the first time since you left that you've been on this street."

"That's right, and I don't plan to stay long."

She turned the corner ready to slow down just enough for Cooper to jump out of the car. She wasn't going to look at her old house. But when she pulled up in front of his home, his sister and mom were standing on the sidewalk, and her queasy feeling got worse.

"You might have to stay for a minute," Cooper told her.

"Oh, God," she muttered. "Do they hate me as much as you do?"

"Looks like you're about to find out."

CHAPTERTHIRTEEN

Andi didn’t wantto talk to Cooper's mom Joanne, or his sister Monica. But Cooper was already getting out of the car and both women were looking at her with varying degrees of surprise on their faces. She couldn't just drive away. She had to face whatever was about to come her way. Unfastening her seatbelt, she stepped out of the vehicle, walking around the car to join them on the sidewalk.

She told herself she was an adult now, a federal agent, but looking into Joanne's warm hazel eyes, she felt like she was a little girl again.

"Andi," Joanne said, opening her arms.

She was shocked by Joanne's response. She hesitated, then moved in for a hug. Joanne felt thin and more fragile than she used to. But she was still a good hugger. She still made Andi feel warmth and comfort.

As they broke apart, Joanne's gaze swept across her face. "My goodness. You're beautiful, Andi."

She flushed at Joanne's words, acutely aware of Monica and Cooper watching their interaction. "I'm sorry to hear that Doug isn't feeling well," she said, referring to Cooper's father.

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