Page 16 of The Last Shadow

When he’s gone, I take a seat on the windowsill, so Olivia and I are looking at one another. “Is that better? Can you answer some of my questions now?”

Her expression remains blank. I’ve seen my share of trauma victims, but something about Olivia’s reaction chills me to the bone. I wonder what horrors lie behind those big blue eyes.

“Olivia, I’m here to help you. If someone has hurt you or threatened you, I can help.”

Nothing.

“You and I haven’t met but I’m dating your brother Damien. In fact, we recently got engaged.” I show off the ring in hopes it’ll pull a reaction out of her.

Still nothing.

Dammit. “I’m worried about Damien. He’s in this picture, and so many of these men are now dead. I can’t bear the thought that he might next.” I don’t want to agitate her further, but I need her to understand the stakes here. “Anything you can tell me about that time would be great.”

With a small shake of her head, Olivia turns her gaze back to the ocean beyond her window, effectively dismissing me.

I stop trying. I can’t pressure her. “It was nice to meet you.” I get up and walk out the door toward Jay who’s standing by the exit.

“The all-girl chat session didn’t work as well as you’d hoped?”

“No,” I sigh. “I told her Damien and I are engaged, hoping it would spark something, but she’s not capable of telling us anything.” Still, I know her reaction to Jay wasn’t imagined but I put that thought aside for later scrutiny. “Did your digging unearth anything?”

“Hell no,” he growls. “I asked around about why she was in here and no one will tell me anything. I threatened to get a subpoena for her medical records, and they don’t have them. What the fuck kind of shit is that?” He shakes his head with a laugh. “Makes no sense.”

It doesn’t, actually. “Why would this place not have her medical records when she’s been here for such a long time?”

Jay perks up. “They have the records of her care here inside the facility, which are medical and mental. But she has an outsidedoctor forother things, but what that means I can’t tell ya because they wouldn’t tell me.”

My mind races with all the doctors a woman in her position might need. “Gynecologist. Internal medicine. Off the top of my head, those are things they might not handle in-house. But the chances of us getting those records without a clear legal reason are slim to fuck no.”

Jay grunts his disapproval. “Fucking red tape.”

I laugh. “I know, those pesky constitutional rights.”

“You know what I mean. Come on then, let’s see who else we can track down…unless you have a spa day or something you can’t miss?”

I smack his arm. “Shut up. Let’s go.” I spend most of the drive trying to figure out what all this means while Jay grumbles at the baseball game on the radio.

Things almost feel normal and if I don’t think about it too hard, about my house and my engagement, it’s as if things are as they’ve always been.

CHAPTER SEVEN

Damien

“You have a call, sir, from Serenity House.” Jess is standing in my doorway with a worried expression on her face. “I figured you’d want to take it. I’ll push back the meeting with Volper Technologies. Ten minutes?”

I nod. “Make it fifteen just to be sure.”

Jess nods before leaving me to deal with the phone call. “This is Damien.”

“Mr. Wolfe, this is Tara, the nurse at Serenity House. I’m not sure of protocol here, but two detectives were here to speak with your sister today. Detectives DeMarco and Hawkins. I thought you should know.”

Two detectives went to see Olivia, but they weren’t just any detectives. It was my fiancé and her partner. And Francesca hasn’t said a word. “Did they give any indication what they wanted with Olivia?”

“No,” she sighs. “They were asking questions, but your sister was incredibly uncooperative.” Tara sounds proud of my sister, which is also what I feel, but it’s mixed with relief. And annoyance.

What do they want with Olivia?

My heart speeds up. Francesca and Hawkins are getting too close for comfort. I haven’t stepped out for a night or taken anyone’s life in ages, all thanks to their little games.

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