Page 99 of A Killing Cold

“Oh, don’t be absurd,” Louise scoffs. She brushes the air with a dismissive hand. “I made the tea. I took care of things. The way they should have been taken care of years ago.”

She rises to her feet. Connor tenses, but I put a hand on his arm. The last thing we need to do is start shooting.

“Now listen. It’s true. Mallory was murdered. And Liam, rest his soul, couldn’t face the truth of what his daughter had done, and he killed himself. But we cannot change what happened. We can only decide what to do now. Let’s consider what we have here. Theodora Scott. A young woman from a troubled background with a history of violence, promiscuity, and criminal behavior. A woman who has targeted and harassed our family, seduced Connor, invented this wild story.”

“She’s not—” Connor begins, but I stop him.

“No. Please, Louise. Finish,” I say.

She huffs a breath. “What I am saying is that we have a choice about what story we tell here. Is it the one that lands your daughter—yourwife,” she adds, flinging a glance at Paloma, “in prison? Not to mention maybe the rest of us for covering it up. Or is it a story about a disturbed woman who infiltrated our home? Concocted a wild fantasy. Tried to blackmail us. A violent woman who went so far as to murder Olena.”

“Olena fell,” Trevor says, straightening up.

Louise looks smug. “The autopsy will find that she was struck multiple times. And the police will find evidence clearly linking Ms. Scott to the crime. As well as a confession.”

In the form of a suicide note, no doubt. “So that was the plan?” I ask. “Tell me. Was it your idea to kill Olena, or did Nick do that all on his own?”

“He thought it was you, you little bitch,” Louise snaps, and Rosegives a small gasp. Trevor is watching his grandmother intently. That pulse point at his neck is thudding away.

“Where is Nick?” Rose demands.

He stepped in to help, after Liam died. She relied on him. He was her friend. Her ally. A father to her children. I wish that I didn’t have to do this.

“He’s dead,” I say.

“No,” Louise says, a flat denial. “No. He—he isn’t, he—”

Rose lets out a sob. Trevor growls. “Good.”

“Trevor,” Magnus says warningly.

“Didn’t she just say he killed Olena? He was, what, beating that woman? Which shouldn’t come as a shock to you, Grandpa, given that it’s your lawyer helping him get out of doing the same fucking thing to his wife,” Trevor says. “Uncle Nick, what a fucking hero. Great guy, shame about the bit where he loves to hurt women.”

“You’re one to talk,” Alexis snarls.

“I never meant to hurt Kayla,” Trevor snaps. “Olena was—she was sweet. She didn’t deserve this. Nick—fuck.” He jams the heels of his hands against his eyes.

“You’re sure,” Rose says.

“Mom, he shot me,” Connor says. He gestures to his arm.

“That’s a lie,” Louise insists, but her voice is high and shaky. “He wouldn’t have hurt you. This was to protect the family.”

“He killed his own brother,” I say.

“No,” Louise says. “That’s absurd. Liam killed himself.” She looks at Magnus. Her hand grips the arm of the chair, blanching her knuckles white. “Liam killed himself, you told me that.”

“Epidural hematoma,” Connor says. “Dad died of a blow to the brain. I saw the report. There were no wounds that could have been suicide.”

Alexis swallows. “You said they lied. But why would they—”

“They told you it was suicide to keep you quiet,” I tell Alexis. “Tomake it all your fault. But it wasn’t just the two of you up there. Nick was there, too.”

Alexis’s face is blank. Uncomprehending. Paloma reaches for her, but Alexis doesn’t seem to register it—and then all at once her knees buckle. Paloma lunges just in time, catching her and lowering her to the floor. She holds Alexis against her chest, shushing her like a child, but Alexis isn’t making any sound at all, her eyes fixed wide and her body trembling.

“Magnus,” Louise says, and for the first time I see a hint of fear in her eyes, of things slipping away from her. “That isn’t true. Is it?”

Magnus leans forward, wincing as if in pain. “They fought. Liam took a blow to the head. It was unintentional.”

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