Page 143 of The Night Before (Savannah 1)

“Aren’t they all?” Morrisette asked. “Ian Drummond, Amanda’s ex, is being courted for a tell-all book and he wants his wife’s share of the estate, even though he was banging Sugar Biscayne. For a guy who just lost his two lovers, he sure has his hand out. Money must be able to heal a broken heart.”

“That I wouldn’t know about.”

“Hannah’s expected to recover. She’s talking about moving away. Starting over. Putting this behind her. If that’s possible.”

Reed nodded. “I don’t blame her. She was involved with Bandeaux, too. And then her sister tries to kill her by slitting her throat.” He shook his head. Savannah had a reputation for scandalous stories, but this topped them all. “Hell, Rebecca Wade sure stepped into it, didn’t she?”

“And ended up one more victim.”

“In a long string.”

“No pun intended,” Morrisette said and Reed was reminded of Atropos with her surgical scissors and braided cords. “What a psychopath! And when it gets right down to it, Amanda killed for the Montgomery money.”

“Nah.” Reed wasn’t buying it. “She killed for the killing’s sake.” He thought of all the victims, how they’d suffered, how much thought and effort Amanda, as Atropos, had put into the murders. “It was a thrill for her, a way she could prove that she was smarter than the others, that she deserved to inherit the old man’s wealth. She loved it—got off on it.”

Morrisette nodded. “Point taken. What a shame. An effin’ shame.” Morrisette was religiously putting money into the damned Hello Kitty bank, but her language still suffered. At least her kids would end up with a decent education—hell, they could probably go effin’ ivy league.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if Adam Hunt wrote a book on it, you know, pick up where his ex-wife left off,” Reed said. “I hear that book publishers are sniffin’ around him and Caitlyn Bandeaux. Even talk of a movie deal. How about that?”

“Someone will probably do it.” She scratched an elbow. “You know, if Amanda killed everyone to inherit the fortune, she sure took her damned time about it. First Baby Parker and then years later she escalates? Come on. That’s not usual.”

“Nothing about this case was.” Reed had thought about the time frame. “Between you and me, I think she snapped, I mean really snapped when she found out her husband was having a fling with Sugar Biscayne, but then, I don’t really know. I’m not the shrink. It’s damned ironic that she was setting up Caitlyn, using all the rumors about the mental illness running through the family when she was the one who thought she was other people, had delusions of power, a real head case. She seemed like a split personality with all that Atropos crap. Caitlyn Bandeaux did the taxpayers of the city a big favor by blowing her away.” He glanced out his window to the bright day outside. Savannah was a grand old lady of a town, one he’d lived in twice, but she had her secrets. Dark, ever-present secrets.

“How would you like to have that on your conscience—killing your own sister?” Morrisette asked.

“It wouldn’t bother me a bit. Remember this is a sister who had killed my kid, my mother, my father, my husband and everyone else she could murder. How would I feel about putting her out of her misery?” Reed flashed a grin. “I’d feel just fine about it. Guaranteed.”

“Yeah, right.”

“But I’m sure Caitlyn Bandeaux is going to have years of therapy. Maybe even a lifetime of it.”

“At least she’s alive. And I hear she’s been seeing Adam Hunt.”

“Romantically?”

Morrisette lifted a shoulder. “He is a hunk.”

“You would know.”

“Amen, brother. Amen!” She slapped his desk as her pager went off. “What now?” She glanced at the readout and hopped to the floor. “It’s my sitter. I’ve got to run. I’m taking the rest of the day off to be with my kids. Takin’ ’em swimming, now that they’re both healthy again. We’re going shopping on Bart’s fuckin’ money. And don’t worry, I’ve got another bank on the shopping list. The first one’s full up.”

“You getting another one of those kitty things?”

“Is there any other kind? If you need anything, don’t call.” She was out the door in a heartbeat.

“Drive safely,” he yelled after her. “Remember we have speed limits in this town and they’re strictly enforced.”

“Up yours, Reed!” But her laughter echoed back to him. Sylvie Morrisette was okay, once you got past the prickly I’m-as-good-as-any-man-cop attitude. He could do worse. Lots worse.

Epilogue

“You want to go for a ride??

?? Caitlyn asked Oscar as she hurried down the stairs. “Well, come on.” The little dog bounded ahead of her through the door to the garage. The Lexus was already filled with small bouquets of holly boughs and bright poinsettias, Christmas bouquets for the cemetery.

While Oscar stuck his nose out of the open window, she drove through the town where grand old houses were festooned in lights and greenery and ribbons. It was nearly Christmas, and Caitlyn felt better than she had in a long, long while. She was going to a new therapist, one with whom she wasn’t personally involved, and she was even considering allowing Adam to write her story. Not that he’d asked; he’d never mentioned it once in the past six months and he’d been with her nearly every day. He wanted her to move in with him and there was the hint of marriage, but she wasn’t ready. She needed more time to find out who she was, Caitlyn Montgomery Bandeaux. Until she was certain that she was mentally whole again, she didn’t want to become a part of someone else’s life.

She parked near the family plot and snapped on Oscar’s leash. The wind was brisk for Savannah, rustling through the dry leaves and billowing the Spanish moss. With Oscar tugging at the leash, she carried flowers to each grave, holding back tears when she saw her daughter’s headstone.

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