Page 115 of Anonymous Acts

“What is it?” I asked. “What happened?”

He pushed out a sigh, propping his hands on top of his head. “Uh… Amanda’s aunt. Sheila. I had the idea to try to look further into the family, see if there might be someone else who knew something, and…”

“Just say it. Please.”

“She… she’s dead, Monica. That was the first thing I found when I started searching. She was found yesterday. Overdosed on prescription pain meds. The police don’t think there was foul play.”

“That’sbullshit,” I shot back, crossing my arms. “It’s bullshit. Completely. I just talked to her, days ago Wick. And now she’s just gone? You think that’s a coincidence?”

He glanced around, making sure we were alone before he answered. “No. I don’t. Especially not when Asher was on a flight there early yesterday morning, and a flight back a few hours later. I didn’t think much of it, because he attended a meeting that had already been on his itinerary for weeks – I know because I hacked his schedule. But finding this now…”

“It’s too convenient. When Asher was there in your kitchen… you remember how he reacted when I said I’d talked to Sheila? He said she knew “everything”. What iseverything? And why didn’t he want me to find out?”

“It’s still circumstantial. It’s something we can take to the police like we have a case.”

“But we do,” I insisted. “Maybe not for that, but Kim told me – it was Asher who attacked her. In retaliation, for me getting attacked at my office. I… Wick, Ibarelywant to believe that he could hurt a woman like this, but I cannot keep being naïve. We need to tell the police. He needs to be brought in.”

Wick nodded. “You’re sure she said it was Asher?”

“Yes.Yes.I mean… she’s a little out of it, and it was hard for her to speak, but… yes. I’m sure.”

“Okay.” He reached out, grabbing my elbow to give me a comforting squeeze. “I’ll call Sam right now.”

He pulled out his phone, stepping away to do just that. I turned, trying to give a bit of privacy and happened to look up in time to see a nurse stepping out of Kim’s room, and rushing off down the hall. Just seeing it gave me an eerie feeling, like something wasn’t right.

Had I freaked Kim out with my questions?

Shit. I hope I didn’t upset her too badly.

But even if I did… I had to come to grips that it really wasn’t my problem. This particular bed was one that Kim had made for herself.

Instead of pacing the floor, I took a seat, burying my face in my hands. I was still processing the possibility that Asher, the guy I’d known and loved as a friend for nearly half my life, could be a killer. It was a hard, bitter pill to swallow.

If I was acknowledging that he’d attacked Kim, and left the message on her floor, I had to believe that he was responsible for everything else as well.

Kellen’s murder, the break-in at my home, at the office. The business sabotage. Amanda’s disappearance.

All of it.

And for what?

Get rid of Kellen, and then make me so miserable that I fell into his arms, looking for comfort? It seemed like a long shot – like flat-out craziness, actually – but so did the entire last few weeks of my life. And when everything had been going bonkers, it stood to reason that the motive behind it all would be bonkers too.

But… did thatreallyexplain this?

If Ash was behind everything, where didCanvas Cosmeticsfit into this, if they fit at all? Asher had done very,verywell in the finance sector – he had money to blow. What ifCanvasdidn’t have anything to do with any of this – which I strongly suspected anyway, because what wouldtheirmotive be? – and Asher had simply figured out a way to cover his tracks by implicating someone else?

God, this is all so… chaotic.

Hopefully, I’d be able to get some answers to the chaos soon enough.

“Okay, I talked to Sam,” Wick said, interrupting my thoughts as he approached where I was sitting. “He’s sending officers to pick Asher up. I already told him there might be a few… complications with the paperwork, after Asher’s unexpected drop-in the other night. But, he felt like what I gave him was at least worth talking to him again. So, we’ll see where it goes from here.”

I nodded. “Sounds good.”

“Are you okay?” he asked, dropping to a squat position in front of me. “I never trusted his ass, but… I know you did. Something like this can’t be easy for you.”

“It isn’t,” I said, chewing on my lip for a second before I shook my head. “But, I can’t keep ignoring what’s right in front of me. If Asher did this, he needs to pay for it. And if he didn’t… well… I just hope he gets a really good lawyer.”

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