Page 110 of Lion & Lamb

“Could have been a home invasion gone wrong,” Maya continued. “Archie resists and is killed. The killers force us to drive with them to the art museum to dump his body. And then they get frightened and let us go.”

Cooper shook his head. “So these alleged home invaders forgot to bring a gun and had to borrow yours, Vanessa? The very one you received from Mickey Bernstein? Who, by the way, should be a thousand miles away from this murder investigation.”

“Stop it, I’m begging you!” Francine shout-whispered.

“The details don’t matter,” Veena said. “We just want the truth. That’sallwe’ve wanted since the beginning of this thing.”

Francine lowered her head and shook it gently as if to the beat of the saddest, slowest ballad she knew. She was beyond weary. This entire conversation seemed to drain the life from her body. “I don’t know what you want me to say,” she said.

“Easy,” Veena replied. “Just tell me which one of you shot and killed Archie.”

Chapter120

“BAAAAA,SAIDthe little lamb.”

The noise was so out of place, it startled all four adults in the parlor. Cooper was the first to realize who it was and responded to the comment.

“Baaaaa,little one,” he said. “Come on out from your hiding place.”

Five-year-old Maddie crawled out from behind a sofa, and a moment later her older brother stepped into the room with a solemn look on his face. Cooper expected him to say something along the lines ofSorry, Mom, I accidentally threw a football into the windshield of the Bentley.

For the first time since Cooper had met Maya, she appeared horrified. “I told both of you to stay in your rooms,” she said with a coldness in her voice that was as far away from Mary Poppins as you could get.

Francine, trembling with uncontrollable anger or fear or maybe both, said, “Both of you. Upstairs.Now.”

“No, Mom,” said Archie Jr. “I have something to say.” He looked at his sister. “Maddie, go upstairs. I have to talk to these people about something important.”

Maddie saw the seriousness in her brother’s eyes. Her lower lip trembled. She didn’t understand what was going on. Maddie looked over at Cooper for reassurance. Cooper felt himself slip into dad mode. He smiled, nodded. “It’s okay, sweetie,” he said softly. “Your mom will be up in just a moment.”

Maddie wanted to do a lot of things in that moment. She wanted tobaaaaaat the man with the funny name (and the cute dog). She wanted to run to her mother and jump into her arms. She wanted to understand why everyone was so angry and sad all the time.

But in the end she turned around and went up to her room. She had a stuffed lamb on her bed, a gift from Nanny Maya just a week ago—though the timing meant little to Maddie. She just loved the stuffed animal and hugged it tight.

Chapter121

“I KILLEDDad,” Archie Jr. said, his voice barely a whisper.

“Archie…” His mother began to protest, but she trailed off when she realized that all hope had evaporated. There was no way for him to take back what he’d said. No way to rewind any of this, although she would have given almost anything to do so.

“It’s okay, Archie,” Veena said. “You’re in a safe place right now, and we’re all here to help you. You don’t have to be afraid.”

The kid unconsciously balled his hands into fists as he worked up the nerve to continue. “My mom and Maya didn’t want you two to know that, but I didn’t want to lie and get them in any more trouble.”

“We understand, buddy,” Cooper said. “And by the way, what you’re doing right now is incredibly brave.”

“I don’t feel brave.”

“I know that’s not how you feel,” Veena said, “but your mother couldn’t be prouder of you. Isn’t that right, Mom?”

Archie Jr. looked over at his mother. Francine could only beam love at her child as she slowly nodded. “You can tell them the truth.”

“I’m sorry, Mom.”

“It’s okay, baby,” Francine said. “And they’re right. You’re the bravest person I’ve ever met.”

“Can you tell us what happened?” Veena asked.

Archie Jr. relaxed his hands as if he’d just realized he’d been clenching them. “I shot Dad,” he said. “I knew it was wrong, but…I had to do something. When Mom found out, she asked where I’d gotten a gun, and I’d found it in Ms. Maya’s bag but I didn’t want to get her in trouble, so I lied and said I found it near school.”

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