Page 27 of Sean

She rose early and went to the kitchen to prepare breakfast. Having something to do helped and she didn’t want to be a burden on the household. She made an egg casserole and fried up potatoes. She was only an average cook, but she’d missed preparing decent meals for the kids while they’d been on the run. It was good to slice up onions and peppers. Satisfying to see people gobble up what she’d made.

When breakfast was over and everyone scattered for the day, she walked out onto the porch and found Sean on the swing, sipping a cup of coffee. He’d skipped the family meal, coming in halfway through it, sweaty and wearing running clothes.

“Are you hungry?” she asked, leaning against the railing near him.

“I grabbed something earlier.” He was studying her face, which she was sure showed her lack of sleep.

She nodded. She’d asked for his help in investigating her sister’s death, but she didn’t even know how to start. Sean probably would, but she still felt guilty for asking so much of him. She needed to give him another opportunity to refuse. “Sean, if you don’t want to help me, I understand. You’ve already done—”

“I’m helping you,” he said, cutting her off, but his voice was soft.

“Thank you.” She glanced behind her at the ranch. It was beautiful in the morning light. She longed to lose herself in taking pictures, but she couldn’t. “I don’t know where to start.”

“I’ve been thinking about that,” he said. “And you might not like this, but I think we need to interview the kids.”

“I hate to do that to them.”

“I get that,” Sean put his foot on the porch floor and stopped the motion of the swing, “but there’s a reason that Amos gets so upset when adults yell. He was convinced that I was going to make you go away. What if that’s not just a general fear of his parents fighting? What if Amos heard something else?”

She shuddered but she’d already considered the idea herself, and she knew that Sean had a point. A few minutes later, she and Sean were in the kids’ room. Julia sat between them on Lucy’s bed while Sean knelt down to be at eye level. He had good instincts about kids, seemed to intuitively understand that standing over them was the wrong approach. But she had to be the one to start the conversation.

“We want to talk to you about the night before you found out your mommy died. Did anything strange happen?” She looked at Amos, who was shaking his head. “What do you remember?”

“Nothing.” The boy got up and walked over to grab his star book, clinging to it for comfort while Lucy clutched her stuffed horse.

Julia wanted to press Amos, dig deeper, but she was afraid to at the same time. She was exchanging a questioning look with Sean when Lucy spoke up.

“Mommy and Daddy were yelling at each other. Really loud. Saying scary things.”

“What kinds of things?”

“Daddy called Mommy the ‘B’ word that I’m not supposed to know. He said he hated her.” Her little face twisted with fear at the memories.

“Then what happened, sweetheart?” Sean asked, which was good because Julia didn’t think she would have been able to.

“I heard a loud thumping sound. Then it was quiet. I waited for Mommy to come in and check on us like she always did before she went to bed, but she didn’t come. The next day Daddy said she was in Heaven.”

Julia hugged her niece to her. “Thank you for telling us that.” She wanted to ask why Lucy had never brought it up before, but she kept that question for another time. What she could do was reassure both of the kids that they were safe. She made that clear to them and so did Sean.

Fortunately, Kelly came along a few minutes later and leaned her head in the bedroom door. “I’m looking for two little helpers. Any volunteers?” Her tone was cheerful. Julia smiled, feeling enormously grateful to her. Both kids immediately popped up and dashed off.

“Thank goodness for your mother. Do you think they’re all right?” Julia asked.

“I’m not an expert on kids, but they seemed like it to me,” he said as he rose from the floor. He took her hand and pulled her to standing as well. “Is their aunt okay?” He held onto her hand, rubbing his thumb over the back of it.

“I will be once we’ve nailed Wilson. He killed her—I’m sure of it. Must have happened during their fight.” The loud noise could have been Wilson knocking her down or hitting her. Julia wasn’t going to be able to rest until she had answers. “We need more information, but how do we get that?”

“Where did they live at the time?” Sean asked, giving her hand a last squeeze and dropping it.

She missed the warmth and connection to him, but she had to focus on solving her sister’s murder. “In an upscale condo building. Beautiful place—ocean view. Mira loved it when they first bought it. After she died, Wilson moved the kids to a fancy housing development. That’s where I lived with them.” The new house had been grand, even ostentatious, since Wilson was all about impressing the right people. He claimed he was just keeping up appearances, as was expected from the director of the museum.

Sean was pacing in the small bedroom. “In a condo, they would have had closer neighbors than in a house. A neighbor might know something.”

Julia suddenly recalled a conversation she’d had with Wilson. “Wilson claimed that he moved because of a nosy neighbor. The man had filed noise complaints against Wilson and Mira with the condo’s association.”

“Those could have been the fights that Amos subconsciously remembers. What if this neighbor heard the one on the night of the murder? It’s worth asking.”

Julia felt a surge of hope at the idea of getting some answers, but it was soon swamped by disappointment. “Yes, but I don’t know his name. Wilson just groused about the man from time to time.”

---