Page 43 of The Hive Queen

Josephine shifts in her seat,the hard plastic creaking in protest despite her slender frame. “Everyone I’ve told this to has called me a liar, Ms. Cay.”

“We specialize in monsters more than anyone else alive. Trust us to listen with an open mind.” I rest my clasped hands on the cold metal table and lean closer. “We wouldn’t be here if we didn’t think there was something to your story.”

She licks dry, chapped lips. “You won’t think I’m just aiming for an insanity plea.”

“Josephine.” Sharpe’s sympathetic tone draws the woman’s attention to him. “We aren’t the ones who are in charge of your case. Nothing you say today will be used for or against you in court.”

He points up to the dark camera pointed at the table. “We’re not being recorded. We’re just here to listen to your story.”

Her chin pulls back. “If you’re not here as part of my case, then why should I say anything?”

“Because we hunt monsters.” I take in her rough appearance, like a rose crushed beneath someone’s heel. “From where I’m sitting, you don’t look like a monster. You look like a victim. And if we find this monster, thatwillhelp your case.”

“Fine.” She lifts her hands and settles them on the table, her handcuffs ringing against the hard metal surface. Dark purple bruises mar her delicate wrists beneath the cuffs, though they hang loosely on her. “I guess I have nothing to lose.”

“And everything to gain.” Sharpe pulls out his phone. “Would it be okay if I record your statement?”

Suspicion darkens her eyes. “I thought you said this wouldn’t be used in court.”

Sharpe sets the phone on the table and presses play. “This is Gavin Sharpe with Pen Cay of The Cleaners, who is acting as legal counsel for Josephine Domingues regarding the death of Carlitos Hernandez. Anything said going forward is protected under lawyer-client confidentiality.”

Josephine’s eyes widen as she looks at Pen. “You’re a lawyer?”

“I am.” Though I’m not Josephine’s lawyer.

But she doesn’t make that distinction as she relaxes. “Okay. Yeah. So, I got off early that day. The diner where I work was having a slow day, so they let me off an hour before my shift ended. It was Carlitos’ birthday, and I bought the blueberry pie from the pastry case with my tips.” She gives us a wavering smile. “It was his favorite.”

She takes a shaky breath. “He had texted that he had big news for me. I was pretty sure he had gotten the promotion at his work. It was supposed to be a good day for us.”

Tears glisten in her eyes, and she blinks quickly, turning her sooty lashes into dark spikes. “When I got home, something felt off, you know? Like there was this sense in the air. Something bad.”

She shivers, and her cuffs scrape against the table as she pulls her hands into her lap. “Carlitos wasn’t in the living room where I thought he’d be. One of his teams was playing, and he should have been on the couch cheering them on. I put the pie in the fridge, but something told me not to call out to him. It was thatfeeling. Likeevilwas in our home.”

My pulse quickens, and I lean forward. “Can you explain more about that?”

Josephine’s brow furrows. “Like the air was heavy. And buzzing.” She extends her arms across the table, showing goose bumps from the chill in the room. “All the hair on my arms stood up.”

“What about smells?” Sharpe shifts closer. “Did anything smell off to you?”

She frowns in thought. “Now that you mention it, the apartment smelled sweet. But Carlitos didn’t like me to burn candles, not even the saint ones hismadrekept sending home with him. He was always afraid the apartment would catch on fire.”

I shiver at the mention of fire and touch the outline of the Zippo lighter in my pocket. “Sweet how?”

She shakes her head. “I don’t know. Like that sticky sweetness some candies have, where all you can taste is the sugar.”

I remember the sticky substance found at two of the crime scenes and make a mental note to ask Sharpe if anything like that was found near Carlitos’ body. “Did you notice anything off about the apartment?”

“Nothing really off.” She tries to smile, but it falls away before it fully forms. “It was cleaner than usual, and the table was set with our nice dishes. I think Carlitos was going to order delivery from our favorite restaurant. But he hadn’t gotten that far.”

Sharpe frowns. “No signs of forced entry?”

Josephine shakes her head.

I slip my hand into my pocket to curl around my Zippo. “What did you do after putting the pie in the fridge?”

“A strange sound came from the bedroom.” Josephine looks to the left, trying to remember the details. “Creaking, but also a weird...” She lifts her chained hands and rubs one ear. “It made my ears itch.”

She drops her hands back to her lap. “I walked toward it slowly, and everything felt weird, like walking through static. The sound of cars through the windows got muffled, and I couldn’t hear the neighbor’s TV anymore.”

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