Page 37 of 2045 Clementine Lane: Catherine

Uncomfortable with the intensity of my physical reaction to her proximity, needing to distance myself from her in every way imaginable, I push us both back to the investigation. “Do you mind if we ask you a few questions?”

“No, of course not.”

If I notice that her green eyes have dampened, I force myself to leave it alone. “Lizzie had two hundred thousand dollars around the room. Do you have any idea where she would have gotten that amount of cash?”

“Clients probably,” she answers with a nonchalant tip of her shoulders. “Lizzie was mistrustful of institutions. Whatever Toni didn’t invest for her, she asked for in cash.”

“You don’t seem surprised by the amount.”

“Ten years working and never owning a bank account?” She looks up at me, her green eyes deep with sadness. “I’m surprised it’s not more.”

Hearing snippets of the conversation, Mani approaches. The flare of resentment that courses throughme at the interruption is surprising, so surprising that despite all the questions I still have, I find myself falling silent and letting him take over.

“We found hydrocodone,Nembutal,Xanax,Ambien, and eszopiclone on Elizabeth’s nightstand. The names on the prescription labels have been scratched off. Were they Elizabeth’s?”

“Definitely the sleeping pills. Juliette and Lizzie don’t…didn’tsleep. Our doctor, Doc. Hinde, prescribes them eszopiclone. I-I don’t know about the others.” When neither Mani nor I respond, she adds, “Toni might. Let me just…”

She moves to walk past me, but I stop her. “That’s okay, Miss Beauchamp. We’ll speak to Antoinette later.”

I hate myself for the dread that slips into her eyes, turning them from the green of fresh-cut grass to emerald. She’s afraid. Of us. Ofme. And, still, needing to return us to a professional dynamic, I push forward. “Do you know where Elizabeth might have gotten the others?” I look at Mani. “The hydrocodone,Nembutal…”

“XanaxandAmbien,” Mani supplies. “That’s just prescription though. We also found cocaine and marijuana.”

I realize my mistake the moment I look back at Catherine. Her eyes seem too bright against her pale skin, made paler by the shocked hurt. “Because I’m an addict?”

“No,” I try to backtrack. But it is too late. “Catherine…”

But nothing more comes out.

I flounder for a moment until Mani takes over fluidly. “As herroommate, Miss Beauchamp, you knew things about Elizabeth that we can only surmise.”

“No.” But the word is so quiet, I lean forward into her space to catch it. “Other than Sascha, I don’t know where she got her drugs from.”

“We don’t allow drugs in the house.”

All heads turn to Antoinette. She is standing just outside the room, looking in, her face set in defiance, her stance ready for a fight. Her long, black hair spills down her front to her waistline, framing dark eyes that snap with fury. The acid-washed bellbottom jeans, halter top, and wedge heels do nothing to detract from her fury.A warrior queen, I think, looking at her.

Her voice is barely civil. “Cat, wait downstairs.”

Stay, is what I want to say.Talk to me. But all I can do is watch after her as Catherine scurries out of the bedroom, her small frame skirting around me as if I’m going to reach out and hit her.

“I don’t appreciate you harassing Cat,” Antoinette accuses the moment Catherine is gone. “Especially considering you most likely know her background by now.”

“It was poorly phrased,” I cede. My voice is firm. But the guilt that rises in me is all-consuming.

“Yes.” Toni’s eyes rake over me, assessing. Judging. “Yes, it was.”

“Miss Rupetta,” Mani cuts in, “we’re just trying to do our jobs.”

She nods, and her dark eyes seem to soften as they refocus. “As far as I know, Lizzie picked up most of the recreational drugs at nightclubs.”

“Sokolov-owned ones?” I ask.

“I could neither confirm nor deny that. I haven’t recreated since Catherine moved in. And I refuse to associate with Sascha Sokolov.”

“What about the clubs Nico Drakos owns?”

“Nico’s not in the drug business. He is exactly what he appears to be.”

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