As we headed into the dining room, Oliver walked in step with us, making the differences between the brothers more noticeable. Where Oliver was six-foot-two and hard-bodied, Cody was five-foot-ten and soft. Where Oliver inherited his mother’s thick blonde hair, Cody hid his receding hairline under a baseball cap. Both possessed the same intense blue eyes that burrowed into your soul, but where Oliver’s were broody, Cody’s were guileless.

Unfortunately I had always been attracted to broody.

“You okay?” I asked Oliver quietly, not wanting to invite the whole family into this conversation.

“To be honest, I’m a mess inside but trying to keep it together for the kids. I don’t know how to act when my wife is falling apart, but someone has to be strong and…” He glanced at Cody. “Never mind.” His lips curled into a halfhearted smile, then drooped.

“I get it. I never know what to say…or not say. I can’t imagine how hard this is for you and Felicity.” Except I could imagine it. I imagined it every hour.

“I just wish we had answers.”

I brushed my hand against his. “Me too.”

The doorbell rang, broadcasting an elegant, eight-note Westminster sequence throughout the house. All our house had was a plain old ding-dong.

“I’ll get it!” Eliot yelled, racing Sydney to the front door.

Only one person showed up unannounced at the Execution Estate these days, and never brought good news. Eliot hefted open the heavy door and stood in awkward silence. The whole family wandered to the foyer with Oliver at the fore.

“Detective Montgomery.” Oliver reached out to shake the plainclothes detective’s hand while Felicity tensed up behind him.

I couldn’t imagine the thoughts tumble-drying in Felicity’s head, but I had an idea just how dreadful they were.

“I’m sorry to bring bad news tonight, but I wanted you to hear it from me first,” the detective said. “We’ve found a body.”

A crash of stemware, then all heads pivoted as Felicity collapsed to the floor.

Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Felicity

Three things occurred every time Detective Courtney Montgomery showed up at my doorstep. First my heart went wild, like an animal clawing its way out of my chest. Then an overpowering nausea erupted in my belly. Lastly my vision blurred, and my world became a Monet painting viewed too closely, sucking me down, down into a whirlpool of gauzy colors. By the time I resurfaced, the panic had drained away but always left a ring of fear.

“You okay, Felicity?” Oliver’s arms steadied me, but the room still wobbled.

“I…um, I’m fine.” I shrugged his hands off of me and turned to Detective Montgomery. “What were you saying?”