“So Ben wasn’t at the scene?”

“No.”

“We found spots of Ben’s blood on the floor.”

I shrugged. “Maybe he was there at some point, but not when I was.”

She glanced down at her notes, conceding the point. “You know we found Ben?”

I straightened. “Where is he?”

“He’s in a rehab center over near Seattle. We questioned him yesterday. He says he left the hospital around noon that day. He went to buy pills from Carlos Martinez at the warehouse. They argued, and Carlos shot Ben.”

My hand flew to my mouth. “Is he okay?”

Agent Hamilton looked at me closely. “He’s fine. He’s lost most of his left ear, but he’s fine. According to Ben, at that point he realized he had a problem and decided to check himself into rehab.”

I stared at her, wondering how much Ben had paid to get someone to change the time he was admitted to rehab.

“Were you able to ascertain why Gabriel Wilson was with Carlos Martinez?”

“From what I could gather, they were involved in an opioid ring. Nate said they’d been arguing about one of their partners, someone called Violeta Williams. Gabe…” I swallowed hard. “He grabbed me and put the gun to my head. We struggled. I managed to get out of his grasp and he tried to shoot me, but Nate jumped in front of me. That’s when he…” The tears spilled over. I sobbed into the tissue for a minute.

“I’m so sorry for your loss, Dr. Sweeney,” Agent Hamilton said softly. “I’m sure we can trust you to give us a call if you think of anything else?”

“Yes. Of course.”

Hamilton and Greene stood. After a brief handshake they left, leaving Kia and me alone in the family room. A long silence stretched between us.

Kia stared at me, her dark gaze malicious. “We found a scarf with Violeta Williams’s DNA on it in Gabriel Wilson’s jacket.”

“Did he kill her?”

“That’s the working theory. You’re sure you didn’t see your brother at the warehouse?”

“Yes.” My voice tipped over into irritation before I could stop it. “Why do you keep asking me that?”

Kia’s eyes narrowed. She didn’t believe me, but she had no evidence to back up whatever theories she was constructing. Ben’s blood and fingerprints had been found in the warehouse, but she couldn’t prove when they’d gotten there. I was the only witness. A doctor. The wife of a murdered police officer. My credentials were unimpeachable.

As far as they knew, Carlos and Gabe had run the drug lab. Their fingerprints were all over too.

“After Gabriel Wilson shot Nate and ran away, you said you heard a shot?”

“Yes. He must’ve… killed himself out of guilt.”

“Was it just one shot you heard?”