“I think she was embarrassed to tell people what was happening,” Ben said. “It felt like the ground beneath her feet wasn’t steady.”

“Was Caro meeting you the morning she died?”

“Yes. She was supposed to drop something off for me.”

“A memory card?”

“How the hell did you know that?”

“When I went to the police, they showed me a list of what was on my sister when she died,” I said. “There was a memory card zipped into the pocket of her leggings.”

“I was supposed to pick it up from her,” Ben said. “But Theo came to the house early that morning and freaked Caroline out. He overheard her talking to me on the phone—I don’t know how much he heard, but Caroline was terrified. He wasn’t supposed to get back from his trip for another day. She texted me that she’d come down to my building, even though she wasn’t feeling well. She’d been having heart palpitations. That bastard killed her.”

“You were going to her house?”

“A couple of blocks away. Caroline didn’t want the in-laws knowing.” Ben stared into the distance, his jaw tight. “Theo showing up changed everything.”

“What was on the memory card?”

“Evidence,” Ben said.

I could feel my own heart rattling the cage of my chest. “Evidence of what?”

“Theo is a criminal,” Ben said. “The entire Thraxton family is a criminal organization. Caroline wanted me to be able to prove it.”

CHAPTER 24 DEIRDRE

CHAPTER 24

DEIRDRE

Ben stared at me, clearly eager for my reaction. I took a sip of water.

“Is this about them keeping two sets of books?” I asked.

His jaw dropped in open astonishment. “Caroline said she only told Jude and me. How do you know about it?”

“Jude knows?” I countered. My heart dropped to the concrete floor of the outdoor café and bounced back, bruised.

“How do you know?” he repeated.

“Caro sent me a memory card with hundreds of photos. Last night, I discovered there were spreadsheets on it too.”

“I guess that was her insurance policy,” Ben mused.

“I don’t understand why the Thraxtons have two sets of books.”

“They’re money launderers,” Ben said. “They have a long history with crime. That story about Theodore Senior winning his first big hotel in a poker game is bullshit. He was involved with criminals, and they needed a fresh face to run their scam.”

“Was that what you meant last night? When you said what my sister was up to was illegal?”

He nodded. “She knew what the Thraxtons were doing, and she didn’t leave.”