I had spent the afternoon cooped up in four hundred square feet of compact hotel living, searching online for a defense attorney, all requiring retainers I could never afford. How did any average-income family ever afford a criminal defense team? I kicked myself for losing Owen’s Lexus, because that would have been the first thing I sold to finance my defense. The excessive car payments alone had already used up half of our monthly budget, and the mortgage took up the other half. Now without Owen’s income I was screwed. I needed a solid attorney and cash to pay the bills, and Owen’s life insurance was proving worthless. If the cops ruled his death a suicide, there went the money. If the cops ruled Aria or I killed him, there went the money. The only shot I had of survival was a flimsy house of cards that didn’t tie me or Aria to Owen’s death . . . which seemed unlikely, since I had tried to kill him. They’d find out. They always found out.

It was right before Aria got home from school—she had insisted on going, if only for a respite from crying on the sofa all day—shortly after three o’clock when my cell phone rang. I recognized the number immediately and hesitated to answer.

“Hi, Detective Rossi.” My voice was shaky. At this point every call brought more bad news, and I dreaded what today’s would be.

He was curt. “I need you and Aria to come down to the station. As soon as possible.”

At this point we had been there so much it was starting to feel like a second home.

“Can you tell me what you want to speak about?”

“We’ll discuss it when you get here.” He hung up, and I wondered if that was code for be prepared to get officially arrested.

The detective knew exactly what he was doing. Making me sweat, leaving me wondering, hoping one of us would confess so he could get his A-plus gold star for a job well done. I wouldn’t make it easier on him. I’d show up prepared for anything.

When Aria walked through the door and dropped her book bag on the table, I patted the unmade bed for her to join me. She pushed aside a heap of rumpled sheets and clothes and sat.

“Aria, the police want us to come back for more questioning, but we need to be prepared for whatever they ask. Do you understand?”

She nodded wordlessly.