“Ms. Romero, are you aware that your sister came to Manhattan the week after Derek Wolfe’s murder to see Rock?”

“No, but it doesn’t surprise me.”

“Has she returned to Montana?”

“I don’t honestly know. I haven’t seen her, and we use our cells to communicate, so I guess she could be anywhere.”

“Why don’t you give her a call right now?” I said. “See if she can meet us here.”

“I’m not sure I should do that.”

“Why not?”

“Because then she’d know I’ve been blabbing stuff she told me. She wouldn’t take kindly to that.”

“We’re going to call her in anyway,” I said. “And if she doesn’t cooperate, we’ll have the police question her. Would you rather she be arrested?”

“You can’t arrest her for getting a voicemail.”

She was right. I’d misspoken in my haste. I glanced at the notes from Lacey. I really should stick to them.

“I’m sorry. I meant questioned by the police.”

“I was wondering about that anyway,” Leta said. “Why am I here? Why didn’t you just have the police question me?”

“Because right now, the police consider my siblings and me suspects in the case. None of us had anything to do with it, of course.”

“How well do you know your siblings?” she asked.

Bam.

Brick to my gut.

I knew Reid well enough. Riley sort of. Rock? Not really at all. But did I think any of them were killers? Not in a million years.

“Very well,” I lied. “My siblings and I had nothing to do with our father’s murder. Besides, I believe you’re here to answer our questions, and you’re being very well compensated.”

But there were people who would want my father dead…and I wasn’t thinking of the myriad associates in the business world he’d pissed off. No, they might want him dead, but they wouldn’t kill him.

But people existed who would.

The people in those blurred images I couldn’t bring to the front of my mind.

Would the fact that I knew make me more of a suspect?

He was dead now, though. He couldn’t point fingers.

Except that was exactly what he was doing.

Didn’t matter. I couldn’t bring the blurs to reality. I couldn’t if I wanted to stay sane. If I wanted to keep my life as I knew it.

I couldn’t.

I cleared my throat. “Is there anything you can add, Ms. Romero?”

“That’s pretty much it,” she said. “May I go now?”

“Not quite yet,” Charlie said.

I regarded her, the silver sparkle in her eyes laced with seriousness. “Do you have more questions?”

“Just one,” Charlie said. “And it’s a big one.”

21

Charlie