“Hi, Eileen.”
“Nicole! Back so soon?” Her eyes drifted downward to the wooden box beneath my arm. “What is—?”
“May I come in?” I asked, my voice shaking. “I need to tell you something, and it might be best if we’re both sitting down.”
“Of course.”
I stepped over the threshold, led the way into the living room, and sat down on the couch, gesturing for Eileen to sit next to me. As she did, I set the box of ashes on the coffee table in front of us.
“There’s no easy way to tell you this,” I began, avoiding Eileen’s eyes, “and I’m so sorry that this is the way you have to find out.”
Glancing up at Eileen was a mistake. It was as if she already knew what purpose I was there for. Her gray eyes watered, and the lines around her mouth trembled. I looked back down at my hands, intertwining my fingers.
“George was murdered.”
There was no sign of response from O’Connor’s wife, so I plowed onward. “The circumstances surrounding this are difficult for me to explain. You understand some of it. You know that he was wrapped up with something suspicious. His righteousness and the amount of illegal activity that he uncovered ultimately led to his death.”
At this point, Eileen released a quiet sob but covered her mouth and gestured with her hand for me to continue.
“Shortly after O’Connor disappeared, I found his body,” I went on. It seemed cruel to burden Eileen with these details, but she deserved the truth. “I should’ve told you as soon as I walked in here earlier today, but I just didn’t have the heart. Anyway, things went awry, and I lost track of him. I spent the day trying to relocate O’Connor.” I pointed to the box on the coffee table. “He was cremated. Those are his remains.”
Eileen bowed over, cradling her head in her hands. Her shoulders shook with the intensity of her grief.
“I am so sorry,” I choked out, working through the fact that my throat had closed up. “If I could have prevented it, I would have, but I didn’t know anything about what was happening until after he was already dead.”
I broke down then, unable to keep talking. For a few minutes, we sat hunched over, coming to terms with what had happened. I hadn’t cried over O’Connor before. Not really. Sure, he had been an outstanding professor and mentor, but under any other circumstances, I couldn’t imagine being this distraught over a teacher.
“Listen, Eileen,” I said once I’d gotten ahold of my overflowing emotions again. “It is imperative that you do not report this to the police.”
That startled her. “What? Why?”
“Because they don’t care,” I stated simply. “You picked up on a couple of those signs already when O’Connor first went missing. The local force works with the people that murdered your husband. That’s why there was no effort involved in the investigation. They covered up his death and ignored me when I told them about the body. Do not contact them. It will only make them aware of the fact that I have been in contact with you, and that is the last thing that needs to happen. Stay oblivious. Stay out of it.”
“How am I supposed to do that in good conscience?” asked Eileen, leaning across me to pluck a tissue from a box on the side table next to the sofa. She dabbed at the tears on her cheeks. “We could go over the local force to the county, or even the state.”
“Give me until tomorrow at least,” I pleaded, exasperated. If Eileen went to the police, it would topple any chance I had of rescuing Wes. There was no way the Raptors would keep him alive if they knew I’d set the state police on their tails.
Eileen took in my tear-streaked face with sad eyes. “What are they holding over your head, Nicole?”
“They have my boyfriend,” I said, and an additional wave of emotions washed over me. “And if I don’t play my cards right, he could end up just like your husband.”
Eileen seized another handful of tissues from the box and used them to mop up my face. “Is there anything I can do to help?”
“Like I said before, the best thing you can do is to stay safe.” I wiped my nose, trying to put myself back together. “I’ll keep you posted as much as possible. With any luck, this will all be over in a day or two.”
Eileen patted my back. It made me feel guilty. I should have been the one comforting her. But for the moment, it was a relief to let someone else take care of me, so I relaxed into the couch and allowed myself a few minutes of quiet.
17
“Dear God, Weston, this would go so much smoother if you would simply answer our questions.”
Flynn was getting impatient. Wes could see it in the way she tapped one black heel against the steel leg of the folding chair, drumming out an irritated rhythm. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath through his mouth. He was tired, but the Raptors were far from finished with him.
“Pay attention,” ordered Donovan, clapping his hands near Wes’s ears.
“I told you,” growled Wes, leering at Donovan from beneath heavy eyelids. “I barely know anything about Nicole’s parents. She was raised by her aunt. Evidently, you and the Raptors are far more informed about Nicole’s family than I ever was.”
“You must have seen it somewhere,” pressed Flynn with an exasperated sigh. “In Nicole’s things or at her aunt’s house.”
“There is no key,” Wes insisted once again. “Or if there is one, I have no idea where it is. I don’t know how many times I have to tell that to you morons.”
“And how many times do I have to tell you,” said Flynn,
