“You seem bitter.”
Ashley smiled. “I grew up in a boarding school where Miranda worked. In fact, I was born there. I saw my mother every day, but I never knew her. My childhood was not filled with the fondest of memories.” She stood and flattened the material of her designer dress. “My bitterness died with her,” she smiled. “After she died and her work skyrocketed in price, I can assure you my anger faded with every dollar I made.”
“But not your hatred,” Sin said.
Ashley opened her mouth to speak but thought better of it.
Walking closer to Sin, she asked, “Do you believe in karma, Agent O’Malley?”
“I haven’t really given it much thought.”
“Karma is a wonderful thing,” Ashley said; her wine-saturated breath hanging in the air between them. “Her death made me a comfortable woman.”
Sin hesitated and then stood up. “Can you show me her work and help me understand what makes her such a standout?”
“Follow me.”
Sin walked as her guide swayed back into the gallery. Most of the paintings and prints were portraits, all of them stunning.
“She painted some beautiful subjects,” Sin commented.
“That’s what made her special. Her subjects weren’t pretty. She took ugly models and made them beautiful. She said that she painted the beauty within.”
Sin’s mind was spinning. Ugly made beautiful. Something about those words hit a nerve.
“I appreciate your time,” Sin said, “I just have a couple more questions and I’ll let you get back to work. You said you went to a boarding school. Where did you attend?”
“The Water’s Edge Academy in Key Biscayne.”
“Do you ever go down there to visit?”
“Never. I hated that place. As soon as I graduated, I came up here. Besides, the place has been closed for years now.”
“Is your mother’s art big down south?”
Ashley nodded. “Bigger. There is another gallery in Coral Gables.”
“Who runs that one?”
“My brother, George.”
“Are you close, you and your brother?”
“We are the epitome of the dysfunctional family, Agent. No one ever got along. He stays in Miami and I stay in Delray.”
“No contact? You’re only an hour or so apart from one another.”
“It might as well be three thousand miles,” she said. “Christmas and birthday cards, that’s about it.”
“So he never comes to Delray?”
“Oh, I don’t doubt he comes up here. He would fit right in with the culture, but ‘stopping by to catch up’ would not be in his itinerary.”
“One more thing,” Sin said, taking a piece of paper out of her pocket. “Do these words mean anything to you?”
“ ‘Cruelty has a human heart,’ ” Ashley read. She looked up from the paper and shook her head. “No, I can’t say that they do.”
Sin folded the paper, never taking her eyes off Ashley. “All right then, thank you for your time. If I have any other questions, I’ll give you a call.”
Just moments later she was straddling her bike and wondering about the odd meeting that had just taken place.
Sin looked back at the gallery. You’re lying, Ashley. I don’t know why, but I will find out.
14
It was a little after ten when Sin rumbled to a stop in front of headquarters in Miami Beach. She knew she should have headed straight for bed, but she had an itch to organize her notes.
Before even turning the lights on in her office, she saw the red message light blinking on the wall phone.
Turning on the light, she noticed a new smartphone on the table with a note from Evelyn.
I like that woman more every second, she thought.
Checking the wall phone, there were three messages—all from Frank.
Checking the time, Sin called his cell.
“Where have you been?”
“No hello? How’s your day been? What’s your favorite color? Nothing?”
“This is no time for jokes, Sin. The press is having a field day over the lack of information. The rumors are running rampant and getting crazier by the minute. I need you to hold a press conference and calm things down.”
“Let Jack handle the press when he gets here. He’s good at sucking up.”
Frank sighed. “Being polite doesn’t equate to sucking up, Sin.”
“I didn’t say he was polite, just a suck up.”
“Sin, I need you to do this for me—for the Bureau. Like it or not, you’re the face that people are looking for on this investigation. Besides, McGuire and Gonzales got hung up in Charlotte. They won’t be there until sometime tomorrow afternoon, and I scheduled the news conference for eight a.m.”
“Eight a.m.? How did you know I would even get this message before then?”
“I had hoped you’d get the message. But if you hadn’t I’d have sent someone to wake you up.”
“Fine. But I’m not promising I’ll be nice.”
“I have faith that you will be on your best behavior. Now go home and get some sleep.”
Sin was about to hang up when Frank continued, “What happened to your cell phone? When I tried to call you earlier, it said that it was the FBI’s hotline.”
Sin smiled. “Evelyn happened. Goodnight, Frank.”
Seven thirty in the morning came sooner than Sin would have liked. She had put off heading for the news conference for as long as possible. She checked her notes, shoved them in her back pocket, resigned herself to what she needed to do, and stepped off the houseboat onto terra firma.
She saddled her bike and headed for the inevitable. Along the way she kept thinking: Just a press conference. It’s no big deal.
Riding up, she saw the crowd for the first time. It was bigger than expected. Pulling the Harley up to a bank beside City Hall, she breathed a sigh of relief. Rand was nowhere near the platform.
Sin stepped off her hog, removed her gun belt from her saddlebags, and strapped on her pearl-handled revolvers. Her confidence rose as she cinched the buckle. By leaving the belt loose, when she let it go, the weight of the .45’s allowed the belt to hug her hips.
She strutted to the building with an air of quiet
