A man falling into dark waters seeks a momentary footing even on sliding stones.
― George Eliot
KaraLynn pressed her lips together, her eyes narrowed. When her arms came up, crossing over her chest, Sam saw the futility of questioning her further.
“Why don’t you go back to the holding cell?” He nodded toward the uniformed officer, who stepped forward and clasped KaraLynn by the biceps, helping her out of the chair—and keeping a tight enough hold on her to ensure her obedience.
The room remained quiet except for Cici’s chattering teeth, which spread, causing her body to quake. Sam inched his chair closer and wrapped his arm around her, rubbing her arm with his palm.
“Unrecognizable?” Cici managed to stutter past her trembling lips. She closed her eyes, despair settling over her features.
“So…the murders, the money laundering at the firm…” Frank began. “The link is Lydia and Roland’s child.” He shook his head. “I could’ve told KaraLynn myself that Peter would never have been involved with Lydia romantically. He…he didn’t like girls.” He licked his lips. “We assumed that’s what caused his death. Not suicide but murder.”
“That a hate group of young men, feeling they were sanctioned by the Catholic Church, drowned your brother because he was gay?”
Frank dropped his head. “That was the best theory at the time.” His voice was raspy with emotion. “It wasn’t an uncommon occurrence then.”
Cici slid out from under Sam’s embrace, reaching forward to clasp her father’s wrist. “I don’t think that’s the case.”
She shot Sam a look, and Sam placed his hand on her thigh, giving it a gentle squeeze. Whatever Cici decided, he would support her.
She licked her lips. “I have visions.”
The words echoed through the room, seeming to ripple over the walls.
“All right,” Frank said, hesitant.
Cici settled her hands in her lap, burrowing closer to Sam. He’d been as skeptical as her father in the beginning. He’d hurt her when he had shut her down. That was obvious by her slight frown and the dimming of her eyes now.
“At first, they were dreams sent by Aci.”
Frank jolted at the name of his other daughter.
“She wanted me to find her killer. She knew I wasn’t safe until…” Cici waved her hand. “Well, I wasn’t safe then, so she fed me information. It took some time, but she and I finally got better at communicating because her ability to interact with me grew and she could send me images, even short replays of interactions between others, when I was awake.”
“So, your reasoning for Peter’s death is because of jumbled pictures in your head?”
Frank’s skepticism bordered on disrespect. Sam sat forward, but this time Cici squeezed his hand. He clenched his jaw but settled back—for now.
“Yes. Though I’m not sure who sent me the images of Peter with Lydia Walker.” Cici explained the entire scene in detail to Frank, whose eyes widened and locked on her as she spoke.
He nodded. “I remember that storm. At first, I thought Peter lost his footing and fell into the acequia because of it.”
“But the boot-print bruise on his back negated that theory,” Cici said.
“Yes.”
“I’ve reread the report,” Sam said. “And I agree, based on Cici’s visions and Roland’s remembrances, that your brother didn’t commit suicide. He was murdered. But not by a hate group.”
Frank’s body fell back against his chair as all color drained from his face. His eyes turned darker, like pits of despair in the otherwise stolid and fleshy exterior. “You think my ex-wife killed my brother.”
“It’s our working theory, yes.”
Frank’s hands fisted. After an interminable pause that had Sam’s shoulders tensing, Frank rasped out, “What would she gain?”
“She got revenge against the man who ruined her sister’s life,” Sam said, his voice quiet. “Except she killed the wrong man.”
“You think KaraLynn…” Frank snapped his mouth shut.
“Based on what we’ve gathered, we think Nelson started laundering money through the firm about the time KaraLynn headed out to Santa Fe—and met you.”
“Because she wanted me to take the fall for the money laundering,” Frank said. He rubbed his eyes as exhaustion dug deep into the lines around his eyes and mouth. “Once she found out about Nelson’s illicit activities, she decided to seduce then frame me, Peter’s brother.”
Sam nodded. “This whole scheme has always been about revenge.”