“Not particularly,” she admitted. “Have you ID’d this victim?”

He shook his head. “Female, we think, based on the nail polish and the shoes we found.” He pointed to a single stiletto pump in a brazen red color abandoned on the ground. “The fingernails of the one visible hand are a similar red,” Moore went on.

A memory of red nails flashed in Kerri’s aching brain. “Where’s the body?”

“Down there.” The ME pointed into the area that had been the deep end of a luxurious pool.

As she stared into the hole, Kerri swayed. A firm hand gripped her arm and steadied her. Falco was standing next to her.

“We’re assuming,” her partner explained, “the vic was pushed from about where we stand; then freshly mixed concrete was dumped on top of her. The only part of the body visible is the one hand.”

Kerri stared at the hand that extended out of the hardened concrete, as if reaching for help. The nails weren’t particularly long, but they were that deep red.

Did Sela Abbott wear nail polish? Kerri tried to call to mind the numerous pictures of the woman she had seen. If this was her, then who was the victim in the house that had burned?

Kerri swayed again. God, her head was pounding. The likelihood that she had a concussion was becoming clearer and clearer. Damn it.

“I need to sit down,” she admitted.

Kerri pushed away Falco’s attempt to help and staggered from the pool. She left him with the ME and moved toward the steps that led down to a lower terrace with the intention of sitting down.

She didn’t make it.

Before she could stop herself, she had fallen to her hands and knees, and vomit spewed from her mouth.

“You okay, Detective?” one of the crime scene investigators called out.

She couldn’t answer. Didn’t want to look up. The idea that the unis and the crime scene investigators were witnessing her crash and burn had her heaving even harder.

And there was no way to escape what was coming.

That memory of red nails flashed again, and then she remembered. She closed her eyes. Oh hell.

Falco’s boots appeared in her line of sight. He crouched down. “There’s something I need to show you, Devlin.”

She struggled to her feet and dusted off her knees and hands, then swiped at her mouth. “I think the woman in the concrete is Suzanne Thompson. She wore nail polish like that.”

“I’ll let the ME know, but there’s someplace we need to go right now.”

“Have you heard from Jen?” She’d stopped returning Kerri’s texts about three this morning. The last one had said she still hadn’t reached Theo.

Falco shook his head. “I tried calling her but got her voice mail. We’ll deal with that in a minute. There’s something we have to do first.”

Thirty-Third Avenue West

The car stopped moving, and Kerri opened her eyes.

The small house that had stood in this spot was nothing but charred rubble now. A few bricks and cinder blocks. But if all that charred rubble could talk, the tales it would tell. This house was connected to decades of pain and at least one murder.

“What’re we doing here?” Kerri held her head, wished the pain away. The urge to vomit rushed into her throat, and she twisted, shoved the car door open just in time to heave. Those damned dry heaves went on and on.

When her stomach stopped spasming, Falco waited outside her door. “You need water or something?”

“No.” She wiped her mouth with her forearm.

“Come on. We need to talk.”

Kerri dropped her feet to the ground and forced herself into a standing position. Deep breath. “So talk. I feel like hell.”

“First, I need you to tell me what happened at that cabin.” He held her gaze. “All of it.”

She drew in a steadying breath. She might as well get this over with. Falco was her partner. He deserved to hear it from her. “Like I said, I followed York there. He went inside, and I needed to know what he was doing.” Her body trembled with the images that tumbled one after the other through her mind. “He caught me. We argued, and I drew my weapon.”

“Son of a . . .” Falco shook his head. “Did you kill him?”

Kerri nodded.

“Fuck!” Falco walked a few steps away. Hands on hips, he took a long deep breath.

And she’d been worried about him screwing up. Emotion burned her eyes. What the hell was she going to do? This was her mistake; she didn’t have a problem with owning it. But Tori would be the one to pay the most for what she had done.

Falco turned back to her, recovered the ground he’d put between them. “Was it self-defense?”

Kerri allowed those moments to replay once more. “He charged me. We struggled. The weapon discharged.”

“Okay.” Falco reached out, gave her arm a squeeze. “We’ll figure this out. For now, there’s something you need to know.”

It wasn’t his words as much as the regret in his eyes that had a new kind of fear chilling her blood. “What?”

“I came back here yesterday after Cross called with what she’d discovered about the history on this place.”

She steadied herself, swallowed at the bitter taste lingering in her mouth. “I know this already.” He’d come here while she’d waited to see Theo Thompson. It felt like a lifetime ago.

He shrugged. “While I was here, I got this hunch. So I walked this property over and over, and I found something the others missed.” He reached into his shirt pocket. He extended his hand to her, a small piece of what looked like jewelry in his palm.

A tiger. Like a charm from a bracelet or the dangly part of an earring. “What does this prove?” She shrugged even as some latent instinct stirred. The tiger was the mascot of the University of Alabama’s number one rival, Auburn. “Someone is an Auburn fan.”

Definitely wasn’t Amelia. Their whole clan was hard-core Alabama Crimson Tide fans. She didn’t recall seeing either team logo in the Abbott home. This didn’t prove anything. Anyone could have walked across this property and lost . . . whatever it was.

“That was my first thought too. But then Cross called me back and said she had the location where Amelia’s cell phone last pinged a tower.”

Since they still didn’t have anything from the carrier, Cross had agreed to go through a contact of hers to get Amelia’s phone records. The woman was just full of resources. Kerri should be grateful. She was. But just now, she was so damned tired and so damned worried that she couldn’t think straight.

“What does Amelia have to do with this place?” Kerri reminded herself to breathe. Some instinct deep inside warned she did not want to hear this.

“I checked, and Princeton has a tiger mascot too.”

“Why are you doing this?” Fresh hot tears stung her eyes, but she would not buy into his insinuations. Denial shrouded itself firmly around her. She recognized it. “Just say it,” she demanded despite the fact that she didn’t want to hear any more. The intellectual part of her brain wouldn’t stop. “Say it!”

“I asked Moore to check her dental records,” Falco said gently. “Since most doctors and dentists in the area have digital file sharing, it wasn’t difficult.”

She stared at the burned-out house, and the earth shifted beneath her. “No.” The word erupted from Kerri in a long wail.

Falco pulled her against him and held her tight. “I’m sorry, Devlin.”

62

11:00 a.m.

Swanner Residence

Twenty-Third Avenue South

Falco parked in front of Diana’s home. Kerri stared at the house. Tori had spent the night, so she would be inside already. Robby had picked up the twins last evening. Everyone was here.

Everyone except Amelia.

And Jen. Where the hell was Jen? A strange mixture of outrage and fear churned inside Kerri. Jen had been at that house. Had Amelia been in there already? Alive?

Kerri closed her eyes for a moment. This wasn’t about her feelings or what Jen had done. It wasn’t about Diana and Robby’s anniversary. The cake and balloons no longer mattered. There wasn’t going to be a celebration today. Her heart twisted in her chest. Her gut churned violently.

Amelia was the victim who had died in that burned-out house. Anger and hurt ripped through Kerri all over again, making her tremble.

Nothing in this world would bring her back.

Falco was suddenly at her door, opening it. Kerri climbed out, her mind and body numb. They walked together to the front door. Falco knocked.

Robby came to the door, but he didn’t say anything, just opened it and returned to the sofa to sit next to Diana.

The defeat they both wore warned that they understood; deep in their hearts they knew Amelia wasn’t coming home.

“Where are the kids?” Kerri asked, her voice hollow.

“Upstairs playing video games in the twins’ room,” Robby said.

“We should go to the kitchen.”

Robby nodded his understanding.

Kerri’s cell vibrated. She ignored it as they all moved into the other room. They gathered around the table, though no one sat down. “There’s something I need to say.”

Falco touched her shoulder. “Dispatch is calling. I need to take this.”

She nodded, and he went outside.