After my husband passed away, my father grabbed me by the hair and dragged me out of my own house while I was eight months pregnant. My water broke as my twenty-four-year-old stepmother laughed right in my face. I didn’t scream. I made one phone call, and only minutes later, they realized they had just thrown away everything they thought they were about to take.

Victoria did not sleep.Every time she closed her eyes, she saw Lucas at his desk, alive and worried, then heard Charles asking why Samantha had lied. By dawn, suspicion had spread through her like ink in water.Samantha arrived with coffee and a new expression.“You heard about Mara.”“Detective Bell told me.”“I expected he would.”“Were you with Lucas at 7:31?”Samantha placed the coffee on the windowsill. “No.”“Mara says she saw you arguing with him.”“Mara saw a woman in a red coat.”“You own a red coat.”“So do half the women in Onondaga County.”Victoria folded her arms. “Did you speak to Lucas that night?”“By phone.”“When?”“At 7:18.”“What did he say?”“He said he was going to the garage. I told him not to go alone.”“Why didn’t you tell me?”“Because I didn’t know if the person watching him was watching you.”“That answer doesn’t make me trust you.”Samantha nodded. “It shouldn’t. Trust is earned through evidence.”Detective Bell entered with a woman in a faded red wool coat. She was in her sixties, with silver hair pulled into a knot.“This is Mara Ellison,” he said.Mara looked at Victoria. “I’m sorry.”“You said you saw Samantha.”“I said I saw someone in a red coat.”“You told Detective Bell it was my attorney.”“I saw her profile.”Samantha said, “You saw my profile from across a parking lot during a snowstorm.”Mara’s mouth tightened. “I was frightened.”“Of whom?” Victoria asked.Mara glanced at the hallway.Bell closed the door. “Tell her.”“A man followed Mr. Gallagher out of the garage,” Mara said. “He wore a company jacket.”“What man?”“I don’t know.”“What did he do?”“He took Mr. Gallagher’s spare key from his hand.”Victoria’s pulse quickened. “Lucas gave someone his key?”“They were arguing. Mr. Gallagher said, ‘You’re finished.’ The other man said, ‘You’ll lose more than a company.’”Samantha’s face went still.“Did you hear a name?” Victoria asked.Mara shook her head. “But I saw the woman.”“The woman in the red coat?”“She was waiting by a black sedan.”Bell showed her a photograph of Samantha.Mara leaned closer. “That is not the woman I saw.”Victoria stared at Samantha.“Then who was she?” Bell asked.Mara reached into her purse and produced a torn receipt.“She dropped this.”The receipt was from a Syracuse auto-parts store. It listed a brake-line kit and a set of ignition blanks.At the bottom, someone had written a phone number.Victoria recognized the last four digits.“That’s Courtney’s number.”Samantha took a photograph of the receipt. “Where did you get it?”“From a trash can outside the garage.”“Why did you keep it?”Mara looked away. “Because the next morning Charles told me to forget what I saw.”“And you did,” Bell said.“I tried.”Courtney called while Bell was still taking her statement.Victoria answered.“You need to stop digging,” Courtney said.“You bought a brake-line kit.”Silence.“Courtney?”“I didn’t kill Lucas.”Victoria’s hand tightened around the phone. “I didn’t say you did.”“Charles told me to scare him.”“How?”“I was supposed to take the spare key and put a tracker in his car. That’s all.”“Why did you buy brake parts?”“I didn’t.”“Mara saw you.”“Mara saw a woman in a red coat. I was wearing black.”“Then who was it?”Courtney’s breathing grew ragged.“You don’t understand what Charles is capable of.”“I understand he forced me out of my home.”“That was supposed to be temporary.”“You laughed when my water broke.”Courtney’s voice cracked. “I was scared.”“You were cruel.”“Both can be true.”Victoria heard a door slam on Courtney’s end.Then a man’s voice said, “Hang up.”Courtney whispered, “He knows.”The line went dead.Bell reached for the phone. “Who was that?”“Charles.”Samantha looked at the receipt again. “The brake kit may be a planted clue.”“By whom?”“Someone who wants us looking at Courtney.”“That’s exactly what you’d say if Courtney were innocent.”Samantha accepted the accusation without flinching. “Then investigate me too.”Bell’s phone rang. He listened, then looked at Victoria.“The black sedan from the garage was found abandoned.”“Where?”“At a private airfield.”“Whose airfield?”Bell stared at the receipt. “Charles Baldwin’s.”