Deadly Storm (15 page)

“How is Mandy?” Grady asked, studying James’ face the next morning for signs of a rough night. Oddly enough, he looked well rested.

“She’s okay,” James said. “She feels guilty because she wished Ann dead several times over the years, but other than that she’s all right.”

“She realizes that she’s not the one who killed Ann, right?”

“She does,” James said. “The problem is … and I forgot this until she reminded me … but she woke up that night. She thought she heard someone crying in the hallway.”

Grady furrowed his brow. “Do you think someone killed Ann outside of the room where you and Mandy were sleeping?”

“I have no idea,” James said. “I think it’s entirely possible, though.”

“That is … creepy.”

“It is,” James agreed.

“What’s creepy?” Jake asked, walking into the office with an added spring to his step. “I heard what happened to you and Mandy, by the way. I’m sorry.”

“Wipe that smile off your face,” James said. “I know why it’s there, and it’s grossing me out.”

“I thought we were over this, man.”

“We are,” James said. “I’m just … tired.”

“You look like you got some sleep last night,” Grady pointed out.

“We slept a long time,” James said. “We watched movies all afternoon, ate some pizza, and then went to bed really early. I think we both needed the sleep.”

“You slept?”

James made a face. “Do you really think either one of us was feeling romantic after finding Ann dead?”

“You have a point.”

The sound of the bell jangling over the front door caught everyone’s attention, and James shifted in his desk to greet the visitor. He was internally glad it wasn’t a new client. He didn’t know if he had the energy to put on a show for anyone’s benefit. Realizing it was Sophie walking through the door filled him with relief.

“Hey,” James said when she strode into the office. “You look pretty good for a woman who almost died in a horrendous car accident two days ago.”

“I look good every day,” Sophie countered. “You’d better recognize that.”

“You’re saucy today.”

“She gets that way when I force her to remain quiet for twenty-four hours,” Grady said, leaning back in his chair. “She threw bookends at me yesterday.”

“I heard,” James said.

“I said I was sorry,” Sophie said. “I don’t like it when you go all caveman.”

“I wasn’t going caveman,” Grady countered. “Your car flipped on its side. You were tossed into three different trees. You could have died.”

“I didn’t.”

“And we celebrated by spending a quiet day at home,” Grady said. “It was only marred by the flying bookends.”

Sophie rolled her eyes. “He’s such a mother hen sometimes.”

“I’m going to mother hen your ass if you don’t recognize that I love you and I want to take care of you,” Grady snapped, his eyes flashing.

Sophie mimed a chicken, complete with sound effects.

“I’m going to wrestle you down and spank you when we get home tonight,” Grady threatened.

“That’s a turn on,” Sophie countered, causing the room to erupt into laughter and Grady to relax.

“Not that I’m not happy to see you, sugar, but what are you doing here?” Grady asked, deciding to change the subject.

“I got Ann Nelson’s autopsy results a full day before they’re going to be made public,” Sophie said. “I thought you guys would want to see them.”

“How did you get them early?”

“One of the guys in the lab has a crush on me,” Sophie replied, nonplussed.

“Excuse me?” Grady lifted an eyebrow.

“Hey, it’s not like I’m trading sexual favors for autopsy results,” Sophie said. “Chill out.”

“What are you exchanging?”

“Smiles and flirtatious words.”

“I don’t like it,” Grady said, crossing his arms over his chest.

“I watched you flirt with the girl behind the concession counter at the movies last weekend to save fifty cents on a pop.”

“That wasn’t flirting,” Grady said. “I was just discussing how awesome I am with a fan.”

“Whatever.”

“Not that I’m not loving the witty repartee, but what does the autopsy show?” James asked.

“Well, it’s interesting,” Sophie said, taking the seat next to Grady and opening the file. “She was strangled to death.”

“Just like Julie Nichols,” James mused.

“Exactly like Julie Nichols,” Sophie agreed. “Both women showed signs of sexual activity before their deaths, although no fluids were found.”

“That doesn’t necessarily mean anything,” Jake said. “The assailant could’ve worn a condom.”

“Ann also could’ve had sex with the professor in the cafeteria,” James said. “Mandy said they had their tongues down each other’s throats when she saw them. They might have had sex. Just because the professor had sex with her, that doesn’t mean he necessarily killed her, though.”

“Did you talk to the professor at all?” Grady asked.

James shook his head. “I don’t think I even saw him. He wasn’t out in the lobby while we were there, and I definitely didn’t see him after I locked us in the teacher’s lounge.”

“What else did the autopsy report show?” Jake asked.

“Ann’s hyoid bone was crushed, which isn’t unusual in strangulation cases,” Sophie said. “What is unusual is the way it was crushed. There were two different breaks – and another hairline crack.”

“I’m not sure what that means,” James said.

“It means that whoever strangled Ann did it more than once,” Sophie said.

The room quieted.

“Say that again,” James said after a moment.

“The lab tech told me that the coroner believes Ann was strangled into unconsciousness but not killed the first time,” Sophie explained. “At some point it looks like she woke up and she was strangled a second time.”

James’ stomach flipped. “Could she … when she woke up … would she have been able to make any noise?”

“I don’t know,” Sophie replied. “I didn’t ask. Why is that important?”

“Mandy woke up in the middle of the night,” Grady said. “She thought she heard someone in the hallway. She said it sounded like someone was crying.”

“Oh,” Sophie said, making a face. “Do you think Mandy heard Ann dying?”

“It’s a possibility.” Grady looked at James worriedly.

“I don’t want Mandy to know this,” James said, staring at his desk.

“You want us to lie to her?” Sophie looked uncomfortable with the prospect.

“I don’t think she’s going to ask you if Ann woke up in the middle of her death and cried out,” James said. “I don’t want her thinking about this. Not right now. I’ll tell her down the road. I don’t want her dealing with it now, though.”

“Mandy is strong, James,” Sophie said, choosing her words carefully. “She can handle this.”

“Not right now she can’t.”

“I don’t understand,” Sophie said, shifting so she could meet Grady’s gaze. “What am I missing?”

“You know Ann was James’ high school girlfriend, right?”

Sophie nodded.

“Mandy is feeling a certain amount of guilt because she wished Ann dead once or twice … or ten times … over the course of her life. It’s important to note that Ann was really mean to Mandy when they were younger.”

“Oh, please, do you have any idea how many people I’ve wished dead over the years?” Sophie asked, rolling her eyes. “And let me tell you something, I had a way to make people disappear. I don’t feel guilty about any of it.”

Grady swallowed hard. Sophie’s foster father, Peter Marconi, was a notorious figurehead in the Detroit mob scene. He was a good guy – in the grand scheme of things – but he was terrifying when he wanted to be. “Did Peter offer to make your high school enemies disappear?”

“Screw Peter,” Sophie said. “I knew how to hide a body once I hit fourteen. That bitch Becky Landers is just lucky I was too good of a person to fit her with cement shoes and drop her in the Detroit River. I had access to a boat, too.”

“You scare the crap out of me sometimes, sugar,” Grady said.

“Then you’d better not try to lock me in our house again,” Sophie said. “Keep that in mind. I could hide your body, too.”

Despite himself, James couldn’t hold in his hearty chuckle. “You’re the best thing that ever happened to him, Sophie.”

“Oh, I know.”

“I know, too,” Grady said, leaning over and giving her a quick kiss. “Just so you know, though, I’m sleeping with one eye open from now on.”

“That will make the sex interesting,” Sophie quipped.

“Go back to the autopsy,” James said, redirecting the conversation to something important. “Were any skin cells found? Hair?”

“They collected fibers, which is normal, and I do believe some hair was found,” Sophie said. “Now that I know Ann was molesting the professor in the cafeteria, though, I have to wonder if the hair is going to belong to him. He was kind of hot.”

“You saw him?” Grady asked.

“I met him when I stopped at Mandy’s class the night of the storm,” Sophie said. “He was with Ann then. She came over and made a stink about … something … but he seemed more interested in talking about Julie Nichols.”

James leaned forward, interested. “Did he want to know if the police had a suspect?”

Sophie racked her brain. “I guess. Everyone was interested about potential suspects, though. He didn’t seem overly interested. I wouldn’t say that. He seemed curious, and he said it was a tragedy.”

“A guilty person would say that, too,” Jake said.

“So would an innocent person,” James said. “That doesn’t prove anything. Now I wish I had seen this guy that night. I would like to have a feel for him and how he was behaving.”

“He seems like a normal guy,” Sophie said.

“Everyone in that building that night seemed normal,” James said. “Well, for the most part.”

“Let’s break it down,” Jake said. “Go through everyone one by one.”

James rubbed the heel of his hand against his forehead. “Okay. There’s Marian. She looks to be in her late twenties – maybe early thirties. She’s kind of plain looking, and she was in love with me because I’m such a romantic.”

“Oh, good grief,” Sophie said.

“Hey, don’t knock my romantic streak,” James warned, wagging his finger in her direction. “Anyway, Marian seemed more interested in hearing about Mandy and me than anything else.”

“How did she react around Ann?”

James shrugged. “Disinterested. I mean, she seemed loyal to Mandy, but she barely paid any attention to Ann.”

“Who else?”

“I already told you I didn’t see the professor. There were two girls, both in their early twenties, but they were definitely more interested in their phones than anything else. Well … and me.”

“They were interested in you?” Sophie looked dubious. “They hit on you when your wife was right there?”

“They didn’t hit on me,” James clarified. “It was more like they thought I was really hot. I was shirtless, after all.”

“Your ego is miniscule,” Sophie said, rolling her eyes.

“They didn’t act like anything other than normal twenty-somethings.”

“Who does that leave?” Jake asked.

“Mandy’s boyfriend,” James replied, grimacing.

“Who is Mandy’s boyfriend?”

“Some guy who was there,” James said. “I think he said his name was Steven. I can’t remember his last name. I’ll have to ask Mandy. Anyway, we were all snuggled up on the couch and he came over to bug us – even though it was obvious we wanted to be alone.”

“You guys weren’t doing it in front of everyone, were you?” Sophie asked.

“We’re not animals.”

“Are you sure?”

“You’re starting to piss me off,” James said.

“I have a gift,” Sophie said, unruffled. “I’m not scared of you either, just for the record. Peter likes you, but he likes me better.”

“You’re a trip,” James said. “This Steven guy was interested in Mandy. He kept talking about how he thought she was lying when she told him she was married. Apparently they met the day she registered for the class.”

“Did you get any kind of vibe off of him?” Grady asked.

“I got a creepy vibe off of him,” James said.

“Just because he was hot for Mandy?”

“No, it wasn’t just that,” James said. “Although, to be fair, what kind of idiot tries to hold a conversation with two people snuggling under a blanket?”

“Maybe he was just lonely,” Sophie suggested.

“Maybe he was nervous because of the storm,” Jake chimed in.

“He was odd, though,” James said. “He was almost confrontational, but not quite. It’s hard to describe. Finally, I threatened to beat him up to make him go away.”

Grady’s eyebrows shot up his forehead. “You threatened to get in a fight while you were all stuck in there together?”

“He was bugging me.”