Her Frozen Cry (Detective Amanda Steele)

“Where were you?” Trent looked at Bethany.

“I stepped out for a few minutes,” she said.

Isaac went on. “Tony came in to pick up Beth for lunch, and I was running around like mad and wanted to end this poor labradoodle’s suffering. The owner was having a complete meltdown too, which didn’t help things in the waiting room. She was taken into an exam room with her dog. Long story short, I really didn’t want to leave the woman. I feared for her well-being, in all honesty. She was acting hysterically, and I didn’t want her passing out or having a heart attack or something. I stuck my head out of the room and saw Tony. I asked him to retrieve the pentobarbital from the locker. I gave him the codes, told him where he’d find it, and he went and got it.”

It sounded like this woman was quite attached to her dying pet, and even worse, Amanda didn’t like the direction this conversation was headed. It certainly wasn’t looking good for Tony. He had access to the drug that killed his wife and Eve Kelley. “So Tony returned with the pentobarbital?” Goosebumps were spreading across her flesh.

“He did.”

“Why didn’t you leave him with the woman and get the drug yourself?” Amanda longed to poke holes in the man’s story.

“I suppose I could have. I just wasn’t thinking.”

“You weren’t thinking because she’s your freaking mistress!” Bethany spat. “Might as well tell them everything.”

Isaac clenched his jaw and flushed red. He didn’t need to add verbal confirmation to his wife’s claim. The body language did that.

That might explain why Isaac emphasized the woman’s mental and physical state. He probably made it sound much worse than it actually was. “So you sent Tony Bishop to get the pentobarbital,” Amanda began, “but how do you know he took out more than what you’d asked for?”

“I know what he handed over, and I recorded that later in the day. There is missing pentobarbital, and the only person who had access to the locker besides myself and Bethany was Tony.” When he finished speaking, Isaac looked at Bethany.

“There’s no way my dad killed her,” Bethany said, wiping her wet cheeks. “None.” Bethany met Amanda’s gaze. In that moment, Amanda saw the young girl who used to babysit Lindsey, but she couldn’t allow herself to get swallowed up by nostalgia—especially not now.

Amanda ran through the possibility that her former friend had killed his wife. He stood to inherit New Belle, among other financial perks—but only if Alicia died before successfully removing him from her will. He had access to her bottles of Sleep Tight. He had changed his career, upheaved his life, for what? And if Tony had killed Eve Kelley too, was it something to do with her lawsuit threatening the welfare of the business? She had it served just days before her death. And his alibi for the morning of Eve’s death could be contested. A mistress claiming he was with her wasn’t exactly airtight. “Sometimes the people closest to us aren’t who they seem,” she said, shaking as she spoke.

“Are you going to arrest him?” Bethany’s voice was on the edge of a cry and held the desperate note of shock and grief.

“We will need to speak with him,” Amanda said firmly.

They left the Wagners and the vet clinic, and returned to the car. Trent was the first to speak.

“No wonder she didn’t call you back. She knows her dad did this.”

Amanda faced her partner. “No. You don’t even know that.” She was still grasping to believe in Tony’s innocence. Why, she didn’t know, when the evidence seemed to be pointing a finger at him.

“Come on, Amanda. You have to see how guilty he looks. We can’t put off bringing him in anymore.”

She hated that she was in this position—that Tony Bishop had put her there. She’d trusted him, and it bit her in the ass. “I know. We’ll get the arrest warrant, and bring him in.”