THIRTY-FIVE
Amanda banged on the front door after pressing the doorbell twice without luck.
“There might not be anyone home,” Trent said, glancing over a shoulder. “Not like we could tell if he’s parked in the garage.”
He was right, but she hoped he wasn’t. She’d just accepted the fact that she was going to be arresting her former friend under suspicion of murder. Now they were in a holding pattern, and she feared she’d lose the nerve to slap cuffs on him.
She was about to knock again when the sound of the garage door opening stopped her cold. She hustled down the pathway to the garage just as Tony Bishop had turned into the drive.
He stopped the car abruptly, the nose of it dipping to the ground then heaving up. He cut the engine and jogged toward Amanda and Trent. His face was ashen, and he was waving a piece of paper in his hand. “I was looking for you. I went to Central, and you weren’t there.”
“Why not just call me?” she countered.
“Here.” He gave her the sheet of paper, which she took with hesitation.
“What is this? And why didn’t you answer my question?”
“Please just read it.” Tony pointed at it, animated. But it was the tone of his voice and his shaken countenance that really grabbed her attention.
She looked down at the page, holding it for Trent to see as well.
You’re next, in Times New Roman font.
She didn’t know whether to laugh or take this seriously. Succinct and cheesy, like a line in some horror flick where a group of friends get knocked off one by one. Bethany must have warned Tony they’d be coming for him, and he concocted this ploy. “Is this a joke?”
“Is this a—” Tony raked a hand through his hair. His eyes were wild. “This is a threat against my life!”
“Convenient timing.” Trent pushed out his chin, showing no mercy and not making any attempt to be diplomatic.
“We’ve come to arrest you, Tony.” Amanda made a circle with her finger, motioning for him to turn around.
“No. I didn’t do anything. You read it.” He was panicked and frenzied. “First Alicia, then Eve, and now me.”
“You can’t expect that we’d believe—” Trent silenced under her gaze.
“Why should we take this seriously, Tony?” Amanda said, stepping in. “You had access to pentobarbital, and you stole some to kill your wife and Eve Kelley.”
“I didn’t hurt either of them.”
“Turn around. Please.”
Tony held her gaze, then slowly pivoted, putting his hands on his head. She pulled them behind his back, snapped on the cuffs, and read him his Miranda rights.
“I can’t believe you’re doing this, Amanda.”
“Detective Steele.” She pinched her eyes shut just for a second, not believing it either. In less than twenty-four hours, her beloved family friend and sergeant was rushed to the hospital and now she was arresting a former friend.
“Fine, Detective, I’ll cooperate,” Tony seethed. “But my life was threatened. Doesn’t that mean anything?”
“Let us determine that.” Trent was being relentless, and it had the back of Amanda’s neck tightening. If this was anyone other than Tony, Amanda probably wouldn’t even notice.
Tony Bishop was loaded into the back of a cruiser by a uniformed officer who had been there on standby. Amanda told the officer she and Trent would be following them to Central. As Trent drove, she looked at the threatening note she now held in a clear evidence bag.
Trent pointed at it. “So convenient that he presents us with a threat now.”
“You keep saying that but—”
“No buts, Amanda. The guy did this. He killed his wife. He killed Eve Kelley.”
Silence fell between them, which she ended up breaking.
“Why? Give me a reason.” Though she could conjure a couple: money and the freedom to take up with Tina Nash, the nanny. “You know what? Never mind. I can come up with enough on my own.”
“I’m sorry, but the simple answer is he’s guilty, Amanda.”
She met Trent’s gaze just before he turned to look out the windshield and pulled into the lot for Central.
He’s guilty, Amanda.
Trent had also said that was the simpleanswer, yet it was anything but.
Amanda entered the interrogation room with a bottle of water. Tony was already seated at the table and facing the door. He didn’t look at her when she came in. She put the water in front of him, and still he refused to make eye contact.
She sat across from Tony, and Trent sat beside her. She had a file with her that included Tony’s background, a copy of Alicia’s will, a printout of the document on Alicia’s laptop with her intention to remove Tony as a beneficiary, the flagged threats to the bidders, and also the ones sent to Alicia Gordon and Eve Kelley. She had the threat against him in the evidence bag.
“Why do you have me in here like some criminal?” Tony peered into her eyes, begging for redemption.
“The evidence led us to you. You will be charged with killing your wife unless you can give us something solid to make us believe otherwise.”
“It’s right there!” He flailed a hand toward the threat directed at him.
“Before we continue, you need to know that our conversation is being recorded.” She refused to be swayed by hysterics.
“Fine, I don’t care. But whoever killed Alicia and Eve, they must have sent that threat to me.”
“Tell us where you got this.” Amanda pressed a fingertip to the letter.
Tony lifted his gaze from the table to meet hers. “You know what? Why bother? You’re going to believe whatever you want anyway.”
The accusation stung. She’d tried to remain objective from the start. “Please.” She bit back adding Tony.
“I was at work and found it in my desk drawer.”