Heather(96)

Iris runs a tender finger along the edge of the photograph. “This is Sabrina. Until I had you, I loved her more than anyone else in the world.”



* * *



Late that night, when the house is dark and silent, Blair drives back to the cairns in the woods. Her neighbors have left their Christmas lights up and they cast an uncanny glow on the street as she slips in to the car.

The construction site is quiet in the dark, all the machinery gone still. This time, she’s come prepared with a trowel, the same one her mother used from their garden, and digs until she finds the metal box. She lifts the letter out, walks to the river’s edge. She tears the letter into so many small pieces before dropping them into the water. She stands over them until every last pale dot of her mother’s confession has disappeared.





CALLIE


Annabelle’s mug shot makes Callie wince. A woman curled into herself. Lips pressed together. Eyes narrowed, glazed over with fear. This is not the woman who bent over the senior citizens and their knitting, or who presided over the PTA bake sale. Quotes from neighbors vary: She’s a good woman, I can’t believe this, to I always knew there was something off about her. Commenters on the articles, the forums, are more ruthless. How could someone do this? I’ve been trying to conceive for five years with no luck. It makes me SICK that someone like this gets to have children. Life is not fair. The only fair thing is if she’s given a lethal injection!!! UGLY BITCH, UGLY INSIDE AND OUT!!!

Adrian makes her stop reading when she spirals this way. He can tell by the look on her face when she’s been lost to the articles, the Reddit pages, the TikTok videos for too long. The internet thrives on the ugly, the lurid, the least-nuanced understanding of any given situation. She knows that, and yet. She needs to measure it, needs to know exactly how cruel the world will be, a kind of penance for what she did.



* * *



Frank stops into the office the day after the arrest.

He claps his hands. “Look at you, cracking the impossible case. Good work, Hauser. I knew you’d do well here.”

“Yeah, well. I really didn’t do much. Healy and his team made the solve. But Frank…” She figures she’ll run it by him. The theories on Sabrina, now that everything is out in the open. She wants to test Jane’s statement, that Frank would never rat on one of his own guys, test her theory that Frank nudged the case aside to protect one of his friends. “There’s more to the story. Annabelle’s sister, Sabrina. I think she was murdered. Annabelle hasn’t seen or heard from her since the day before she gave birth. I went to see Annabelle. Before … before her arrest. She confirmed that the bracelet that was photographed in the files belonged to her sister, not to her, and Sabrina Riley had been wearing it before she disappeared.”

She finds it strange that Frank doesn’t react to the news, that Callie found Annabelle before Healy’s team did. Just shakes his head, shrugs. “So the girl lost it. By all accounts, she was careless. Reckless. It’s a coincidence, not evidence. I’d think you would know that difference better than anyone.” In the bullpen a phone rings. Frank cocks his head.

“Third call since I’ve walked in. Press?”

“Yeah.” Healy has promised Callie that there’s no need at this point to release her name as a relative of Baby Doe, and yet she’s been living in fear of a leak. She pushes the thought aside. “Della’s telling them that we’ll make a statement once we have more information, that they can call Healy’s people if they want more info. Reporters, and also assholes pretending to be reporters trying to dig up some details to post on their YouTube or whatever. But back to Sabrina … This bracelet was precious to them. They fought about it. It had belonged to their mother … I just don’t think she’d lose it.”

“Another head case, that one.”

Callie grits her teeth. She hasn’t seen this side of Frank before, blithe and dismissive. The phrase head case rankles her and it takes effort to keep her tone measured. “I don’t think we can just call them all crazy, Frank. I think Sabrina Riley was murdered. I have a notebook of hers, new evidence…”

Frank slaps his hands against her desk.

“Hauser. You’ve got to focus. We have real problems to solve in this department. The ongoing drug crisis in this community. People need you to lead. Not chase down some high-flying fantasy about a thirty-year-old supposed murder case that you’ll never be able to solve. But this drug thing? It is affecting real people. Right now.”

A few weeks ago Callie might have felt mortified. The dressing down, the office door open, anyone able to hear. Instead, she feels angry. This is her office, her job, her case.

“Frank, I appreciate all of the guidance you’ve been giving me, and your passion for what you do. But with all due respect, I have a lot of work right now, so if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to do this job the way I see fit. Maybe you should check in with your family. See what help you can offer them. God knows they need it.” She hadn’t meant to raise her voice, doesn’t realize how loud she’s spoken until she notices the way everyone out in the bullpen has gone still, listening.

“Yes Chief,” Frank says, his voice low, blue eyes bright with anger.



* * *