Page 44 of Defenseless
“Do you recognize that?” she asked.
It had been years since Sabina had seen anything of her mother’s. When they’d first gone into hiding, she and Kara had kept one picture each—one Uncle Mike had had of the three of them. Over the years, hers had become worn and tattered and several years ago, she’d put it away. After even more years passed, she’d stopped taking it out altogether.
Hesitantly, she clicked the attachment. An image filled the screen, and she frowned.
“You don’t recognize it?” Ava asked, coming to stand behind her.
“No, I do,” Sabina said. “It was her engagement ring from my father. But she never wore it. It had their first names engraved on the inside and the date of his proposal. That’s probably how the police linked it to her.”
“Hmm,” Ava said, shifting behind her.
“What, ‘hmm,’” Sabina said, swiveling around to look at the woman.
“It’s not a smoking gun or anything, but it’s odd that the only piece of jewelry to show up is a piece she never wore.”
Sabina inclined her head. “I agree, but I’m not sure what it means.”
Ava hesitated then pulled a chair over and took a seat. “I hope you don’t mind, but I went through the crime scene photos that Gina O’Rourke sent over in her files.”
Sabina drew back. She didn’t mind. In fact, she’d expected it. But anticipating it happening andknowing it happenedwere two different things. Seeing the concern on Ava’s face, she quickly shook her head. “Of course I don’t mind,” she said. “I’m not sureIwant to see them—although I probably should have a look—but I did expect you all to review them. We’d hardly be doing our jobs if we didn’t.”
Ava reached out and wrapped her hand around Sabina’s wrist. “That doesn’t mean it’s easy,” Ava said.
Sabina looked into the woman’s compassion-filled eyes and wondered how she could be a whiz with the computerandincredibly insightful with humans. Slowly, Sabina nodded. “It’s not. But living this way for the past eighteen years hasn’t been easy either. I’ve done a lot since that night—a lot with my life—and I’m proud of what I’ve accomplished. I love my job and know I’ve done good in the world. For the longest time, it was easy to tell myself that was enough. And itwasenough.”
“Until the sexy Chad Warwick walked into your life,” Ava said with a grin.
Sabina’s eyebrows shot up.
Ava snorted, not a sound Sabina would have expected from her. “You two are about as subtle as a new starlet at her first awards ceremony.”
“I have no idea what that means,” Sabina said, holding back a laugh. “Aren’t up-and-coming actors and actresses usually kind of humble?”
“Oh, honey,” Ava said with a shake of her head. “There is so much about life you don’t know.”
“I’d argue it’s Hollywood and I don’t need to know.”
Ava dipped her head. “There is truth to that, too. But there’s this passive-aggressive thing a lot of new actors do…they try to bring attention to themselves by being humble.”
“Or they actually are humble?”
“Some are. But some want the media to talk about how charming and self-effacing and humble they are. Because you know…media? And for those who’ve been in, or around, the business for a long time, it’s pretty friggin’ obvious when they start to play that part.”
Sabina stared at her team member then shrugged. Ava knew more about that world than she did. “Okay, what were we talking about?” she asked, wanting to get back to the original purpose of the conversation.
“You and Chad.”
Sabina shot her a flat look. “We were not talking about me and Chad. We were talking about the crime scene photos of my mom.” She didn’t even know if there was a she-and-Chad. Sure, he’d been attentive. And he didn’t appear to be holding her verbal fuckup against her. But he also hadn’t spoken to her alone since they’d arrived at HICC that morning.
Ava rolled her eyes. “Right. So, do you want to see what I saw, or do you want me to tell you? Either way, I will completely support you,” she said.
Sabina needed to look at the photos. She knew she did. But she also knew it would be better for her to do so—at least the first time—when she was alone. “For now, tell me.”
Without skipping a beat, Ava answered. “You said your parents split when you were twelve, so when I saw the picture of the ring that had been submitted as evidence, I thought it was weird. I pulled the photos of the scene and, the thing is, your mother waswearingjewelry when she was killed. And not cheap jewelry, either. She had a thick chain necklace with a garnet pendant. Garnets aren’t the most expensive stone, but it was huge and, well, frankly, stunning. It would have been worthat leastas much as the ring. But not only that, she had on two other rings. One was a large ruby—”
“Her birthstone,” Sabina said. “Her mother gave it to her when she finished her Ph.D. And the second ring had two sapphires, separated with a baguette diamond. Mine and Kara’s birthstones.”
“Birthstones?” she asked, emphasizing the plural.
