Page 10 of 4th Silence
He squeezes her shoulder. “We’ll both do better tonight.”
She gives him a wan smile. Wishful thinking.
“You drive,” I tell Matt, tossing him my keys. “Meg and I need to come up with a strategy for JJ. And another for Alex.”
“What if we run into Mary?” Meg asks. “Or Fallyn?”
Matt pauses. “What’s Fallyn got to do with this?”
“Maybe nothing.” I relay what Carolyn told us and our assumption about Fallyn being on the Hartman payroll. “That’s why I want our ducks in a row. We may only get one shot at Mary, and we better make it count. If we do encounter her, follow my lead, okay?”
“What are you going to do?” Matt asks.
I flash him a grin. “How many red-blooded women can resist you and your muscles, Mad Dog? You handle Mary. Meg and I will handle Alex.”
He gives a fake shudder. “I feel so objectified.”
Meg laughs, and the sound makes me smile for real.
Haley is horrified that we’re abandoning her. The calls have stopped, though. Thank you, Teeg. I tell her to take the rest of the day off, an early Christmas present. She’s relieved. We sneak out, leaving Mom and Bob to themselves.
I hope it’s not a colossal mistake—a King Kong versus Godzilla-level mistake.
Traffic moves at a snail’s pace, snowplows and pileups making things worse. The only positive is that Meg, Matt, and I come up with a dozen questions and theories to investigate further.
By the time we arrive at Carolyn’s desk, Mom has figured out we’ve abandoned her. My phone is filled with accusatory texts and voicemails.
Wait until she realizes what I had done to her TikTok account.
“I told you, he’s in a meeting,” Carolyn snips, looking at our trio over the top of her reading glasses. “He doesn’t have time to speak to you.”
“We’re not here for him,” I say. We’ve cooked up a story that we need Fallyn’s services. Not a stretch if Mom continues to escalate. And since she’s not answering our texts, we need to make sure she hasn’t handcuffed herself to someone’s radiator. “We’re here to see?—”
“Charlie?” All three of us turn. Alex Hartman strides across the blue carpet toward us.
He and JJ have contests to see who’s the best dressed. The office staff votes. Could go either way today—Alex is rocking his charcoal suit and classy forest green tie.
He hands a file to Carolyn and mutters, “The Galishea Tern wrap-up.” She nods, tucking the file into a stack of others. He pats my elbow. “Here to see JJ?”
“No.” While Mom likes to tackle things with lots of fanfare, I prefer a subtler approach. “First off, let me apologize for our mother’s way of handling this.” I sound more contrite than I feel, but sometimes that’s what the situation calls for. I gesture at my companions. “This is my sister, Meg, by the way, and our lead investigator, Matt. We have an appointment at the courthouse and needed to stop here on the way. I’m glad we caught you. Meg and I had no idea our mother was going to stir all this up.”
When Meg and I were young, we enjoyed watching old cartoons. Wonder Twins was a favorite. To enable their powers, the duo touched their fists together and said, “Wonder Twin powers, activate!” Throughout our lives, we’ve used the phrase as a sort of code when we were up to no good.
It’s like she’s reading my mind, and our voices mingle telepathically. She gives Alex an apologetic smile and lays a hand on his arm. She’s the touchy-feely part of our Wonder duo, and she turns on the empathy. “I’m sure this is a sad time for your family. All this renewed publicity must be hard on you, especially with the holidays approaching. I can’t imagine how distressing it must be, and here our mother is, right in the middle of it.”
For a few heartbeats, he doesn’t move, meeting each of our eyes with a cool appraisal. He exudes privilege and confidence, a man at the height of his professional career from a prestigious D.C. family. As if coming to a decision, he gestures for us to follow him across the hall. “Why don’t we take this to my office?”
Gotcha. Hook, line, and…
Meg gives me a look behind his back. I hold out a fist. She taps it.
“Wonder Twin powers activate,” I whisper. The first stage of our plan, Interrogate Alex Hartman, is underway.
4
Meg
* * *
