Page 80 of Winter
Inca nodded at the medical examiner’s question, “Is this the body of Nancy Sardee?”
Knox leaned in. “You need to say it out loud, honey.”
Inca swallowed back the bile in her throat. “Yes. This is my mother, Nancy Sardee.” She looked at them both. “Can I have a few moments alone with her?”
The doctor nodded, and Knox smiled softly at her. “I’ll wait outside for you, sweetheart.”
Inca waited until the door had closed before she stepped closer to the table, placing a hand gently on Nancy’s head.
“I’m so sorry,” she whispered, and fat tears dropped down her face. “This isn’t fair. Not you, Mom. How could you be gone?”
She thought of all the times Nancy had gone on a rant about some perceived injustice, how she would accuse Tyler and Inca of ganging up on her when they would tease her, the way she would give Scarlett the stink-eye when Scarlett was too rowdy. All that energy snuffed out. Inca shook her head. She glanced behind her at the door; it had a window, but the blinds were drawn. She wanted to know what her killer had done to her.
Sucking in a breath, she gently lifted the sheet covering Nancy’s body—and immediately wished she hadn’t. Although the medical examiner had done his best, he could not have concealed the brutal slashes, the deep stab wounds, the unthinkable violence inflicted on her. The horror. Inca was about to pull the sheet back when she noticed, almost hidden amongst the bloodstained skin and stab wounds, bruises on Nancy’s stomach. Someone had beaten her mother before he killed her.
Inca dropped the sheet and stepped back, fumbling for the door handle behind her. She staggered out of the room, hyperventilating. Knox, sitting outside, darted to her side and held her while she tried to get her breathing under control.
“Hey, hey, hey, it’s okay. C’mon. Let’s get you out of here.”
Outside, she found she couldn’t look Tyler in the eye, just nodded when he asked her in a broken voice if they’d made a positive identification.
“I’m sorry, Pops. It’s Mom.”
She expected him to crumble then, but to her surprise, he merely nodded, his expression blank. “Better get me to the airport then.”
At the airport, Knox said goodbye, then gave them privacy as Inca hugged Tyler tightly. He held onto her for a few long minutes.
“You take good care of yourself, Bubba. Will you change your mind about coming with me?”
She shook her head, trying to smile. “There’s things I have to do here, Pops.”
He frowned. “Just be safe, then. Call me later. I should be in no later than seven. I’ll make sure my cell is on.”
She studied him for a few minutes. “I love you, Pops. I wanted to tell you that. And I want you to know that I will be forever grateful for the life you’ve given me.”
He kissed her forehead. “I love you too. You’ll always be my girl. No one could be more like a daughter to me, not even if you were my flesh and blood.”
She waved him off with tears in her eyes. Knox came to collect her, and she looked at him gratefully. In the car, they sat in companionable silence.
At the outskirts of the city, Knox glanced at her. “I’ll drop you off at home, okay?”
“Thank you.”
He nodded. “Look, Inca, we’re gonna catch the guy, whoever it is.”
She looked at him. “Sounds like someone believes a certain someone else is innocent.”
He laughed at her convoluted sentence. “I have questions. Like, if Olly killed Nancy, why the hell was he spotless? There was no blood on his clothing. Nancy had defense wounds—why isn’t Olly covered in bruises?”
“And why would he kill Mom anyway?” Her voice was gruff but determined.
He looked over. “Quite.”
She sighed. “Do you think they’ll let him go?”
Knox shrugged. “If common sense prevails, I hope so. He has alibis for about half the murders in the city. Just wish he’d let someone else know what he was up to earlier. I have to admit, his behavior when he broke up with you colored my vision of him, along with his attitude towards Tommaso and what you told me about the other day.” Inca looked away from his gaze.
“And probably the things you had seen made you hypersensitive to everything, I’ll bet.”
