Page 4 of 4th Silence

I wedge myself between them and grab the top box off the pile. This might be just what I need today. A distraction.

From Galishea.

From Darcy.

From dead girls who deserved better than whatever hell they suffered before being dumped on the side of a road, where animals undoubtedly feasted on their dying flesh.

My God.

I set it on the table while the phone continues its assault on my tattered nerves.

It’s going to be a long morning.

The blaring quiets—thank you—and immediately starts again, and everything inside my brain short-circuits.

I move to the credenza, run my fingers along the back of the phone, and yank the plug. The ringing still echoes from the reception area, but not nearly as loudly.

“Thank you,” Mom says. “How annoying.”

“Ha!” Charlie says with pure disbelief.

And then hers starts ringing. She holds it up so we can see the display.

JJ Carrington’s flashing smile lights up the screen under the contact name “The Emperor.”

“Excellent!” Charlie huffs. “He can’t be happy.”

She lowers the phone and stares at it for a split second. “Might as well get it over with.” She stabs at it and lifts it to her ear. “Before you say anything, I’m sorry. My mother just got here. Let me call you back.”

JJ’s voice booms through the line, and Charlie flinches.

“Well,” Mom says, her full throttle indignance smothering us. “If law enforcement had done something sooner, we wouldn’t be in this situation.”

JJ’s yelling intensifies. Suddenly, my terror over Jerome hinting at marriage last night doesn’t seem like such a huge event.

“JJ,” Charlie says, her voice level. “I understand. Believe me, I’m not pleased with her either. But, I have to call you back.”

More screaming, and Charlie gazes at the ceiling, draws a long breath, and does the only thing she can. She hangs up on The Emperor.

“Mom, you’re totally killing me,” she says. “Do you have any idea how hard that man works? His list of cases reaches the sky.”

Before our mother can launch into one of her lectures about subpar police work, I clear my throat and gesture to the boxes. “What is all this?”

“You’ll love it,” Mom says, flipping a lid off one.

As she busies herself unloading files, I glance back at Charlie and her murderous glare. “I’ve got this,” I say. “Go deal with JJ.”

“I appreciate it, however, the best way to do that is to pummel him with information. Which I don’t have.”

“Well,” Mom drawls, “if we’d stop wasting time, I could show you.”

“Ha!” Charlie barks again, and all I can think is my mother might wind up in a body bag tonight.

After my sister bludgeons her.

My head is pounding. Between ghosts of dead women and Jerome’s marriage hint, I’m spent.

I mean marriage?