Page 67 of Little Dark Deeds

I leaned closer, resting my elbows on my knees.“Tell me about it.”

“Her name is Layla.She was playing outside in the back yard, and she’s sure she heard a woman scream.As soon as she heard it, she went inside and told her mother, Chelsea.”

“What did Chelsea do?”

“You’re not going to like the answer.She went to the front yard, and when she didn’t hear anyone screaming, she figured Layla was mistaken.”

“Chelsea didn’t even bother to check and see if Tiffany was okay?”

“She did not.Her baby was sleeping, and she didn’t want to leave the kids alone.”

“She couldn’t be bothered to step away for one minute to go next door and check on her neighbor?”

“I get what you’re saying,” Simone said.“When I was talking to Chelsea, she seemed a bit frazzled.She has two kids and is pregnant with her third.If the baby wasn’t crying, Layla was asking for something.The woman looks like she could use a break.”

“Given she lived right next door, did she know Tiffany at all?”

“Not well.They’d just moved into the neighborhood a month ago.She said the first day, Tiffany came over on move-in day and offered to help them unpack, but Chelsea’s husband declined the offer.Hours later, when they were still pulling boxes out of the van, Tiffany brought over a pizza, so they wouldn’t have to worry about dinner.”

It was just like Tiffany, always putting the lives of others over her own.

“Did Tiffany and Chelsea talk since then?”I asked.

“Not much.”

“So, Tiffany takes the time to offer her help, and even takes them dinner, but Chelsea couldn’t spare one minute to dig a little deeper about a scream she’d heard?”

Simone shrugged.“I understand how you feel.I’m just telling you what she told me.”

“I know you are.I just ...nowadays people don’t check on their neighbors the way they used to do it seems.It’s a shame.”

“I don’t know any of my neighbors,” Hunter chimed in.“Couldn’t tell you a single one of their names.And that’s how I like it.”

“If you heard someone scream, you wouldn’t investigate?”I asked.

“A scream could mean anything.Could be the neighbor is watching a movie or playing a video game.Or ...you know, getting busy.”

Maybe I was the odd one out, the person who couldn’t hear a sound like that and let it go.I’d need to know, to be certain everything was all right.

I wasn’t sure why Chelsea’s decision not to check on Tiffany irked me so much.I doubted it would have changed the outcome.If she had gone over to Tiffany’s house, there was a big possibility she would have put herself in danger, and maybe even her children.

Switching topics, I turned toward Hunter.“I know I asked you to look into Tiffany’s recent clients, but there’s only one person I’d like to focus on today—

Landon Fairfax, the soon-to-be ex-husband of Rylie Fairfax, Tiffany’s recent client.Have you learned anything about him?”

“I know more about Rylie than I do about Landon.They got married when they were thirty, and now they’re in their mid-forties.Landon comes from money.Lots of it.His great-grandfather was a railroad baron.The family’s worth billions.”

“And Rylie?What’s her background?”

“She grew up in a middle-class family.They weren’t poor, but they weren’t well off, either.”

“Where did Landon and Rylie meet?”

“I found an article written a few years ago, talked about how Landon met Rylie at a restaurant when he was in college.She was his waitress.”

“I’ll bet his parents didn’t approve of the match.”

“I’m sure you’re right.Even if they didn’t give their blessing, he still married her.”