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Cedar Creek, Nevada

July 4, 1995 The Day Of . . .

ANNABELLE WALKED DOWN THE STAIRS WITH CHARLOTTE IN THE bassinet, took a deep breath, and opened the door.

“You know the trunk on the BMW is open?” Ellis said before anything else.

Annabelle repositioned the bassinet, transferring the weight to her hip. She nodded. “Yeah, Ellis. I do.”

“Whoa!” Ellis walked through the doorway and into the foyer, staring at the suitcases that filled the space. “You guys going on vacation?”

Annabelle’s pulse quickened. Their chance at a stealth exit was slipping away. Annabelle closed her eyes, turned from the doorway, and carried Charlotte into the kitchen. She placed the bassinet on the kitchen table as Ellis followed.

“Seriously,” Ellis said, letting out what Annabelle considered a nervous laugh. “Are you and Preston going somewhere?”

“Yes,” Annabelle said, opening the refrigerator to grab a bottle of water.

“Where?”

“As far away from this place as possible.”

Annabelle surprised herself with the edge to her voice. Pent-up frustration from the past year with the Margolis family was finally finding its way to the surface, and the recent revelation that Ellis had been stealing firm money and was possibly involved in Baker Jauncey’s death had her at a breaking point—and scared to death that she was alone with her brother-in-law.

“So . . .” Ellis said with a deep furrow to his brow, as if trying to work out the scenario. “You’re going to skip town when you’re a suspect in the hit-and-run death of a Cedar Creek resident? I’m not sure the police would approve of that move.”

Now it was Annabelle who laughed. She came around the kitchen island and smiled in Ellis’s face.

“No, no, Ellis. I guess you haven’t heard. Baker Jauncey wasn’t killed by my car. He was dead before the hit-and-run.”

The furrow left Ellis’s forehead and genuine confusion came over his face. The reaction caused Annabelle to smile bigger.

“The autopsy—” Ellis started to say, but Annabelle cut him off.

“The autopsy is wrong. But don’t take my word for it. Talk with Sheriff Stamos. He’s the one who told Preston and me about it. You see, someone took my car that night and tried to make it look like I killed Baker Jauncey. But here’s where it gets interesting.” Annabelle smiled again. “Sheriff Stamos thinks the same person who killed Baker Jauncey is also embezzling money from Margolis and Margolis.”

Annabelle lowered her voice.

“You wouldn’t know anything about that, would you, Ellis?”

A long pause.

“No, I would not.”

Annabelle turned and slammed the bottle of water onto the counter.

“We know, Ellis! Preston and I know everything. He went through the computers at the firm. He went through your computer, Ellis. Preston knows about everything you’ve been doing. So, I take back what I said earlier. Don’t ask Sheriff Stamos. You won’t have to. He’ll be tracking you down to ask you a few questions.”

Ellis stepped backwards, the fingers of his right hand sliding over the granite countertop as he inched away. Annabelle saw him swallow hard, turn, and slowly walk through the front door. She heard his car start as he pulled out of the driveway.