Page 136 of Take Your Breath Away

“He happened to spot me up that way, maybe he thought my car had broken down or something, and got out to see whether I was okay.” I paused. “The thing is, he saved my life.”

“I don’t understand,” she said.

“Before I get to that, let me tell you why I’m here,” I said. “You’ve made my life something of a living hell the last few years, and—”

“I’ve had every reason to—”

I raised a hand to cut her off. “Let me finish. In your position, I might have done the same. I’d have wanted justice for my sister. Believe me when I say I’ve wanted the same for Brie, but I didn’t have a convenient suspect to focus my attention on. I was … directionless in more ways than one. I wanted to know what had happened to Brie but had no idea where to look. I knew I hadn’t done it, but there was no way to convince you of that. So you went after me. I can’t say that, over the years, I blamed you.”

I took a breath and said, “I’m a little parched.”

Isabel didn’t move for a second, then, realizing I was asking for a glass of water, went into the kitchen and returned with one.

“Thank you,” I said. “Anyway, I don’t know if the news has reached you yet, but the woman you saw from the hospital window, the woman who came to my old place, was definitely not Brie.”

“Who was it?”

“A woman named Candace DiCarlo. An actress. Well, an amateur actress would be more accurate. If you want to know more about why she did what she did, you’re going to want to talk to your brother.”

“Albert?”

I nodded, and told her the few facts that I knew.

“Oh my God,” she said, astonished. “What a complete fool. Didn’t he understand that, in getting our mother’s hopes up, he’d be getting everyone’s hopes up?”

“I think it’s fair to say he didn’t think it all the way through,” I said. “But his little charade ended up backfiring pretty spectacularly. It got someone killed.” I told her that Candace was dead, but left out, for now, who’d been arrested for the crime.

“And there’s more. The person—the people—responsible for Brie’s death also became somewhat unnerved by the possibility that she might still be alive.”

I let that sink in for a minute.

“I see,” she said.

“Because Brie isn’t alive. That was confirmed for me today. Someone was hired to kill her.”

“Dear God,” Isabel said.

“That way, Brie could be killed while the person who hired this hit man was out of town.”

I watched Isabel closely for her reaction.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” she said. “What are you implying? Norman and I were in Boston. Andrew, what are you suggesting?”

“I’m not suggesting anything,” I said. “I’m going to tell you what I know. Because you deserve to know before anyone else.”

Fifty-Seven

Tyler had been brought back to the interrogation room where he’d been interviewed earlier by Detective Hardy. He sat at the table alone. A small bag of potato chips and a bottled water had been left for him. He devoured the chips. He hadn’t had a proper meal since breakfast and his stomach had been growling.

Tyler had no idea what might happen next. He was scared.

The door opened.

A woman carrying a small briefcase entered. She looked to be about the same age as Tyler’s sister. Dark hair and glasses. She was wearing black slacks and a white blouse with a black jacket over it, and when she looked at Tyler she smiled.

“Hello, Tyler,” she said. “My name is Nan Sokolow. I’m going to be your lawyer.”

“Hi,” Tyler said nervously.