Page 84 of The Last Girl

Erwin made a face. “No way. That stuff is for people who can’t deal with real life. That is not me.” Her mouth suddenly formed an O, and she made a sound of surprise. “But you know, my roommate, Nola, took Xanax. She had way more problems than anyone knew. Really, really sad story.”

Yeah, and Vera was looking at the poor girl’s biggest one.

“If we have more questions, I’ll let you know,” Bent announced as he stood.

Vera followed suit. Evidently his call was something that wouldn’t wait. Didn’t matter. She wanted Erwin to stew for a while. “Thanks for your time, Valeri.”

As they left the building, the woman in the downstairs apartment with the children was coming in.

“Nice to see you again.” Vera smiled at the children, who quickly lined up against their mother’s legs.

The woman offered a hesitant smile that wasn’t much of a smile at all.

Vera gestured to the man at her side. “This is Sheriff Gray Benton.”

Bent gave her a nod. “Nice to meet you, Ms. ...?”

“Johnson,” the woman said finally. “Kayla Johnson.”

The two little boys hiding behind their mother peeked out, and Bent smiled at them.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t much help the other day.” Johnson looked from her children to Vera. “I had just lost my grandmother, and I was having a really bad day.”

Vera nodded. “I understand. I’m very sorry for your loss.”

Johnson thanked her, then herded her children into her apartment. Vera was glad to know it wasn’t just her less-than-award-winning personality that had made their previous meeting so uncomfortable.

As they exited the building, Vera remembered another thread she needed to follow up on. “Did we learn anything from the other downstairs neighbor? Sam Scott?”

“He was out of town all weekend.” Bent glanced at her. “Sorry, I thought I told you.”

“No problem. It’s been that kind of week.” It was hard to believe tomorrow was Saturday, and they were no closer to nailing down their killer or killers. Damn, it had been a long four days.

“I have another meeting at the office.” Bent paused at Vera’s SUV. “The mayor and the chief of police want to go over the case again.”

Damn, and they’d just had a press conference. But that was the way of things at the top. They wanted results. Fast. No matter the situation. The trouble was, closing a homicide case was rarely fast.

“I’m going home,” Vera admitted. “Where are we tonight?” She hesitated on the sidewalk next to him. “Did I ask you this already?” Her brain just wasn’t keeping up today.

“My place.” He gave her a quick hug. “I’ll cook.”

A grin stretched across her face. “I’m in. See you later.” She hesitated. “Wait, I forgot to ask how that press conference went?”

He gave his head a little shake. “About like you’d expect, considering we still don’t have anything to offer as progress. Nolan Baker was front and center. He wanted to know why you weren’t there.”

She made a face. “Sorry. I’m sure that was unpleasant.”

“Most press conferences are.”

“Look, I think I’ll call Eric for help on getting more information on Quantum Leap, since Erwin didn’t give us anything. I did some googling after I spoke with the attorney, but I got basically nothing. We could waste a lot more hours searching and still find nothing. He has the resources to find what we need far more quickly.”

“You’re right.” Bent nodded. “Do it.”

Vera glanced back at the second floor of the building Thomas Wilton had bought for his assistant. The curtains on the living room window moved. She’d been watching.

“I can’t get past the idea,” she said to Bent, “that Erwin is hiding something, maybe a lot of somethings.”

“She’s back on top of my list,” he agreed. “How about yours?”