“For letting me come in and give Hope that movie.”
“Like I had much of a choice. You were standing outside my building already.”
“You called me over earlier during the movie. What did you need?”
“Never mind. I did it myself.” I silently laughed.
He took a seat in the chair next to me. “My mother took off for Paris today.”
I looked up at him from my sewing machine. “What? Why?”
“Apparently, she had a talk with the girl this morning that Joshua is shacking up with. Come to find out, she was the one who she hired to spy on Flourishing and she just so happens to be the one that told Joshua everything. My mother paid her off and then fled the country. According to her, now that the girl has her hush money, Joshua doesn’t have a leg to stand on.”
I looked at him in confusion. “But why did she leave to go to Paris, then?”
“To escape the limelight of what’s about to come. Even though people will think he’s making the story up, she didn’t want to be here to answer any questions from the press.”
“So she ran and left you and Coco to handle it?”
“Yep. Mother of the year again. I have a bad feeling about all of this and I feel like there’s something she isn’t telling us.”
“Like what?”
“I don’t know. I haven’t figured it out yet.” He sighed.
I could see the anger and worry that consumed his eyes. Even though he’d never admit it, I could tell he was hurting.
“Enough about that. You seem to be feeling better.”
“I’m am. I’m still really tired, but overall okay.”
“I should get going so you can finish Hope’s costume.” As soon as he got up from his chair, his phone rang and he answered it.
“What!” he spoke in a panicked voice. “When? My God, I’m on my way over.”
He ended the call. The look on his face was terrifying.
“What happened?” I asked.
“That was Coco. Joshua was murdered.”
I cupped my hand over my mouth in shock.
“I need to get to Coco’s house. The police are there, questioning her.”
“My God, Jack. I’m sorry.”
“I’ll talk to you soon, Lorelei.” He walked out the door.
****
Jack
This was unbelievable. I hailed a cab and went straight to Coco’s brownstone where the flashing lights of a police car lit up the normally dimmed area. After stepping through the door, I headed straight to the living room and found my sister sitting on the couch crying while two male police officers questioned her. I ran to her side and she threw her arms around me, sobbing.
“Clearly, you can see she’s upset. Can you please come back tomorrow?”
“I’m sorry. You are?”
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“Jack Sutton, her brother.”
“We apologize, but we have to ask where she was around six p.m.”
“What? Are you serious?”
“I’m sorry, Mr. Sutton, but we have to check all possible leads.”
“Coco, where were you?” I asked her.
“I was at the office.”
“Were you alone, ma’am,” one of the officers asked.
“No.”
“May I have the name of the person who was with you?” The officer took a pen from his pocket.
She hesitated for a moment and looked at me.
“Garrett Sullivan was with me.” She turned to the officer as she spoke.
“Why was Garrett at the office on a Saturday?” I asked.
“Thank you, Miss Sutton. We’ll be in touch if we have any more questions. We can see our way out.”
Coco stood up and took in a deep breath. “That’s a lot of work trying to make myself cry and fake being upset.” Dabbing her eyes with a tissue, she walked over to the bar area in her living room and poured a glass of wine.
“Would you like some?” she asked.
“No. What I would like is for you to answer my question.”
Chapter Forty-Three
Jack
I threw back my glass of scotch as Garrett walked into the living room. I slammed my glass down on the bar and pointed my finger at him as I walked towards him.
“How fucking dare you!” I yelled.
“Jack, stop!” Coco screamed.
“You’ve been sleeping with my sister and you didn’t tell me!”
“Jack, calm down.” He put his hands up.
“Don’t you dare tell me to calm down!” I threw a punch at him.
He stumbled back and held his jaw.
“Do you feel better now, friend?” he asked in a calm tone.
I went to throw another punch.
“Jack, no!” Coco grabbed my arm and held me back. “I swear I will never talk to you again if you don’t stop.”