Page 27 of I’ll Be Watching You

Margo texted her brother, Ava assumed. Or maybe everyone. Ava would rather share what she knew once than have to repeat it.

Five minutes later, Officer Tony Zanutti approached the car. He carried a manila envelope. “Here are the documents you requested. I’ll see if I can learn anything else for you.”

“Thank you, Tony,” Ava said.

“He’s going to be okay,” Tony said.

Ava wanted to believe it.

Tony glanced around, then leaned closer. “I’ve never seen anything like this before. No one has, not in the middle of the night. If I find out anything, I’ll call.”

“Thank you, I appreciate it,” Ava said. She offered him a small smile, but that was the best she could do.

As soon as Tony stepped away from the SUV, Margo sped out of the parking lot.

Ava pulled out the paperwork. Ken’s small flip-phone fell into her lap.

She stuffed the logs and transfer orders back inside. Her stomach was too queasy to read in the car. She held the phone, not knowing yet what to do with it. She needed just a few minutes to gather herself, to be the strong woman Cooper needed her to be.

Margo said, “Jack, Tess, Luisa, and Nico all confirmed they’ll be at the office in an hour.”

“Okay.”

“No more secrets, Mom. No lies.”

“I’ll tell you everything I know, Margo, but it’s not what you think it is.”

“I don’t think anything, other than you and Dad have been protecting a killer for no reason I can fathom.”

“No. That’s not it.” She took a deep breath, let it out, but didn’t feel any less tense or scared. “We’ve been protecting all of you.”

Chapter Ten

Margo Angelhart

All my siblings were at the Angelhart Investigations office when Mom and I arrived.

Nico said, “I need to get back to work, but Margo said this was an emergency. What’s wrong?”

“Get the day off,” I told him.

“I can’t just—”

Mom said, “Nico, I think you’ll want to.”

If he was worried before, he looked near panicked now. He took out his phone and texted someone.

“Let’s sit in the conference room,” Mom said.

“What’s going on?” Jack asked me quietly.

“Everything,” I said. “It’s about Dad and much more.”

“Is he okay?”

“I think so.”

“Think?”