Chapter 2

“What do you want?”

Meredith stood in the open doorway, blocking Pam’s entrance into Julian’s condo.

“I need to speak to Reeve. If you tell me he’s not here, I’ll just come back,” Pam replied.

“You spoke with him three days ago, when you were here with your search warrant.”

“I need to speak to him,” Pam insisted.

“It’s nine o’clock at night.”

“Reeve is a busy man. Want to make sure I catch him.”

Meredith heard the sarcasm in Pam’s voice and had to stop herself from cursing. Without a warrant, she wasn’t legally obliged to allow Pam inside Julian’s home, but sending her away wouldn’t stop Pam from harassing them.

As Pam entered the spacious living room, Meredith noticed her stepmother’s attention gravitate toward the large windows. The curtains were pulled back and, from that height, the Chicago skyline stood too striking for anyone to ignore.

“Wonder how it must feel to stand here, night after night,” Pam said. “A whole city at your feet.”

Meredith did not join Pam at the window.

“You’re angry at me for doing my job, Meredith. Which, in turn, is motivating you to do and say things that will only cause you harm. I’ve told you this before—you shouldn’t be here.”

“And you shouldn’t be working this case. You and I are related. I told that to your sergeant when I was at the station but for some reason, which I can’t fathom, it’s made no difference.”

Her stepmother didn’t hesitate. “Get me Reeve.”

Closing her hands in tight fists, Meredith turned around to go find Julian.

When she discovered him fully dressed, lying on his bed, she exhaled with relief.

“Pam’s here. She wants to speak to you.”

Julian didn’t move. She grabbed his arm and shook him a couple times. “Julian, did you hear me? Pam’s here. We can’t leave her alone for too long. She’ll start looking around the condo. Get up.”

“I can’t,” he said, still not moving.

“You must.” She started to pull him out of bed. “Have you been drinking? What are you on?”

Julian propped himself onto his elbow, his hand covering his eyes. “I’ve already answered all her questions.”

“And you’ll do it all over again. Just stick to our story. In the last week, since you were released from jail, neither of us has seen or heard from Tatiana.”

“She doesn’t believe us.”

“I know her. If you refuse to speak to her, she’ll do anything necessary to convince the judge to grant a new search warrant.”

Julian sat on the edge of the bed. His head hung between his knees. “I’m going to be sick.”

He vomited on the floor.

“Jesus Christ, Julian.” Meredith went into the en suite bathroom and came out with a wet cloth. She passed it to him. “Obstruction of justice can land someone in prison for three years. I lied for you. I’m not going to let both our lives get fucked because you can’t pull yourself together. Go out there and deal with whatever Pam throws at you.”

Julian managed to get to the living room, and when Meredith sat down beside him on the couch, the reality of his unkempt appearance hit her—he wore a vomit-stained t-shirt and wrinkled, threadbare sweatpants. With his greasy hair and heavy beard, he barely resembled the man she knew.

Julian reached for her hand and laced his fingers through hers.

“Both you and Meredith have told me what happened the day we took you in for questioning, Dr. Reeve. You’ve assured me time and again that you’re unaware of Tatiana’s whereabouts,” Pam began, only to be met with Julian’s stony silence.

“We told you the truth,” Meredith replied. “We’ve got no idea where she is. She took off.”

Pam gestured toward the living room entrance. “I’m sure you haven’t forgotten the state Tatiana was in. She was injured. When she showed up in that hallway, she was naked and could barely stand. I have to ask myself where would she find the strength, let alone the clothes, to make her way out of here.”

“She had her clothes from the night before, the ones she had been wearing when we found her.” Meredith had rehearsed her answers.

Pam turned to Julian. “And she didn’t have a chance to tell you what happened? Who did that to her?”

“Her husband did it. I told you this at the station,” he replied.

“We need to find Tatiana,” Pam emphasized, ignoring Julian’s answer.

He sat so still that Meredith wondered if he had heard Pam. She gave his fingers a little squeeze. A few seconds went by with no reaction from Julian.

“Did Sofia ever mention anyone who you think might have wanted to hurt her?” Pam continued.

“If you don’t have anything new to ask me, don’t bother coming around,” Julian’s said in a harsh tone.

For the last week, Meredith had lived in a mix of exhaustion, fear, and unanswered questions. And she couldn’t even begin to grasp the complexity of Julian’s emotional state. How does one feel after losing so much?

“Would it be OK if I did a quick walkthrough of your home?” Pam asked. “Just to be sure we didn’t miss anything from our search?”

“Detective Sung, the only walking you’ll be doing in my home is back to the front door. I will not give you permission to invade my life more than you already have. I’d like you to leave.”

Pam didn’t seem bothered by Julian’s animosity.

“Am I still a suspect?” he asked.

“We are, at least at this point, dealing with two separate cases—a missing person and a homicide. You’re a person of interest in both of them.”

Pam had started to move toward the foyer when she stopped and turned around. “One more thing,” she said, hands in her coat pockets. “Since we haven’t been able to track down any other relatives, Mr. Thompson has offered to pay for Sofia’s funeral. I’d say that’s more than considerate. But maybe you’d want to pay for it instead, seeing as Tatiana and Sofia are the closest thing you’ve ever had to siblings?”

Meredith had seen Pam’s blank expression before. It was the same vacuous look Pam relied on when she knew she had struck a nerve and wanted to savor the other person’s suffering.

Julian didn’t hide his anger. “Get. Out.”

“Next time I knock on your door,” Pam glanced at Meredith, “she won’t be standing by you.”