Part 15 (2/2)

”It can't be helped.” Jill climbed inside her front seat, keeping a lid on her temper. ”I know you love your sister, so please come.”

”I don't need you to tell me whether I love my sister or not. I have a life, Jill. I'm not my sister's keeper.”

”Victoria, if you don't come open the door, they'll break it down.” Jill would tell a white lie, if it saved Abby's life. ”You have to come with the keys, as soon as possible.”

”d.a.m.n you! This is a total and complete waste of time.” Victoria hung up.

Jill pressed END, set the BlackBerry down, and slid the key into the ignition. The engine and dashboard clock came to life, glowing a digital 8:03. She had time, but she had to hustle.

She hit the gas, took a right onto Vine Street, then headed back toward Society Hill.

Chapter Twenty-two.

Jill stood in front of William's house waiting for Victoria, while Officer Mendina and a heavyset male cop were knocking on the neighbors' doors, asking about Abby. The block was waking up, and young couples, groups of tourists, and runners eyed the police and their two cruisers, their presence causing a commotion. Suddenly a white BMW steered onto the street and drove toward them, and Jill spotted Victoria in the pa.s.senger seat. Her friend Brian was driving, and Jill hustled toward the car.

Victoria got out when the BMW slowed to a stop, double-parking to drop her off, and her lovely hazel eyes glittered as they surveyed the street. She must have dressed quickly, but still looked put together in a white sweater, skinny jeans, and ballet flats. Her makeup was perfect, and her blonde hair twisted into a tortoisesh.e.l.l barrette.

”What the h.e.l.l is going on, Jill?” she asked, angrily. ”This is a circus.”

”I'm really sorry to take you from your studies.” Jill kept her tone even, still hoping to reconnect. ”If you give your keys to the cops, they can do a walk-through-”

”h.e.l.l to the no.” Victoria turned away, hoisted her purse to her shoulder, and stalked off toward the police, and Jill fell into step beside her.

”Victoria, look, I'm sorry, but-”

”I told you, you can bulldoze your way into Abby's life, but keep out of mine. Now, don't speak to me.”

Jill took it on the chin, and they both walked to meet Officer Mendina, who was climbing down the steps of a rowhouse and slipping a long white pad into her back pocket. She strode toward them, frowning under the patent bill of her cap.

”Dr. Farrow,” Officer Mendina called out, with a wave. When she got closer, she said, ”No one's seen the girl this week, or seen anything else suspicious at the house or on the street, except the day her father pa.s.sed. Do you have the house keys?”

”Right here,” Jill answered, gesturing at Victoria. ”Officer Mendina, this is-”

”Jill, excuse me, I can introduce myself.” Victoria edged Jill aside. ”h.e.l.lo, Officer, I'm Victoria Skyler, Abby's sister. I'm also a law student at Seton Hall, and I object to these tactics by the police. You have no right to break down the door to my father's house.”

”Hold on a minute, Ms. Skyler.” Officer Mendina raised a hand. ”I'm sorry about your loss, and you have my condolences. Unfortunately, you may be misunderstanding our procedure. We're not breaking down any doors. We don't do that unless we know a crime or a medical emergency is in progress.”

”I thought so.” Victoria turned to Jill. ”You told me they'd break down the door.”

Jill's mouth went dry. ”I'm sorry, I told you that to get the keys.”

”So you lied to me.” Victoria nodded, her lip curling. ”You disgust me, you know that? Didn't you say on the phone last night that you'd never lie to me? Wasn't that you? You're the one who called me 'honey,' right?”

Jill felt her face flush, embarra.s.sed. She'd started off on the wrong foot with Victoria and she felt heartsick, wondering if they'd ever be close again. ”Only because I was worried about your sister.”

”She's fine, Jill. I know her a h.e.l.luva lot better than you do. b.u.t.t out.”

”Ladies,” Officer Mendina said, toughening her tone, ”if you want us to do a walk-through, we will. If not, we won't. Make up your mind. What's the decision?”

”No,” Victoria answered.

”Yes,” Jill answered at the same moment.

Officer Mendina looked from Jill to Victoria and back again. ”We're here, we canva.s.sed, so we might as well finish what we started. May I have the keys, Ms. Skyler?”

”Oh, fine.” Victoria dug in a huge black purse, stuffed to the brim with a hairbrush, flowery makeup case, and an orange EpiPen, for her allergies. The sight of it took Jill back to a spring day when the girls were little and she'd taken them on a picnic to Valley Forge. Victoria had been stung by a bee, and before Jill even realized what happened, the self-possessed little girl had slipped her EpiPen from her pocket and was injecting herself with the calm a.s.surance of a surgeon.

Honey, you did that perfectly, Jill had told her, afterwards. You'd be great in an emergency.

Victoria had grinned up at her. I'm going to be a doctor, like you.

Jill banished the memory as Victoria found the keys and handed them to Officer Mendina.

”Ladies, you both wait outside.” Officer Mendina slid out the printed photo from her back pocket and handed it to Jill. ”Dr. Farrow, before I forget, here's the photo you gave us.”

”Thanks.” Jill took the photo, and Officer Mendina left for William's house, meeting up with the other officer on the sidewalk in front.

Victoria frowned. ”Jill, where did you get that picture? It's Dad's.”

”Here, please take it, then. I didn't mean any harm. It was in his laptop.” Jill didn't want to fuss anymore, especially now that the police were walking up the steps to William's house. She found herself in motion, her gut tensing at the thought of what they might find inside.

”Where did you get his laptop?” Victoria dogged her steps.

”Abby lent it to me. She asked me to help her set up a budget.” Jill kept walking, and the officers were unlocking the front door.

”She had no right to give it to you, and you had no right to take it. It belongs to Dad.”

”I'm only trying to help her.” Jill stopped at the sidewalk outside the house, her heart in her throat as the police vanished inside. It killed her not to follow them.

”Please stop telling me about my own sister, whom you haven't seen in, like, forever. You're not our mother anymore.”

Jill felt cut to the quick, but sucked it up. She glanced back at the house, and the front door was closed partway, with the officers inside. ”Victoria, just so you know, Abby came to me, not the other way around.”

”Of course she did, because she's a drama queen, and it's the only way she knows to get attention. She can't do anything right, so she does everything wrong. She can't live on her own. She's a mess, and you have yourself to thank for that.”

Jill took it on the chin, wondering again, what was going on inside the house. Pa.s.sers-by were beginning to stare, making a pedestrian gaper-block. ”Then maybe I can help her now.”

”Too little, too late.” Victoria shook her head. ”She's manipulating you, and you're too full of yourself to know you're playing into her hands.”

”That's not true.” Jill edged over to peek in the window, but couldn't see a thing. ”Victoria, your sister really could be in there, hurt or injured.”

”No way, she's only gone one night, and she sleeps around, don't you get it? She's the crazy chick that men love.” Victoria stepped closer. ”All that talk about Dad being murdered is for attention. He wasn't murdered, Jill. I'm really not shocked, the way Dad died. He worked all the time, and he took meds, so what? I take them, too. It's not that bizarre.”

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