going to the juvenile detention facility where Elise was housed. I’d like you to stay here with Jesse, but because I don’t know exactly what’s going on out there, I thought I could use the backup if you’d like to join me.”
“I don’t think you should leave.”
“That’s not an option. Are you going to stay here or come with me? The house is secure; Jesse is safer here than anywhere.”
He closed his laptop. “Your brother would kill me if I let you go out alone, especially after what happened to Agent Donnelly.”
Chapter Thirteen
Felicity put it on the record that she was filing a complaint about how the detectives had handled this case. She laid out the fact that Sean had high government security clearance, a wife and son, that his wife and sister-in-law were federal agents.
“You didn’t have to arrest him. You have no case, only circumstantial evidence.”
Mendez gave Felicity a half smile and shook her head as if the lawyer was a fool. From the beginning, there was something about Mendez that had Sean’s instincts riled. She hated him, and it wasn’t just because she thought he’d killed a woman. There was something deeper there, and he had no idea what or why—if they had any people in common, crossed paths and he didn’t remember her.
Banner said, “Ms. Duncan, your client has the means to disappear and I am confident that I have the right man.”
“Then why even question me?” Sean said. “Convict me and be done with it.”
Felicity put her hand on his arm. He knew he shouldn’t speak, and he knew that he shouldn’t let his anger get the better of him. Now Banner knew how to get under his skin.
Felicity had told him to wait before answering any question and not to speak unless asked a question. She told him to look at her first, get her nod before answering. It didn’t matter, she said, if he knew she’d okay the answer, just that it was a way to slow things down and not say something in the heat of the moment that could be taken out of context.
They went over a bunch of preliminary questions that were irritating, but at least normal, so Sean found himself in a rhythm.
Banner asked, “Did you visit Mona Hill on Monday?”
Sean paused, forced himself to take a breath. Looked at Felicity. Now they were getting into it. “Yes,” he said.
“What time did you get to her apartment and what time did you leave?”
Again, he paused, looked at Felicity, answered. “I arrived about six thirty, take or leave a few minutes. I don’t know the exact time—I landed at five forty-five at the executive airport outside Houston.”
Felicity tapped her pen once. Dammit, he was giving information they hadn’t asked for.
“And what time did you leave her apartment?”
“It was just after eight P.M.”
“How can you be certain?”
“I’m not certain, I said it was after eight P.M.” He paused, looked at Felicity, then leaned over to whisper in her ear. “I have an Uber receipt for both trips.”
She nodded.
“I took an Uber to and from the airport, the exact times will be on my receipt.”
Banner made a note.
“Why did you visit Ms. Hill in the first place?”
Sean didn’t answer. He looked at Felicity. She motioned for him to lean in, which he did.
“Tell the truth,” she whispered. “It’s a legitimate reason.”
He didn’t want to. But they might be able to learn the truth, and any lie would be impossible to prove.
“Ms. Hill called and told me that she had been threatened by a woman we both know and she wanted my advice.”
Banner hid his surprise at Sean’s answer, but not well enough. It’s why Sean’s friends in college hated playing poker with him—everyone had a tell, and Sean was very good at identifying them.
“Who threatened Ms. Hill?”
“Elise Hunt. Also known as Elise Hansen. She was released from jail three weeks ago and Mona saw her twice over the weekend, then found an unsigned note inside her apartment that she believed was from Hunt.”
“Do you have that note?”
“No.”
“Convenient,” Mendez said.
“I told her to take it to the police,” Sean snapped.
Felicity tapped.
Banner said, “What did the note say?”
“I took a picture of it. It’s on my phone, I don’t remember it verbatim. But it was clearly a death threat and signed, ‘Your Worst Nightmare.’”
“How did you know that it was from Elise Hunt if it wasn’t signed?”
“Mona told me she saw Elise in the lobby of her apartment the day before she received the