Fatal Invasion by Marie Force

Author:Marie Force
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HQN Books
Published: 2018-09-20T16:27:37+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY

SAM THOUGHT ABOUT the insight Marlene had provided. For someone who’d always wanted to be a mother, she didn’t understand the mob mentality that often came with motherhood or the parents who pushed their kids almost to their breaking point in search of elusive athletic or academic scholarships.

Thankfully, her mother had never been that way. She’d had other faults that had come out when her marriage imploded, but at least she hadn’t been overly pushy. Sam desperately wanted to get out there and interview Emma Knoff herself, but since she couldn’t, she called Freddie and passed it along to him and Jeannie to investigate further.

“Got it,” Freddie said. “Will do.”

“Anything popping?”

“Not yet,” he said, sounding tired and frustrated.

“We need a thread to pull, and we need it soon.”

“We’re on it, LT. Lot of ground to cover.”

“I’ll let you get back to it.”

Sam decided to take the chance to reach out to Cleo’s parents and Margaret Armstrong while she could. Using online white pages, she found the phone numbers she needed, and called Cleo’s parents.

The phone rang several times before it was answered by a woman.

“This is Lieutenant Sam Holland, Metro PD in Washington, DC, calling to speak with the parents of Cleo Beauclair.”

“You mean Cleo Armstrong, right?” the woman asked with thinly veiled hostility. “That’s who she really was, and that’s why she’s dead.”

“And you are?”

“Her sister Keely. We’re living our worst nightmare, Lieutenant. We told her this was going to happen if she stayed with Jameson. He had an X on his back, and he took her down with him.”

“It’s possible their deaths had nothing to do with their problems with Duke Piedmont.”

“Right,” she said with a harsh laugh. “Now let me sell you some valuable swampland in Florida. He said he was going to kill my brother-in-law for turning him in to the Feds, and he finally made good on it, taking my beautiful sister too. If you’re looking at anyone other than Duke Piedmont, you’re wasting taxpayer dollars.”

“May I speak with your parents, please?” Sam asked, finding it interesting that Keely hadn’t asked about the children. That would’ve been her first question if Cleo had been her sister.

“They’re not doing well, as you can imagine.”

“I won’t take but a few minutes of their time.”

“Hold on a minute.”

Sam heard low murmurs and rustling in the background before another woman came on the line.

“This is Leslie Dennis. You wanted to talk to me about my Cleo?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Sam said. “This is Lieutenant Sam Holland with the Metro PD in Washington, and I’m very sorry for your loss.”

“Thank you,” she said, sounding tearful. “For years now, I’ve feared that this day would come, but I always hoped it wouldn’t.”

“Was your daughter fearful too?”

“Very much so. She never let her babies out of her sight, except for an occasional outing with her husband. But they never went far. Cleo couldn’t relax if she wasn’t with her kids. That’s what Duke Piedmont did to her and to Jameson. They were always afraid.

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