I give my mother a hug as we meet on the other side of the police line. Her body trembles in my arms while I try to calm her nerves. She witnessed Sophia’s father get shot in the head. Now, her uncle lies before her with the same wound. The detectives cover the body and continue working the scene while my father speaks to the same detective who I just spoke with. We’re off to the side, but I have enough of a view to see what they’re doing.

“Why did you and Dad come down here?”

“The police called to inform us we had a shooting behind the bar. We wanted to know what happened.”

“Sit in the car for now so you don’t have to see David.”

“This is bad, Cove,” she whispers.

“I know.”

“No, you don’t. Number three,” she says. “Death comes in threes, and I’ve been worried sick about our family since Paul’s death. This is number two, so who will be three?”

I help her into the Escalade, and she takes a tissue from her purse to wipe her cheeks free of tears.

“Do you know if Dad met him this afternoon?” I look at my phone and see five missed calls from Sophia.

“No, I don’t,” she says quietly. “He was supposed to at three, what time is it now?”

“Six.”

“He’s been out of the house since two, but there was a slight problem with the check. I received the call from the police as he was walking in the door,” she whispers while keeping an eye on her husband. We watch him shake the detective’s hand and join us at the car. “Clear your head, Cove. I know what you’re thinking and you know your father better than that.”

“I know. What was the issue with the check?”

“Meet us back at the loft, son. Not here. The detective wants us to clear out,” my father says, silencing any further questions before they have a chance to leave my mouth. I nod in agreement and head for my car as my parents drive away.

“Hey, Hav, call me when everything’s taken care of back here, okay?” He waves me on to leave as his dog takes a shit just outside the taped off area. What the fuck was Haverty doing here anyway? I can’t imagine the police called him to come down before the family. Maybe because he’s our head of security? Or maybe he’s friends with some of these guys on the force?

I pull onto the street and look in my rear view mirror at the scene. A body, blood, dog shit, cops... last week a broken window and Ivy’s assault; The Dark Scarlett is starting to live up to its name. I fucking need to change it to something that will bring us a better vibe. Fuck-a-duck, I forgot about Soph. I take out my phone and see I now have eight missed calls. She’s gotta be fuming.

“Sorry, I missed your calls.”

“No shit, Sherlock. The fucking cops called.”

“I know. I just spoke with them.”

“They said there was a shooting behind the bar?” she says in a worried tone.

“I’m just a few blocks from home, I’ll talk to you about it in person.”

“Everything okay?”

I’m quiet for a few moments and listen to her breathing. I hear the door to our terrace slide open and the wind jet against her cell. She’s watching for me as I drive toward our building.

“Cove?”

“Someone may have committed suicide in our back parking lot.”

“What? No shit?”

“No shit, Soph.” I flash my lights, as I’m two blocks away.

“I see you,” she whispers. “You want some tea?”

“Whiskey would be better, but yeah, I’ll settle for a cup of tea to calm my nerves.”

I end the call and pull into our underground parking garage. My father, who was standing by the elevator waiting for me, walks toward my car in a rush. He sets his ass in the passenger seat before I even have a chance to place the car in park. I noticed at the Scarlett that he was in one of his finest suits, overdressed for a humid summer day, and now that we share tight quarters, my nose twinges from his overuse of cologne. It’s like he took a bath in the stuff.

“Fuck, Dad. Did you meet with him today?”

“No, Sophia was supposed to give me the check at two and she wasn’t home.”

“What the hell do you mean she wasn’t home?”

“And where the fuck were you this afternoon, son?”

“I had an appointment with someone downtown.”

“And Sophia wasn’t with you?”

“It was private. Maybe she didn’t answer the door because she wasn’t feeling well. She’s had a lot of morning sickness.”

“No, your mother went inside and checked. She wasn’t home and when we called her cell we noticed she had left it on your kitchen counter, and yours went right to voicemail.”

“Son of a bitch,” I open the car door in a rage and my father follows me to the elevator. “So where did you go? Mom said you were gone for four fucking hours,” I question, locking the car and tapping the elevator button obsessively.

“I waited around as long as I could for Sophia, then went to the Arch to meet with David.”

“Without the check? He could’ve killed you.”

“Not in broad daylight. Besides, he never showed.”

“So someone already got to him at that point?”

“You don’t believe it was a suicide either?”

“Oh come on,” I roll my eyes. “Someone shot the fucker and if the cops figure that out we’ll all be in the spotlight, especially with my interaction with him at Kaitlyn’s house, my broken fingers, and the number of calls that must be on his phone to Sophia. That fucker. This looks bad for our entire family.”

“David would never leave a trail on his phone. I’m sure he has a burner cell for business anyway. He’s too smart not too.”

“Fuckin’ A. Fucking, fuck,” I pound my fist against the elevator wall. “Exactly. He’s too smart, Dad. Which means if someone did this to him, set him up and made it look this good, like a suicide, then we’ve got an even bigger monster on our hands. Fuck! I need to know where everyone was this afternoon. Don’t tell me I’m the only one who has an alibi. Where did you go after the Arch?”

The door opens and my mother and Sophia are waiting for us in the hall. My father steps away without answering my question.

“No, hold on,” I grab his arm. “Answer me.”

“I had business, Cove. Not now. Ask me later.”

My mother walks up to him and unbuttons his suit jacket, then helps him slide it off and drapes the cloth over her arm.

“I still don’t understand why you felt a need to wear a suit to meet him,” my mother says. “It’s summer. You should’ve worn something to the park that wasn’t so suspicious.”

“I didn’t have anything to be suspicious about. The suit was only to show my respect to him, and as you saw at the Scarlett, he was dressed the same.”

“Respect? Really, Dad?”

“Yes, respect. He’s the reason I’m no longer in prison. The man is... was pure evil, and I’m not going to show up in a pair of ripped jeans and a t-shirt,” he looks at my outfit and back into my eyes, “like you.”

“The two of you have been on one another for days. Stop this bickering, please,” my mother begs.

“Sorry,” I whisper. “Mother, where were you this afternoon?”

“Here. I was in my studio, painting, and then I made lasagna for dinner.”

“Did anyone see you?”

“Don’t question your mother like she’s some criminal.”

I shake my head at my father. Never in my life have I lacked so much trust in him. After the Kaitlyn and Ivy incident, and now his afternoon disappearance, I actually doubt his words. I don’t know if I can love him and still have these feelings of uncertainty. What the fuck? My thoughts are mangled in my head. I do love him. I can’t believe I just had that thought. He’s still my father, whether I agree with how he handled his past or not. My skepticism is high, but no, he didn’t kill David. He’d never kill a man.

“Come on, you two, break it up,” she says. “Cove, talk to Sophia.”

“I’d like to speak to her as well,” my father says.

“Well, I’m right here, and I can hear everything you guys are saying. Once again, I feel like I’m in the room and everyone’s ignoring me.”