Page 102 of Is Anyone Listening?
"Jeff killed Natalie," I told him. "He admitted it to me. And other women, too, lonely women who had no one to look for them."
"There must be a mistake."
"There's not. There's evidence in that box, and probably on the locket on the floor, which belonged to Natalie."
"She's right," the deputy next to the box said. "There's a bloody scarf, human hair, and a bunch of other jewelry."
"It's not possible," Tom said. "No, this is wrong. She's trying to set Jeff up, tell a story to sell her podcast. She's a liar."
"Stop," Finn ordered, his commanding voice shutting down Tom's panicked ramble. "You need to step back, Tom. You can't investigate this. Jeff is your brother. It's a conflict of interest."
"I'm the sheriff. I decide who investigates."
"Not this time," another man said as he came down the stairs. "Deputy Mendez will be running this investigation, Tom. I want this scene secured. Every piece of evidence needs to be documented, and we'll need statements from everyone here." He paused, then turned to me. "I'm Mayor Brennan."
"Cassidy Clarke."
"You look like you need medical attention, Ms. Clarke."
"I'm okay. I just want to make sure that Jeff Holloway is arrested and that his brother can't let him go, that he can't bury evidence, can't try to pin this on me."
"I will make sure this investigation is run by the book," the mayor said. "Can you tell us what happened?"
"Yes, tell us what the hell happened," the sheriff said forcefully.
"Tom," the mayor warned. "Stay out of this."
"I came down here with Dorothy. She was going to give me photos of my family, but then the doorbell rang, and she went upstairs. While she was gone, I looked around for the photos. I opened that box, and I saw Natalie's locket. I had it in my hand when Jeff came down the stairs. Her initials are engraved on it, and she was wearing it in photos that I saw of her. I knew it was hers. And when Jeff saw me holding it, he knew I'd figured that out."
I waited for Tom to interrupt, but he was surprisingly silent. "There are other items in the box," I continued. "And Jeff told me that there were other women." I paused, feeling sick and in pain, but I had to get the words out. "He was preying on lonely women who had no family, who could disappear without anyone asking questions. I think Dorothy was giving him some information, but he said she didn't know what he was doing with that info."
My breath caught in my throat. "He was going to kill me. I was going to disappear like the others. But I couldn’t let him get away with murder. We fought, and, somehow, I was able to grab a wrench and hit him over the head with it a couple of times. Then Finn showed up."
"This can't be," Tom muttered. "This is wrong—all wrong. There's been a mistake."
"No mistake," I said forcefully. "Your brother is a killer, and he said it's always been women who look like Natalie, like me, and most importantly, like Lily. He said he was in love with your high school girlfriend, and she rejected him, and she left him."
"She killed herself," Tom said. "This is crazy. Why are you talking about Lily?"
"Because Jeff was talking about her,” I told him. "And you know I'm not lying. Jeff also said other things, too, that you and my grandmother have been trafficking women for years. He figured out where you moved them to be picked up, and he intercepted them, picking off the ones he wanted to fill the void in his life."
Tom opened his mouth, but no words came out. "None of that is true."
"It's all true." I leaned forward, putting my hands on my knees as the pain in my head sent a wave of nausea running through me.
"That's enough, Tom," the mayor interrupted as the paramedics came down the stairs. "We'll get a complete statement after someone takes a look at you, Ms. Clarke."
Jeff suddenly groaned as his eyes flickered open, and he took in the scene in confusion. One of the paramedics moved to him, while the other came to me.
"Why don't we go upstairs?" the EMT suggested to me.
I was afraid to leave, still terrified they'd cover up this crime like all the others.
"I'll make sure nothing is tampered with," Finn assured me.
"Okay," I said, allowing myself to be taken up the stairs as I heard Jeff telling them that I attacked him.
That almost sent me back down to the basement, but I told myself that Jeff couldn't lie his way out of this. It wasn't his word against mine. There was proof of his crimes, and he was going to have to answer for them, and there was no way his brother was going to be able to cover for him.
