Page 21 of Property of Sugar
“Here.” I placed an extra-large mug of coffee beside her, with a straw, of course.
“Thank you,” she said, and remained quiet.
I enjoyed the peace until Whisker called an hour later. “Need you to bring her to the clubhouse,” he said and ended the call.
“Prez wants you at the clubhouse,” I told her and took my mug to the sink. Then I removed the tape from her chest and legs and walked her over to the clubhouse.
“Is Birdie here?” she asked hopefully.
“Don’t know.”
“Sure you don’t,” she grumbled.
“Does it matter? You’ll find out in a few minutes.” I led her through the common room to church. Whisker, Biscuit, Cookie, and the other officers were seated and waiting.
“Close the door,” Whisker said. “We’re not expecting anyone else.”
“What?” Kalani gasped. “Where’s Birdie?”
“I told you we’d let you know when we hear from them,” I said and pointed to a chair. “Sit.”
When I took the seat beside her, she cocked her head to the side. “No tape this time?”
“You won’t make it out of this room if you try to leave.”
She nodded once and turned her attention to Whisker.
“Tell me how you knew Matthew Heinz,” Whisker demanded.
Heinz? So, they discovered his real name.
“I didn’t know him,” Kalani said simply.
Whisker nodded at me. “Slap the shit out of her every time she gives me a half ass answer.”
I got to my feet and pulled her chair away from the table knowing it wouldn’t be long.
“Tell me how you found out about Matthew Heinz.”
“His niece told me about the pictures. I discovered the rest on my own.”
“So you know his niece?”
“No. I attended her birthday party with a friend from work. Hannah told me about her uncle at the party.”
“And you took it upon yourself to kill him?” Whisker asked.
“Yes,” Kalani answered quickly. “Well, I took it upon myself to find out more. I’m not sure if I’d decided to kill him at that point.”
Whisker leaned back in his chair and studied her for several moments. “How long did it take you to decide to kill your uncle?”
“However many seconds it was between hearing my mother’s body hit the floor from my bedroom and seeing her in the living room. Could’ve been the moment I saw her. I’ll say zero to fifteen seconds. Is a range okay?”
What. The. Fuck?
Whisker tilted his head to the side.
Kalani shrugged. “I’m very much okay with murdering my uncle. I mean, a shorter sentence would’ve been cool, but I was still young when I got out.”
