Relative Malice by Marla Madison, Madison Page A

to be afraid? Maybe someone bothering her or her daughter?”
    Rachel blinked back tears. “No. Nothing like that.”
    “What did the two of you talk about?”
    “She didn’t talk about anything very personal. We discussed Evan mostly, then subjects like current events, books, even politics.”
    Discouraged, Kendall struggled for more pertinent questions. “Did she ever talk about her marriage—how she and her husband got along?”
    “I know she would have liked him to be home more, but she said that’s the kind of man he was, dedicated to his work. She never complained about him.”
    “What about their daughter? Did you get to know her at all?”
    Rachel smiled sadly. “Sienna was a popular girl. Chelsea said she had activities every day of the week and still pulled good grades. I didn’t see her very often, and when I did, she’d come in, grab a snack and head for her room. Your typical teenager.”
    “And the boyfriend, Jeremy, did you see him there?”
    “Once or twice, but I never talked to him. I know Chelsea and Mark liked him, approved of the relationship.”
    “Did Chelsea ever mention Mark’s brother Graham?”
    “Yes. I met him after Mark left for Iraq; he helped out when Evan broke his legs. He was around quite a bit at the time. She didn’t say much about him other than she hoped he and Mark would mend their fences.”
    Maybe Alverson was right—the break-in had nothing to do with the family. She’d forgotten to ask Graham why he and Mark were on the outs; all she had was Betty Ruffalo’s hearsay from Chelsea. His alibi checked out, so maybe the issues between the brothers weren’t important. But she’d have to ask, get his spin on it. She couldn’t believe she’d overlooked it. Stress and lack of sleep were taking their toll.
    “I noticed they didn’t keep photos of the baby around the house. Do you know why?”
    Rachel frowned. “No. I never thought about it. Now that you mention it, that is unusual, isn’t it? She showed me the digital photo frame she kept in Philly’s room, though. Philly was such a beautiful child. And so good-natured.”
    “One more thing—we found a business card from a psychic on Chelsea’s bulletin board.” Kendall glanced at her notes. “Callandra. Was Chelsea seeing her?”
    “I forgot about that.” She sat up with a look of surprised remembrance. “Callandra warned her—she told Chelsea and Sienna to be careful, but Chels didn’t take it seriously. I didn’t either when she told me about it.” Rachel covered her face with her hands. “God, why didn’t she listen?”
    Kendall gave her a minute to blow her nose. “Did she see her often?”
    “No. Just the one time. Sienna and her friends were into the whole occult thing—you know, with all the vampire stuff so popular with the kids, that was the next step for them, especially the girls. She wanted to go to the psychic fair that was in town last spring, but Chels wouldn’t let her go. Chels finally broke down and went with her. Sienna had a reading, then insisted Chels have one, too.”
    “And Mrs. Glausson didn’t take the warning seriously?”
    “No. But her daughter did. Chels told me Sienna was afraid to be in a car after the reading and constantly bugged her about keeping the doors locked.”
    “Were they in the habit of leaving the doors unlocked?”
    “Always. But to pacify Sienna, Chelsea started locking them when she was home alone with Evan and Philly.”
    Was this a bizarre coincidence? Could Callandra have known about the murders by some method other than psychic foreshadowing? If Brynn were Callandra, she hardly seemed like the type who would have any connection to the kind of monsters who would execute an entire family. But you never knew. Kendall had to talk to her.

8
    The five o’clock meeting went much like the one earlier: there was nothing new in the search for the baby; Sienna’s coworkers reported she’d had no enemies; everyone loved her; and nothing conclusive