Through the Storm (The Montclair Brothers) Read Free Page A

Drive, in Castle Lake. We're all witnesses," explained Vincent.
    "And that old lady, Vinnie. What's her name?" asked Sean.
    "Angelique," offered Emma. "She should be around here somewhere. She was inside of the house with us when the fire started."
    Sean began to dart his eyes around, looking for her. "We picked Angelique up on the road when we saw her running. When we stopped outside of the emergency room, she got out of the van with us."
    "She probably climbed back inside the van!" exclaimed Emma.
    "No she isn't in there. I parked the van and locked it. I'm the only one with a key." Sean walked around the lobby.
    "Angelique, please come to Admissions," the clerk paged overhead, and then repeated it.
    After ten minutes, the clerk paged again, but Angelique, never appeared.
    "Okay," began Detective Delcan. "We need to gather everyone together and find out exactly what happened."
    "I'll round up Tyler, but I can't promise you that he'll be in any kind of shape to answer your questions," said Vincent as he walked off.
     
     
    The conference room was, basically, an ugly beige closet, with orange plastic chairs. Emma felt like she was cramped inside the van again; they were practically shoulder to shoulder. Her heart broke even more when she saw Tyler. He looked as if he'd aged ten years. He was facing the death of his brother, Jacob, and the love of his life, Renee, as well as the boy he'd grown so fond of, Brian. They still had no word on their conditions. Emma got up and asked Vincent if he'd swap places with her. She sat down next to Tyler and held his hand. His cheek was smeared with blood, but Emma didn't care. She kissed it anyway.  The second she did, she realized that she'd have to muster up enough strength from within herself to share with this man.
    "I have to take this call, Delcan. I'll be right back." Detective Joy got up and stepped into the hallway.
    Delcan nodded, and then turned his attention back to the group. "Tyler Montclair, tell me what happened, from the beginning."
    "My brothers and I own a company a called Montclair Pharmaceuticals. We do summer cookouts to help out charities, mostly the homeless. That's where I first met Renee," Tyler smiled a little as his eyes watered.
    "You and Renee were having an affair? Are you married also?" Delcan slightly shook his head, which the rest of the group immediately spotted.
    "No! We weren't having an affair, and I'm not married. She told me about her husband Robert, and I felt the need to keep her safe." Tyler was starting to become defensive.
    As he talked, Emma realized that the detective was beginning to look at them with more suspicion. Where the hell was Angelique ? She tried to replay the details of their confrontation with the older woman, and the drive to the hospital after picking her up.
    Emma cleared her throat and sat up straight. "When Jacob, Renee, and Brian, wake up, they can tell you what transpired. They were shooting victims, but we were all meant to die in that fire. We have to find Angelique. She's about sixty-five years old, a little shorter than me, with long gray hair." Emma closed her eyes so she could think more clearly. "She was wearing a blue floral top and navy blue slacks. She's thin, almost frail looking. Her nails were polished pink. Angelique didn't knock on the door before coming inside the house. She claimed it was her house, but it isn't. I'm not completely convinced that Robert didn't pay her to start the fire."
    "Excuse me for a second," said Detective Delcan, when his partner motioned for him to step out into the hallway.
    "This isn't looking so good," warned Vincent. "From now on, you guys let me do all of the talking. Before you know it, the cop s will read into everything you're saying…or not saying."
    Delcan and Joy, walked back into the conference room and sat down. They looked at each other, and then at the group.
    "So far," began Delcan, "there is only one person named Angelique in Castle Lake. She's two months old.