Free Rosecliff Manor Haunting by Cheryl Bradshaw Page B

down.
    “Rose,” Addison yelled.
    Rose bent down and smiled, pleased to see Addison in the back of the police car at last. “What is it now?”
    “Grace is sorry she spilled soda all over her blue dress.”
    “What … did … you … say?”
    “She didn’t mean to. It was an accident.”

CHAPTER 21
     
     
    The sound of metal bars clanking together in front of her felt like the last nail being driven into a steel, six-by-eight coffin. Addison had never felt so trapped, so helpless, so desperate to taste the kind of freedom she’d always taken for granted.
    Of course, she had no one to blame but herself.
    The details from the night Vivian and Grace died were clearer now, but there were still so many holes to plug. How to plug them was just as much of a mystery as figuring out how Grace fell from the attic window after what now appeared to be Vivian’s accidental death. To get to the truth, she’d need to know the identity of everyone in the room at the time of the twins’ deaths. And to find one person willing to provide her with answers.
    Down the other end of the rectangular hallway, a familiar female voice found its way into Addison’s cell. Lia McReedy, a medical examiner she’d met months before at Grayson Manor. What was she doing here?  
    Addison wrapped her hands around the bars of the cell and shouted, “Lia?”
    Addison heard Lia say, “Who’s in holding?”
    A male voice answered, “Ahh, I don’t know. We busted some chick for breaking and entering. Let’s see … says here her name is Addison Lockhart. Know her?”
    Several seconds later, a perplexed Lia stood in front of Addison’s cell. A few inches shorter than Addison, Lia had chocolate brown hair cut into a bob, and wore colored contacts to accentuate her already stunning blue eyes. Every time Addison saw her, she was always dressed the same way—in black leggings and oversized boat neck T-shirts that showed off her ample bosom while flattering her midsection enough to disguise a small bump Addison assumed wasn’t a pregnancy.
    “How’s your grandmother?” Lia asked. “Are you still telling people you don’t know where she is?”
    “I haven’t heard from her in a while. It’s true.”
    “Even though she covered up what happened at Grayson Manor decades ago, I doubt anyone cares about it anymore. She doesn’t need to stay away. The case was closed months ago.”
    Addison felt the same. Unfortunately, her grandmother didn’t agree.  
    “I’m surprised to see you here.”
    “Why?” Lia asked.
    “I thought you were the ME in Rhinebeck.”
    “I’m the ME for Dutchess County. It includes Pleasant Valley and Rhinebeck.”
    “What happened in Pleasant Valley to bring you here?”
    Lia avoided the question. “You’re the last person I’d expect to see behind a cell. I heard you broke into someone’s place?”
    Addison nodded. “Yeah, it’s a long story.”
    Lia glanced at her watch. “I’ve got time. Maybe I can help you. I have a hard time believing you’re a criminal. Besides, you helped me out of a bad situation once.”
    She was right. Addison had almost forgotten rescuing Lia from a jaded ex-boyfriend months earlier.
    “It sounds a lot worse than it is. I had a good reason for doing what I did.”
    “Which is?”
    “Earlier today, my boyfriend Luke and I were given a tour of Rosecliff Manor.”
    Lia’s eyes shifted from Addison to the floor, and she began gnawing on the inside of her bottom lip. “Why were you on a tour of Rosecliff? I know the owner. Shrewd woman. She’s not the type to open her house to strangers.”
    “You’re right. She had no interest in showing us the house. Then her son Derek showed up, and everything changed.”
    “How does this end with you being locked up?”
    “I returned to the house tonight and let myself in without Rose’s permission.”
    “Why?”
    “During the tour, I wanted to see the attic,” Addison said. “I was told it was locked, that the key had been lost a