The Stone of Sadness (An Olivia Miller Mystery Book 3) by J A Whiting

much about what her brother had to say?”
    “No. He never talked about it much. He’s coming to Howland to visit his sister soon. Would you like me to see if he’d talk to you?”
    “Yes, please,” Olivia said. “You think he would?”
    “He might,” Robin said. “He’s been interviewed now and then when reporters bring the case up. Let’s exchange cell phone numbers and I’ll let you know.”
    Olivia’s temples were pulsing and she rubbed at them, hoping a full blown headache wasn’t in the works.
    “How about another?” Glenn pointed at Olivia’s glass.
    “Oh, no, thanks,” Olivia told him. “My friend should be here any minute.”
    Right on cue, Jackie walked into the restaurant and glanced around trying to spot Olivia. Olivia waved.
    “Here she is now. Nice talking with you all,” Olivia told the group.
    “Take care. See you again sometime,” Glenn told her.
    “Have a nice visit here, Olivia,” Robin said. “Maybe I’ll see you in the park with the dog. And I’ll let you know if Dan Waters will meet you.”
    Tom tipped his glass to her as she slipped off the stool and headed to greet Jackie. The hostess seated them at a booth near the window.
    “Make some new friends?” Jackie asked, opening the menu.
    “Yeah,” Olivia smiled. “They’re real nice.” Olivia rubbed her temples.
    “You getting another headache?” Jackie eyed Olivia over the top of her menu.
    “Maybe,” Olivia said.
    Jackie put the menu down and gave Olivia a serious look.
    “What?” Olivia asked.
    “You’ve been getting a lot of them?”
    Olivia shrugged. “I guess so.”
    Jackie said. “Have you always had trouble with headaches?”
    “Not always. The past few months though.”
    “Why do you think?”
    Olivia drank a gulp of water from her glass then held the glass next to her temple. “I don’t know.”
    “Have you been under a lot of stress?”
    Olivia laughed out loud but it had no mirth in it.
    “Boyfriend trouble?” Jackie asked.
    “No. Not that,” Olivia’s voice was small.
    “You want to talk about it?”
    Olivia sighed. “I guess you don’t watch the news?”
    Jackie looked puzzled.
    “Last year my aunt Aggie was murdered. She was more than my aunt. She raised me since I was one. Everyone said she had a heart attack but I didn’t believe it. In the course of trying to figure out who murdered her, I killed a man. And, almost got killed myself. Twice.”
    “Jesus.” Jackie stared at Olivia.
    “Yeah,” Olivia said.
    “So…did you figure it out? Did you find out who killed your aunt?” Jackie asked.
    “I was on the right track, but I didn’t really figure it out,” Olivia said. “It was more like I got in the killers’ way. They got careless and greedy and that’s what did them in. It was a group of criminals. A father and son. Some guys that worked for them. A State Police detective.”
    Jackie’s eyebrows went up. “A cop?”
    Olivia nodded. “They were moving drugs, smuggling valuables. My aunt crossed their paths and ended up as collateral damage.”
    “Are they all in custody?”
    “The smaller players are. The cop is dead. The father shot his son and he died later in the hospital.”
    “And, the father?” Jackie asked.
    Olivia was sweating. She used her napkin to mop her upper lip. “I killed him,” she whispered.
    Jackie reached across the table and held Olivia’s hand. Olivia dabbed at the tears that were escaping from her eyes.
    “I killed him,” Olivia said. “He attacked me. It was self-defense. He’s the one who killed my aunt. I feel awful about the whole thing but I’m not sorry I did it.” She let out a long slow sigh. “Does that make any sense?”
    “Of course, it does,” Jackie said.
    “The son. He asked me out. I only went once. He was messed up. I know he only asked me out to get information from me. But when I think back on it, he seemed kind of desperate for someone to help him. He kept asking me to meet him. He said he needed to tell me