I inched forward, trying to see where the speaker was before getting closer as the guys hovered behind me at the condo's door. Broadrick tried to grab my arm and hold me back, but we didn't have time for their nonsense.

Brenna's home was a mishmash of styles with nineties corporate, hard-looking couches, and mismatched end tables. It looked like she'd gone shopping at an antique store. But knowing people on this island, they were all horribly expensive antiques or something.

"Mom, stop!" the voice called again, and Dalton pushed past me. He carefully made his way down the hallway with me right behind him.

Stopping a foot away from a room with an open door, he called, "Is there an issue here?"

What a way to announce our presence. How would we get a secret confession now?

Brenna peeked her blonde head out of the doorway and her eyes flared wide when she saw our crew. "I don't know what's going on. Something is wrong with my mother."

"Shut up, Brenna," Hadria called from the room. "Don't tell them anything!"

Tony pushed in behind me, forcing-really, it was all his fault and not in any way my doing-us into the room. In the center of the room, on a king-sized bed, Hadria had a black suitcase open. She launched various pieces of clothing from the closet to the suitcase without bothering to fold them.

"See, Broadrick. Other people pack like me too," I whispered to Broadrick as he stood on my other side. Clearly, she was trying to flee before being arrested, but we were here with zip ties to save the day. Well, our day. Not hers. Her day was about to get ugly.

Hadria tossed a dress into the suitcase.

"What are you doing here?" she demanded of our crew. "You're not welcome here."

"Mom!" Brenna yelled at her mother and turned toward the guys. "She's normally not like this."

Hadria stopped throwing clothing and took a full step out of the closet. She glanced at her daughter, and her shoulders drooped. "It's too late."

"It is." I nodded. Now came the confession part. I elbowed Tony and motioned for him to get his phone.

He pulled out the tiniest cell phone I'd ever seen in my life. The camera on that thing would never get past a grand jury. We weren't losing this murder case because of bad filming equipment. I grabbed my phone from my pocket, turned on the video function, and handed it to him. Fingers crossed he had decent stability.

"I did it," Hadria said. "I killed Melissa."

"Mom!" Brenna yelled and turned toward her mother. She had both hands clutching her bare neck with the non-murder scarf nowhere to be seen.

"Why did you do it?" I asked Hadria. District attorneys always wanted a motive, and I still hadn't figured that part out completely.

Hadria's eyes widened, and she dropped her gaze to the floor. "She wasn't selling my condo fast enough. We needed the money."

Ah. It was the money. In the end, crime always came down to sex, drugs, or money.

"Why a knitting needle?" I asked. That part also got me. What a weird murder weapon.

Hadria's gaze flashed to Brenna. "I... um... I just did. It happened, and I did it. Melissa deserved it."

"Did you get that?" Dalton asked Tony.

He nodded, but my eyes narrowed on Hadria. A tight knot set up shop in my gut. Something was off here.

"How did you fake being on the cruise?" I asked as Dalton walked toward her with his black zip tie in his hand. He paused for her to answer, clearly feeling he had control of the situation.

Hadria took a step back, putting her in the front of the closet again. "No one checks the passengers on the cruise. You're free to come and go as you please. I just never got on board."

Brenna had inched her way toward us, and she was almost in front of the bedroom door.

"No, this isn't right." This was too easy. Her confession too quick. She hadn't even tried to kill us, and she clearly looked shocked when I mentioned the knitting needle, like she didn't know. She'd also flashed a worried glance at her daughter.

I moved to block Brenna's exit in case she tried to run. "Your mom didn't do this. You did."

"What?" she questioned, her deep blue eyes wide in fear. "I would never."

"I told you I did it," Hadria screamed as Dalton blocked my view of her with his ridiculously large SEAL body.

"But you didn't. You're lying." I shook my head. Hadria confessed too easily, and her method didn't match up. Plus, I didn't buy that she wasn't on that cruise. She'd had a sparkle in her eye as she told me about it as if accessing memories. "Brenna killed Melissa and you're covering up for her."

That's the only scenario which made sense.

Hadria forced her gaze to Brenna. The fear in her eyes oozed out and slapped me across the face. This was definitely a mother covering for a daughter. But why would Brenna kill Melissa?

"The two of you are having money troubles. Your mom is over here going on lavish cruises and you're probably buying knock-off ketchup to go in your fake Dooney purse."

"I am not buying fake ketchup," Brenna said with a scoff. I made note of the fact she didn't reject my face purse claim, which seemed like a worse offense, in my opinion. At least on this island.

But why the hell kill the woman who was trying to sell your mother's condo and fix your money problems? "How did it happen, Brenna? Did you wait for Melissa at your mom's home and then kill her when she walked in, or did you get into an argument and kill her accidentally?"

"Don't talk, Brenna!" Hadria yelled like we were miles apart rather than in the same room.

I shook my head. "She doesn't need to. We already have it all worked out. Melissa was a beacon of light on this island. Everyone loved her, and your daughter slaughtered her."

Brenna's face reddened. "Shut up! Melissa was a whore, and she deserved everything she got." She pushed past me, shoving me into the wall.

Broadrick put his hands on my back to stop me from falling. "I got her," he said before skirting my side and ramming Brenna into the hallway wall, stopping her in her tracks. She sank to the floor and tried crawling to the front door, but Broadrick stayed a few inches ahead of her.

"By all reports, Melissa was one of the best realtors on this island. Your mom got an offer on the condo the day you killed her," I yelled. If she'd had a little more patience, none of this would have happened.

Brenna scooted up and sat with her back against the wall. She threw back her head and hit it once, sending the painting above her shaking. "It's not about the stupid condo. Everything sells on the island, eventually."

"Then why?" Broadrick asked. Stealing my question.

Tony had moved into the hallway to get a better angle on my phone camera, and I stuck to his side to stay out of the way.

"I told you I did it!" Hadria screamed from the hallway, but none of us paid her any attention. She shoved her way into the small space, but Tony and I locked positions so she couldn't get through. "Don't say anything, Brenna. It's not worth it."

"Just shut up, Mom! You don't understand. We had true love until Melissa! She ruined everything." Brenna hit her head against the wall again. The painting wobbled, and I worried about her safety. "We were supposed to start a life together, but then I found him with Melissa. She seduced him into betraying me."

I frowned as tears rolled over the edges of her eyes and spilled onto her cheeks. "This was about a man?"