“Really? You think I might wonder why the man I was sleeping with was investigating me?”
He squinted as he thought. “Right, I can see how that would be funny to find out.”
“Funny?” I bit out.
“Well, to some…it might be,” he muttered. “But I had good reason to think you were a murderer.”
“You mean my step-son put you up to it?”
“Your step-son?” Mary Anne gasped. “Why would he do that?”
“Because he hates me, and he’s a greedy bastard.”
“Just how old is this step-son?” Mrs. Cranston asked. “And what does he do?”
“He’s a wealthy pain in my ass that only wants his father’s company.”
“Do you think he’d be up for a few photos for my collection?”
“He’s not that good-looking,” I said in disgust.
She shrugged. “Well, you can’t be too picky when it comes to billionaires.”
The door swung open behind me and Joe rushed in. “Did I miss it? Is it over? I mean…” He cleared his throat and straightened. “Um…is Kat okay? Sofia, are you okay?”
“You’re too late,” Andrew snapped. “The games are over.”
“Yeah, now we get to hear about the evil step-son that’s a billionaire, but apparently not good-looking enough for Mrs. Cranston’s Facebook group. Oh, and also something about Andrew investigating Lorelei,” Mary Anne said excitedly.
“Maybe you want to take this somewhere else?” I said to Andrew. “Someplace more private?”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Joe said, moving to stand beside Andrew, a scowl on his face.
I rolled my eyes. They all thought I was here to kill him. “How about we make this a Cortell family event? We can go wherever you want to talk. I just want you to hear my side of the story.”
“I’m pretty sure I already know your side,” Andrew snapped. “It was pretty obvious who you were after you tried to kill me multiple times!”
The door opened behind me and I saw Jack and Corduroy step in out of the corner of my eye.
The whole bakery gasped. “You tried to kill him?”
“When?”
“Do you have any tips? My husband is pissing me off lately.”
“I wouldn’t mention that in front of the police,” another person hissed.
“I think they’d be on my side.”
I cocked my head to the side. “So, what’s it going to be? Do you want to discuss this in front of the whole town or privately?”
“Do it in front of the whole town,” Mary Anne said eagerly. “I’ll send out a Facebook message.”
Andrew stopped Mary Anne before she could run off. “I think Lorelei and I need to talk in private…with my family there, of course.”
I smirked. “Of course, you need witnesses since I’m a psychopath.”
“I never said you were a psychopath. I just thought you were a black widow. Or a serial killer.”
“Right, because there’s a difference,” I muttered, spinning on my heel to walk out. I heard all the groans of the people that were upset that we weren’t having this discussion in front of everyone. I would rather not have the discussion of my life in front of everyone, considering what I had to tell Andrew, but I would do it if that was the only way to talk to him.
Once outside, all of the Cortell brothers followed me out, along with all their girlfriends.
“So, where do you want to do this?”
“Definitely not at your house,” Eric muttered. I glared at him and he shrugged. “Too many places to bury a body. Besides, if we disappeared, who would know?”
“That’s why we’re coming along too,” Jack said, standing with Corduroy just outside the bakery.
Dammit, I hadn’t planned on admitting anything in front of the police. This was going to seriously mess up what I had to say. “What I have to say, I’m only saying to Andrew and his family.”
“And since you’re out on bail and you have that nice tracking anklet on, that tells me that you’re not off the hook yet. So, if you’re really innocent,” Jack said, “you have the chance to convince me.”
I didn’t like that option, but I could tell that he wasn’t going to budge on it, and it didn’t look like Andrew would either. Sighing, I gave in. “Fine. Where to?”
“Let’s go down to the police station,” Jack nodded down the street.
Great, now they could lock me up if they wanted. But I didn’t have much choice. It was either this or never get the opportunity to tell my side of the story. We walked down the sidewalk to the police station and made our way inside. It was a little crowded for all of us, considering this was a small town and there was no need for a huge police station. After the ladies took their seats and the guys all had their spots, I stood there uncomfortably as they all stared at me. But there was one thing I needed to know before I spilled everything to all of them.
I walked up to Andrew, hating how he shuffled back slightly, but I had to know. “So, hypothetically, we’re walking down the sidewalk…and we’re about to cross the street—”
“I hope you’re at a crosswalk and not jaywalking,” Jack cut in. “Andrew already found out what happens when you jaywalk.”
Andrew glared at Jack. “You were saying?”
I swallowed the lump in my throat and continued. “So, the little guy is white and we go to safely cross the street, in the crosswalk, and a guy comes running at us, swinging an axe.”
“Are you that guy with the axe?” he asked.
“Do I look like a guy?”
He shrugged. “Just thought I’d ask, since this is hypothetical and all.”
“Anyway, the guy is swinging an axe and I step in front of you, because I don’t want you to get hurt. Do you shove me out of the way or do you tackle him to the ground and hope you don’t get hit by the axe?”
His eyes flickered back and forth between mine. “I think that depends on what you have to tell me.”
I shook my head. “No, Andrew. It really doesn’t. Decide now or I walk out that door.”
It was quiet as he decided, but then I heard Joe ask, “Is this some weird kind of foreplay?”
“Andrew?” I asked quietly. “What’s your decision?”
I could see the internal struggle. His eyes were asking for answers, but his body language was screaming for me to back off. Taking that as my answer, I dropped my eyes and turned, heading for the door. My hand was on the door handle when he finally answered.
“Option C.”
I didn’t dare turn around. I was afraid he would say that he would take the axe and shove it in my chest.
“Seeing as how we’ve already had a run-in with a speeding car and a massive bear, I would be prepared and have a gun. I’d pull it out and shoot the guy.”
I smiled slightly, turning to face him. He looked slightly more relaxed and even had a little twitch going on with his lips.
“I don’t get it. What are they talking about? Bears and cars and a man with an axe?” Joe asked.
“Maybe it has something to do with her being a killer,” Robert said.
“Either that or it’s the most twisted way of asking someone how you feel about them,” Will muttered.
“I don’t know,” Josh shrugged. “It sounds like something Carly would do.”
“My point exactly,” Will said.
I walked back into the room and turned to Corduroy and Jack. “All I ask is that you let me tell my story before you call McDowell County.”
“Shit, this is bad,” Corduroy muttered. “I should have known she was a killer. She’s too hot.”
“Hey, that’s my killer,” Andrew cut in. “Don’t talk about her that way.”
I smiled at him and cleared my throat. “So, to know what happened, I have to go back to when I was a kid.” He nodded, so I continued. “How much exactly do you know about me?”
“Pretty much everything about your life growing up, along with everyone else in your tow
n.”
I nodded. “So, you know that things weren’t always bad at home. That is, until several mines in the area shut down. I don’t think I have to tell you what happened to the people in the community. Poor would be a massive understatement. People literally had to drive hours away just to find employment, and then send money home to their families. But for a lot of families, it wasn’t enough.”
Andrew nodded. “I remember you told me about that.”
I nodded and continued. “My dad was too stubborn to leave. So, he just stewed around the house, getting angrier and angrier every day. He wasn’t a very nice person after that. The person that raised me wasn’t there anymore. And then my mom got sick. She had cancer years before, so when the signs showed up again…We couldn’t afford to take her to the doctor. So, she slowly just started slipping away from us.”
“So, your mom did die of natural causes,” Andrew said.
I looked up at him, tears in my eyes, and slowly shook my head. “No, she didn’t. She was in a lot of pain and most days she could barely do anything. I knew she was miserable, so…so I talked to a friend of mine and he said that he could help me. He was a friend of the family…”
“Was this Matthew?” Andrew asked.
“No, and I’d prefer not to say his name. He was just trying to help me. He hated seeing her like that just as much as I did. We both knew that she was only going to get worse, and I wanted the pain to end. So, I crushed up the pills given to me and slipped them into her tea. I think she knew exactly what I was doing, and she wasn’t upset. I sat with her until the end, and that’s when everything changed for me.”
“That’s when your dad turned into an asshole and started beating you,” Andrew surmised.
I nodded. “My mom was the only thing holding him together, but she was too weak, and it shouldn’t have been her taking care of him. She didn’t have the strength to do it. After she died, it was like my dad became this raging lunatic. Anything he could get mad about, he took out on me.”
“You were only thirteen when your mom died,” Jack said, his brows furrowed.
I nodded again. “I stayed away from home as much as possible, trying to find odd jobs that I could do. My dad started selling off anything we owned, just to have money for booze. He stole any money that I made. He was basically a full-time drunk. I was starving most days, but it wasn’t just me. Most of the families in town were going hungry. The mines closing destroyed so many lives, and there was no way out. And then the men started dying from black lung disease. Nobody was coming to help. We were just left to suffer.”
“But if the mine wasn’t profitable anymore, it wouldn’t have made sense to keep it running,” Robert said.
“It was profitable. That’s why everyone was so confused when it closed. It didn’t make any sense to close it down.”
Andrew sighed, running his hand over his jaw. “Lorelei, I heard you admit that you killed three people. We know now that you killed your mother, but who were the others?”
My eyes flicked down in shame. “You remember me telling you about that night with my father?”
“When he almost killed you,” he says, his jaw hardening as he speaks.
“Yeah, well, Matthew was there and he hit him over the head with a cast iron skillet. He killed my father and we dumped his body in the mine. I couldn’t let Matthew go to jail for protecting me,” I rushed on, hoping he would understand. “I sent myself the mail from my father. I started the rumors around town, making people think he was still out there, drunk and wandering around.”
Andrew sighed. “That doesn’t mean you killed your father. He would have killed you that night. Matthew was saving your life.”
I nodded. “I know, but after that…because of his decision, I was all alone. I didn’t have enough money to support myself. My dad had already sold off almost all of our things. Matthew started finding work anywhere he could. I didn’t realize how much it was hurting him until it was too late.”
Jack grunted from beside me. “The stress on his heart…”
I nodded. “He was working all the time, stressing constantly about supporting both his family and trying to help me. I was almost eighteen, and I thought that it would get better once I was legally responsible for myself. I took whatever jobs I could find, and I gave it all to Matthew, hoping it would help, but I had no idea how bad things were for his family.” I huffed out a laugh. “I thought I could just leave and Matthew wouldn’t have to feel responsible for me anymore. He got some job working construction, but since he was young and new, they gave him all the really hard work. He collapsed on a job, and by the time they got him to the hospital, he was already dead.”
Andrew stepped forward and took my hand in his. “That’s not on you. Christ, you were just a kid.”
“But he died because of me. It was my fault. If he had never killed my father—“
“Your father would have killed you,” Corduroy chimed in. “You wouldn’t be standing here right now, and I can guarantee it because we’ve seen it before.”
“So, that leaves Murray and Arlen.”
I shook my head rapidly. “I didn’t kill either of them. I swear. But…I was in the car with Murray when he died.”
“That was your hair in the car and your footprints outside the passenger door,” Andrew surmised.
“Yes.”
“How did that all come about?” Jack asked. “How the hell did you get wrapped up with those two?”
“Because Arlen was responsible for closing the mine,” Andrew said. “And you wanted revenge.”
“Not just revenge,” I bristled. “It’s not like I wanted him dead. I just wanted to find a way to get money back to the people in town.”
“And how was that supposed to work?” Jack asked. “Did you think asking him nicely would work?”
I glared at him. “Despite what you think, I actually have a brain and not just looks. I have a lawyer friend—“
“Callum Reins,” Jack filled in. “He’s your lawyer, but he doesn’t practice criminal law. He’s not going to be able to help you out of this.”
“He was never meant to. If our plan went the way it was supposed to, we would walk away with enough money to give everyone in that town something to live on and retire with. That was the end game.”
“And just how did you plan on pulling that off?” Andrew asked, still skeptical.
“The plan was initially just to get to Murray. He ran the company that closed the mine. I got a job working as his secretary. It didn’t pay much, but it was enough to live on. I dressed the part, made sure that he was interested in me, but I never gave him what he wanted. Eventually, that turned into him asking me out. I played it off as uninterested, not wanting to be sleeping with the boss. As it turns out, Murray was actually a pretty decent guy. And then one night, we attended a charity function together, and Arlen was there. When he introduced me at first, I had no idea who he was, but the way Murray acted, I could tell that he was intimidated by him. So, I did my research and that was when I discovered that Arlen had one big umbrella corporation, and the company Murray ran was one of those.”
“So, Murray was no longer your target,” Andrew said.
“Nothing changed at first. But as time went on, we saw Arlen more and more, and it was clear that they were working together on something. So, when Murray proposed to me, I thought it was the perfect opportunity to cement myself in his life and gain more information on both men.”
“So, you were playing the long game,” Corduroy said.
I nodded. “It was never about going in and destroying someone’s life. It was about finding out how to get compensation for the lives they destroyed.”
“And Callum was with you on all of this,” Robert asked. “What did he have to gain from this?”
“Callum’s family was from the same town. He was able to get out before the mine shut down. He had a scholarship to college, but unfortunately, both of his parents died before he could find a job earning e
nough money to help them.”
“How did they die?” Andrew asked.
“His father died in a car accident driving back home after being away for three months. And his mother died soon after from an aneurysm. Nobody should have to commute hours away just for work. Had Arlen’s company not taken away the mine for selfish reasons, people would have been able to survive. They could have at least given some warning, given people a chance to make arrangements.”
“How do you know his reasons were selfish?” Jack asked.
“I was surprising Murray at his office one night. I was going to bring him takeout after he called and told me that he had to work late, but when I got to his office, I heard yelling. Arlen was there, had flown in for an emergency meeting with Murray. I stood outside and listened as Murray told Arlen that he couldn’t stand for how the company had put thousands of people out of work. How they had shut down several mines in the area, all for money. Knowing that I was from that area and what it had done to the families out there, Murray was not happy with what had happened. He told Arlen he was going public with what he knew. They argued some more, threats were made, but eventually, Arlen headed home.”
“Did he say why they shut the mines down?” Robert asked, his curiosity growing by the second. In fact, as I looked around, everyone was staring at me with rapt attention. I had forgotten the rest of them were in the room.
“Yes. The mines in the area were largely coal mines, but after a few environmental studies, it was found that lithium was also in those mines, and they were getting closer and closer to digging it up. The United States currently has one working lithium mine. Most of the lithium in the world is mined from South America. And recently, the U.S. Interior Department listed lithium as a critical mineral.”
“Why would they shut down the mine then?” Andrew asked. “Wouldn’t it make more sense to mine it?”
“No,” Jack said, his gaze shrewd. “It’s better to hold onto it, buy up what you can and have the last remaining lithium in the world. The cost of it would skyrocket, and the U.S. would reap the benefits.”
Tangled Web: A Small Town Romance (The Cortell Brothers Book 6) Page 27