“What’s that?” Philip asked tentatively.
“Why didn’t you do anything?”
The flush crept farther up Philip’s neck until it colored his cheeks. “’Cause…’cause I was caught off guard, and besides it all happened so quick.”
Aiden knew without asking why Philip hadn’t gotten out of his car to help Sara, and he let him know. “You didn’t help because you were too chickenshit to get involved. You saw the gun, and you got the hell outta there.”
Tears were back and Philip pinched them away with blackened fingers, leaving an absurd-looking smear across the bridge of his nose. He stared silently down at his feet.
Aiden spoke louder this time. “Answer me, Philip. You left, didn’t you?”
Philip snapped his head up, gave Aiden a quick glance, then looked away. “Yeah, I left. You satisfied now? I didn’t have the guts to save the woman I loved. That what you wanna hear?”
A smile found its way onto Aiden’s lips. Yes, that was what he wanted to hear, exactly what he wanted to hear. There was a huge crack in Philip’s story and that meant a ray of hope for Lily, tiny as it might be. Philip may have seen a gun, but he hadn’t stuck around to see much of anything else. Anything could have happened after he left. Lily and Sara could have made up, that is if they’d even been fighting. From what Philip had just described, it didn’t sound like much of a fight to Aiden.
“A few more questions and I’ll let you get back to work. Aside from hearing Sara say ‘no’, did you hear anything else? Did Lily say anything?”
Philip’s eyes held a faraway look as if his mind had drifted back to that day. “Um, I know she was speaking. I could see Lily’s lips moving and she was real animated. She was saying something, but I couldn’t quite make it out. Windows were up and I had the AC on. It was a scorcher of a day.”
“But you did hear Sara say ‘no’? You’re sure of that?”
“Oh yeah. She yelled it. Even with the windows up, I heard her loud and clear.”
“How long would you estimate you were there watching all this going on?”
Philip picked absently at a greasy fingernail, wiping what he fished out onto the knee of his coveralls. “Ten minutes.”
Aiden didn’t need to take up any more of the man’s time. “Thanks, Mr. Kemp. I appreciate you answering my questions.”
Philip was just a pretty boy with the IQ of a sack of potatoes. He wasn’t the killer. Still, there was the matter of what happened to the gun. Where was it? It was what Wilkins and Deluca needed in order to match the slugs from Sara’s neck to the murder weapon. Without it, they had nothing.
Aiden thought briefly about asking Philip Kemp to put a set of snows on his truck but thought better of it. It didn’t feel right. After all, he’d just made the man cry. Several times. Best he get out of there and let him have some privacy.
Like it or not, he was going to have to question Lily about her fight with Sara, and then it would be time to pay Zander Lyons a visit.
CHAPTER 14
Lily had never in her life been happier to be back in her own element, the diner. Annie greeted her with a big smile and a “tell me everything” look, but with a shake of her head and pursed lips, Lily’s expression said it all. Annie’s smile went out; returning Lily’s sad expression, Annie passed with hands full of breakfast orders. “I’m here if you need to talk.”
Although grateful for the offer, Lily didn’t think she’d be able to or want to give Annie the details just yet. She made her way to her office and plopped into her desk chair.
Before coming to work, she’d stopped by to let Rex out and clean up the accidents he’d had during the night. She couldn’t really blame him. After all, he’d been alone for hours. He’d met her at the door with that guilty look only dogs could manage. It made her smile and broke her heart all at the same time, poor thing. She’d been neglecting him lately.
Work was her solace now. It was a distraction from the horrible night she’d been forced to spend at Aiden’s. The fury she’d felt for that man when he finally came clean bordered on hatred. She’d wanted to hurt him, physically and mentally. Yet despite her anger, she’d had the common sense to realize she was stuck at his cabin until morning. No use risking life and limb to get home.
He’d begged her to take his bed—“I’ll sleep on the couch,” he’d said, but she hadn’t been able to bear the thought of crawling back into the bed where they’d just made love. In the end, she’d gotten her way and curled up on the sofa. Defeated, Aiden had crept back up to the loft.
Lily had been up as soon as the light of the new day filtered through the windows. Having slept in her clothes, all she’d had to do was put on her coat and boots and she’d been ready to head home. When she’d sat up, she’d been startled to see him sitting on the hearth of the fireplace staring ruefully at her. He’d had on jeans and that flannel shirt she’d found so appealing the night before. Only in the morning she’d wanted to rip it off him for another reason. To shred it and throw it into the ashes of the fireplace.
“Got the driveway done,” he’d said. “Found a small snow blower in the loft of the garage.”
Lily had gotten to her feet. “Then it’s time I go.”
“You don’t even want a coffee? I’d like to talk.”
“Nope.” She’d found her purse where she’d left it on the bench by the front door and quickly put on her coat and boots.
“At least let me drive your car down to the road for you.”
“No thanks.” With those words she’d left.
Before beginning her shift, Lily took a bottle of Advil from her desk drawer and popped open the lid. Shaking two extra strengths onto her palm, she downed them with her coffee. Her head pounded. The result of too much wine, too much stress, and not enough sleep.
By midafternoon, Lily needed a break. With a cup of tea and a Danish in hand, she retreated to one of the booths in the back. Her body ached with fatigue and her eyes burned to close. Thankfully, she’d been able to dodge Annie’s questions and was grateful when she finally stopped asking what was wrong.
“Mind if I sit down?” came a man’s voice from behind her. She knew that voice. She hated that voice.
“Sit anywhere you want, except here,” she answered without turning to face him.
“Lily, I really need to speak to you. It’s important. It’s about Sara’s murder. I’m here on official business.”
So he wasn’t going to try to make things right, to apologize yet again. For some reason that hurt.
“Sit.”
Aiden took off his jacket and hung it on the coatrack attached to the booth before sliding in opposite her. “I spoke to Philip Kemp this morning. Went over there after you left.”
A stab of worry shot through her. Aiden talking to Philip was something she would have liked to have avoided. “And?”
“He told me about seeing you with a gun outside your house and that you had a fight with your sister, but what he claimed happened wouldn’t hold up in court. Fact is, the guy hardly saw anything, Lily. I think his imagination ran away with him and, well, he’s not the brightest bulb in the chandelier. He jumped the gun. Sorry for the pun.” A small smile formed on his lips, but it fell away when she didn’t return it. “Anyway, I’m thinking he didn’t see what he thought he did, and I really need to know what happened.”
Her eyes grew to the size of silver dollars. Did he really want to know her side of the story? Wilkins and Deluca had dismissed her explanation, waving her off and pretty much calling her a liar. She assumed Aiden held the same opinion of her.
Lily sipped her coffee and did her best to give an impression of calm aloofness. Truth was, she wanted more than anything to tell Aiden what happened, especially since he saw the cracks in Philip’s version of the events, but she stopped herself before the impulse took hold. How could she trust him after what he’d done to her?
“I’ve already spoken to Wilkins and Deluca,” she said.
“Yeah. I’
ve read your statement and Philip’s, as well as the e-mail he sent. Between the two of you, you’re the more credible.”
She cocked a brow and smirked. “Is this some cop thing you’re doing? Trying to get me to think you’re on my side so you can gain my trust? ’Cause, buddy, you destroyed that last night.”
“No! Lily, please. I really am trying to help. Philip Kemp is just some pretty boy and in my opinion, not a credible witness. My gut tells me a lot more went down that day between you and Sara than you’re letting on.”
He pulled out her typed statement and took a moment, tracing through the lines with a finger, until he came to a stop. “Says here you told the sheriff and his deputy you had a fight with Sara and you did have a gun in your hand, but you never intended to shoot her, but that’s all. Why didn’t you explain yourself? Why did you have a gun? What were you two fighting about? This is so vague. There are so many unanswered questions.” He threw his hands up in a gesture of surrender and looked at her wide-eyed, waiting.
Surprise lit Lily’s face. “That’s it? That’s all that’s there?”
Aiden nodded and slid the paper over to her.
She cupped her hands around her mug and let her eyes stray to the sheet. “I said a hell of a lot more than that.”
“Tell me what happened then. Tell me everything.”
CHAPTER 15
Their meeting place was in the parking lot of an abandoned five-pin bowling alley, located in an industrial area out of sight of the main road. The plows had been out during the night, piling mountains of snow around the perimeter of the lot, affording even better cover.
Natalie arrived first, as usual. Antonio was always late. She sipped her cappuccino and turned up the tunes while she waited. Her heart, fueled by caffeine and hatred for Lily Valier, beat like a jackhammer. Every time she thought of either of the Valier sisters, her mind was swept up in a current of anxiety. Sara the slut came dangerously close to ruining her parents’ marriage. Even her ghost held power. Natalie had never seen her parents fighting as much as they were now.
Sara might be gone, but her sister Lily remained a thorn in Natalie’s side. She knew her type—beautiful and flirty; she could have any man she wanted. Who did that woman think she was fooling, living like a frugal old spinster? Women like Lily made her sick. They used their looks and sexuality to get whatever they wanted. Everything came easy for women like that. Not like for her. She was invisible to men. Never been on a date or had a man other than her dad give her a compliment. Worst of all, Lily Valier made her crave the pills in her pocket. When her worries drifted away, even if for just a few hours, she didn’t hate herself as much.
Before going to Antonio for help after Sara’s murder, she’d done some digging. It hadn’t taken much, just a Google search, and she’d discovered more than enough to know he was a crooked cop. And when he suggested they pin it on Lily, she couldn’t have been happier. Yes, she wanted to shout. Yes, yes, yes! That’s exactly what I was thinking!
But of course, she let him believe it was all his idea. Men and their egos. It may be a stereotype, but it was one she thought held some truth.
Natalie had thought all night about what she’d tell Antonio to get him back on the scent of Lily’s trail. He probably wouldn’t buy her story, but she was prepared for that. They’d have a little to and fro, their usual game. She’d be the earnest teenager just trying to help and he the big, brave cop whose job it was to be suspicious of her story. It didn’t matter either way. They were playing their parts; they both knew it and in the end, he’d listen to her.
The pounding in her chest was uncomfortable now, driving her to feel around in her jacket for the pill bottle. One little pill and her nerves would soon be calmed. With expert fingers, she one-handedly popped the bottle open, shook one out, and downed it with her cappuccino.
Natalie didn’t see Antonio at first, but when she caught movement in the edge of her eye, she clicked off the radio and rolled down the window.
“Mornin’,” Deputy Deluca said from his own car, which he’d parked alongside Natalie’s SUV in the opposite direction so they’d be face-to-face when the windows were down. His hangdog face twitched up briefly into a smile. “What’s so important we had to meet in person?”
She thought about the envelope of crisp hundred-dollar bills she’d placed in her glove compartment. The ones she planned on handing over to this all-too-willing crooked cop. Now how could she do that over the phone?
She smirked. “Sometimes it’s just nice to see your face.”
Antonio cocked his head, returning the smirk. “It may be my day off, but I’ve got a crap load of paperwork waiting for me at the office, and I already told you everything I know about the Sara Valier investigation.”
The deputy wasn’t the kind of man to be working on his day off, but Natalie pretended to buy his story. “I won’t keep you long then. But why not give this some thought… I might have something important to tell you?” She saluted him with her Styrofoam cup.
He laughed. “Yeah? You gonna break the case wide open for me?”
“What if I told you I know where the gun is? The one Lily shot her sister with?”
Antonio’s jaw fell open wider than Natalie had thought humanly possible. She could have counted his fillings if she was so inclined.
Deluca’s eyes narrowed. “Now how the hell would you know that?” he said, using his best cop voice.
“Don’t go getting all official on me. I’m not saying I have the gun or my dad has it. But I do know who does and exactly where you can find it.”
“No, you don’t.” The words came slowly, as if he were daring Natalie to convince him.
She smiled widely. “Oh, yes I do! And if you want me to tell you, you’d better be nice.”
She leaned over and opened the glove compartment, snagging the envelope of cash. “First, this is for the info you gave me the other day, and you know there’s more to come if you keep me in the loop. Now, when I tell you about the gun and where you can find it, you sure as hell better promise to let me know everything about the investigation, and I don’t want you questioning my dad about the murder again, OK?”
Antonio snatched the envelope like it was a raw steak held over the head of a hungry crocodile. “I smell something fishy.”
She had half a mind to drive off. “You’re not being nice.”
“OK, OK. I’m sorry. Where’s the gun?”
“In the Higgstown Diner. Under the couch in Lily’s office but not in plain sight. It’s under the rug.”
He laughed. “And you know this how?”
“I heard Lily say it herself yesterday. That’s why I wanted to meet with you. She was telling one of the waitresses. Annie I think her name is. They’re kinda friendly and I guess she needed someone to spill to. She was crying when she told her. I’d get there quick if I were you, Deluca. I think she was trying to figure out a way to get rid of it once and for all.”
He frowned. “Come on. You think I was born yesterday?”
“Does it really matter? It was your idea to pin the murder on Lily, or did you forget about your big payday once she’s arrested?”
He was silent for a moment, then grinned and tipped his head to her. “I’ll need something in writing.”
“I’m willing to make an official statement, but it has to be anonymous.”
“Good enough. But you’re sure it’ll be there? I don’t want to look like a fool.”
Natalie held a hand over her heart. “I swear on my mother’s grave.”
“Your mother’s not dead.”
Natalie laughed. The pill had her now.
“All right, but it’ll take a day or so to get the warrant. I’ll meet you at the station to get that statement.” With that, he rolled up his window and spun the car around. It fishtailed on the hardened snow as he made his way out of the parking lot with Natalie Lyons following behind.
A grateful little smile unfolded on her lips. At least she’d have some time
to figure out how the hell she was gonna get that gun into Lily’s office.
CHAPTER 16
“We weren’t really fighting, you know. Sara and I, I mean. It was more like a battle of wills. I had a gun, yes, I won’t deny that, but I wasn’t aiming it at her. I was holding it out, handle first, trying to get her to take it with her.”
“Really?”
She wasn’t sure of his tone, but his eyes told her something. He was watching intently like any good cop, looking for signs of innocence or guilt. If that was what he wanted—the truth—then she would be more than happy to give it to him. He’d know it when he saw it and that gave her comfort.
Annie approached the table with a pot of coffee. “Would you like some, Aiden? More for you, Lily?”
Lily pushed her cup toward Annie, frustrated by her bad timing. She was just getting into the meat of the story, her story. The one she’d been longing to tell someone who was willing to listen. Though she didn’t fully trust Aiden, he was still her best chance at clearing her name and maybe even finding Sara’s killer. So she swallowed the animosity she was still feeling toward him.
Annie filled Lily’s mug, then looked to Aiden for his reply.
“Sure thing, Annie. I’d love a cup.”
A huge smile spread across Annie’s face as she filled his mug to almost overflowing, stopping just before it spilled onto the table.
“Thanks,” Lily said dismissively, sending Annie scurrying off. “Look, I already told you how Zander threatened Sara’s baby.”
Aiden ripped open a packet of sugar and emptied it into his coffee, stirring. “But she didn’t seem scared enough to take the gun. You argued over it, right?”
“Sara thought I was overreacting and said I just didn’t know Zander well enough, and that he’d never hurt her or their baby.” Lily sighed. “Where are you going with this?”
Aiden grinned. “Right now, I’m just on a fact-finding mission. What you’ve told me fits well with Philip Kemp’s version, only he didn’t have the luxury of actually hearing any of the conversation between you and Sara. But there’s something nagging at me.” He sipped his coffee. “Zander’s a married man with a grown daughter, and if his wife found out about the affair and pregnancy, I imagine she wouldn’t be happy about it. It would complicate matters, wouldn’t it? I mean, Zander Lyons is a wealthy man.”
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