Living Lies

by Dawn Brown

  “Is that why you married him?” Dean asked. Sympathy he didn’t want to feel touched him. “So you wouldn’t end up like your mother.”

  “None of your fucking business.” She started to stand, but he put his hand over hers and held her in place.

  “We’re not done here. Who told you not to help me?”

  Her eyes bored into his. “Jonathan.”

  “Why? What does he care?”

  She shrugged.

  “Haley went to see him yesterday.”

  “Really?” She looked about the diner, pretending disinterest.

  “Really. He implied that he still believes that Michelle and I were seeing each other while he was dating her. But here’s what I don’t get; when you know that isn’t true, and he’s keeping you from admitting what you know, why would he still claim that Michelle and I were together?”

  “How should I know?”

  “He was also very angry when Haley suggested his housekeeper might be lying for him. Did he go after Michelle that night?”

  “You’ll have to ask him.”

  “Maybe I will. I’ll swing by the mill and tell him you sent me.”

  “Do you think you can scare me?”

  “Yes. What about Richard?”

  Her eyes went wide. “How do you know about him?”

  “Haley had a run-in with him yesterday too. He said some rather unflattering things about Michelle.”

  “He’s very jealous of Jonathan.”

  “Could he have killed Michelle?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “God damn it, Lara, give me something.”

  “I don’t know anything, I truly don’t. I don’t know why Jonathan won’t let me come forward for you. He knows you and Michelle weren’t together then.”

  “So somehow it benefits him if I look guilty. Takes the spotlight off him? Do you think he killed Michelle?”

  “I don’t know. Really, Dean, I don’t.”

  He sighed and threw a couple of dollars on the table before standing. “All right, I give up.” What a waste of time, at least he could pick up Haley’s new locks at the hardware store in the mall.

  “Dean.”

  Lara glanced around her as if to make sure no one was listening. Her gaze met his and she lowered her voice. He had to lean in closer to hear.

  “Erin didn’t want me to speak up for you either.”

  “Erin Johnson—I mean Carling?” he corrected automatically.

  She nodded. “Erin also helped spread the rumor about you. She was always jealous of Michelle.”

  “Erin?” He asked again, still not really believing what he was hearing. “Nate’s daughter? Garret’s wife?”

  “Yes, but don’t tell her I told you.” She slid out of the booth. “I’m leaving now and I don’t want to be seen leaving with you.”

  Dean rolled his eyes, only half listening. “Whatever, go. I’ll count to twenty before I leave.” Erin? Would she have killed Michelle? He hardly knew her.

  For Carling’s kids, the shop had been a second home, but Erin rarely came by to see her father. And, except for the few months he and Michelle had dated, Dean and Erin had traveled in very different social circles.

  Dean had run into her at a party once. He had only gone because Michelle had nagged him. Garret hadn’t been there and Erin had had too much to drink. She’d said something about Michelle slumming it with Dean, and kept calling him Michelle’s boy toy all night. More embarrassed for her than annoyed, he’d chalked the whole incident up to far too much alcohol. Maybe Lara was right. Looking back, he hadn’t been Erin’s target at all. Michelle had been.

  Erin could easily break into Haley’s home. Haley herself said that Garret had a key, giving Erin plenty of access.

  When he left the diner, Lara was long gone. He walked over to the hardware store. He’d get Haley her new locks and when she got home from work, he’d find out what she knew about Erin and her relationship with Michelle.

  Haley was already home when he got back. She was sitting on the couch, pale and shaken, her arms wrapped around herself as if she were freezing, her eyes wide and haunted. Paige sat in the armchair across from her. Just as pale and just as shaken. Fear clutched him in its boney grasp.

  “It’s only one o’clock, why are you home? What happened?”

  Haley’s eyes met his and she swallowed hard. “Al’s dead.”

  A strange, sinking sensation enveloped him. He set down the plastic bags he was carrying onto the floor. “How?”

  “Bludgeoned I believe is the term.” Her voice was hoarse and low. She ran a trembling hand through her hair. “No one would say for sure, but his head looked crushed. I thought I could see bone.”

  “You saw him?”

  Haley met his gaze, her eyes glassy with unshed tears. “I found him.”

  “My God, why didn’t you call me?” He started to move toward her, but she stood and backed away.

  “I overheard someone say that it probably happened last night. I guess when we thought he’d closed early, he was actually being murdered.”

  Her voice rose and she spoke too quickly. He wanted to do something to take that terrifying edge from her tone, but he was afraid to move closer. Afraid she would shatter if he tried to touch her.

  “I was worried about Billy, but the police said he was okay. Al let him go early. Do you think that had he worked until his shift ended he would have been killed too, or do you think that Al letting him go early left Al vulnerable? I keep wondering about that.”

  Her voice hitched and Dean moved toward her again, but she held her hand out to him, palm open. “No. Don’t.” She swallowed. “I’ll be fine. I just need a minute by myself.”

  She turned her back to him and went into the kitchen. When he would have followed Paige blocked him with her leg. He looked down at her and she shook her head. “She doesn’t like for anyone to see her cry. She never has, even as a kid.”

  “Did she call you?” Dean asked, trying not to feel hurt.

  Paige scowled and shook her head. “Yeah, right. God forbid she call anyone. Remember I said I would swing by the store?”

  He nodded.

  “When I get there, the police are all over the place and there’s Haley answering their questions. She didn’t call me, or you, or Garret, or anyone else.”

  Al dead, left for Haley to find. “I did this,” he muttered. “I brought all of this on. To Al and Haley.”

  “Don’t kid yourself. If this is Michelle’s killer we’re dealing with, this has been coming for awhile.”

  Dean didn’t buy it. He’d wanted to clear his name and from the first moment Haley talked to him things started to happen. If someone hurt her… Not an option. From now on he was her shadow. Wherever she went, he would be there. Whether she liked it or not.

  “Okay,” Haley said, wiping her damp cheeks with the heels of her hands. "I’m better now.”

  Her voice still shook, but that wild edge had gone.

  “I want to get this bastard.” Haley looked at Paige. “Whoever did this has taken so much from us and he keeps taking more. I want him to pay.”

  “So let’s get him,” Paige agreed.

  “Al is dead,” Dean snapped. Couldn’t they see what was happening around them? “Haley has someone coming and going from her house, vandalizing her bedrooms, spying on her through her windows. No more. Let the police do their jobs. Paige go home and Haley come back to the city with me.”

  “Come on, Lawson,” Paige said, narrowing her eyes. “Don’t wimp out on us now.”

  Dean locked his gaze with Haley’s. “I don’t want anything to happen to you. Either of you.”

  “He took my sister and destroyed my family in a single blow. He took things from me and Paige that we’ll never even know. And he took from you. Hell, you came here to clear your name. Don’t you want justice?”

  “Not at the expense of your life, Haley.”

  Paige stood up between them. “Let’s do this. Why don’t
we sum up all that we know and if we feel like we’re getting somewhere we’ll go to the police.”

  “Fine.” Dean sighed. “I can live with that.”

  Haley nodded.

  “Okay, then. I’ll need a pen and paper,” Paige said.

  “Why?” Haley asked. “Will there be a quiz after?”

  “You must be feeling better.”

  “In the kitchen.”

  Paige stood and left the room. Once she had gone, Dean reached for Haley’s hand. She took it and gripped hard.

  “I’m sorry I yelled at you,” he said on a sigh, the fear and fury still too fresh to make his apology more gracious. “But I can’t stand the idea of something happening to you.”

  “I know.” She squeezed his hand and drew in a sniffling breath. “Don’t look at me like that or you’ll set me off again.”

  Haley tried to swallow the tight ache in her throat as Dean released her hand. Exhausted, she would have liked nothing better than to crawl into bed, preferably with Dean. His body curved around her like it had been that morning. No. She had to remember her resolution to take care of herself, and if meant nailing the bastard who killed Al, that’s what she would do.

  “Okay,” Paige said, returning with a pen and paper in hand. She dropped onto the armchair, crossed her leg and balanced the notepad on her thigh. “So, where do we start?”

  “I spoke to Lara,” Dean said.

  Haley turned sharply. “When?”

  “This morning.” A faint smile touched his mouth as if he had a private joke that no one else in the room knew. “I ran into her at the mall.”

  “And what did she tell you?” Paige asked.

  “Jonathan told her not to admit anything for me, but she doesn’t know why.”

  Haley frowned. Her head felt muddled and slow to work things out. “That would mean everything he told me wasn’t true.”

  “Surprise, surprise,” Paige muttered.

  “So we’re back to square one.” Haley flopped back onto the couch and Dean sat down next to her.

  “Not quite,” Dean said. “She also told me Erin didn’t want her to come forward and that Erin had helped to spread the rumor.”

  “No way. Erin and Michelle were friends.” Erin couldn’t know anything. “She’s married to Garret for crying out loud.”

  Dean shrugged. “Lara said Erin was jealous of Michelle.”

  “I told you Erin was a big fake,” Paige said. “And she was jealous of Michelle. Every time Michelle left the room, Erin would make a dig.”

  “Do you really think Erin could have killed Michelle and then married Garret?” Haley asked, not buying it for second.

  “Yes.”

  “She had access to everything,” Dean pointed out. “The delivery van, the store, your father’s coveralls. She knew your grandmother’s house would be empty and her father was helping with the upkeep.”

  “Why have we never considered Nate?” Paige asked.

  “This is a serious attempt to find our sister’s killer, not Paige’s private witch hunt.”

  “I’m being serious. He had access to all the things Erin did, and the strength to carry a body down to the basement.”

  “That’s a good point, he also knew your father’s first wife. Still, he had no motive for killing Michelle,” Dean said. “And we haven’t ruled out Jonathan and Richard yet.”

  Haley sat up. “Yes we have. I was with both of them at the time Al was murdered.” A shudder rippled up her spine as the image of his shattered skull popped into her head. As if sensing her thoughts, Dean absently rubbed her back.

  “He’s hiding something or covering up,” Dean said. “He lied to you, and me looking guilty benefits him somehow. Now, you saw Richard when you were leaving. Could he have killed Al and then returned to the mill in time to catch you before you left?”

  “That’s a possibility,” Haley said. She really could imagine Richard as a murderer. “But how would he have got a hold of my father's coveralls and hidden them in the shop?”

  “Anything’s possible, if you want it bad enough.”

  “Maybe whoever killed her had planned to frame Dad, and when Dean wound up being accused he or she never needed to,” Paige said.

  Haley threw up her hands. “That’s possible too. My God, all we’ve done is establish that anyone and everyone we know could have killed Michelle. We’re getting nowhere. We need to know what was happening in her life right before she was murdered. Lara won’t tell us anything, neither will Jonathan, and now we’re considering Erin a suspect.”

  “There is one way to find out,” Paige said, leaning forward and lowering her voice. “Her bedroom. Nothing’s been touched since she went missing.”

  Haley went cold at the thought. No, nothing had been moved since Michelle disappeared, and Haley didn’t want to be the one to do it now.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  “The police already searched her room and they didn’t find anything,” Haley said. The idea of crossing the threshold into The Shrine had about as much appeal as spending some one on one time with Richard.

  “But they had been looking for something to connect Dean. We might find something that they missed,” Paige said. “It’s the only way I can think of to get inside Michelle’s head.”

  “That’s not a bad idea,” Dean said.

  The idea was a good one, unfortunately. Haley wished to God there was another way. “Mom will go crazy if she sees us.”

  Paige glanced at her watch. “It’s almost four-thirty, she’s probably passed out by now.”

  Haley sighed. “Fine, we’ll try it.”

  As she stood so did Dean.

  “You can’t come,” she told him.

  “No, you definitely can’t,” Paige agreed. “That would be incredibly bad.”

  “After what happened to Al, I don’t want you going anywhere alone.”

  “My mother will go ballistic if she sees you. Besides, I’ll be with Paige.”

  He opened his mouth as if to argue then closed it again, turning instead to one of the bags he’d left on the floor. He bent, pulled out a box and handed it to her.

  “What’s this?” she asked.

  “It’s a cell phone.” Paige spoke slowly, over enunciating each word. “It’s kind of like a normal phone, but you can use it anywhere.”

  Haley ignored her. “I don’t need you to buy me a cell phone.”

  “With that pile of junk in the driveway you’re practically the poster girl for cell phones,” Paige chimed in again.

  Dean continued to hold out the phone. “Just humor me.”

  “If I wanted a cell phone, I would have bought one.” She didn’t need him or anyone else to take care of her.

  “I know that.”

  “Good.” She turned away from him and his phone. “Let’s go, Paige.”

  “I’ll call you when she leaves,” Paige murmured.

  “Thanks,” Dean said.

  Did they think she was a child to be cared for between the two of them? “I’m not five years old. I can take care of myself.”

  “You’re being stalked,” Dean said, bluntly. “One of your employees was murdered. Take the damn phone.”

  “How do you know I’m the one being stalked? Your hotel room was broken into. Any time we’ve found evidence that someone had been watching me, you’ve been with me. Just because you’re male doesn’t make you exempt. Al was a man and someone murdered him. You don’t get to keep tabs on me because you think I’m weak and helpless.”

  “First of all, I don’t think that. Second, if you want to keep tabs on me feel free. Call me on my cell phone anytime you want. Use this one.” He shoved the phone at her.

  Haley turned abruptly and stormed out of the house. She didn’t care if Paige followed or stayed behind, making plans with Dean for her poor little sister.

  What a joke. Dean takes off for more than a decade, Paige hadn’t been back in four years, and yet they hovered over her like doting parents. How do they th
ink she managed before they came back?

  Or would again once they left?

  As Haley and Paige slipped into the kitchen, muted voices from the TV mingled with her mother’s dry snores. And Haley’s last hope that this crazy search would have to be called off died.

  Resigned, she followed Paige upstairs, but stopped as if by an invisible barrier just outside Michelle’s door. Paige flipped the wall switch and flooded the room with soft light. A nervous flutter danced in the pit of Haley’s belly as she took her first step into the mass of pale pink ruffles and frills.

  The room, silent and untouched, seemed to close in around her, and a sense of intrusion nearly sent her running back into the hall. Was this what archeologists felt when entering a tomb to dig up the secrets of the dead?

  Haley crept closer to the big white dresser and the aged photos jammed into the wood frame of the mirror. Faded and yellowed, images of Erin, Lara, Jonathan and Michelle’s other friends smiled back at her, all younger than Haley was now.

  “Hurry up.” Paige’s harsh whisper made her jump.

  Haley nodded. “Watch for Mom.”

  “Fine. Just be quick.” Paige shifted from one foot to the other like a toddler in need of the bathroom. “If Mom catches us…”

  “I know, I know.” Still she hesitated. Years of living with The Shrine had been ingrained on her. Don’t touch! The words practically glowed like neon inside her head.

  With a final deep breath, she squared her shoulders and dived in. She opened the first dresser drawer, dug through a pile of neatly folded sweaters, trying to disturb as little as possible.

  Nothing in the first drawer. Not that she really knew what she was looking for. Some kind of diary or journal would have been ideal. Better still, if she could find an entry that read, “I’ve been feeling threatened by…” or “I think so-and-so wants to kill me.” But life was never that easy.

  She moved on to the second drawer then the third. Who were they kidding? She wasn’t going to find anything. If there was something here, the police would have already discovered it.

  From the doorway, Paige glanced over her shoulder and drummed her fingertips on the frame. The rhythmless noise went through Haley, making her grind her teeth.