No Place for Marriage

by Jaden Skye

  “What about his ex-wife, Alice?” Olivia asked quickly.

  “What about her?” Bella’s lip curled. “She wanted him back badly, never left him alone.”

  “That must have upset Megan, didn’t it?” Olivia asked.

  “Of course it upset Megan, and I think Tyron loved that. He enjoyed the power of having the two women battling over him. And he kept the whole thing going. He let Alice keep coming and begging him to return. Then he’d tell Megan about it.”

  “That’s lousy,” said Olivia.

  Bella grinned. “Tyron did it to get back at Megan. Deep down he was pissed with himself for getting caught in her snare. He’d made a fool of himself and he knew it. But Megan was smart, she still had power over him. And it gave her pleasure to use it. She’d look at magazines of handsome male models and ooh and ahh about them in front of Tyron.”

  “Disgusting,” Wayne spit out.

  “It was disgusting.” Bella laughed. “Tyron didn’t take it lightly either. The more she did it, the sicker he started to feel. Do you want the truth?” Bella suddenly spun around and crouched down.

  “Of course I do.” Olivia was frightened.

  “Recently, Tyron began telling me he really had enough and wanted to get away from Megan. I told him I could understand why. I even encouraged him to do it. What the hell do you need the bitch for, I said to him.”

  “Oh my.” Olivia felt something awful coming.

  “And then one day, not long ago, Tyron really had enough. He actually begged me to get rid of Megan for him.” Bella looked relieved to be speaking about this. “I was frightened at first when he said that. Then I thought his mind might be going.”

  “What did he mean by get rid of her, exactly?” Wayne now looked alarmed. “To kill Megan?”

  “Tyron just said get that woman out of my life, Bella! Get her out of my home!” Bella’s voice became raspy. “Tyron definitely didn’t want Megan around. The truth is she became rougher and rougher on him when she found out he was using escorts.”

  “Wait a minute, back up!” Olivia held up her hand. “Did you say Tyron was using escorts?”

  “Routinely.” Bella sneered again. “An old guy like that! But he needed them. He was lonely, as you say.”

  “The escorts came here to the house?” Olivia was appalled.

  “They sure did,” said Bella. “Tyron made no bones about it either. When Megan found out, she was furious at first. She said he was making a fool of her in front of everyone. It didn’t bother Tyron at all, though. He had a secret arrangement with the escorts and their service, but everybody knew what was going on. I think he wanted it that way, too.”

  “He wanted everyone to know he was cheating on Megan?” Olivia felt sick inside.

  “Yes, that’s right. It gave him a feeling of power. Go ask his daughters! Kayle and Lana will back me up. Go talk to Megan’s friend Andrea, too. I’m sure Megan told her about it.”

  Olivia looked away. This was a den of snakes they’d stepped into.

  Bella went on, triumphantly now. “I’m not lying, I’m telling the truth. And things got so bad recently that Tyron actually offered me money to get rid of Megan.”

  “Wait a minute!” Wayne was stone-faced now. “You’re saying Tyron actually offered you money to make Megan disappear?”

  “Yes,” Bella burst out. “And he did it a few days before he suddenly died! Megan might have found out, right?”

  Bella’s words fell like stones into the middle of the room.

  “Do you have proof of this, Bella?” Wayne immediately asked. “We need solid proof.”

  “I have no written proof,” Bella replied. “But I think Tyron made the same offer to some of the escorts.”

  “To give them money to have Megan disappear?” Wayne’s face had grown pale.

  “Something like that,” Bella whispered. “I’m not positive, I’m not sure. But it backfired anyway, didn’t it?”

  “Could one of the escorts have arranged to have him killed?” Olivia was horrified. “Could she have been a friend of Megan’s?”

  “I doubt it,” Bella hissed. “Who would risk their life to save Megan? My guess is that the killer had to be someone who hated Tyron and was sick and tired of his being around.”

  Once again Bella was pointing the finger at Megan, thought Olivia. Then she remembered the video of Bella screaming at Tyron. Megan had given it to them, pointing the finger at Bella. Olivia decided to explore Bella’s part in all this immediately.

  “We have a surveillance video of you and Tyron,” Olivia interrupted sharply, wondering how Bella would respond.

  Bella seemed unconcerned.

  “The video shows you screaming at Tyron, abusing him,” Olivia continued. “Seems like you couldn’t stand having him around anymore either!”

  “That’s not true,” Bella claimed. “Sure, I got pissed at Tyron from time to time because he could be a brat. But I wasn’t abusing him at all. I was trying to get him to do what he had to. He could be rough to handle! Everyone knows that. And it was my job to make sure he did what he had to do. It was up to me to keep him well.”

  Bella’s unruffled manner surprised Olivia.

  “Who gave you the video, anyway?” Bella asked then, lightly smiling. “I bet it was Megan, right?”

  Olivia wasn’t sure if she should tell Bella.

  “Who else do you think might have found the video?” Wayne was trying to corner Bella as well.

  Bella almost took the bait and then pulled back. “It doesn’t matter who,” she said finally. “They’re all a bunch of loonies. So I yelled at the guy to make him listen. It doesn’t amount to anything!”

  Wayne’s phone rang suddenly then, breaking into the intensity between them. Wayne went to the table to pick it up and Olivia turned to watch him. To her surprise, as she did so, she saw the door to the room they were in barely open. Then she saw someone peeking in.

  “Who’s there?” Olivia asked, rushing to the door as the figure disappeared quickly.

  “That had to be Megan,” Bella exclaimed. “I told you, she’s become a ghost these days! She does that a lot, peeks in through doors and windows and then runs away.”

  “Megan, Megan,” Olivia called out to her as she ran through the door herself, to find who had been there. No one could be seen at all, though.

  Olivia quickly ran through the rooms and then up the stairs, looking for the figure who’d been looking in.

  “Megan,” Olivia called, as she opened one door after another, going into a room and then out again. Megan was nowhere to be found, nor was anybody else. Whoever had been inside had most likely left the home immediately.

  Unnerved, Olivia returned to the main room, where Bella and Wayne were still waiting.

  “I couldn’t find anybody at all,” breathed Olivia.

  Bella shrugged and smiled. “It doesn’t surprise me at all. I told you, she’s like a ghost, recently. Appearing and disappearing like that. Megan has her ways and places she hides in.”

  “This has been going on for a while?” Olivia double-checked.

  “Yes, it has.” Bella smirked now.

  “Megan must be terrified,” Olivia remarked.

  “Who cares?” sneered Bella. “If she’s terrified, that’s a sign of her guilt, isn’t it?”

  “Seems so,” Wayne agreed softly.

  “Not necessarily,” Olivia countered. “It’s a sign that she’s being threatened, that’s all. Who knows by whom, exactly?” Then Olivia turned to Bella. “Maybe Megan found out that Tyron offered you money to make her disappear.”

  “Maybe she did,” said Bella glumly. “So what?”

  “That could terrify anyone, couldn’t it? Maybe Megan’s afraid of you? Checking up to see what you’re up to?”

  At that Bella guffawed loudly. “A thousand maybes don’t add up to anything, though, do they? She’s not the one who was killed! It was Tyron.”

  Wayne walked over to Olivia then. “Bella’s right. So
far, this is all just speculation,” he said. “When you were looking for Megan, I was talking to the police over the phone. They want us over at the station as soon as possible for a meeting. The district attorney will be there and wants to go over new evidence they’ve found.”

  “Good!” Bella barked. “Go hear the evidence against her!”

  “Let’s go and hear what new evidence they found,” Olivia replied.

  “And when you find out, give a call and let me know.” Bella looked excited.

  “Whatever we hear will be confidential,” Wayne replied.

  “Yeah, yeah, confidential,” said Bella. “Everything’s confidential, until it’s not.”

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  Olivia was relieved to get out of the house and be on the way to the police station with Wayne. She felt uncomfortable spending time with Bella and was greatly disturbed to hear about Tyron’s involvement with escorts. Also, the odd experience of seeing someone peering in through the door had been unnerving. If it was Megan, as Olivia suspected, it might mean that she was coming apart. The fear and horror Megan was experiencing might be too much for her. That didn’t make her a murderer, though. Olivia refused to jump to that conclusion.

  “Do you think it’s true that Tyron used escorts regularly?” Olivia asked Wayne as the cab rolled through the elegant streets of Naples where everything was glittering and in perfect order.

  “I can’t imagine Bella would lie about something like that,” Wayne replied. “It’s easy to check up on it, anyway.”

  “We have to check it out right away,” said Olivia.

  “We certainly do,” Wayne agreed.

  “I can see how something like that could drive Megan completely crazy,” Olivia breathed. “It had to feel like a huge slap in her face.”

  “It’s not as unusual as you might imagine, though,” said Wayne, trying to normalize the situation. “Lots of guys get hooked on escorts, including older ones.”

  Olivia knew she had to accept that reality, even though she found it distasteful. “But what else does that tell us about Tyron?”

  “It doesn’t say anything much about Tyron, but of course it puts his marriage in a bad light,” Wayne commented. “And it certainly could speak to motive for Megan. When exactly did she find out about these escorts? How long had it been going on? That’s very important.”

  “A jury could relate to her upset, I believe,” Olivia murmured.

  “Maybe. It depends who they are,” said Wayne staunchly. “But if Megan’s now taking it upon herself to peer through doors, that makes her seem even more desperate. Who knows what else she might have overheard Tyron saying? If she found out he wanted her gone, it makes sense that she would have decided to get rid of him before he got to her.”

  “Self-defense?” mused Olivia.

  “There are better ways of defending yourself.” Wayne didn’t like it. “It sounds as though they had a weird power struggle going on for some time.”

  Olivia felt a case building against Megan from every corner, one insinuation at a time. All put together, it could do her in. It almost felt like a tidal wave was growing against Megan that would be almost impossible to overcome. Olivia didn’t like it. The situation was too complex to stop searching.

  “What about Bella?” Olivia remarked. “How reliable is she? Are we just brushing off her video because she makes light of it?”

  “Who says we’re brushing it off? I made sure the police got a copy. I don’t see any motive with Bella, frankly,” said Wayne. “It’s natural for caretakers to get frustrated and cranky. I’m sure lots of them lose their tempers at times.”

  Wayne was downplaying Bella’s possible involvement. He clearly didn’t feel good about Megan, or anything about her.

  “We have to stay neutral here,” Olivia warned him as their cab quickly approached the station. “No matter how strange Megan now seems, we have to keep our minds open.”

  “My mind is always open,” Wayne replied as the cab stopped and he got out and paid.

  *

  When Olivia and Wayne walked into the conference room at the police station everyone was already there. They all stood up as Olivia and Wayne entered, including James Gallant, Marcus Brandt, and Ed Mahoney. Olivia felt pleased, happy to be part of a team.

  “This is Marvin Toll, our district attorney.” James introduced Olivia and Wayne to a tall, angular man with deep creases between his brow and a shock of dark hair over his forehead.

  “Pleased to meet you,” Olivia and Wayne responded as they all sat down to start the meeting.

  “We asked you to join us as soon as you could because we have important new evidence,” James Gallant said. “Firstly, we spoke to Aldo Gapa, who runs a prominent charity in town. Tyron was a big donor to his charity and Aldo told us that recently Megan tried to stop Tyron from contributing. It definitely raised alarm bells for them.”

  “Why would she do that?” Olivia was startled.

  “That’s the question, isn’t it?” said Gallant. “At the very least, Megan was definitely trying to take control of how Tyron spent his money. Needless to say, her meddling upset Aldo considerably. It also disturbed quite a few other people at the charity as well. Several began questioning what Megan was up to.”

  “What are you implying?” Wayne asked directly.

  Gallant answered immediately. “People wondered why Megan was interfering. She personally had a huge allowance from Tyron and her credit card was always charged to the brim. Tyron took care of her monthly charges, naturally. Not a word said.”

  “How do you know he didn’t say a word about it?” Olivia broke in.

  “There was never a late payment and we never heard anything to the contrary,” Gallant crisply replied.

  Marvin Toll nodded his head forcibly in agreement and joined in. “And beyond that, as we told Wayne over the phone, we have important new evidence as well. I was waiting for us all to be together to make it public.”

  Olivia sat up taller. “What is it?” she asked directly.

  “Megan recently told someone who worked at her company that she planned to move her business very soon to another part of the state.”

  The room bristled with interest. Things were definitely piling on.

  “Why was Megan doing that?” Marvin continued. “Where was she going, exactly? Was she planning to leave Tyron behind? Was she thinking of getting a divorce? Or was it simpler for her to just arrange for him to conveniently die?”

  Olivia took a deep, sharp breath. Clearly Megan was becoming the fall guy here. “Who told you this?” she asked.

  “I am not at liberty to give you the informant’s name, but we definitely have firm evidence,” Marvin responded swiftly. “The informant gave us all the paperwork we need to corroborate Megan’s plans. The moment the informant heard that Tyron had died, she felt we had to have this. It seems definitely possible that Megan was setting the groundwork not only for the move, but for Tyron’s demise.”

  “Anything else?” Wayne stood up then and confronted Marvin directly.

  “Yes, there’s more. Sit down,” Marvin continued. “Naturally, we’ve been looking into all of Megan’s activities. It also seems that she is still quite involved with friends from her old escort agency.”

  Megan had told Olivia such, but still, Olivia was startled now that she thought about it. This could have endless implications. She wondered if Megan’s old escort agency was the same one that Tyron used presently.

  “Tell us whatever you know about Tyron’s escorts, please,” Marvin addressed Olivia and Wayne then. “Any additional information would be greatly appreciated.”

  “We just heard that Tyron hired escorts regularly,” Olivia replied.

  “Who told you?” Marvin was interested.

  “We heard it from Bella, Tyron’s caretaker,” Wayne replied.

  James Gallant jumped in. “Did Bella tell you if Megan’s friends work for the same agency that provided Tyron his escorts?”

 
“I have no idea about that,” replied Wayne.

  “We’ve all been wondering whether Megan knew Tyron’s escorts personally.” Gallant was on a roll. “Did one of them visit Tyron the day of his death and follow Megan’s orders?”

  It was a frightening theory and Olivia shuddered. “You’re suggesting that Megan ordered a hit job?” she asked.

  “Maybe so,” Marvin joined in forcefully. “Given everything we have, there seems to be no doubt, however, about Megan’s involvement in Tyron’s death.”

  “It does look possible,” Wayne had to agree.

  “Therefore,” Marvin went on, “I wanted to let you know that I’ve spoken to Megan’s lawyer and urged her to accept a plea deal for her client. She adamantly refused.”

  “A plea deal?” Olivia was appalled.

  “Not only will a plea deal make it much easier for Megan, but it will save the community a great deal of time, expense, and bad publicity,” Marvin added. “I’m strongly requesting that you and Wayne urge Megan to reconsider.”

  “What would Megan be pleading to?” asked Wayne.

  “That’s something we can work out with her lawyer,” Marvin replied.

  “Absolutely not!” Olivia interrupted forcefully. “I can’t encourage Megan to go along with it. This is totally premature!”

  Marvin smiled at Olivia condescendingly. “Not premature at all,” he replied. “When you’ve done as many cases as I have, you can easily see the handwriting on the wall.”

  “Then it’s good that I haven’t done as many cases,” Olivia retorted, “because all I see are accusations lining up. At the moment they’re all just assumptions.” Olivia thought of all the other possible suspects who hadn’t been fully explored at all, the ex-wife, Alice, who was overly involved with Tyron; Bella, who’d been seen on the video abusing Tyron. And who knew who else?

  “There are plenty of other suspects still out there,” Olivia insisted.