She shrugged. “Probably just a cold. I’ll know more when I see her for myself. But...it scares me...her being there, her age, all those germs...”
“She needs for her attorney to approach the DA for a plea agreement,” he said. And her ire rose again, instantly, as it had the last time they’d been on the topic. Astounding, the depths of emotion she experienced around him. Passion and its shadow side, frustration, like never before. “Or to consider the option if it’s already been offered.”
“She’d rather take her chance with a jury,” she reiterated. In truth, Everleigh didn’t know that waiting for a trial would be good for her grandmother. But the woman was of perfectly sound mind and had made her decision. “If the jury is made up of people from Grave Gulch, she probably has a good chance of getting off.” The Free Granny crusade was ongoing, and growing, according to the news report she’d read the night before when she couldn’t get to sleep.
He frowned, turned to go and turned back. “I don’t want to piss you off, but...will you please just listen for a second with an open mind?”
She prided herself on her ability to see both sides of situations, nodded.
“Once members of the jury are sworn in, they no longer get to make choices based on what they think should happen or what they’d like to see happen. They become representatives of the court and are under legal obligation to make decisions based only on fact and law. And Michigan law MCLS 750.349 states that the offense of kidnapping happens if one knowingly and willfully seizes another with the intent to hold that person for ransom. She seized a toddler. And she sent a ransom demand. That’s all the prosecutor has to prove, which they will within minutes, and the jury will have to make a determination based on that evidence.
“The mitigating factors will come in during the sentencing stage, so she likely wouldn’t get the maximum sentence, which is life in prison. But she could get any other number of years based on other case sentencings of toddler abductions for ransom. And...there’s an off chance that she could get off with time served and a fifty-thousand-dollar fine. Regardless, she’ll be in prison for months, at the very least, preparing for trial.”
She could cover the fine. So, there was hope. There was hope! Her trial had been considered speedy and she’d been in prison two months. Gram was sick. But there was hope.
And she stared at him. “You have Michigan law memorized?”
“No,” he told her straight on. “I looked it up the first night you were here. And talked to a lawyer friend.”
He had her back. Standing there with him, knowing that, she almost started to cry.
“But if, on the other hand, you leave this to DA Parks, she could be out of prison immediately, and maybe never have to go back. If that’s stipulated in the plea agreement.”
She stiffened. “How would that work?”
“If she pled guilty and the DA recommends house arrest while awaiting sentencing, she could be released almost immediately. The DA has discretion, and the ability to make recommendations to the judge, without a trial. It would mean that Hannah would have a felony charge against her, because she’d be admitting guilt. But with the DA not presenting all of their evidence, but rather recommending that the crime only warrants certain punishment, the judge could be more lenient.”
She shook her head. “You said she could potentially not have to go back to prison.”
“The judge can sentence her to home confinement. And if that’s what the DA agrees to, chances are good that’s what she’d get.”
Seriously. Not an option she’d had on her list. People from her walk of life didn’t generally get the DA’s ear. “You talked to your lawyer friend about this?”
“I did.”
“And this is a real possibility?”
“From what I was told, it’s more likely than not, considering the circumstances, that this could happen. Especially with the chief of police putting in a word on your grandmother’s behalf and public opinion already being in her favor. And with the victim’s mother willing to drop charges altogether...”
That option sounded so good. She wanted so badly for things to go the way he’d described. But getting Gram to plead guilty...to turn herself over to the DA and the judge without any of her peers hearing her side of things...
“Gram doesn’t trust the GGPD as a whole,” she told him. “She didn’t even before my arrest, and then, with the subsequent mishandling of things...”
Everleigh had kind of thought the same of the department, too. But she’d had no real evidence to back up any allegations of wrongdoing until now. “You all seem to, I don’t know, be unaware of how it feels to be on the other side of the law. Rightfully or wrongfully.”
“Are you aware that my aunt, Amanda Colton, was murdered in a robbery home invasion right here in Grave Gulch? Troy and Desiree were toddlers and home when it happened.”
She shook her head. “I didn’t know that.”
“I was ten at the time,” he continued, “and remember it all clearly. My parents’ horror, the way they watched over us kids so closely after. My dad constantly worrying about Mom. Our cousins stayed with us some, while Uncle Geoff dealt with his own grief. It shaped all of us, even the family members who came after. We all grew up with that murder as a central point in our family.”
Shocked, hurting for him, trying to imagine a ten-year-old boy, the oldest child, dealing with all of that, she asked, “Did they catch who did it?”
The slow shake of his head was telling. “They did not. And that’s why so many of us are in law enforcement—or some form of protection. A need for justice is ingrained in us all.”
And that kind of explained why he stood so staunchly by the need of the court system to be just. For Everleigh, when the police had failed. And in Gram’s case, too.
For her, it was new...having someone in her corner just because. Without asking for anything in return. He’d told her he didn’t even want her money. Who did that?
“Would you talk to my grandmother?” she blurted before the idea was fully formed. Or vetted at all. “Since you’re the one who proved my innocence, she’d like to meet you. And she’ll trust you some, too, even though you’re the police chief’s brother. Maybe you could convince her that she can trust your family and that she’d be safer making a deal with the DA than going to trial.”
He studied her for a long second, and she tingled under his gaze. “I have no problem giving it a try,” he said. And she smiled.
* * *
Half an hour later Clarke was still feeling the dizzying effects of the full force of Everleigh’s smile when he went out to the kitchen to find her making a lasagna for dinner. The woman was being hunted and she still made supper.
He liked the making-supper part...too much, and remembered why he was out there.
“Take a look at this photo,” he said, showing her an image of Brenda Nolton that Ellie had just sent over. She’d already told him that the alibis of the other two women had checked out. “Do you recognize her?”
She nodded, frowning. “She used to hang out at the health club. I’d see her there sometimes when I went in to work out. She was one of Fritz’s personal-training clients and fawned on him a lot. It was pretty obvious that she had a crush, but I never got any vibes from her that she’d act on it. It was more like a hero-worship kind of thing. Who is she?”
“Brenda Nolton.”
“The woman with the record for fraud?”
“And last night someone confirmed that she and Fritz had been lovers.”
She hardly blinked at the mention of her husband’s philandering that time. Life was toughening her up. He wished it didn’t have to do so. “Doesn’t mean they were,” she said, glancing at the picture again. “Someone could have assumed from the way she acted around him that they were.”
He couldn’t tell if she was wishful thinking or not. Didn
’t really seem like she was, but rather speaking her honest impression. But then, this was the woman who’d been married to a philanderer for years without knowing he was cheating on her. She’d seen what she’d expected to see.
He had to see what really was. And added another possible outing to their list of them for the day.
“Still, with Fritz’s history, it’s safe to assume he’d slept with her. At least once. If nothing else, I have one thing to be very thankful for through all of this.”
“What’s that?”
“My freedom. With all that’s happened, seeing him for who he was... I’m completely over him.”
Clarke put an immediate lid on the thrill that shot through him as he heard her words.
“You up for doing some spying of our own?”
“On this woman?”
He excelled at covert surveillance, so he felt fairly confident he could keep Everleigh safe if Brenda turned out to be, as he expected, her attacker. And if she did see them, she’d show her hand. Clarke had a better chance at protecting Everleigh on the offensive than if they were ambushed again.
“Yes.”
“I’ll do anything that will help figure this out,” she told him. “But only after I see Gram.”
He agreed, not altogether happy about the day’s plan, but knowing that he couldn’t keep Everleigh locked up in his condo forever.
Or even much longer.
She wasn’t going to allow it.
Most particularly if he kissed her again. He’d like to assure himself that he absolutely would not, but standing there with her, he wasn’t so sure about that.
Chapter 14
Everleigh went in to see Gram first and was relieved to see that she was pretty much just fine. A little bit of a runny nose. Something that she got on a pretty regular basis in the wintertime. She agreed to hear Clarke out, told both him and Everleigh that she’d think about what he’d said.
She’d responded to it in such a way, though, that Everleigh knew they’d hit home. Didn’t mean Gram would agree to speak with DA Parks or to consider a deal. But she’d at least left the idea on the table to be further pondered.
Taking that as a win, Everleigh was feeling a bit more in control of things as she and Clarke arrived at the home of Randall Bowe and his wife, Muriel. Troy was waiting out front for them and they all went in together.
Muriel hardly glanced over when Clarke introduced Everleigh and nodded in her direction rather than holding out her hand, almost as though dismissing her. Everleigh, not taking offense, was perfectly happy to just nod right back. The other woman, dressed in what looked like designer black pants and a long-sleeved soft and expensive-looking maroon shirt with a matching maroon, gold, tan and black jacket, appeared as though she was ready to head out to some highbrow lunch. In fact, she’d told them to come anytime. She wasn’t leaving the house all day. Everleigh had heard the conversation on the car’s phone system as they’d headed out to the prison.
And she stood there and listened as Muriel answered the detective’s and then Clarke’s questions. Other than seeming rather snooty, Randall Bowe’s wife didn’t seem like a bad woman. To the contrary, Everleigh felt sorry for her more than anything.
She hadn’t asked them any farther into her home than behind the closed front door for warmth. She apologized for having been too upset to speak with the police on the day the allegations had broken. The only thing she’d said then was that her husband was away at a forensic-science convention. She hadn’t even been sure where it was. Clarke had given Everleigh that much in the car.
She had a little more to say this time. First and foremost, the cities where the conventions were to take place—two, not one. “He said he was going to be in New York first and then Chicago,” she told them, her arms crossed and her tone formal. Distant. As though, while she was cooperating, the questions were really beneath her.
As was their being there at all.
“I’ve done nothing wrong,” she stated for the second time. And Everleigh wondered if Muriel’s snootiness covered a bone-deep fear she didn’t know how to handle.
It was something she could relate to. One hundred percent. To find out your husband was not at all who you thought him to be...
“We’re not here to accuse you of anything,” Troy said.
“We don’t suspect you of anything, either,” Clarke added. “But we need to find your husband, sooner rather than later.”
“He hasn’t been in touch with me at all,” Muriel said stiffly. “He said he’d be busy, that he wouldn’t be able to call every night, but he hasn’t contacted me at all. In four days’ time, with all this going on, he can’t call me once?”
“Did he say how long he’d be gone?”
“Ten days.”
And then, with a glance at Everleigh, she looked back at the two men. “He’s not at a convention, is he?”
Troy pursed his lips as he shook his head. “We don’t believe so, no. We haven’t been able to find any listed, though now that we know the cities, we’ll be able to confirm one way or the other.”
She nodded. Hugged herself a little tighter. And Everleigh knew for sure she felt for her. Muriel was barely holding herself up—all alone in her big house in a town where her respected and successful husband had just become a pariah.
It wasn’t a smiling time, but she tried to keep her expression soft as the other woman looked at her. Really looked at her. And then back at the two men.
“He really did it, didn’t he?”
They nodded in unison. “Do you have any idea why?” Clarke asked.
She shook her head. “None,” she said. “I’ve spent the past four days going over our lives together, looking for signs, things I missed...”
“If he didn’t want you to find them, and you weren’t looking because you trusted him, you wouldn’t have been able to see them.” Everleigh piped up whether she was supposed to speak or not. Some things just had to get out there.
Muriel’s gaze turned back to Everleigh. “I’m sorry...”
“You didn’t do anything.” The other woman was going to have a hard-enough row to hoe. She didn’t need to compound it with a guilt that didn’t belong to her.
“We believe your husband was seeking revenge on those who were cheating on their spouses, and rewarding those who were loyal,” Clarke said. “Do you have any idea why that would be?”
She shook her head immediately. Her eyes were wide, and there was seemingly no place her gaze could land where it could make sense of what she’d see. And then it landed on Everleigh again.
“I’m sorry about your grandmother,” Muriel said. “I’ve met her a couple of times. She used to bake for the department Christmas charity event... To think that she’s sitting in prison because of Randall... I just... I have to believe he didn’t do it...”
“I absolutely did not kill my husband,” Everleigh said. “Nor did I cheat on him.”
“I did.” Tears filled Muriel’s eyes as they continued to focus on Everleigh, who didn’t look away, in spite of her shock. She couldn’t desert this woman who obviously had more to say and was struggling to get it out. “A year ago...I had an affair. Randall found out. I didn’t want my marriage to end... I just... I don’t know what I thought I was doing... Anyway, I ended the affair, promised I’d be faithful for the rest of my life, and Randall took me back.”
“And were you faithful after that?” Clarke’s tone wasn’t unkind, but Everleigh was surprised how different it sounded than when he’d been questioning her. It lacked...a certain warmth...that she’d figured was a natural part of him.
“I was.” Muriel’s tone was emphatic on that one as, with a brief glance in his direction, she answered Clarke. And then looked at Everleigh again. “He brought up the affair a lot, though, to the point where it about drove me nuts, but I understood, too, and just kept tell
ing him how sorry I was. I did everything I could to reassure him that it wouldn’t happen again. I’d check in with him every time I left the house, though he didn’t require that I do so. I just...”
She glanced at the two men. “In my heart...I know he did this.” And then back at Everleigh. “I’m just so furious, you know? That after all we’ve been through, after all the groveling I’ve done, how hard I’ve tried...he’d just leave without even so much as a phone call to let me know he’s all right.”
Everleigh nodded. “I know,” she said softly, her heart in her voice. Because she did. Clear to her soul. How did you live with a man for so long and misjudge him? How did you hold your head up high after everyone knew what a fool you’d been?
At least Fritz had been only a cheater. Not a criminal who’d let killers run free. Who’d put question marks on cases handled by the GGPD. Suddenly she wasn’t feeling as sorry for herself.
Or rather, as bad about herself. Her life might be a huge mess, but it was one she could clean up.
As soon as she was safe to get to it.
She wasn’t responsible for ruining lives. Muriel had to live with the fact that her affair had most likely been the trigger that set off Bowe’s crime spree.
“Your husband has a brother.” Detective Colton spoke up. “Baldwin. Do you have any idea where he might be? Is he someone Randall might turn to for help?”
Muriel shook her head, seeming to be a mite stronger now that she had gotten her sins off her chest. Everleigh figured it would be a good long while, if ever, before the woman truly recovered. “As far as I know, Randall and Baldwin haven’t spoken for years. And before you ask, I have no idea why. I never really knew Baldwin. And have no idea where he is...”
As they left, Clarke and Troy thanking Muriel for her time, Everleigh couldn’t help but wonder if Muriel had any family or friends of her own. Any emotional support at all.
Getting in Clarke’s car, she was a bit more thankful for her own parents. They weren’t perfect by a long shot. They’d let her down and she’d probably never trust them the same again. But she loved them, and they loved her still.
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