Tangled Web: A Small Town Romance (The Cortell Brothers Book 6)

by Giulia Lagomarsino

  I shook my head. “No, but I was with her when she got a phone call. I overheard her admit that she had killed three people.”

  His eyes slowly dropped back down to the papers as he looked them over. Corduroy was looking over his shoulder, pointing to things randomly as Robert and I waited for them to finish looking over it. Of course, it would take a lot more than just a cursory glance to really understand everything that was there.

  “Okay, you’ve got my attention. Who exactly do you think she’s killed?”

  “Her mother, father, best friend, fiancé, and husband.”

  Jack narrowed his eyes. “That’s more than three people.”

  “I’m aware. And I don’t have solid proof of any of it, but I know what I heard and if you really look through that file, you’ll see that things are just a little too coincidental in her life.”

  Jack leaned back in his chair with a sigh. “And just what do you expect me to do with this?”

  “Well, first of all,” Robert started, “we’d like you to get a search warrant to find DNA evidence that links her to her fiancé’s car accident. There were hairs found at the scene, but nobody in the database matched. If it’s a match, that would be enough to reopen the case.”

  Corduroy shifted beside Jack. “I’m confused. I thought you were dating this woman.”

  I nodded. “I was. But I was also investigating her.”

  Corduroy burst out laughing. “You knew that she might be a murderer and you slept with her?”

  I narrowed my eyes at him. “I never said I slept with her.”

  “Hell, the whole town knows the two of you are sleeping together.”

  Jack’s eyes narrowed dangerously. “If you had suspicions, you should have come to the police. Instead, you slept with her, had an intimate relationship with her. I could charge you with aiding and abetting a criminal.”

  “First, he didn’t have any proof of any wrongdoing. Second, as soon as he found out, he came to you.”

  He shrugged slightly. “Not from where I’m sitting. How many other people in your family know about this? I’m betting most of them. Which means that you were trying to figure out what to do. That sounds an awful lot like conspiracy to me.”

  My nostrils flared in anger. I was already pissed enough at myself for what I was doing to Lorelei, I really didn’t need him adding to it. “Look, I was investigating her, and then I came to you as soon as I found out more information.”

  “And what about the step-son?” Corduroy asked.

  “I have a feeling he has another agenda in mind. I’d like to make sure that Lorelei is given a fair trial.”

  Jack’s gaze studied me for just a moment. “Fuck, you went and fell for her. Goddammit,” he said, slamming the file down on the table. “How the hell are you supposed to be a reliable witness if you’ve been fucking her and you’re in love with her?”

  “I never said I was in love with her,” I argued, though it was so obvious I did.

  “This is not the ideal situation to—“

  “Ideal? Do you think any of this is fucking ideal? The woman I love turns out to be a serial killer and you think there’s some easy way to wrap this up in a pretty bow?”

  Jack sighed and leaned back in his chair, rubbing his hand across his jaw. “This case is too big for our department. I’m assuming the step-son wants this prosecuted in his county?”

  Robert nodded. “That would make the most sense, but with it possibly crossing state borders, it would become a federal case.”

  “And I suppose you just want to walk away without any charges.”

  “Well, that would be nice,” I said, hoping he would be that nice. However, the smirk on his face told me that wasn’t going to happen.

  Lorelei

  I was packing up my stuff, ready to head home and get as far away from this place as possible. I had stayed longer than expected, over two weeks, because Callum thought it would be better to stick around for a while. He thought we might be able to fight the trust with me here. Our attempts had been met with silence. I could see the worry in Callum’s eyes every time we were put off by the attorneys. It didn’t seem like there was anything else I could do from here, and I was desperate to get back to Andrew. Though I’d tried calling him over the last few weeks, I’d only reached him once, and the conversation was short. I wondered if his cold feet were now frigid.

  Barty and Elena were still in the house, and it didn’t escape my notice that quite a few things were missing around here. They couldn’t get their hands on the trust, so they were hocking whatever they could.

  I laughed to myself as I zipped up my suitcase. It really was funny. They were so greedy, neither of them really wanting to work for their money. Bartholomew only did what was absolutely necessary, which is why his father would never hand over everything to him, and Elena had never worked a day in her life. Oscar was the only one with promise, and he was actually a really good kid…young man.

  I carried my bag downstairs and smiled broadly when I saw Oscar walking into the house. “Hey, what are you doing here?”

  “Winter break. Bartholomew called and said that you were back and something about needing me to get back here. Do you know what that’s about?”

  I rolled my eyes. “You know your brother, always so dramatic. I just came home for a few days.”

  His eyes fell slightly. “Oh, you’re leaving already?”

  “I have a flight back home in just a few hours.” He nodded and looked a little upset at this. “But I still have time if there’s something you wanted to talk about.”

  “Well, I was hoping you could help me figure out some stuff for college.”

  “Of course. Let’s go sit down.”

  We walked into the living room and he pulled out a ton of papers from his bag, all bent and crumpled. “Sorry, I’m not very organized.”

  “That’s okay. So, what did you decide to do?”

  “Well, you know I’m minoring in music, but I’d like to make that my major…and not take any business classes.”

  I grinned at him. “That sounds like a great idea.”

  “Yeah, but I need help filling out all the paperwork. There’s uh…there’s a lot of paperwork for switching my major and I just got a notice that my next semester’s payment didn’t go through.”

  His cheeks flushed red and I sat there speechless for just a second before my brain kicked in. “I’ll take care of it right now. I know the trust is supposed to cover tuition, but I have enough to pay.”

  Relief flooded his face and I quickly put in the call, making sure that the money was transferred for his next semester. It put a huge dent in my savings for the house, but that didn’t matter. Oliver might not be my kid, but that didn’t make him any less my responsibility.

  We spent the next hour going over all the paperwork, making sure everything was filled out as it should be. I glanced at my watch and sighed, giving him a smile.

  “I have to get to the airport. If you need anything else, just call me.”

  “Thanks, Lorelei.”

  I hugged him and then stood, grabbing my bag as I headed for the door. I was just pulling the door open when I was startled by the sight of two men standing in front of me. Not just men, police officers.

  “Can I help you?”

  “Lorelei Henning?”

  I almost sighed. They knew exactly who I was. “Yes.”

  “You’re under arrest for the murder of Arlen Henning.”

  I stared at them in shock, my face surely showing the surprise that I felt. Sure, I knew they might drag me into the station, but arrest me? I heard a chuckle behind me and turned around, watching as Barty laughed, obviously enjoying what was happening. As for Elena, the smirk on her face was all too clear. She was happy that I was going down. But when I saw the look on Oscar’s face, I felt gutted. Never in the last year and a half had I considered how badly this would affect Oscar. Despite his feelings for his father, Arlen was the only parent he had left, and now he
thought I killed him.

  As the officers handcuffed me and read me my rights, I watched as Oscar’s face slowly turned to disappointment and then anger before storming out of the room. I wanted to tell him that I hadn’t done it, that I wasn’t a bad person, but only half that statement was true.

  I sat in the interrogation room, waiting for Callum to show up. I had already been finger-printed and booked, and now I was waiting in an orange jumpsuit that made me look like a pumpkin. I didn’t care about that so much. I was more concerned about where they got evidence that I had murdered someone.

  The door opened and Callum strode in, looking every bit like the powerful attorney he was. He just wasn’t a criminal defense lawyer, which meant that I was in trouble. He sat down across from me and sighed, reaching out to grab my hand.

  “How are you?”

  “Fine, you know, other than being locked in a cell and going crazy wondering what’s happening.”

  “Well, I can answer that for you. It seems that the evidence came out of Newton County, Indiana.”

  I frowned, shaking my head slightly. “No, that can’t be possible. That’s where I live. Who would think I was a murderer, or even investigate me?”

  He leaned forward and pushed a document in front of me. “I did some digging. Barty took a trip out there when you first moved to town.”

  “Of course, he did.”

  “He met with a private investigator.” He pulled out some photos from street cameras, ones that caught the inside of the diner where Barty sat, and right across from him was none other than Andrew. I gasped, covering my mouth with my hand.

  “The investigator is Andrew—“

  “Cortell,” I finished, closing my eyes in disbelief. “Oh my gosh.”

  “What? What’s wrong?”

  I opened my eyes and stared at Callum. “I was sleeping with him. I had no idea.”

  I ducked my head in my hands, groaning at my own idiocy.

  “Lorelei, what did you tell him?” he asked urgently.

  I shook my head. “Nothing. I didn’t tell him a thing.”

  “You’re sure? Think back, anything that might have made him suspect that you could have killed Arlen.”

  Disappointed tears filled my eyes as I thought back over our weeks together. I thought that we had something special. I had opened up to him more than anyone since Matthew. How could he do that to me? How could he deceive me like that?

  But a bigger part of me knew that he wasn’t solely to blame here. I hadn’t been honest with him either. I thought back to that night when I told him that secrets required trust. It felt like he had wanted to tell me something then. Was it that he was investigating me? And if he had wanted to tell me, then he must have believed that I was innocent, so what changed his mind?

  “Lorelei, I need to know,” Callum cut into my thoughts. “Did you say anything to him?”

  “I told him about my dad…about the night Matthew saved me.”

  He narrowed his eyes at me. “About the night your dad disappeared.”

  I nodded. “I told him that I had heard from him again, so I don’t think that would make him think anything.”

  “Okay, anything else?”

  I thought hard, trying to remember everything that had been said. “He knows my mom died at home and that we couldn’t afford an autopsy. And I’m sure if he was investigating me, then he knows about Murray.”

  He nodded. “I would assume so.”

  “He knows my dad is out of the picture, but he might have looked into Matthew after I told him what happened with my dad.”

  He swore, leaning back in his chair. “Why the hell would you tell him that?”

  “I had a freakout, okay! It just happened.”

  “I fucking told you not to get close to anyone,” he hissed.

  “How the hell was I supposed to know he was investigating me?” I shot back.

  “You wouldn’t, that’s why I told you not to date anyone. Besides, do you know what they’ll do to you in court? They’re going to rip you apart after he gets called as a witness. The grieving widow that moved on just months after her husband died. You’ll lose all credibility just like that,” he said, snapping his fingers.

  I sighed, leaning forward on the table. “Look, it’s over and done with. We need to figure out what to do now.”

  “And I need to know what the hell I’m looking for. Did you kill him or not?”

  I narrowed my eyes at him. “Of course I didn’t. We had a plan in place. It would have been stupid to kill him, and the fact that you keep asking me makes me really question what you think of me.”

  He dropped his head back and stared up at the ceiling, taking in calming breaths. “Look, I’m sorry, alright? This is just a really big hit to our plan.”

  “Don’t you think I know that?”

  “Okay, logically speaking, they’ve arrested you, but their case is thin. All they have to go on is a witness saying he heard you say you killed three people and—”

  I frowned and then all the blood drained from my face. “Oh God. That’s why he ran.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “That night you called, he was with me. I said that I had killed three people and he must have overheard. He was acting all weird afterwards. I thought he was just freaking out about our relationship, but he must have heard me say that and then he ran.” I looked up at Callum, worried that I was about to go down for a murder I didn’t commit. “What do we do?”

  “A confession from him isn’t enough. There has to be corroborating evidence, and unfortunately, they have it.”

  “They what?”

  “Barty allowed the body to be exhumed. The tests came back positive for poison.”

  My jaw dropped in shock, but the more I thought about it, the more everything clicked into place. “It had to be Barty.”

  “Are you sure about that?”

  “Look at who’s been pushing for the stall of the trust. Barty doesn’t want me to have a penny. Without that trust, all he has is his position at the company. With the trust, he would at least be named CEO and would have the power of the board of directors backing him. He hates me, Callum, and he hated his father. I wouldn’t put it past him to do something like this just so he could gain a little power.”

  He nodded in agreement. “Alright, I’ll see what I can find out, but they’ve already exhumed the body and found poison in Arlen’s system. Now, they can’t tie it to you, but that confession is going to hurt you. But they won’t hear that until the trial. In the meantime, I’ll try and get you out on bail.”

  “What are my chances?”

  “Based on the evidence? I would say there’s a pretty good chance.”

  “What about leaving the state?”

  His eyebrows shot up. “You want to go back there? Back to a man that turned you in for murder?”

  I didn’t know what I wanted at this point. I had been sent to prison by a man that I thought loved me. I should at least have a chance to defend myself and prove to him that I wasn’t the person he thought I was. Well, not completely anyway. And another part of me wanted to hit him and tell him what a bastard he was for deceiving me the way he had. I didn’t know what my feelings were, but I knew I needed to talk to him before the trial began.

  “Just see if you can get me out of here.”

  Sofia

  “Why are we meeting on a Thursday night?” Will asked. “It’s not poker night. And where the hell is Andrew?”

  “Yeah, I don’t remember agreeing to being summoned like this,” Robert grumbled.

  “I called everyone here,” I said, standing up at the entrance to the kitchen in Eric’s house. I had told Kat that I desperately needed help and asked her to help me round everyone up.

  “Why?” Joe asked. “Is something wrong? Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine, but one of us is definitely not fine.”

  “Who?” Eric asked, a confused look on his face.

  “Your brothe
r.”

  He glanced at Josh. “You good?”

  Josh shrugged. “I’m fine.”

  “Not that brother,” I huffed.

  His eyes moved to Joe. “Is something wrong at the shop?”

  “I’ve got no complaints.”

  I rolled my eyes, stomping my foot. “Not that brother either. And not Will or Robert either. The brother that’s not here.”

  “Well, technically there are two brothers not here,” Eric pointed out.

  “Oh my God, it’s like you’re purposely being obtuse! Andrew. The brother that’s not in the room right now and recently had something devastating happen to him!”

  Robert snorted. “I wouldn’t say that. He escaped a killer. Seems he got out just in time.”

  “No kidding. The last thing we need is for the whole town to think that he was consorting with a killer,” Will muttered.

  “Hey, count yourself lucky. I was in that house with her every day. With just a flick of her wrist, I could have been dead. And now that we all know that she tried to kill Andrew on multiple occasions, it makes me even happier that she’s out of his life. That could have been me.”

  “Oh, would you stop,” Kat sighed. “God, you sound like such a baby. She’s not a killer.”

  “Andrew heard her say it,” Eric argued.

  “Yeah, I’m with Eric,” Robert agreed. “I’m not sure how you twist I’ve killed three people into something innocent.”

  “She could have meant anything,” Charlie said. “Do you know how many times I’ve wished someone dead?”

  “Yeah, but you never actually said you killed anyone,” Will argued.

  “I could though. What if I was referring to people that died on my table?”

  “But you didn’t kill them,” Will pointed out.

  “Maybe not, but I also couldn’t save them. To me, that’s practically the same thing. Maybe what’s really going on is something similar.”

  Robert snorted. “Right, except for the fact that Lorelei’s not a doctor.”

  “The point is,” Kat cut in, “that none of us really know what happened, and neither does Andrew.”