by D. B. Henson
The detective pulled out one of the metal chairs and sat down facing her. “I’m very sorry for your loss. I realize this is hard for you, but I need to ask you a few questions. I’m trying to piece together what happened here today.”
Toni nodded.
“Now, I understand you had a party last night.”
“It wasn’t a party. It was a rehearsal dinner. We’re getting married on Friday.” Toni noticed Detective Lewis and Clint exchange glances. “I mean, we had planned to.”
The detective nodded and slid his chair closer to her. He motioned for Clint to step back, as if somehow that would make her more comfortable.
“How did Mr. Chadwick behave at the dinner? Did he do, or say anything out of the ordinary?”
Toni shook her head. “No. He was fine.”
“What about before the dinner? The last few days? Did he ever seem distant, preoccupied?”
Toni looked down at the tissue in her hand. She twisted it around her index finger.
“Miss Matthews?”
She cleared her throat. “Well, there were a few times when it seemed like something was on his mind, but this hotel is a major project. It’s only natural he would be preoccupied with it.”
She watched the detective scribble something in his notebook. She knew he was making a mental profile of Scott. Trying to justify his death as a suicide.
“What happened after the rehearsal? Did you go straight home?”
“Yes.”
“Did the two of you argue?” The eyes that had previously held kindness were now full of accusations.
“What? Just who in the hell do you think you are?”
This was all too much to take. She needed some air. Toni tried to push her chair away from the table, accidentally knocking over the cup of water.
Clint stepped between them. “That’s enough. You don’t have to do this now, Toni. It can wait.”
She tried to stand, but the room began to spin.
Darkness gathered around the edges of her vision. She sank back into the chair. Cold sweat misted her forehead. She was going to faint.
Toni closed her eyes, held onto the table, and took several deep breaths. She felt Clint’s hand on her arm. His grip steadied her. Helped her hang onto consciousness.
She opened her eyes. The room had stopped spinning. For now anyway.
“Your face is paler than that wall,” Clint said. “I’m taking you home.”
“No,” Toni said. “I’m fine. I can do this.”
She turned to the detective. “As for your question – the answer is no. We did not argue. There’s nothing I could have said or done that would have caused Scott’s death.”
“I’m sorry,” Detective Lewis said. “I’m not trying to imply that you did.”
Clint knelt beside Toni’s chair. “Are you sure you want to continue with this?”
Toni studied the small puddle of water that had dripped from the table onto the dusty green floor. She told herself the detective was just doing his job. He didn’t know her. He didn’t know Scott. It was just the routine. He had to ask certain questions, no matter how insulting they seemed.
She looked up at Clint and nodded, tears rolling down her cheeks. “Yes. I just want to get it over.”
Clint handed her a fresh tissue and she wiped her face. “Go on with your questions, Detective,” she said.
The detective looked at Clint, as if daring him to speak, and then turned his attention back to Toni. “We’re almost done. Just take your time and try to remember. Was there anything unusual about Mr. Chadwick’s behavior last night, anything at all?”
Toni took a deep breath. She might as well be truthful, even though she knew the events of the previous night would only strengthen the detective’s case.
“I woke up around two in the morning. I had a bad dream. Scott wasn’t in bed, so I went looking for him. I found him in the study.”
“What was he doing?
“He was sitting at his desk, staring at his computer. He has a screensaver that’s a slide show. Pictures we took in Mexico.”
“He was looking at the pictures?”
“Not really looking at them. Kind of looking through them, if you know what I mean. Like he was in another world. I asked him what was wrong, and he told me it was nothing.”
“But you didn’t believe him.”
“No. I asked him again, and he finally told me he was having some problems with the hotel.”
“What kind of problems?”
“He didn’t say. I told him I wanted to help, but he said no. That it was nothing serious. That it would only take a few hours to sort out. He told me to go back to bed.”
“What else did he say?”
“Nothing really. I tried to get him to come back to bed with me, but he said he wanted to go over a few things first. He got out his blueprints, and I went back upstairs.”
“What about this morning?”
“He was already gone when I woke up.”
“What time was that?”
“A little before six.”
The detective closed his notebook. “Thank you, Miss Matthews. I appreciate your talking with me. I know it’s hard right now.” He started to rise.
“Wait,” Toni said. “There’s one thing I need to get straight.”
“What’s that?”
“I don’t care how things look right now, or what you think you know about Scott’s mental state. There is no way he jumped off that building.”
The detective exchanged another glance with Clint. “What makes you say that?”
“Because Scott would never take his own life, no matter what kind of problems he was having. I don’t know how this happened to him, but there’s one thing I know for sure. It had to be an accident.”
Brian Chadwick stood alone at the main entrance of the hotel, watching her.
She had emerged from the construction trailer with Clint at her side. His arm was around her, supporting her. Like he thought she wasn’t strong enough to stand on her own.
But Brian knew better.
He knew not to underestimate her.
He had definitely been unprepared when he met her the night before. She was quite a bit different from what he had expected. He remembered his brother as a guy who usually went for the blonde playmate types – all body and no brains.
Of course, his memories were from twelve years ago. Scott had only been twenty-two then. His tastes had apparently changed with age.
Not that Toni wasn’t attractive. She was. But more in a girl-next-door kind of way. More Mary Ann and less Ginger.
It wasn’t only her looks that had surprised him. She possessed a quick wit and an acute business sense.
But what concerned Brian most about Toni had nothing to do with her appearance or her intelligence. It was her attitude. She was a woman who knew exactly what she wanted and was determined to get it.
And that just might prove to be a problem.
CHAPTER 3
The white hearse glided past the iron gates into the cemetery followed by a steady stream of cars, lights on. Toni rode directly behind in a dark blue Mercedes driven by Scott’s attorney and best friend, Mark Ross. He had both hands on the wheel, his attention on the hearse.
Although Toni had not seen him cry, his dark-brown eyes were bloodshot, and his face appeared older than his thirty-three years. He reached over and took her hand.
“We’re going to get through this. You know that, don’t you?”
She didn’t want to get through it. She wanted to bolt from the car and run from the cemetery. She wanted to scream to the heavens how unfair life was. She wanted the rest of the world to shut up and leave her the hell alone.
She wanted Scott.
“Yes,” Toni said.
“We’ll lean on each other.”
Mark had already helped her a great deal. He was the one who cancelled the wedding caterer and florist. He had even notified all the people on the guest list. And along with
Jill, he had held her hand through all the funeral arrangements.
She was lucky to have someone who cared. Someone who understood.
Mark and Scott had been friends since their early childhood. Mark’s mother had worked for the Chadwick family. They practically grew up in the same house together, just like brothers.
Mark loved Scott almost as much as Toni did.
Mark parked the car and led Toni up the slope toward the gravesite. Her heels sank into the soft earth with each step, as if the tortured souls of the dead below were trying to pull her down into their rusty coffins.
The thought of Scott lying in a metal box in the cold ground sent a chill coursing through her. Then she reminded herself that Scott was no longer in his body. He had long since moved on to a better world. A world where there were no more tears, where death could no longer sting.
Mark paused at the top of the rise to allow Clint and Jill to catch up with them.
Jill hugged Toni.
“I still can’t believe it,” Jill said. “It’s such a tragedy losing him this way.”
Toni knew the rumors had already circulated around the town. Starting small, and then growing larger, until they were light years away from the truth. She had heard the whispers at the funeral home, snippets of conversation when no one thought she was listening, and the obvious silences when she walked into a room.
No matter what people were saying, she had expected more from her best friend.
“And exactly what way are you talking about?” Toni asked.
Jill turned her head, unable to look Toni in the eye.
Although the medical examiner had listed Scott’s death as a suicide, Toni didn’t buy it for a minute. She shifted her gaze to Clint and then Mark. The realization of their feelings hit her full force.
“I don’t believe this,” Toni said. “Am I the only one who sees the truth here?”
“She didn’t mean anything,” Mark said.
“Like hell she didn’t. I’m beginning to wonder if any of you really knew Scott at all.”
Mark stepped toward her. “Toni –”
“No.” She put up her hands. “Don’t. Please. Just leave me alone.”
She turned and headed toward the gravesite.
The casket, covered in white roses, rested beneath a green canopy tastelessly emblazoned with the name Blanton Hills Funeral Home in large white letters. In front of the coffin, the director had arranged a couple dozen chairs, each of them now filled, in neat lines on top of a thin turf-type carpet.
Toni sat on the front row between Brian and Mark. Clint and Jill occupied the seats behind them. The rest of the large group stood to the rear and sides of the canopy.
When the last of the mourners had filtered in, the minister took his place behind the podium. “We are gathered here today to pay our final respects …”
Toni wasn’t listening.
This was supposed to be her wedding day. The day she and Scott had planned for months. She closed her eyes and imagined herself in the bridal dressing room at the church, slipping into her custom-made gown, waiting to walk down the aisle.
Waiting to join Scott at the altar.
Waiting to stand before the very minister who was at the podium now.
The words he spoke were not the words she should be hearing. Instead of death, he should be speaking of life, of new beginnings.
An involuntary sob escaped her lips.
Brian shifted in the seat beside her.
Toni brought her handkerchief to her face, avoiding his gaze. Although she had not really had the chance to talk with him, he probably felt the same way as everyone else. After all, he hadn’t seen or spoken to Scott in years. If Scott’s closest friends didn’t believe his death was an accident, why should Brian?
Toni returned the handkerchief to her lap and chanced a glance in his direction.
Brian’s resemblance to Scott still unnerved her. They had the same sandy hair, the same build. But the eyes – the eyes were different.
Scott’s eyes had been a beautiful blue-green, full of laughter. But there was something unsettling in Brian’s storm-gray eyes. Something just below the surface. Something she couldn’t quite fathom.
Hearing the minister speak her name, listing her as a survivor, Toni was once again aware of the service.
“Today, we thank our Heavenly Father for allowing Scott Chadwick to be a part of our lives,” the minister said. “Though our hearts are heavy, Scott would want us to remember him, not with sadness, but with the joy that he brought to us while we were still together.”
CHAPTER 4
“Are you sure you don’t want me to stay?” Mark asked.
He was standing in Toni’s foyer, the door ajar behind him, acting more like her father than her friend.
At her request, the other funeral attendees had forgone the Southern tradition of gathering at the home of the widow. So now, it was just the two of them, each lost in their own private grief.
“I’m sure.”
They had ridden home from the service in silence, an obvious tension between them.
“About before,” Toni said. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have lashed out at you that way.”
“It’s okay.”
“No it’s not. You’re entitled to your opinion the same way that I’m entitled to mine. I just somehow thought they’d be the same.”
Mark sighed and pushed the door closed. “Whatever happened, the important thing is Scott loved you and you loved him. Nothing else matters. He will always be in your heart. No one can change that.”
It wasn’t Scott’s love she was questioning.
“I understand that,” Toni said. “But there’s one thing I don’t understand. If you saw signs that led you to believe Scott was capable of hurting himself, why didn’t you say anything?”
“There were no signs. None that I picked up. I’ve gone over this in my head a thousand times. If I could have changed what happened, I would have. But it was out of my control.”
“Then how can you be so sure that it wasn’t an accident? You know how dangerous construction sites can be. He could have lost his balance and slipped.”
Mark looked down at the floor and then nodded. “You’re right. Maybe he did.”
Why did she get the feeling he was only humoring her? He didn’t believe what he was saying. He just didn’t want to upset her further.
Mark put his arms around her and kissed her forehead. “I don’t feel right leaving. We could hang out, maybe watch a movie.”
“There have been so many people around here the last few days, some people I don’t even know. I really just need a little time to be alone.”
“Promise you’ll call me later.”
“I promise.”
Toni watched him pull his car around the circular driveway and then out onto the street.
How could Mark be so quick to believe the opinion of a medical examiner and a police detective who had never even met Scott? Who never knew the kind of man he was?
Scott never would have left her of his own accord. Not him. She was certain of that.
Toni went upstairs and changed out of the black silk dress and into jeans and an Auburn University sweatshirt. After hanging up the dress, she stood in the closet. Just stood there, not wanting to move.
Staring at Scott’s clothes.
On the left, he had his polo shirts and jeans. Khakis and casual slacks and shirts in the middle, suits and dress shirts on the right. Next to his tie rack hung a group of suits meant for the cleaners.
She ran her hand down the sleeve of one of the jackets, and then slid it off the hanger. The lining still held Scott’s scent.
She wrapped the jacket around her shoulders, closed her eyes and breathed in his cologne. She imagined his arms around her.
If only she could feel them one last time.
Now, more than ever, she needed the comfort of his embrace. But she would no longer feel the warmth of his caress or hear the melody of his v
oice. The sound of his laughter would never be more than just a memory.
“No, no, nooo!”
She collapsed on the closet floor, weeping uncontrollably, hardly able to breathe. The pain cut through her soul. She felt like a madman had ripped her heart from her body, leaving her hollow and bleeding.
After lying on the floor for over an hour, sobbing until her eyes and throat ached, Toni pulled herself up, went into the bathroom and washed her face.
The best part of her life, the only part that mattered, was over. She wasn’t willing to let it go without knowing what really happened. She had to see for herself.
She combed the tangles from her hair and then went downstairs to the study.
The paper bag was still where she left it the day before, on top of the desk. Amid the neatly arranged sketches of the hotel, it looked strangely out of place. Like someone had packed a giant lunch and was counting the minutes until noon.
She sat down at the desk and stared at the bag. Scott’s personal belongings were inside, everything he had with him when he died.
New tears slid down her face as she opened the bag. She withdrew the gold watch she had given him for Christmas. She could still see the look in his eyes when he opened the gift, like a child opening a long awaited toy. Now, the crystal was broken and one of the hands was missing. She removed his wallet and his cell phone. And then his Italian leather loafers. She was with him when he bought them, just a few weeks earlier.
In the bottom of the bag, along with some loose change, she found what she was looking for. Scott’s keys.
Toni returned the other items to the bag and stowed it beneath the desk. She grabbed her purse from the foyer table and headed out to the garage.
Scott’s SUV was parked next to her own red BMW sedan. She got into the driver’s seat and fastened her seat belt. She was pretty sure no one should be at the construction site today. Because of the funeral, Clint had given all the workers the day off.
She drove toward the hotel in a fog. When she reached the access road, she realized she’d been on autopilot. She couldn’t actually remember the drive.
