Headlines & Deadlines (An Avery Shaw Mystery Book 7)

by Amanda M. Lee

  “Do you mean Leo? Yeah, I saw her with Leo. He was a sad guy. Julia had a huge heart and she wanted to help him. She told me she was going to try to get him into rehab once he trusted her more but she’d only known him for a few months so she didn’t want to pressure him. I guess she never got the chance.”

  “When was the last time you saw Leo?” Eliot asked.

  Cherish screwed up her face as she racked her brain. “I … I’m not sure. It’s been at least three days or so. I can’t remember whether I saw him the day Julia died.”

  “Did you see Julia leave that night?” I asked.

  “I generally see her leave,” Cherish replied. “I can’t be a hundred percent sure, but I think I did.”

  “Did she say anything?”

  “Only goodbye. I would have an easier time remembering if she said anything else.”

  Now it was time to get into the harder questions. “How well do you know Adam Grisham?” I asked.

  Cherish made a face. “Too well. He’s a pig.”

  That sounded intriguing. “What do you mean?”

  “He’s a pervert,” Cherish said. “He stopped by to see Julia from time to time and every single chance he got he stopped at my desk.”

  “Did he hit on you?” Eliot asked.

  “Not in an obvious way,” Cherish said. “He did always ask whether I was seeing someone, though, and he once suggested I might want to go for a drink with him at some dive in St. Clair Shores.”

  Eliot and I exchanged a look. Was Adam Grisham trying to convince random people to visit The Black Hole with him? “Was there ever anything else … suspicious … about Adam’s demeanor?” I asked.

  “He always tried to look down my shirt,” Cherish said. “Sometimes he would come up behind me and offer me a neck rub. He always said I looked tense. Then, while he was trying to rub me, he would get a gander at the goods from up above. It was creepy.”

  “Did you tell him you were uncomfortable?” Eliot asked.

  “I told him I didn’t need a massage.”

  “I always want a massage,” I mused, causing Eliot to kick me. “Sorry.” I returned to the dilemma at hand. “How often would you say Adam stopped in here?”

  “It used to be that he stopped in every couple of days,” Cherish said, choosing her words carefully. “He liked to hang out in the office. Even if Julia wasn’t here because she had a class to teach he would stop by.”

  “What changed?”

  “I … I’m not sure,” Cherish said.

  “Did he stop coming around so frequently when Julia became aware of his affair with Amber Davenport?” I asked.

  “How do you know about that?” Cherish’s eyes widened. “Did Adam tell you about that?”

  “Adam didn’t tell me,” I said. “One of Julia’s neighbors told me. She said Julia was aware of the affair. Do you think that’s true?”

  “Oh, Julia was definitely aware of it,” Cherish said. “I think she knew a lot longer than she let on. Once Adam started sending flowers to Amber here, though, things got ugly.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Adam wasn’t even trying to hide the affair at a certain point,” Cherish explained. “He would stop by and hang out in Amber’s office. Sometimes they would shut the door and … do stuff. You could hear them moaning in there.”

  I felt sick to my stomach. “Did Julia know that?”

  “I think she was meant to,” Cherish said. “She never said a word about it, though.”

  “Did Julia ever call Amber on the affair?”

  “I don’t know what exactly happened, but about three months ago Julia stormed into Amber’s office and slammed the door,” Cherish said. “Even though we couldn’t see them, we could hear them. They were screaming at each other.

  “Amber admitted to having an affair with Adam,” she continued. “She said they were in love and they wanted to be together. Julia told her to get over it because there was no way she was going to divorce Adam and that they were staying together for their kids’ sake.”

  “What did Amber say?”

  “She didn’t like it,” Cherish replied. “She said Julia was pathetic for holding onto Adam when he didn’t want her. She said Julia was old and fat, and Adam wanted a younger model and she should just sign the papers and let him go.”

  “How young is this Amber?” Eliot asked.

  “She’s about thirty.”

  “What did Julia do when Amber said that to her?” I asked.

  “She told Amber that the last thing she should want is for Adam to get a divorce,” Cherish said. “She said that she would get half of everything in the divorce and that Adam wouldn’t be left with much when she was done with him.

  “Amber said she wasn’t in love with Adam for the money, but no one believed her,” she continued. “She seemed really shaken up when Julia was done with her. It was as if she didn’t understand that Adam would lose half of his fortune in a divorce.”

  “How were things between the two of them after that?”

  “Tense,” Cherish replied. “They avoided each other like the plague and when they were forced to talk to one another it was always in one-word answers and really cold voices. Those two really hated each other by the end.”

  “Did Amber keep pressing Adam to get a divorce?” Eliot asked.

  Cherish shrugged. “I don’t know. After the big blowup Amber didn’t want to talk about Adam as much. She still claimed she was in love and that Julia was ruining her life, but it was almost as if her interest in Adam disappeared when she found out she wouldn’t be a rich woman if she married him.”

  “Adam could’ve killed Julia so he didn’t have to pay her anything in a divorce,” Eliot suggested. “He’s probably got a life insurance policy on her, too. Not only would he hold onto the money he already has, he would also get a nice influx of cash.”

  “Enough to pay for a wedding and keep Amber in the lifestyle she obviously wanted,” I said, rubbing the back of my neck as I rolled everything Cherish told me through my mind. “How did Amber react to the news of Julia’s death?”

  “I don’t know,” Cherish said. “She left sick the day Julia’s body was found. I haven’t seen her since.”

  “That sounds … odd,” I said. “Do you think Amber feels guilty?”

  “She might if she knows Adam killed his wife for her,” Cherish said. “I don’t know whether that’s the case, though.”

  “Thank you for telling me all of this,” I said. “I have one more favor to ask before I go.”

  “What?”

  “You don’t have Amber’s home address do you?”

  “I’m not supposed to give that out,” Cherish balked.

  “I’ll never tell a soul where I got it,” I promised. “Eliot and I will be forever grateful for your help.” I nudged Eliot’s foot to prod him.

  “Forever grateful,” Eliot stressed.

  “Well … I guess it wouldn’t hurt just this once. Are you two a couple?”

  I decided to leave Eliot to clean up that mess while I punched Amber’s address into the GPS on my phone. Things were definitely looking up.

  Twenty-Four

  “This is turning into a real cluster of crap,” Eliot said, parking in front of a white ranch house in Eastpointe an hour later. “Tell me the truth, did you have any idea we were going to get all of this when we started out this morning?”

  “No.”

  “You still knew you were going to get something, right? I would hate to think you voluntarily gave up a day with me without at least having a hunch that you were going to stumble across something big.”

  “In case you haven’t noticed, I am spending the day with you,” I pointed out. “We’re not doing what you would probably like, but we are in this together.”

  “I’d rather be on the couch watching a game,” Eliot said.

  “I’ll make it up to you,” I said. “I think I’m going to have a lot to make up to you before this is all said and done.”
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  Eliot narrowed his eyes. “How are you going to make it up to me?”

  That was a pointed question and I was pretty sure he wanted a specific answer. “What did you have in mind?”

  “A weekend away from all of this,” Eliot replied, not missing a beat. “You, me, a cabin in the woods, and nothing else.”

  I made a face. “A cabin in the woods?”

  “We’ll go somewhere within driving distance of fast food,” Eliot reassured me. “I would like to spend a few nights where I don’t have to worry about anyone interrupting us … or some family meltdown … or you stumbling across a big story.”

  “Is that something you’re really interested in?”

  “Aren’t you?”

  “I’m interested in spending a weekend with you away from everything,” I said. “I don’t know how I feel about a cabin. How about a nice hotel instead?”

  “Forget it,” Eliot sighed as he pushed open his door.

  “No, wait, I want to talk about this.”

  “We need to talk to the woman staring at us from that window first,” Eliot said, inclining his chin in the direction of the big bay window at the front of Amber Davenport’s house. “We’ll talk about the cabin when all of this is settled.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “I’m sure,” Eliot said. “Come on. I’m starving and I know you’re not going to be able to focus on food until after you talk to this woman.”

  I filed Eliot’s cabin request away. It was obviously something he really wanted, and even though it sounded worse than a trip to a Nickelback concert, I knew I had to open myself up to more of what he liked if I wanted to be fair in this relationship.

  Amber Davenport opened the door of her house before I got a chance to knock. Her blond hair was pulled back in a loose ponytail and her face was devoid of makeup, but she looked curious as she regarded us. “Can I help you?”

  How did I want to approach this? “My name is Avery Shaw,” I said. “I’m a reporter for The Monitor. I understand you’re having an affair with Adam Grisham. I was hoping we could talk about it.”

  She slammed the door in my face.

  “That went well,” Eliot said. “Couldn’t you think of a better opening line?”

  “You could’ve flirted with her.”

  “I’m just a piece of meat to you, aren’t I?”

  “Prime rib,” I agreed. I raised my hand and knocked on the door. “Um, Amber, I wasn’t done talking yet.”

  “Well that’s going to get her to open the door,” Eliot groused sarcastically. “Good grief.”

  I scowled. I hadn’t come this far to get stiffed now. I’d given up a Saturday for this, and I darned well planned to scoop everyone with the Sunday edition. “I’m going to run an article about your affair with Adam Grisham either way,” I lied. She couldn’t see me so I wasn’t worried about my eyes doing that “darty” thing everyone keeps talking about. “I thought you might want to get your side of the story out there before everyone jumps to conclusions.”

  I waited a moment, considering my next move, and then the door opened. This time the look on Amber’s face was less than pleasant. “You can’t run a story about my private life.”

  “I’m not,” I said. “I’m running a story about Adam Grisham’s private life. Between the sex club and freaky-deaky sex toys, I’m guessing people are going to jump to some pretty entertaining conclusions about you.”

  Here’s the thing: When in doubt, scare the crap out of people. They’ll be desperate to clear things up so they’ll volunteer more information than necessary. It’s a tried-and-true tactic.

  “I didn’t do any of that weird sex stuff with Adam,” Amber hissed.

  “I want to believe you but I need to hear your side of the story first,” I said.

  “I … .” Amber looked conflicted. “I don’t want my name in the paper.”

  “You don’t have a choice,” I said. “I’ve got witnesses to your argument with Julia about your affair with Adam.” Sure, they weren’t on the record, but she didn’t have to know that. “I’ve also heard from a reliable source that you left work early the day Julia’s body was found. How do you think that’s going to look?”

  “But … you can’t print that,” Amber pleaded. “You’ll ruin me.”

  “You have to take it upon yourself to save your reputation,” I countered. “Your only choice is to tell me your story.”

  “I don’t really have a choice, do I?”

  “No.”

  Amber pushed the door open until Eliot grabbed it and then turned on her heel and stalked back into the house. I assumed that was an invitation, although it wasn’t the friendliest one on record.

  “That was inspired, Trouble,” Eliot whispered into my ear as I slipped under his arm and into the house. “There are no words for how turned on I am right now.”

  “Hold that thought,” I said. “If this goes how I expect it to, I’m going to rock your world once I file my story tonight.”

  “Is that a promise?”

  “You can take it to the bank.”

  “I DON’T know what you want me to say,” Amber said, perching on the edge of an armchair, her eyes boring in on me as Eliot and I settled on the sofa. “This is a gross invasion of privacy.”

  She wasn’t wrong. Still … . “How long have you been having an affair with Adam Grisham?” I asked, my pen poised above the reporter’s notebook I’d dug out of my pocket after sitting. I didn’t have a lot of sympathy for this woman so I wasn’t holding back.

  “It wasn’t an affair,” Amber said. “We’re in love.”

  “He’s married.”

  “I … only because Julia wouldn’t give him a divorce,” Amber said. “We want to be together, but Julia made that impossible.”

  “How long has the affair been going on?” I asked.

  “About nine months or so,” Amber said, resignedly. “I need you to know that it didn’t start out as a sexual relationship. I ran into Adam a few times at the office and he always seemed so depressed. Julia never paid any attention to him.”

  “If it didn’t start out with sex, then how did it start?”

  “We went to lunch a few times,” Amber said. “He’s really smart and charming. He knows a lot of things. He’s a businessman and he’s growing an empire.”

  That sounded like a big load of malarkey only an idiot would swallow. “How long were you hanging out before you started having sex?”

  Amber scowled. “About a month.”

  “Did you know it was wrong when you started the affair?”

  “I don’t have any love for Julia, if that’s what you’re getting at,” Amber said. “She’s always looked down on me. She didn’t think I was smart enough to teach business classes. She told everyone that I barely managed to get a degree.”

  “Was that true?”

  “I partied a lot in college,” Amber conceded. “I still earned my degree.”

  “Did you go after Julia’s husband as payback?”

  “I didn’t go after Adam,” Amber clarified. “I … we just fell in love. It was an accident. Believe it or not, I fought my feelings for him because I didn’t want to hurt Julia.”

  I didn’t believe it. “When did you and Adam decide you wanted to be together?”

  “The first night we made love,” Amber replied. “Our … mutual adoration … was the stuff of romance novels. It was magic.”

  Someone hand me a paper bag because I’m about to hurl. “Was it your idea to pressure Adam to ask Julia for a divorce?”

  “Yes. I wanted to get married. I wanted to have children. I did not want to do that if we had to hide our love.”

  “What about Adam’s children with Julia?” I asked.

  “They’re grown,” Amber said. “Their father shouldn’t have to go through life unhappy because their mother thinks they’re too immature to face the truth.”

  With nurturing instincts like that I couldn’t wait to see how Amber’s hypothetical kid
s would turn out. “I know Julia confronted you about the affair,” I said. “When you found out that most of Adam’s money was tied up in business holdings and Julia would take half of it in a divorce, did you consider ending the relationship?”

  “Of course not,” Amber said. “My love for Adam is not defined by money.”

  “Why didn’t Adam file for a divorce?”

  “He was hoping to talk Julia into a fair financial settlement first,” Amber explained. “Julia refused to listen to reason, though. If you want to know the truth, Julia was bitter that Adam loved me and hated her, and she wanted to make me pay.”

  That statement went against everything I’d learned about Julia Grisham. While I was sure she wasn’t happy with the affair, I was also sure she wasn’t the type of woman to get off on someone else’s misery. I was that type of woman, after all. You recognize your own. I was about to get off on Amber’s misery.

  “Were you aware that Adam had a string of other affairs before you?” I asked.

  “That’s a lie!”

  “A neighbor told me about them,” I said. “She said Julia was aware of them but opted to ignore them for the sake of the children. Do you think Adam was in love with these other women, too?”

  “Of course not. I’m the love of his life.”

  Deluded, party of one, your table is ready. “Why did you leave work early the day Julia’s body was found?”

  “I didn’t feel well,” Amber said, looking up to the ceiling. “I think I had food poisoning or something. When I heard about what happened to Julia I was shocked.”

  “Weren’t you shocked the night before when Adam held a news conference to announce the wife he loved more than anything was missing and that he was offering a reward?” I asked. “He told everyone who would listen that his marriage was sound and that they didn’t have any problems or enemies.”

  “He had to do that because the cops were never going to understand our relationship,” Amber said. “He explained all of it to me.”

  “Did he tell you he did something to his wife?”

  “No!”

  “Do you think he did something to his wife?” I pressed.

  “Adam doesn’t have a mean bone in his body. He would never hurt Julia.”