A cup of coffee and another cupcake later, Zander Lyons finally made his entrance. Aiden stood and offered a hand in greeting. The tall man swung his briefcase onto the counter, making his wife jump. “Who the hell are you?”
“Aiden O’Rourke. I’m a private investigator. Sheriff Wilkins brought me in to help with the Sara Valier murder investigation.”
Zander gave Aiden’s hand a reluctant shake then turned to his wife. “Why don’t you and your cupcakes disappear and let me talk to Mr. O’Rourke in private.”
Gabrielle let out a huff of displeasure before leaving.
“This is why I was summoned?” Zander said, anger coloring his voice.
“I won’t take much of your time.”
“Hope not.”
Aiden wondered if he should sit down again or whether they were going to have the entire conversation standing up. He decided to let Zander take the lead and if he sat, Aiden would follow suit.
Zander stood like a statue, legs slightly apart, arms folded tightly across his chest, the seams of his expensive suit jacket straining.
“I’ll get right to the point, Mr. Lyons. According to your statement, you empathically deny having anything to do with Sara Valier’s murder. You do, however, admit she was carrying your child and you were not happy about that. Is that correct?”
Zander’s lips tightened into a grim mask of displeasure. “I did not want another child. That’s correct. Look, do I need a lawyer?” He plucked his cell phone from his pocket, finger poised over the keypad.
Aiden smiled in an attempt to disarm him. “No. Not at all. I’m just coming in late in the game and have to play catch-up. No need for lawyers.”
Zander cocked a thick brow, studying him, then seemingly satisfied, put the phone away. “Hurry and ask your questions. I have work to do.”
“Did you ask Miss Valier to have an abortion?”
“Yes. I told her I would take care of everything…all the expenses.”
“Did she want to keep the baby?”
There was a moment of hesitation before he answered, “No. We were in agreement that she’d…take care of things.”
“Really?” Aiden asked, then waved him off. “It’s OK, no need to answer that. I understand you were out of town on business the day of the murder. I’d like to see some proof, a receipt or credit card statement. Do you have anything like that?”
“You’re not a cop. I don’t have to prove anything to you. I already spoke to the authorities about that.”
The man was right. He had no authority to demand such a thing, but sometimes he got lucky. Suspects panicked and said and did things their lawyers would have fits over.
“OK. One last thing and I’ll leave you alone. What do you know about firearms? Do you own any and, if so, are you experienced in their use?” Aiden noticed Zander’s expression change from one of anger to uncertainty. He knew the look of a man who was about to lie.
“Absolutely not.”
* * *
No one saw Natalie leave, a satchel casually slung across her shoulder.
She made it to the diner with only half an hour to spare before closing and sat in the booth at the back. After shrugging off the bag, she eyed the restaurant carefully, taking note of who was where and what they were doing. Annie was at the front, cashing out some old guy. A group of teenagers sat by the window, and a middle-aged man, draining a coffee mug, was engrossed in the news on the flat screen over the counter. Other than that, no one else was there.
The only worry she had was that Lily was in the back somewhere. Natalie twisted around to look down the short hallway. Lights were off. That was a good sign. She decided to make her move before Annie spotted her and came for her order.
She was on her feet and moved as fast as she could without breaking into a run. It had been years since she’d wandered to the back of the diner looking for the washroom, but she remembered the layout. In particular Lily’s office because the walls were covered with pictures of the Valier family.
So many photos all in the same black frames. They’d piqued her curiosity and lured her in. Most were of Lily and her sister, Sara, the home wrecker, at various ages. A few of their mother Nancy too. In all of them, Lily and Sara looked deliriously happy, with their arms around each other, smiles huge and genuine. She remembered one picture in particular—the girls just freckle-faced kids, in summer at the beach, their mother looking on, watching them play. A real mother, one who loved them and would do anything for them. Even without a dad they were a happy family. Her heart broke at the sight of them, and her hatred, borne of jealousy, grew even more.
Natalie made her way past the staff room to Lily’s office. If she was discovered, she’d say she was looking for the washroom.
The room was black as pitch, making Natalie stop in her tracks for fear of accidentally knocking something over. She dared not turn on the light. Luckily she’d thought of everything. Natalie was nothing if not conscientious and resourceful. She fished out her cell phone from her jacket pocket. Its feeble light was enough. She shone it around the room and finally let out the breath she’d been holding. It was the same! Exactly the same.
The room was small and Natalie was by the couch in just three strides. She pulled out a pair of leather gloves from her bag and put them on, then lay down on the worn area rug that covered most of the floor. She could smell the old of the place, the dust in the rug, the worn wooden floorboards and the leather of the couch. Reaching out, she shoved her arm and shoulder as far as possible under it. The wood frame pressed into the flesh of her upper arm despite the down fill of her winter jacket, but the pain was worth it. Finally, her fingers reached the end of the rug. She could feel the fringe on it, stiff and ragged with age. She plucked it up and with her other hand, removed the gun from her satchel and placed it underneath the carpet in the farthest corner. Exactly where she’d told Antonio he could find it.
CHAPTER 20
Lily’s world had turned on a dime. Yesterday, she didn’t have much, but she did have a ray of hope thanks to Aiden. When she got to work that morning, disaster was waiting in the form of Wilkins and Deluca.
Cell phone in hand, she was about to do the unthinkable—call Aiden. What choice did she have? The sheriff and his deputy were there, in her diner, in her office with a search warrant.
“Go ahead,” she’d said when Deluca handed the warrant over. “You won’t find anything.” She knew that was the truth. But unbelievably, they had found something.
Deputy Deluca headed straight to her old leather couch and pulled it away from the wall in one heavy-handed heft, and there it was. A bulge under the carpet. She had no idea what “it” was, but panic swelled her throat.
In the moment before Deluca whipped back the carpet, it came to her with absolute certainty what that bulge was. It was her gun. What scared her most was how on earth it had gotten there.
With the weapon bagged, Wilkins stood in front of Lily and dangled it. She could see it through the plastic. The pearl-handled gun that had been her mother’s.
“Can you identify this?”
Lily was too stunned to answer.
“Is this yours?” Wilkins said again, pulling her from her stupor.
She felt her head moving, nodding yes as if an invisible puppeteer controlled her. In her mind, she screamed, No. Stop. Don’t admit to anything.
Wilkins turned away. “Antonio, make a note that Ms. Valier has admitted this is her gun.” He faced her again. “We’ll have the ballistics report back by this afternoon. I strongly suggest you stay in town.” Then, before leaving, he asked, “Is there anything you want to tell me?”
This time she had the good sense not to answer.
* * *
Aiden knew immediately from the wobble in Lily’s voice something wasn’t right. “What’s wrong?”
“They found it,” she said in a voice devoid of hope.
“Who found what?”
“Wilkins and Deluca came to the diner with a war
rant. They found my gun. Only…”
“At the diner?” A million things ran through his head. Why the hell hadn’t she told him she had the gun? Then again, if he knew what would he have done about it? Help her to get rid of it or turn it in to Wilkins?
Aiden realized she hadn’t finished her sentence and hoped it wasn’t more bad news. “Only what?”
A shuddering sigh came from the other end of the line. “Only, I don’t know how it got here. It was in my office under the rug. I didn’t put it there. Please, Aiden, please believe me.”
The desperation in her voice brought something out in him he hadn’t expected. He wanted to hold Lily in his arms and reassure her everything would be fine. That he would take care of her. Something very close to fear edged in on him then. What if he couldn’t help her?
After some thought, fear was replaced by fury. Where had all this come from? He knew nothing about a warrant. Wilkins hadn’t told him a thing. Why was he being kept out of the loop?
“I’ll come as soon as I can, but first, I have to find out what’s going on. Don’t go anywhere. Wait for me, OK?”
It didn’t take long for Aiden to find Deluca at the station. “Mind filling me in on what’s going on with Lily Valier?” he demanded when he spotted the deputy.
Deluca smiled his twitchy little smile, but his eyes were lit up. “You’re just the hired help,” he said. “We’ve got all we need now. As soon as we get confirmation Lily’s gun is the murder weapon, you’ll get paid and you can get the hell out of town.”
Aiden’s hands fisted at his sides. “How did you find out about the gun?”
“Good old-fashioned police work,” Deluca said, a grin in his voice.
Aiden wasn’t buying what he was selling. His gut told him Lily was being framed. “She didn’t do it, Deluca. You’ve got it all wrong. I spoke to Zander Lyons and his charming wife yesterday. That’s who you should be shining a big-ass spotlight on. By the way, I’d like to have a look at the proof Zander provided you with. You know, his alibi for the night of the murder.”
Deluca laughed. “Maybe it’s time you go back to the big city.” He turned to walk away, but Aiden planted a hand on his shoulder.
The deputy looked down at it and then his gaze rose to Aiden’s eyes, but Aiden didn’t move his hand. He held the small man in place and spoke again, “I’m not finished. You hired me to do a job—”
“Wilkins hired you. I told him we didn’t need the help. Just a waste of department money.” Deluca pulled away and Aiden let him go, but followed him to his office.
Once there, Deluca picked up the receiver of his desk phone. “As a matter of fact, I’m so confident we’ll get a match on the gun, I’m gonna get Julia to write up that check for you now. That way you’ll beat the traffic on your way back home. I’m sure Wilkins won’t mind.”
“Don’t bother. I don’t want your money.”
Deluca replaced the receiver and sat in his chair. “Well then, thanks for the work you did for us. Call if you need a recommendation. Hope all that snow won’t make your drive out of town too hellish.” His smile was wide, and Aiden noticed for the first time how small his teeth were.
Aiden’s eyes narrowed. He turned to Wilkins’s office but found it empty. He went to the reception area looking for Julia.
“Where’s the sheriff?” Aiden asked when he spied her hunched over the front desk.
She looked up from her crossword puzzle. “Gone to Bangor. He took the evidence up there himself.”
“By evidence, I suppose you’re referring to the gun that was planted in Lily Valier’s office?”
Julia’s eyes widened and her jaw fell open just a little. “Planted?” Her voice dimmed to a whisper.
Aiden nodded. “Why did he take it himself?”
“He’s waiting for the report personally. Wants the results as soon as he can get ’em.”
Time was running out for Lily Valier.
CHAPTER 21
Despite the excitement, or perhaps because of it, the diner was packed. Having the sheriff and deputy show up with flashers on and toting a search warrant, signaling they were on official business, kept the patrons’ butts in their seats a bit longer than usual. Cell phones were yanked out of pockets, and soon word spread. Then it was standing room only at the Higgstown Diner.
As tempting as it was to turn the “Open” sign to “Closed,” Lily decided to keep the place open. What signal would closing up send? It would be an admission of guilt. No, she decided, she was going to hold her head high. She had nothing to be ashamed of or feel guilty about.
Lily was at the back of the restaurant, standing at the entrance to the hallway, when she saw Aiden in the doorway, broad shoulders blotting out the hazy autumn light behind him.
Soon, he was at her side. Strong, gentle hands rested on her shoulders. “Are you OK?”
She caught herself breathing in the scent of him—the outdoors, soap, and a hint of cologne. “No. Not really.” The warmth of tears gathered behind her eyes.
“Can you pack up quickly? I can take you home to pick up some stuff.”
His words not only baffled her but scared her too. Why would he want her to pack up? Was he here to collect her and bring her to the sheriff? “Why?” Lily choked out.
“Because you’re coming with me to the cabin.”
“What?” It didn’t make sense. That’s the last place in the world she wanted to see again. She turned away from him, trying to find something to do, busywork to take her mind off her troubles.
She cleared off a table and walked away, arms filled with dirty dishes. He followed her to the kitchen, waiting expectantly for a response. Lily put the dishes into a plastic tub with a clatter.
“Did you hear what I just said?” he asked.
“I heard you, but I don’t understand what the hell you’re trying to do, Aiden. What would going to your cabin accomplish?”
He spoke slowly, but sternly. “They’re going to arrest you.”
The tears she’d been trying to hold back finally fell hotly down her cheeks, and she wiped them away with her apron.
“You have to come with me, Lily. Give me a chance to help you, please.”
She huffed her displeasure. “How do I know you’re not helping them? I don’t trust you as far as I could bloody well throw you. Go home and I mean your real home. Go back to Chicago, if that’s where you’re really from.”
He reached out and tried to pull her into an embrace. She pummeled his chest, but he wouldn’t let go, pulling her closer until finally she let herself be held. She was crying now, sobbing into his shoulder.
“I’m not the enemy. I’m going to do everything in my power to keep you safe, but we have to move quickly.” He held her at arm’s length and looked her in the eyes. “Lily, trust me. I won’t betray you again.”
Confusion reigned. She wanted to trust him, yet she didn’t want to run. She was too tired for running.
“They’ll figure out I’m with you. Wilkins and Deluca will just come to the cabin to arrest me,” she said, shaking her head.
“I won’t let them in. They’ll have to get a warrant. It’ll buy us some time.”
She ran her hands through her hair, and it took everything she had not to pull it out in frustration. “Time for what?”
Aiden bent to her level and grabbed her shoulders. “To find the real killer.”
“You’re not making sense! There’s no use, Aiden. I might as well turn myself in. They’re coming to get me, and you can’t do anything about it.” She left him, made her way into the dining area, and looked around at the place she loved most in the world. She thought of late-night talks with her mother and sister, the three of them comfy in their pajamas, sharing a big bowl of popcorn, laughing. In those moments, she felt anything was possible. That life was good, that she was safe and her future was bright.
When she was older, her memories were of her mother waiting tables and Sara at the grill. Lily’s job was cleaning up, a bottom
-of-the-totem-pole position. But she never complained because she was in the bosom of her family, a family she hadn’t expected to lose so quickly and tragically.
Soon she’d be leaving it all behind. Lily walked to what used to be their booth—hers and Aiden’s—with Aiden a step behind. An elderly man looked up from his coffee cup, one substantial gray eyebrow cocked as if to say: What the heck do you want?
Only he didn’t have to ask. Lily spoke before he had the chance. “Gerry, any chance I can sit here with my friend for just a bit?”
Gerry nodded furiously, his mouth full of the last of his coffee. He scooped up his newspaper and made his way to the register to pay.
“No need, Ger. It’s on the house today,” Lily called after him.
Too much was going on inside her head, and she wanted desperately to shut off her thoughts. Her stomach twisted with anxiety, and her mind churned with worry. What would happen to her beloved diner when she went to prison? Where would Rex go? And to complicate matters more, what just happened between her and Aiden? He’d hugged her; she’d let him, but what were they to each other? Should she dare put her faith in his words that he’d find the real killer? Or was he going to leave as soon as Wilkins and Deluca came for her?
“It’s got to be Zander Lyons or maybe even his wife. I don’t understand why they’re not taking a harder look at that family,” Aiden said, breaking into her thoughts.
Lily folded her arms over her chest and sighed. “No more. I can’t talk about this now.”
“What? Why?”
“Because I want to take in what’s left of my freedom.”
Aiden was quiet for a moment, then with a frown said, “OK.” He reached a hand across the table, obviously wanting her to take hold of it, but she turned away and he slid it back to his side. “Sorry.”
“Do me one favor?” There was a hitch in her voice.
“Anything.”
“If they do arrest me, find someone to take care of Rex. Maybe Annie would do it. Yes, I think she might. She loves him.”
“I’ll take care of him.”
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