“You’re a journalist.”
“Which is why I get to see those masks a lot of the time. Very few people like journalists. We’re viewed as little more than scum by the majority of people because we like to find out the truth, and they’re too busy lying to themselves to want the whole truth.” He glanced at Mary Ann. “I think that’s why I liked you from the beginning. You were honest. I could tell you didn’t like me, but you were civil and you let me into your kitchen. You told me you planned on finding Paul’s killer, so I knew it couldn’t have been you.” He smiled. “I’m certain, if I’d been at your shop for long enough, you would have told me you didn’t like me.”
“I would have, but I was doing my best not to make an enemy of you. The last thing I wanted, knowing you were an O’Connor, was to get on your bad side.”
“That, I promise you, will never happen.”
***
Going back into the library wasn’t easy, but Mary Ann knew they had to if they were going to find out the truth about why Paul had died. Slowly she went through what felt like another thousand pages of boring reports about things she didn’t care about. Every so often she found herself looking over at Robert. He seemed to be finding it just as hard as she was, so she didn’t mind that she was having trouble slogging through it all, because he was the professional journalist. Spending hours looking through old reports was something he must have done hundreds of times before.
“Why aren’t you at your office? Surely you would have been able to do this there. It would probably have been much easier.”
“I knew you’d end up here and I wanted to help you with this.”
“How did you know that?”
“You’re the sort of person who needs to know the truth, even when they don’t like what it is, and the moment you realised Lisa was lying it was important to you to find out the whole truth.”
“Surely everyone’s like that.”
“No, a lot of people are very good at burying their heads in the sand and pretending nothings’ happened. Sometimes even I do it, but it’s nowhere near as easy for me as it was once, and I guess that’s why I made the decision to become a journalist in the first place.” He flicked to the next page and smiled. “I think I’ve worked out why Thomas murderer Paul. Come over here.”
Mary Ann moved over to his machine and looked down at the report. At first she couldn’t tell why he thought it was the reason for Thomas’ choice, until she saw something on the ground. A number plate. No one knew it it had been there before the accident or not, so they hadn’t paid much attention to it, but she knew it was the plate for Thomas’ car. He didn’t drive it very often because he preferred to have a drink instead. Sighing, she brushed a hand through her hair.
“How do you know what Tom’s plate number is?”
“It’s really not that hard to find out. His car’s right on the drive. I’m certain he was questioned about it and said he lost it a long time before the accident, but it would have been easy enough for him to lie about it.”
“The girl was in a coma until recently, which was probably why Paul was pushing for Tom to tell people the truth about the accident, because he thought the family deserved to know for certain what had happened to their daughter. Tom wouldn’t have wanted to. He knew he would end up in prison and made the decision the best thing he could do was remove Paul. Removing Paul meant there wouldn’t be any issues.”
“Arsenic poisoning was the best choice because it’s much harder to find than any other type.”
Chapter 10
“You want to want?” D. I. O’Connor stared at Mary Ann. “I know we think we know the reason for what he did, but I can’t condone you putting yourself at risk in order to learn the truth.”
“I don’t need you to condone it, Detective Inspector. All I need you to do is be there when I confront him, so I don’t end up dead as well, because I like living. I want to get back to my shop and make pies. I want to be able to live my life again.” She shook her head. “I don’t want to be doing this either, but he’s obviously already lied about the accident. That means I have to get him to tell me everything or there’s no point in any of this.”
“How would Paul have known?”
“Knowing Paul’s bad luck he was probably in the car at the same time as Tom. I doubt he would have wanted to leave the scene of the accident, but he wouldn’t have had a choice, and then, somehow, Tom convinced him to keep quiet.”
“Why would he have done that?”
“At one point they were family. Sometimes, for step-siblings, that doesn’t end when the parents involved split up. You still think of each other as family.”
“You’re speaking from experience.”
“Hannah and I have one brother, but he’s out step-brother.” Mary Ann sighed. “I wish he was here now. Neither of us has been able to get hold of him because he’s in the middle of nowhere, so hopefully he’s okay.”
“Do you want me to see if I can find him?”
Mary Ann studied D. I. O’Connor. “Why would you be willing to do that?”
“My brother likes you. It’s been a long time since he liked anyone and I want to make certain the choices I made before aren’t going to affect your relationship with him.”
“I like your brother, and I can tell you now the choices you’ve made aren’t going to affect anything when it comes to Robert. The two of you are very different people and I accepted that from the beginning.” She shrugged. “If you want to help me find David then I would appreciate the help, but don’t feel like you have to do it as some sort of apology for viewing me as nothing more than a murderer.”
“Have you forgiven me?”
“Not yet.” Their eyes met. “It’s not an impossibility, but right now everything is far too raw for me to think about forgiving you.”
“If you’re determined to talk to Thomas I’ll be there. Just remember I might not be quick enough to stop him from doing something to you.”
“I know. That’s something I’ve thought a lot about and I know this is what I have to do. I’m not going to let Lisa give up her life for him, no matter how much she loves him because she doesn’t deserve to spend the best years of her life in prison.”
***
“Tom?”
Thomas looked at Mary Ann. “You said you wanted to meet me, so here I am.” He didn’t smile. “What did you want to talk about?”
“Georgina Tanner.”
“What about her?”
“Your number plate was at the scene.”
“I lost it before and I couldn’t be bothered to go hunting for it. Is that a crime now?”
“Paul knew, didn’t he? He knew you were the one who hit her, the one who drove away from the crime, and he wanted you to tell the truth. He wanted you to admit you were the one who killed her.”
“I didn’t kill her.”
“What happened then?”
“I told you. I lost my number plate. There’s nothing more to it than that.”
“You can say that all you like, Tom, but I know that’s not the truth.”
“How do you know it’s not the truth?”
“Before I came here I went in to talk to Lisa. She told me everything.” If lying to him was the only way to get him to tell the truth Mary Ann didn’t have anything against it. “I came to talk to you about it because I think it would be best for you to tell the police what happened. Lisa confessed so you wouldn’t have to go to prison for murdering Paul, and you murderer him because he was threatening to tell the police the truth.”
“In that case why would you be stupid enough to come here and do the same thing?”
“I want to understand why you made the choices you did. You’re my friend, Tom, and you’re not the sort of person I could have imagined doing something like this.” She took a step towards him. “Talk to me, okay? You don’t have to do anything more than that.”
“You’re going to go to the police.”
“What good is that goin
g to do, Tom? Lisa has confessed. Nothing will change that. I could tell them about Georgina Tanner, but there’s no evidence. Not anymore. You made certain to get rid of it, didn’t you? You went to Paul’s apartment before the police could and took whatever evidence he had.”
“Lisa told you that as well.” Thomas shook his head. “I thought I could trust her. That’s why I told her what happened in the first place, but obviously I was wrong about that.” He sighed. “I did hit Georgina Tanner. I’d been out drinking that night, with Paul, because it was some time before he realised how bad things had become. The two of us had been close since our parents married and the last thing I wanted to do was lose him.
When I got in the car, after having far too much to drink, he tried to get me out, tried to convince me I was being an idiot, and he was right. I was being an idiot. I shouldn’t have driven anywhere that night, because I wasn’t in control. It wasn’t until later on I found out Paul had been videoing everything. He had a recording of the accident. He kept it on his laptop, so I took it away from the apartment before we arrived at the party.”
“How long had you been planning on killing Paul?”
“About two weeks, maybe a little longer. He gave me some time to go to the police myself and then started pushing. It got worse when she died.
He was determined I was going to turn myself in. I was determined I wasn’t going to. When he told me he had the video, I knew I didn’t have any other option. I bought the arsenic online. Considering how dangerous it is that should be much harder, but I didn’t care. All I cared about was protecting myself. Then I found out about your party and it was obvious Cassie would be taking Paul. It was my chance–and that was when I told Lisa the truth about everything. She loved me enough not to say anything.” He shrugged. “I thought she did, anyway. I guess it was trying to frame you for the murder then changed her mind.”
“Why were you trying to frame me, Tom?”
“I don’t know, Mare.” He sighed. “You’ve been a good friend to me for a long time and I shouldn’t have done what I did, but it was only chance. As I didn’t want to go to prison for what I’d done, I thought arsenic was the best option. It’s much harder to find than anything else. Just in case someone did find out the truth I wanted to have a second way out. I am sorry for hurting you. I never wanted to do that.”
“You were hurting everyone, including yourself.”
“Maybe I was.” He shrugged. “You, unfortunately, know too much. I thought that was going to be the case.” Mary Ann stared at the needle in his hand. “The best thing you can do is just let it happen. Arsenic poisoning hurts, but there are other deaths that hurt more.”
As Thomas took a step towards her, she saw D. I. O’Connor stepping out from between the trees. “Drop the syringe, Mr. West. I really don’t want to have to shot you, but I will if I have to.”
“You planned this.”
“What else was I going to do? You were willing to let Lisa go to jail for you and I wasn’t.”
He took another step and then a gunshot rang out. For a second Mary Ann thought Thomas was dead, but then she realised D. I. O’Connor had shot him in the leg. The syringe rolled out of his fingers as he put one hand to his leg. She took a tissue out of her pocket and carefully picked up the full syringe, doing her best not to shudder at the sight of the poison Thomas was planning on killing her with. It was a relief when it was taken from her.
***
Working out what to say to Lisa wasn’t the easiest thing in the world. Sighing, Mary Ann tried to find the words to explain why she’d made the choice she had, but before she had Lisa stepped into the shop. “I’m sorry?”
“You don’t have anything to apologise for, Mare.” Lisa shook her head. “I was the idiot who let my emotions get the better of me, but I knew if I tried to push Tom into telling the truth he would have done the same thing to me as he did to Paul, so I didn’t have any idea what else to do. Maybe I should have talked to D. I. O’Connor. I probably would have done if he’d been investigating the murder.” She brushed a hand through her hair. “To be honest I didn’t think Tom would be able to go through with it. Killing the man he thought of as his brother… I don’t know how he did. I don’t know how he could have syringed that arsenic into Paul’s lemon meringue pie without batting an eyelid.”
“That’s why you knew he wouldn’t have a problem doing the same thing to you.”
“Yeah, it is. Knowing he could have done that to someone he’d cared about since he was fifteen meant it would be easy to hurt someone he’d only cared about for three, no matter how much he said he loved me, and it was hard for me to accept that the man I loved had become that person.”
“He said he told you about Georgina.”
“The night before the party he told me everything. He said he wanted to be honest with me because I was the only person he could truly trust.
Now he won’t see me. He thinks I was the one who told you what had happened and won’t accept you were lying about seeing me.” Lisa smiled weakly. “It’s for the best. That’s something I’m certain of. Being able to see him would just make everything that much harder than it already is.”
“Is there anything I can do to help?”
“Actually…” Lisa bit her lip. “I hate doing this, but I can’t afford the rent at my place alone, and Hannah said you were coming to the end of your contract, so I was hoping the two of you might move in with me.”
“You’re happy to live with the woman who put your boyfriend in jail?”
“I’m happy to live with the woman who was determined to find out the truth, because she wouldn’t accept a made up confession by someone she didn’t believe would be willing to hurt someone.”
“You don’t hate me?”
“I don’t hate you. How could I?” Their eyes met. “I’m glad you made the choices you did. I’m glad Tom is in jail for what he’s done and he won’t be able to hurt anyone else. I’m just sorry you were involved in this whole mess.”
“None of this was your fault. There was nothing you could have done to stop him from doing what he did.”
When Lisa smiled again, it was real. “Thank you. I don’t know what my life would be like without you in it.”
Death Cakes
Diana sat in the back of an ambulance with an ice bag held to her head and the vehicles back doors propped open. She had taken a nasty spill, hitting her head on some shelving units in the freezer of the bakery where she both worked and co-owned. Diana refused to let the ambulance take her to the hospital, insisting that she was fine and had just been given a terrible fright. Not that traveling even by ambulance would have proven to be an easy task given the approaching storm and the fact that the nearest emergency room was only available by ferry.
Diana had always dreamed of being a baker for as long as she could remember. She had also been best friends with Beth for as long as she could remember as well. The duo had been inseparable both in life and in their passion for making sweet confections, way back to the days that they would do so from their Easy Bake Ovens as kids. The girls were born and raised on a small island off the coast of New York City. Despite its close proximity to the bustling city, it was a small town and a close knit community. Their hometown boasted of cozy homes, a school house and several Mom and Pop stores including a butchers, a dress shop and even a novelty toy store. On the furthest southern tip of the island sat a large castle mostly utilized for large functions or weddings but also as a resort and hotel. The island of Rockaway Beach was a large tourist attraction during the summer with many mainlanders and other travellers renting out beach side bungalows for the season or opting to stay at the castle. Aside from basic needs and local fare found on the island, all else that was needed could be found a short ferry ride away on the main island, including emergency services and the police. Rockaway Beach did have its own volunteer fire department however, equipped with an ambulance in which Diana now sat. It was a meagre force to say the least, consis
ting of a sixty-five year old retired EMT Scott and his nephew Johnny, with whom Diana and Beth had grown up.
Although the Castle Havier was a popular wedding location for both locals and visitors alike, there was no bakery on Rockaway Beach to service it. When Diana and Beth had attended and graduated from culinary school in New York City, it was only natural that they would return back home to set up shop. Thus The Gingerbread House was born. The girls poured their entire life’s savings into an adorable shop right off of the main boulevard and decorated it as if it were a real gingerbread house, complete with peppermint print round tables and candy door knobs. The coffee shop and specialty bakery quickly became a smashing success and served as a hotspot for both locals and tourists alike. At one point the girls had even partnered up with a boyfriend of Beth’s at the time, named Marcus, who owned a catering company Buon Appetito and together they had made a killing catering weddings and events. Beth and Marcus had long since broken up but amicably so and often times worked the same events together still.
The Alpha Billionaire's Unexpected Baby: A Billionaire BWWM Pregnancy Romance Page 53
