Knowing it was possible she was making a huge mistake she took her keys out of her bag. “I have a place you can stay tonight, if you need one.” She held them out to him. “It’s up to you what you want to do.”
***
When Mary-Ann stepped into the apartment he was making himself a coffee. Their eyes met. “I hope you don’t mind me helping myself.”
“If I minded I wouldn’t have offered you a place to stay. I’m Mary-Ann.”
“James.” He looked down at his coffee. “I know I shouldn’t have done what I did, but I’ve been trying to talk to Kevin’s dad for weeks. Every time he hangs up on me.” He sighed. “I need to deal with what happened to me.”
“You were the son of Kevin’s mom’s twin.”
Even though it wasn’t a question he nodded. “She dumped me, because she didn’t want me, and then she came here to raise her twin’s son. I don’t know all the details. Mom, unsurprisingly, wasn’t in the greatest of states when I found her, so it made it hard for her to explain everything to me. There’s a chance everything she told me was a lie. I have no idea if I should have believed her or not.”
“What did she tell you?”
“Mom and her twin grew up in New York. The two of them were close to begin with, but at high school they started to lose touch with each other. Mom was the one who started spending time with the stoners, while her sister was one of the popular girls. As time passed Mom lost touch with her twin. She didn’t know until she was pregnant her twin had created a happy life for herself and Mom was jealous. Mom wanted everything, felt she was owed everything, because her twin had taken it all from her. I’m not certain why she felt that way. All I know is that was how she felt, and, after she had me, she came to Green Springs. Maybe she thought she’d be able to fix her life if she took over the life her twin had.”
“Did she tell you what happened to her twin?”
“From what she said it seems like they had a very long argument. Mom wasn’t willing to take no for an answer, even though she should have done, and, in the end, something terrible happened. I couldn’t get Mom to tell me what the terrible thing was, but it seems likely she ended up hurting her twin. Considering I haven’t been able to find her anywhere to ask her what happened I think it’s likely Mom became a murderer in order to get what she wanted.”
Sighing, Mary-Ann brushed a hand through her hair. “That’s what I thought you’d end up saying.” She shook her head. “That really means this whole mess started a very long time ago.”
“It did. When I found out the truth about who my mom was I wanted to know why she’d abandoned me. Finding out she’d done it for that…” He shook his head. “I can understand why she wouldn’t have wanted to be a single mother, especially considering how bad things were for her, but to take over her twins life… it seemed like a story. After that I did everything I could to find my siblings, because I thought that might make everything a little easier. When I finally found the man who’d been unlucky enough to be the father of more of Mom’s children he didn’t want anything to do with me.”
“Your sister’s in Green Springs.”
“I saw. Phoebe and I met once, when I went to Mom’s, and then she did her very best to avoid me. She didn’t want to know the truth about Mom.” He laughed. “I never wanted to know Mom was that sort of person, but I think all of this might have something to do with Kevin’s death. Even though I didn’t like him he didn’t deserve to have that happen to him.” James looked at Mary-Ann. “A couple of days before he died he called me. I didn’t answer, so he left a voicemail, telling me he wanted to talk things over with me. When I called him back there was no reply, and I was angry with him for playing me like that, but then I found out he’d died, and I knew that was the reason he hadn’t answered. Since then I’ve been trying to get hold of Phoebe and Kevin’s dad. Neither of them were willing to talk to me. In the end I made the decision the only thing I could do was come to Green Springs and try to help my cousin.”
“Tomorrow I’ll take you to talk with D.I. O’Connor. He’ll want to hear your story. There is a chance we might be able to solve three murders in the next couple of days.”
“You believe me?”
“I believe you.”
“Everyone else thinks I’m making all this up.”
“We already came to the conclusion something like this had happened. Hearing your version of events just makes everything a little clearer. If we’re lucky D.I. O’Connor might have found out something useful that will tie everything together.”
James smiled. “Thank you, Mary-Ann.”
“There’s no need to thank me, James. I made the decision I was going to find out who Kevin’s murderer was, and your arrival means I’m one step closer.” She smiled back. “I get you a sleeping bag.”
Someone was knocking on the door. Mary-Ann didn’t want to get up, because she didn’t feel like she’d slept at all, but she forced herself out of bed. When she reached the living room Phoebe was standing there, yelling at James. “Whatever he’s told you is a lie, Mary-Ann. Mom wouldn’t have done something like that.” Phoebe was in front of Mary-Ann in seconds. “James isn’t Mom’s son. She told me that.”
“Is it possible your mom was lying to you?”
“No.” There was uncertainty in Phoebe’s eyes. “Why would she lie to me?”
“Maybe because she didn’t want you to know what she was capable of.” James pulled on his t-shirt as he spoke, before making his way into the kitchen. “I know you want to believe Mom was a good person at heart, but I really don’t think she was.”
“Don’t say that about her.”
“Phoebe, she never wanted the two of us to have any sort of relationship. She wanted to make sure we didn’t talk to each other about what we knew, because that would have changed things for both of us, which is why she told you I wasn’t her son. I know I am. I had a DNA test done, so I could be certain she was my mother.”
“Do you have it here?”
“Of course I do.” He put the kettle on. “This is something I’ve been waiting for.” He sighed. “When I told you what Mom had done you wanted to believe me. Then, obviously, Mom told you a lot of lies in order to make certain you wouldn’t.” He shook his head. “I don’t think I’m ever going to forgive her for that, because she took any chance of me having someone by my side through all of this away from me. In the end you chose Kevin.”
“Yeah, I did, because I liked Kevin.”
“If you’d given me a chance you might have come to like me.”
“I take it James told you the story your mom told him.” Phoebe looked at Mary-Ann. “I know you don’t want to believe it’s true, but it could be. We know your mom had a twin sister, and so far no one has been able to find her, which means it’s entirely possible she is dead.”
“Mom wouldn’t have done that.”
“Mom would have done that, if she thought she’d be able to get something out of it, and she knew that Kevin’s dad was one of the most important people in Green Springs. I think she thought that meant she’d be something more than she was, but she couldn’t give up the drugs. To be honest I don’t think she even tried. What she would have wanted more than anything was the money she would have believed Kevin’s dad had, until she found out the truth, which was that being important in a small town like this is nothing like being important in New York.”
***
Alex sat on the one side of the table, while Mary-Ann sat between James and Phoebe on the other. “It’s useful to have this information, James, so thank you for coming forward with it. I know none of this would have been easy for you.”
“It wasn’t.” James brushed a hand through his hair. “I just have a feeling this is all connected.”
Nodding, Alex’s eyes met with Mary-Ann’s. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking.”
“Yes, but that doesn’t mean I want to be thinking it, because this… he’s not that sort of person. How could he be willing to
kill his own son?”
“He didn’t want to go to jail. He didn’t think we’d be going into this much depth. He didn’t think James would turn up with all this information.” Alex shrugged. “We need to get to him quickly, otherwise there’s a chance he might disappear.”
Mary-Ann felt Phoebe’s eyes on her. “You think Kevin’s dad killed him?”
“Considering what we now know it seems the most likely scenario.” Mary-Ann sighed. “I think it would be best if the two of you stay here for now. I’m going to talk with Kevin’s dad and see if I can get him to be honest with me.”
“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” James touched her hand. “If he was willing to kill his own son…”
“You don’t need to worry. I’ll be right there, the same way I was last time.” Alex smiled at Mary-Ann. “Let’s get this over and done with.”
***
Kevin’s dad was waiting in the park. When he looked up his eyes met with Mary-Ann’s. “I take it James told you about my wife, and her twin.”
“You knew before Alex told you.”
“I did. I found out a long time ago, but it took me a while to find the woman who’d taken the life of my wife.” He shrugged. “I knew I could never forgive her for what she’d done.”
“Tell me the whole story.”
“You’re sure you want to hear it?”
Mary-Ann nodded. “I want to know what led you to poison Kevin.”
“Unfortunately Kevin didn’t seem to care that the two of us were family. He was going to talk to the police about everything he’d learnt, and I knew what that meant. I wasn’t going to jail, so I did what I had to do, although I do regret choosing your cake. I never wanted you to get mixed up in this mess. I wanted it to be Sally’s cake. I wanted to be able to make a case for it being her, but I couldn’t do the same thing when I found out I’d used the wrong one, because you were always the one I wanted Kevin to end up with.” He sighed. “Obviously that’s not going to happen now.”
“No, it’s not. Kevin’s dead.”
“So is my wife, and I think it’s fair that the woman who killed her is dead too.” He stared into the distance. “I know where her body is. Can I ask you to do something for me?”
“You want me to bury her with Kevin.”
“I do.” He shook his head. “My wife, Lynette, didn’t tell me she had a twin when the two of us met. I think you were right when you said she was doing her best to get away from Annette, because Annette had become someone else. After thinking it through I came to the conclusion the only thing it could have been was the drugs. Lyn never touched them. She hated drugs of all kinds and she wouldn’t tell me why. If I ever came home drunk she’d make me sleep in the spare room, so I stopped drinking, because I knew it would make her happy. We’d been married for a couple of years when she told me she was pregnant. I was so happy. She made the decision to go back to see her parents, to tell them about the baby, and when she came home… she wasn’t happy, but she wouldn’t tell me what had made things so difficult for her.
“When Kevin came we didn’t have a chance to get to the hospital. Her waters broke at 1am and he arrived about ten minutes later. It seems impossible, but that really did happen, so Lyn went off the next morning to register the birth. I had to work, otherwise I would have gone with her. I regret making the decision to go to work, because if I’d been there…” He blinked in such a way Mary-Ann knew he was doing everything he could to stop himself from crying, but it didn’t work. A tear still trickled down his cheek. “Annette’s baby had been born three days before. She left him on the doorstep of one of the local hospitals and came here. From what she said she was furious with Lyn for being happy. The two of the argued for a long time and then Annette… she took a knife out and stabbed her twin. Lyn died almost straight away. There was nothing Annette could do to stop it from happening.
“Annette made the decision to bury her sister and come to mine. I don’t know what exactly she was planning, but, by the time I got home from work, she was wearing some of Lyn’s clothes. I think she made the decision she was going to pretend she was Lyn, because that meant she could have the life she’d always wanted. The only problem with that was the drugs. For a little while she managed to hide them from me. The moment I realised Lyn was taking drugs I ‘understood’ why she’d been so against then. I tried to get her to tell me what was wrong, why she’d turned back to them, but she wouldn’t. Six very long years later she left me. I’d done everything I could to help her and I think she realised then she didn’t really want Lyn’s life.
“It was when I went to Lyn’s parent’s for the first time I heard the whole story. Lyn hadn’t wanted me to meet them and when I learnt about Annette I knew why.
Apparently there was a time when Lyn did everything she could to help her sister, until Annette had slept with Lyn’s boyfriend. That was the last straw. When she met me she saw a chance of getting away from the whole thing and she grabbed it with both hands. If I’d been in the same position she was I know I would have done the same thing. When I found out about Annette and the drugs I knew I hadn’t been with my wife for those six years. My wife had disappeared, and so had Annette.
“Having Kevin to look after meant I couldn’t focus on the hunt for Annette. I put my son first, Lyn’s son, and starting looking for Annette when he started at high school. He had enough to distract him then, so he didn’t mind when I spent weekends in the city, hunting for that woman. She seemed impossible to find, until I finally came across her a few months ago, and that was when I forced her to tell me the truth about what happened. I was so angry, Mare, that I hurt her, and I regret that. I wish I hadn’t hurt her, but I did, because she took my wife from me. I love Lyn with every part of me. When Annette took her place I had no reason to think she wasn’t Lyn. A week or so later her body was found and Kevin said he wanted to say goodbye. As she was the only mother he knew I accepted that, and went with him, because I didn’t want him to deal with all of that alone.
“Then he started to look for the person who killed his mother. He did things without telling me about it and the whole reason we had a falling out was because he told me he knew I was the one who’d killed Annette. By that point he knew the whole truth. After he died I went through his secondary email account, so I could delete anything that might have led to me. The only think Annette didn’t tell me was that she’d had a son. When James started calling me… I knew that was the beginning of the end. I’m sure someone will be coming to arrest me soon enough. I don’t mind all that much. Everyone I cared about is dead.”
“I promise I’m bury Kevin and Lynette together.”
“Thank you.” He looked at her. “I never wanted to hurt Kevin. I thought I could talk some sense into him, but it didn’t work. He made the decision I was the bad guy in the situation, when really the bad guy was Annette. She was the one who’d killed Lyn.”
“Lynette did die from a stab wound.” Alex studied Mary-Ann. “I don’t know how much of Annette’s story was true, but that much was.”
“Thank you.” She sighed. “What’s the next step?”
“Someone can begin getting the funeral arrangements sorted for both her and Kevin.”
“I’m doing that.” Their eyes met. “Kevin’s dad asked me to, so I’m going to do it.”
“Are you sure that’s a good idea?”
“No, but Sally will be helping, and that will make things easier. Robert said he’s going to head to New York for a little while to see if he can find out anything more about Lynette and Annette from their parents. Even though we have the rest of the story I think he wants to make certain he’s running the right story. James and Phoebe have made the decision to stay in Green Springs for now. Kevin’s dad said they can use his house, as long as they keep up with the bills, and I think it will be good for the two of them to get to know each other properly.”
Nodding, he brushed a hand through his hair. “Are you going to be okay?”
�
��I don’t know. This was so much harder than dealing with Paul’s death, but I feel like I didn’t make the wrong choice when I said I would help you with this.”
“Help?” He laughed. “If it wasn’t for you I wouldn’t have got to the bottom of all this. Kevin’s dad isn’t willing to talk to me. James wouldn’t have talked to me. Being in law enforcement means people see me differently. With you by my side solving murder cases is going to be much easier.”
“That was the last one, Alex. I’m not going to get involved in any more cases.”
“I’ll believe that when it happens, Mary-Ann, because I don’t think you’re the sort of person who could walk away from something like that, especially if the murderer chooses to use something you’ve baked as a murder weapon.”
“I’m certain that isn’t going to happen again.”
“Maybe you’re right.” Alex didn’t sound like he believed her, but she ignored that. “If you need my help while Rob’s gone let me know.”
“I will.” She smiled at him. “For now I’ve got plenty to take my mind off him being gone and he promise to be back in time for the funeral.”
The Alpha Billionaire's Unexpected Baby: A Billionaire BWWM Pregnancy Romance Page 81
