When he saw me, his hardened face softened, and relief washed over him. “Oh, thank God. Someone that believes me.”
His expression switched from relief to worry when he saw my stiff posture and reddening face.
“You do still believe me, don’t you?”
My momma taught me to always be kind, but at that moment my thoughts weren’t kind at all, and I struggled to keep them to myself. “I don’t take kindly to liars.”
He breathed in deeply and closed his eyes as he exhaled, blowing the air up toward the gray, sterile ceiling. “I deserved that.”
I kept my eyes glued to him, waiting to see if he’d continue.
“It’s not what you think. I promise.”
“Which part? The part where you said you didn’t cheat on Savannah, or the part where you said you didn’t kill her?”
“Both.” He scooted his chair closer to the table and leaned toward the glass window. “Yes, I had sex with a hooker, but it was after Savannah left me. The…the tape was edited or something to leave out the timestamp.” He sat back again and dragged his thumb and forefinger down the sides of his face. “I don’t know. She didn’t show anyone the timestamp on the video though, because if she did, it wouldn’t even be an issue. My parents are getting the original, and you’ll see. It’s after she had the fight with my parents and left for Bramblett.”
I didn’t support any kind of infidelity, and in my book, even if Savannah had already left, they were still legally married, and that was still infidelity. I knew I thought differently than most people in their twenties, so I tried not to judge. I did however, judge his prints on the trunk. “Your fingerprints were all over the trunk, Austin. The trunk I saw your wife’s body in. The trunk you wouldn’t have had access to, so care to explain that?”
“I already did, to your boyfriend, but he doesn’t believe me.”
I crossed my arms over my chest. “Well, why don’t you give me a try?”
“You already know I was at my in-laws the night Savannah was killed.”
“I know now. What I knew before was that you were outside the home. Two entirely different things.”
“I went there to talk to Savannah. I wanted to work things out. That’s the whole reason I came to town.” He gripped the edges of the table and shook his head. “I knocked on the door, but she didn’t answer. I tried a few times because I knew she was home and figured she was ignoring me. You know, maybe she saw my car or something, so I went around back, checked the windows on the side of the house and stuff. I saw the lights were on, and I knocked on the back door too, but she still wouldn’t let me in.”
“What time was this?”
He shrugged. “I’d had a few at Willy’s. Maybe eleven?”
I’d been long gone by then. I motioned for him to continue.
“A few years ago, we came back to town to surprise her parents. You know, just a quick in and out. They weren’t home, so Savannah went around back and got the key under the brown planter on the back porch.”
I knew exactly what planter he meant. I’d been with Savannah at least a hundred times when she’d done that very same thing.
“So, I checked to see if the key was still there, and it was.”
“And you used it to let yourself in.”
He nodded.
“Go on.”
“Then I called out for her, but she didn’t answer, so I checked the house. I thought maybe she was hiding from me or something.” He paused and gazed at the gray wall above my head. “I knew what you and Savannah had done, and the place looked great. I saw the sticky notes everywhere, and I read a few of them, mostly the ones on the bookshelves and in the kitchen. I knew about the trunk because she got the same one a month ago. It was a big deal to her.”
He paused again and shook his head as if he was replaying something in his mind. “I tried to open it. Unlatched the bolts and everything, but the key wasn’t in the lock.”
Little alarms buzzed in my head. “Was there a note on the trunk?”
He nodded.
“Was there red paint on it?”
He tilted his head to the side. “Paint? I don’t think so. Why?”
I shook my head. “Nothing, forget it.”
He continued. “Lily, I could be wrong, but I don’t think I am, and that’s what I told your boyfriend. I think the trunk in my in-laws’ house is ours.”
“What? Why?”
“Because when she bought ours, the only one left was the floor model, and it was slightly damaged. Savannah doesn’t do scratch and dents. She wants everything to be perfect, so I wouldn’t put it past her to switch it out without her parent’s knowledge.”
I wouldn’t either, actually. “Do you have the receipt to prove she bought the last one?”
He laughed. “You’re kidding, right? Savannah never saved receipts. Why would she? She never returned anything. That took too much time. She’d just throw it out and buy a replacement.”
Wow. I wish I had that life luxury. “Is the other one still at your house?”
“It was when I left to come here. If she’s had someone there to move her stuff out since then, I can’t say.”
“Did she know you were coming to town?”
“No, and I did that on purpose. Savannah is—or was manipulative. If she’d known I was coming here, she’d have moved everything but my clothes out of the house five minutes after I left.”
He definitely knew his wife. I had to give him that. “Austin, was the envelope on the door when you got to the house that night?”
“What envelope?”
“The one Savannah left for me.”
“There wasn’t a note on the door.”
“Did you tell all of this to Dylan?”
He nodded and then leaned back in his chair. “But he still thinks I killed her.” He swiped a hand through his short hair. “There’s no way I’ll make bail. Not in this podunk town.”
I narrowed my eyes at him.
He bowed his head. “I’m sorry.”
I brushed it off. “You’re right. Dylan’s already said there’s no way the judge will let you out.”
He rubbed his palms on his pants. “And it doesn’t matter that I’m innocent.” His eyes pleaded with mine. “You believe me, don’t you?”
I breathed heavily. “If you didn’t kill her, then who did?”
He stood and paced the small room. “I don’t know. It could be any one of the UGA group. Billy. Heather. Caroline. If I had to pick one, it would be Heather. She never got over what happened. I mean, I get it. I didn’t do right by her, and neither did Savannah, but it was a long time ago, and she should have moved on by now. When she threatened her like that at the brunch though, I knew she wasn’t right in the head.”
“At the brunch? You mean the sorority brunch last month?” Every quarter our sorority pledge class had a brunch get together for the girls in the area. It usually took place in Atlanta, and anyone that could make it, went, except me and Belle. I’d stopped going a few years ago, and Belle rarely went. Neither of us were the typical sorority girls anyway, and the brunches were just a throwback to our college days. Too much make up, too much gossip and way too much food. Been there, done that, and I had no intention of a do over, especially not every quarter.
He nodded. “Heather showed up and it got heated. Told Savannah she stole her life and lit into her big time. Said she’d make her pay for what she did. The rest of the girls had to separate them. Savannah said they told Heather she wasn’t allowed back.”
“I had no idea any of that happened.”
“The thing is, Savannah wasn’t the one that started our relationship. I did. I came onto her. She was still with Billy at the time.”
I wondered what else I didn’t know.
“Yeah, there’s a lot about Heather Barrington that your boyfriend doesn’t know, but my parents have an attorney on the way, and reasonable doubt is all I need, and I’m pretty sure my attorney will be able to establish that. The t
hree of them all had a reason to want Savannah dead, don’t you think?” He nodded. “Yeah, they all did. It’s going to be okay. I’ll get out of this.”
He’d already convinced himself, and he’d also kind of convinced me, too.
* * *
Belle was gone when I finished talking with Austin, so Dylan offered to drive me home. Since Uber wasn’t popular in Bramblett, and I’d have a better chance of seeing the Easter Bunny than a cab, I accepted. I didn’t mind the one on one time in my house or in public, but in his car, it felt a bit claustrophobic and a little too close for comfort. I had nowhere to go if the urge to run took over, and that made my fingers tingle and my heart race.
I sat quietly, tapping my left foot while he drove. My quietness didn’t go unnoticed. When your ex-boyfriend was a law enforcement officer, those things never did. “You okay?”
I nodded. “Just thinking about some things Austin said.”
“Care to elaborate?”
I took the invite and went to town with it. “About the two trunks. I can see Savannah swapping them, and that would explain Austin’s fingerprints on the one here.”
“That’s true.”
“And he said the event with the other woman was after Savannah left him, but that the timestamp is missing on the video.”
“He told me that also.”
“His parents are getting the original video.”
“I know.”
“And Savannah was already here when he was with that woman.”
“Can he prove that?”
I wasn’t quite sure. “Well, I met with her the day she got in town. And besides, can’t you verify it through her cell phone records or something?”
“There are things we can do, yes.” He glanced at me while at the red light. “You’re getting pretty good at this, Little Bean.”
My heart skipped a beat, and I had to look away. “It’s all that crime TV I watch.”
“Must be.”
Once I’d got my heart rate back to normal, and my house in my line of sight, I faced him again. “Did he tell you about the sorority brunch?
Dylan’s eyes shifted from the road to me and back to the road again. “No. What about it?”
“I guess Heather went off on Savannah and blamed her for everything wrong in her life.” I filled him in on the rest of the details.
He tapped his forefinger on the steering wheel. “Do you know who was at this brunch?”
“Not off hand, but there’s a Facebook group for the pledge class, so I’m sure I can find out.”
“Would you mind doing that for me?”
I perked up and straightened my shoulders. “Oh, like be your assistant detective or something?”
“Or something, yes.”
“I’m not sure you get what I mean by or something.”
He laughed. “We can discuss that later. How’s that sound?”
“I’ll stick with assistant detective for now.” I wasn’t sure I was up for any kind of later when it came to Dylan. Not at that moment. I pushed a blond curl behind my ear. “I really don’t think he did it.”
I watched his chest go up and down. “The evidence says otherwise, Lily.”
“Maybe on the surface the fingerprints do, and maybe Austin’s dishonesty makes him look bad, but when you dig deeper, the pieces don’t fit.”
“According to Austin. If he can prove that, we’ll see. Until then, we use what we’ve got.”
“What if something else can show even more reasonable doubt? Then what happens?”
He pulled into my driveway. “How about we cross that bridge if we come to it?”
“I think we’re there now.”
He put his car in park and angled his body toward mine. “Okay. Tell me what you’ve got.”
“I saw Heather with William again this morning, and I called her out on seeing them together.”
“I’m not sure how that has anything to do with Austin’s part in Savannah’s murder.”
It didn’t exactly have anything to do with Savannah per say. It just wasn’t right in my book, and when something wasn’t right, that meant it was wrong. “It just shows bad behavior, and this is William, who we now know is a cheater, and Heather, who basically threatened me, so, there’s that.” I opened the car door.
“Threatened you? Wait. What do you mean she threatened you?”
I explained the conversation I’d had with Heather earlier that day.
He pinched the bridge of his nose. “Why didn’t you tell me this earlier?”
“I don’t know. The day’s just kind of been a big blur, and honestly, it didn’t seem all that big of a deal at first. Not until just now, really.” I considered everything swirling around in my head at that moment. “Given that I just reported feeling threatened, and you have the note from my door, isn’t that cause to check out Heather’s computer?”
“I’d need a subpoena to do that.”
“Oh. I thought that might create reasonable doubt.”
“It’s definitely something Austin’s attorney could try to use.”
“So, what does that mean for your case?”
“It means I’ve got a lot of work to do, and I’m not sure when I’ll be done tonight, but I’d like to come by after work and check on you. Is that okay?”
My heart begged me to say yes. It wanted me to shout it at the top of my lungs, but I knew if I did it would send us down a rabbit hole that could leave me feeling more claustrophobic than any car ever could. “No, Dylan. I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
He pressed the issue. “I won’t stop trying, Lily.”
“I’m sorry. I don’t know what to say.” I got out of the car and walked toward my front door. It took every ounce of self-control I had not to turn around and run back to him before I got inside, and when I did, I sat at my kitchen table and cried like a baby. When I finally stopped sobbing, I called my mom and cried all over again.
Chapter 8
My mother chided me for not realizing my real problem with Dylan. She figured it out as soon as I told her I’d wanted him to come by later, but it had made me feel closed in like I had in his car.
“Oh sweetie, bless your sweet little heart. Dylan isn’t your problem, baby girl. You are. You’re just afraid of being dependent on a man again, but you’ve got to let that go. You don’t need a man, and you know that, but it’s okay to want him. Those two things are different. When are you going to figure that out?”
What she said made sense, and I realized she was at least partially right. Dylan wasn’t entirely responsible for my problem. I did deserve part of that blame, but it wasn’t because I was afraid of being dependent on him. I was afraid of getting lost in him again, of losing myself to him. It took me a long time to become the woman I was, and I didn’t want to lose her, even for the love of my life.
I explained that to my mom. “Oh honey, let me tell you something. Your pa is sweeter than a box of pralines, but when that man kicks the bucket, you can bet I’ll still make it to bowling night because that’s what us Sprayberry women do. We keep going, and that’s what you’ll do with that man of yours, you hear me?”
“Yes, Momma, I hear you.”
After she decided she’d settled my Dylan dilemma, I lamented on about my discord with Heather and my concerns about Austin’s possible innocence.
“Now you know I’ve never been a fan of that Savannah, but I sure didn’t wish her dead, and I just don’t see little Heather Barrington being capable of killing someone. She might have changed a bit in college, but a murderer is always a murderer deep inside their soul honey, and Heather? Well, I just don’t see that in her.”
“I don’t know, Momma. I don’t think we ever really know what a person is capable of.”
“Maybe not, but I know in my heart that Heather Barrington isn’t the killer. I just know.”
“Okay, Momma.”
“I’ve got to say though, the good Lord seeks justice in His own way, and I don’t know what He’l
l choose to do in this case, but whatever it is, He’ll do right by those that deserve His help. I think you should listen to that man of yours and stay out of it. You don’t mess with God, honey.”
“I’m not involved, Momma, and I promise, I’m not messing with God.”
“Well, I sure hope not. I pray every night I don’t have to bury one of my own. Heavens, I can only imagine what the Armstrong’s must be going through. And the cost of funerals these days? Goodness gracious, when it’s my time, just throw me in one of your pa’s old fishing boats, nail a piece of wood over it, and dig me a hole in your backyard. That’s all I need. Don’t even want a fancy tombstone or anything like that. I’ll be dead, so what will I care anyway?”
“Momma, we’ll make sure you’re properly buried and cared for, I promise.”
“Well, you might could get me some nice flowers, plant them around my grave. Maybe some white lilies. They’ll remind me of you.”
I giggled. “But you’ll be dead, so you won’t care, remember?”
“’Course I will be sweetie, but I’ll be with God, and we’ll both be watching.”
“Oh. Well then, I’ll definitely get you those white lilies.”
“Well, now that we’ve got that settled, I think you ought to go and make it right with Heather. You two have been friends for too long to let a little fit like that come between you.”
I’d come to view it as more than a fit, but my mother always saw the brighter side to everything, which was one of the things I loved most about her. Heather threatening me though made it hard for me to want to make things right with her.
Talking with my mother wore me out sometimes, and that conversation was one of those times, so I found a reason to end the call. “Hey, Momma, I’ve got to run. I’ve got a client calling about one of those condos on the Redbecker property. Got to earn a living! Love you.” I disconnected the call and fell onto my couch, exhausted from the emotional rollercoaster of the day and the added hills of talking with my amazing mother.
Decluttered and Dead Page 10
