A Witness in Disguise (Sarah Woods Mystery Book 10) (12 page)

             
Two Weeks Later

I got a call from Detective James on Thursday morning with information about Cliff Collins.  The police searched his property and, after four days, they couldn’t find a single piece of evidence linking him to Graham’s disappearance until, finally, they caught a break.  A call came into the station, a man hiking in the woods near Bridgeport found a body, half buried in the dirt.  The body was badly decomposed but the ME was able to confirm it was Graham Taylor through dental records.  It wasn’t easy to determine an exact date of death but the final report stated, he’d been dead at least three months.  A fractured hyoid bone indicated that he’d been strangled or hanged. 

After the news of Graham’s death became public, several witnesses came forward
.    They claimed to have seen a red Porsche parked at the abandoned warehouse just a few hundred yards from where the body was found, early in April.  Throughout all the media frenzy, however, Cliff Collins maintained his innocence.  He will stand trial with one of the most prominent defense attorneys by his side.  His fiancée Heather has broken their engagement but refuses to speak to the media about it.

The district attorney is confident
that, with Meagan’s testimony, they stand a good chance for a conviction despite the lack of physical evidence.

Later that day, I got a call from Meagan. 

“It’s good to hear your voice,” I told her
.  “How are you doing?”

“I’m back at the house an
d things are slowly returning to normal,” she said.  “I still go to visit dad every other day.  His condition hasn’t changed and I’m starting to finally realize that it probably never will.”

“You’re a good daughter,” I said
.

“Well, I’ve been spending a lot of time with Mark.” She chuckled
.  “He doesn’t seem to mind the new packaging, in fact, he says he thinks I look better with a little extra weight on me.  He’s not too fond of the red hair but that’s easy enough to change.”

“I’m happy for you, Meagan.”

“Thanks,” she said.  “It’s going to be a long trial but the DA told me he’s gonna go after Cliff with all he’s got.  There are no guarantees of course but there never are.  Cliff will probably be out on bail, so Mark insisted on staying with me until this is all over.  I’m so thankful.”

“You’ve got a good man, there,” I said
.  “He really loves you.  Any guy that will spend his savings on the woman he loves is a keeper in my book.”

“So true
.  Anyway, I just wanted to call to say thank you again for everything you and Carter did for us.”

“You’re very welcome, Meagan
.  Good luck with everything.  You have my number if you ever want to talk, right?”

“I appreciate that.”

When the call ended, I checked my watch and gasped when I saw the time
.  Carter was due to arrive any minute.  A new job prospect had presented itself and we were going to discuss whether or not we should get involved.  The job would require us to travel to Connecticut for an extended stay, which actually sounded like a wonderful excuse to get out of town for a while.  I had never spent much time in that state and a change of scenery would be welcome. 

I haven’t heard from Max in over two weeks and he hasn’t responded to my e-mails
.  I’ve decided to give him time to work his feelings out and I vowed to leave him alone.  Once he was settled in San Francisco I was certain he’d meet a woman in no time and, soon, all thoughts of me would flee from his mind.  Only then could we establish our friendship.

Every now and then I wonder if I made the right choice but there’s no changing it now
.  My life is here with Carter and we have work to do.

The End

The Ties That Bind (Sarah Woods Book 11)

Is now available for preorder on Amazon.com