Dangerous Alterations (29 page)
“I’ll get that.” Margaret Louise bent down, retrieved the still-open book, and handed it to Tori, the sinister beauty of the purple flowers staring back at her from its prominent place on the page.
“Oh Margaret Louise, I think I made a terrible,
terrible
mistake.”
terrible
mistake.”
The woman’s hand settled on her shoulder and gave it a gentle pat. “Victoria, I can’t imagine what kind of mistake you could make that would get you this worked up.”
“I can,” she whispered. “And it’s a doozy.”
Chapter 29For the second time that day, Tori found herself heading out of Sweet Briar, the trees along the rural two-lane road whipping by her window faster than she intended. Once again, Margaret Louise had wanted to come, to lend her support at a time Tori’s head was reeling, but she’d declined the offer, opting to make the trek alone.
The hurt on her friend’s face when she refused to divulge her concerns in favor of running out the door had stung, but it was for the best. She was the one who’d been so sure she had all the answers, not Margaret Louise.
Besides, she needed time to think. The first trip to Lee Station had been about asking questions; this one was about confirmation of what was virtually certain.
Her phone chirped indicating a call. Reaching into her purse, she extracted her cell and checked the caller ID screen.
Milo.
Inhaling deeply, she flipped the phone open and held it to her ear. “Hi, Milo.”
“Twenty-four hours!”
She willed herself to find even half of the enthusiasm she heard in his voice, but it was no use. Her mind was on other things. “That’s great.”
Silence hung between them as she rounded one corner and then another, her thoughts ricocheting between the flowers and Garrett.
“Is everything okay, Tori?” he finally asked. “You sound … funny.”
She shook her head ever so slightly in an effort to dislodge her focal point just long enough to placate Milo. “I rushed to judgment about Jeff’s murderer and I was wrong.”
“What are you talking about?”
She breathed in, counted to ten, and then released the air from her lungs as slowly as possible. “I thought I knew who did it. The facts lined up perfectly.”
“Why are you involved in this in the first place?”
Why indeed.
She searched for an answer, one that would sum up her reasons as succinctly as possible. “I wasn’t. Not really. But as pieces of information began to surface about his death, an image began to form. So I checked it out.”
A second, longer batch of silence was followed by a long sigh. “And?”
“And it all fit. So much so that I stopped by the police station and handed everything I knew to the chief.”
“Okay …”
“But I was wrong.” Tori let up on the gas as her turn approached. “Not about the motive, I think that’s still the same, although from a different perspective than I’d originally thought. But the
who
behind it all was completely wrong.”
who
behind it all was completely wrong.”
“Then tell Chief Dallas. He’ll take care of it.”
She knew it was the smart thing to do, she really did. She just wasn’t sure it was the right thing to do.
“I can’t.”
More silence was followed by yet another sigh, this one more of resignation than frustration.
“Is there anything I can do?”
She pulled to a stop in front of the Calder home once again, the warmth of Milo’s voice and the unyielding support in his words bringing her up short.
She was lucky. Truly, truly lucky.
Sure, there were good guys out there. Debbie had one in Colby, Melissa in Jake. They were out there, somewhere. Yet not everyone fared so well …
Not Leona.
Not Georgina.
Not Kelly.
Not Lynn.
Those women had been hurt beyond belief simply because they’d handed their heart to someone else. In turn, the person they’d given it to had tossed their love aside as if it meant nothing, making them doubt their self-worth and their judgment.
She knew because she’d been there.
She
got
it.
got
it.
The difference, though, came down to choices.
Leona took control of her life, refusing to engage her heart in a relationship ever again, opting, instead, to keep all encounters with the opposite sex light and fleeting. But the pain was still there, affecting her choices in life even decades later.
Georgina employed her infamous take-charge attitude, wiping her hands of the public disgrace that had been her second husband. But the pain was still there, dulling what had once been a natural sparkle.
Kelly had seen the writing on the wall where Jeff was concerned, but rather than lash out at him, she’d opted to pin it on Tori, a choice that would have untold ripple effects throughout the rest of her life.
And then there was Lynn. A woman who had choices restricted by options …
“Tori? You still there?”
She shifted her car into park and turned off the engine, her focus moving to the house on her right.
Lynn never had options.
Not the kind most people would want, anyway.
“Milo? What do you think it would be like to be trapped in a cage with no real way to get out?”
“I think it would be hell.”
“I do, too,” she whispered as much to herself as the voice in her ear. “Milo? I need to go. But I can’t wait to see you tomorrow night. I’ve missed you so much.”
His smile was audible in her ear. “You have no idea how badly I needed to hear that.”
When they hung up, she stepped from the car, the lone picture held tightly in her hand as she made the now familiar walk to Lynn Calder’s front door. She knocked on the door trim.
A smiling Lynn appeared inside the foyer, a powder blue bandana wrapped smartly around her head. “Victoria! I didn’t expect you back so soon.” The woman pushed the door open. “Come in, come in!”
Tori stopped just inside the entryway and looked around, a homey scent instantly lifting her nose into the air. “Are you baking?”
Lynn grinned still wider. “I’m in the middle of baking chocolate chip cookies. Would you like some?”
She gave a half nod before holding out the photograph. “I—I figured I should bring you your picture.”
Plucking the picture from Tori’s hand, Lynn made a face. “You drove all the way out here,
again
, just to bring me this?”
again
, just to bring me this?”
Not sure what to say, she simply shrugged.
Lynn set the picture on the hall table and pointed into the living room. “Why don’t you settle yourself in there and I’ll get this last batch of cookies on the trays and into the oven lickety-split.”
She wandered into the living room and over to the mantel, her gaze lingering on the picture of Jeff.
“I’m thinking about entering my garden in a local contest. All I need to do is send in a few pictures for the judges to see,” Lynn called from the kitchen.
She sucked in a breath of determination. “I’m surprised those flowers are allowed around here.”
The sound of a pan being pulled from a cabinet was quickly followed by its thud on top of a counter. “What are you talking about?”
“From what I read this evening, foxglove is highly poisonous. If any part of the plant is ingested, it can cause hallucinations, blurred vision, vomiting, even an irregular heartbeat, which could be fatal to someone with certain heart conditions.”
Her own heart thumped in her chest as she waited for a response, but there was nothing. Only silence.
“I’m sorry,” Lynn finally called. “I didn’t quite catch what you said. Let me pop these in the oven and I’ll be right there.”
Seconds turned to minutes before Lynn reappeared with a dish towel in her hands. “Okay, that’s better. Now what were you saying?”
Tori turned and faced Lynn, the courage she’d had when they were rooms apart suddenly fading into the background. “Um, so where’s Garrett? Is he here?”
“Not anymore.”
Something about Lynn’s tone gave her pause. “Is he at work?”
“Nope.” Lynn glanced down at her wristwatch and then back up at Tori. “With any luck he’s being fingerprinted and tossed in jail as we speak.”
She stared at Lynn. “You mean they came and got him?”
A smile spread across the woman’s face. “About two hours after you left. He’d stopped in to get a change of clothes and the police were sitting in here waiting for him.”
She swallowed. “Wow. I didn’t think they’d move
that
fast.”
that
fast.”
“I imagine that little tramp of his is bawling her eyes out right about now.” The smile moved into Lynn’s eyes as she continued. “The second they took him out of here it was as if I could breathe for the first time in years.”
Tori searched for something to say but came up empty.
“I remember that moment when I’d packed my bags and was headed out the door, my anger at Garrett over having a mistress giving me the shove I needed to get as far from this town and that man as humanly possible.”
“What stopped you?” Tori asked.
“A phone call from my doctor. The one that told me I had cancer. My whole world changed at that moment.”
Overcome by conflicting emotions, she wrapped her arms around herself. “I can only imagine how awful that call must have been.”
“Realizing I had to stay and endure the ongoing humiliation of Garrett and his mistress has been just as bad.” Lynn’s voice took on a wooden quality as her gaze fixed on a spot somewhere over Tori’s head. “I had two choices. Leave and die physically, or stay and die emotionally. Vera convinced me to stay.”
“Why?”
Lynn pinned her with a stare. “Because she was a strong believer in what goes around, comes around. Only it never seemed to come around … until today.”
“Today?” she echoed.
“When you figured it out the way I hoped you would.” Pivoting on her feet, Lynn waved Tori to follow. “The cookies should be just about done.”
The way she hoped I would …
The swinging door flapped shut behind Tori as she trailed Lynn into the kitchen, the enticing smell of chocolate chip cookies hovering in the room. Grabbing an oven mitt, Lynn opened the door and lifted the hot tray onto the counter. “I’d like you to try one, they’re from a special recipe.”
Tori glanced toward the batch cooling on a nearby plate. “Sure, okay, I’ll take one.” She reached her hand toward the plate only to have it thwarted midway.
“No, you need one fresh from the oven. They’re extra delicious that way.” With careful fingers, Lynn pried a cookie from the pan and held it out to Tori. “Here. Try.”
Taking the cookie, Tori held it to her lips and took a bite, her gaze dropping to the counter and the sprig of foxglove lying beside the now-empty mixing bowl. Warning bells sounded in her head and she spit the cookie onto the floor.
Lynn’s face fell. “I would have thought that you, of all people, would have understood.”
She grabbed a glass from the dishwasher and held it under the faucet. Quickly she took a sip, gargled it around her mouth, then spit it into the sink. “Understood? Sure, I understood. I understood your pain and your heartache. I empathized with what you faced every day. But this? No. I don’t understand.”
“I couldn’t leave Garrett because there was no money to split. I stayed because Vera kept a roof over my head and made sure there was food on the table. But once she was gone, I knew I couldn’t handle living here with Garrett any longer. The pain and humiliation was too great.
“But when Vera’s will was read, and Garrett was listed as the secondary beneficiary behind Jeff, I realized there was a way.”
“A way to what?” she challenged.
“A way to have the money I needed and be rid of Garrett once and for all.” Lynn slumped against the kitchen counter. “If I made Jeff’s death look as if Garrett was at fault, he’d be locked up. With him in jail, I could remain his wife and have access to his money without having to watch him with
her
anymore. And Vera’s money was enough to get private insurance.”
her
anymore. And Vera’s money was enough to get private insurance.”
Tori rubbed her hand across her face, absorbing Lynn’s words. The thinking was sound, genius, even. But still …
Pulling her phone from her pocket, she dialed the Sweet Briar Police Department. When the dispatcher answered, she asked to speak with the chief, underscoring the importance of her call even as Lynn sank to the floor in tears.
“Good evening, Miss Sinclair. You’ll be pleased to know I have our man.”
Summoning every ounce of courage she could find, Tori spoke into the phone. “You have the wrong person.”
“What are you talking about? Garrett Calder is sitting in the cell down the hallway right now.”
“He didn’t kill Jeff. His wife did.”
“His wife?” the chief repeated, shock evident in his voice. “But the will … the drug … the—”
“All twisted to point in Garrett’s direction. By his wife, Lynn.”
“Where are you right now?” he barked.
“Standing in the Calders’ kitchen.”
“Is she there?”
She eyed the woman on the other side of the kitchen, the powder blue bandana shielding her view of Lynn’s face. “Yes.”
“I’m on my way.”
Nodding, she snapped the phone closed. “I’m sorry, Lynn. I truly am. But two wrongs never make a right.”
Chapter 30By the time she got home from work on Wednesday, every backyard fence in all of Sweet Briar had played host to the biggest news in town since spring. Those who didn’t hear it across the fence heard it while sipping coffee at Debbie’s Bakery or lunching at Johnson’s Diner or shopping at Leeson’s Market or while strolling around the square.
The only certainty was the fact that everyone knew.
And that everyone had an opinion.
Those who lived a life of black and white felt Lynn’s arrest was simply justice being served. Those who’d been wronged by love in the past weren’t so certain. To them, Lynn had been backed into a corner from which the only way out was to fight and the direction she lashed out in didn’t really deserve any better.
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