Not What She Seems (17 page)

She frowned. “I’m so sorry to hear that.”

His eyes traveled over her, then flickered to Connor standing there holding her hand. A look of surprise came over his face for a brief moment, and then it was gone. “And who is this young man?”

Connor puffed out his chest. “I’m Connor.”

“Nice to meet you, Connor.”
He turned back to Emily. “He looks just like…”

“Yes, he does, doesn’t he?”

Vincent’s eyes widened. “I can’t believe it. It’s so good to see you. What are you doing here?”

She felt her face grow hot. “I’m here to deal with what happened to William.” Saying his name out loud brought an uncomfortable silence to settle on them, which didn’t disperse until Steven coughed.

“I’m sorry, Vincent; this is Steven. Steven, this is my old friend Vincent.”

Steven stepped toward Vincent and they shook hands. Emily detected a slight scowl on Steven’s face, but then he smiled and said, “Nice to meet you.”

Vincent looked from Emily to Steven, then back again. “Are you two...?”

“No.” Emily smiled. “We’re just friends.”

“How long are you going to be in town?”

She glanced at her shoes. “I’m not sure.”

He rubbed his mustache, and seemed to realize where they were. “What, you’re not staying in a hotel are you?”

“Yes.”

“No, you must stay with me. I have plenty of room.”

Steven frowned and folded his arms across his chest. “Her hotel room is already paid for, but thanks for the offer.”

Emily glared at him, and turned to Vincent. “Thank you, I appreciate your kindness, but I’ll be fine here.”

“Then you must come over for dinner tonight. I have to go meet with someone now,” he pulled a business card out of his breast pocket, “but I want you to call me this afternoon. We have lots to catch up on.”

“I’d love to have dinner with you, thank you.” His eyes reminded her of William. He had the same grey eyes. She blinked and squeezed Connor’s hand. She had never had the chance to mourn William’s death, but the level of emotion that overcame her was surprising. Even with everything he put her through, he didn’t deserve to die. She shoved all thoughts of William to the back of her mind. Now wasn’t the time to deal with it. “I’ll call you.”

Vincent grinned and left, waving one more time before he disappeared around the corner. Steven flipped open his cell phone and started pushing buttons.

“Who are you calling?”

“The office.
I think I should stay here, to help with Connor.”

Emily rolled her eyes, hating that her stomach was now fluttering with butterflies.

******

Steven zipped Connor’s coat up, careful not to catch his chin.

“You ready, buddy?”

“Uh, huh.”
He nodded, his little arms sticking out with the bulk of the coat. His blond hair peeked out from under the knitted cap, getting in his eyes.

“Hey, maybe after we eat lunch we can go get a haircut. Would you like that?”

He stuck his chin out, looking up. “Well, my mom always cuts my hair.”

“Then she might like it if we got it done today. Would you like to surprise her? I heard they give lollipops to little boys who are good.”

His eyes widened, and he grinned. “Okay.”

Steven laughed. “All right, let’s go get you some lunch.” He took Connor’s hand and guided him outside. The drive to Stapleton took a half an hour from the hotel on the outskirts of
Minneapolis
. Connor seemed to be in a good mood, even though he hadn’t wanted to leave his mother that morning.

Steven slowed down as he came to a house with Christmas decorations littered about the yard. “Look Connor, there’s Santa Claus and his reindeer.”

“Santa!”
Connor twisted in his seat to get a glimpse.

“What do you want for Christmas this year?” Steven turned the car toward the downtown strip, scanning for a place to park near
Aunt Edna’s
.

“I want a tyrannosaurus rex, the biggest and strongest dinosaur. He eats all the other dinosaurs.”

“Ooh, he sounds scary.”

“Yeah, he’s scary. He can protect me and Mom.”

Sadness descended over Steven, thinking about what Connor must have gone through in his short life. “Of course he can.” He resolved to get him the biggest t-rex he could find.

They entered the diner, and Connor squealed as Steven lifted him up on a stool. Edna stopped wiping the counter and bustled over to them, patting her curly red hair.

“Mr. Ashton, I’m surprised to see you here. Did you come with Emily?” She leaned a little closer, and lowered her voice. “I heard she is down at the station right now talking to the police.”

“Yes, she is.”

Her eyes traveled over to Connor, and she pulled back, smiling. “And who do we have here?”

Steven knew that this piece of juicy gossip would soon be all over town. “This is Connor, Emily’s son.”

She peered at him for a few moments before her jaw dropped. “He’s William’s?”

“Yes.”

She drew in a short breath. “He looks just like him. I had no idea she was even pregnant. Theodore and Priscilla don’t know, do they?” she asked, putting her hand up to her mouth.

“I don’t think so.”

“Oh my word.
I can’t imagine how that’s going to go over. Well, now, forgive me. What would you two like me to get for you this afternoon?”

“I’ll have a ham and cheese sandwich,” he said, turning to face Connor, “and what would you like?”

Connor fidgeted on the stool and said, “I don’t know.”

“Do you want a hamburger?”

He made a face and shook his head.

“What about a hot dog?”

His response was less than favorable.

“What do you usually eat for lunch?”

“A peanut butter and jelly sandwich, with apple slices and milk.”

Steven looked at Edna with what he hoped were puppy dog eyes.

She smiled and said, “We don’t have peanut butter and jelly on the menu, but I think I can talk the cook into making one up special just for you, sugar.”

Steven winked at her. “Thank you.”

“No problem. I’ll be right back.” Edna pulled out her short order pad, wrote something down, then tore the paper off and clipped it to the order wheel. Then she went to take an order from an elderly man sitting alone at a table.

The soft sounds of classical music chimed from Steven’s pocket. He flipped his phone open.

“Hello?”

“Steven, Michael Pittman. Emily’s been arrested for the murder of William Grant.”

Chapter Twenty One

Steven’s throat tightened, and his palms became sweaty.

“What?”

“Emily’s been arrested. They’ve set the arraignment for tomorrow afternoon, pending no further delays.”

The room felt hot, and he tugged at his collar. “What happened?” Steven realized several people were staring at him, so he lowered his voice and added, “I thought you said everything would be all right.”

“This isn’t a big surprise, Steven. Emily ran, which makes her look guilty. But the evidence is purely circumstantial. I’ve been looking over her case files. There was evidence the police overlooked because they figured Emily was the killer, and didn’t bother to investigate any further. I have enough right now to cast serious doubt on Emily’s guilt.”

Somehow, that didn’t make him feel any better. “So, what happens now?” He ran his fingers through his hair, and tried not to pull it out.

“Emily will be held until her arraignment tomorrow, where they will decide on the bail.”

Steven felt the bottom of his stomach drop. Connor sat, quietly making the stool spin back and forth, his foot hitting the bottom of the counter each time it passed. “Okay, Michael. I’ll take care of Connor as long as I need to. Tell Emily he’s safe with me.”

“Yes, I’ll tell her. She knows you’ll take good care of him. She trusts you, Steven.”

The words hit him; he hadn’t realized how much that would mean to him. He wondered if Emily would ever admit it to his face.

“What will happen after tomorrow?” He nodded to Edna as she set their plates down. Connor grabbed his sandwich and started eating with such gusto he wondered if the child had eaten any of his breakfast.

“There will be a preliminary hearing in a week. If there’s not enough evidence against her, the prosecutor will drop the charges.”

“What are the chances of that happening?”

“Very good.
There’s just not enough proof that Emily was involved in William’s murder.”

Steven sighed. “Okay. Thank you for calling. Let me know if I can do anything.” He snapped his phone shut, and slid it in his pocket. Edna was furiously wiping the counter, as if the Pope was due to arrive at any moment and she wanted to make sure the place was clean.

The door to the diner opened, making the bell ring against the glass. He glanced behind him, just in case it was the Pope. A distinguished man in a dark blue suit stood just inside the door, surveying the tables. His blond hair was thick and full for a man of his age. Edna rushed over to him. Her cheeks were flushed, and she fiddled with the bottom of her hair.

“Mr. Grant, so nice to see you.
It’s been ages. Please come in and sit down.”

******

Emily sat in the interrogation room on a hard wooden chair that made her bottom fall asleep. Michael had told her not to say anything else, so she listened to Detective Reed and her attorney talking about her like she wasn’t there.

A headache started to throb behind her eyes. She wanted to scream at both of them to listen to her, but clenched her jaw tight instead. That would probably only get her into more trouble. She couldn’t understand why her attorney wouldn’t let her tell them what happened. He said that admitting she had a fight with William was a bad idea, that it would only add fuel to the fire.
But it was the truth.
She realized Detective Reed was speaking to her, his pencil thin neck stretching so he could look down on her.

“I understand, Emily. William was abusing you. Maybe he lost his temper. Did he hit you that day, Emily?” The detective leaned forward, his arms on the table. His round glasses were perched on the end of his nose, and she had the biggest urge to reach over and push them up.

“Don’t answer that.” Michael folded his arms and leaned back in his chair. His short curly hair reminded her of a black poodle. She hoped he had something brilliant planned. At this point, all he had been good for was telling her to shut up.

Detective Reed exhaled, clasping his hands together. “If you’re not going to cooperate, things are only going to get worse for you.” Emily’s breath caught in her lungs, and her vision blurred. The detective continued. “Your fingerprints were all over the murder weapon.”

The chair made a noise as Michael stood up. “Of course her fingerprints were on the murder weapon – and on everything else in the house. She lived there. You’re going to have to come up with a lot more than that if you expect a conviction.”

“She also was the sole beneficiary of a large sum of money. That’s motive enough without the abuse factored in.”

Emily stared at the detective. She didn’t wait for Michael to tell her not to speak. She blurted out, “What are you talking about? William didn’t have any life insurance. He thought it was a waste of money.”

Detective Reed peered at her over his glasses and frowned. “I mean his estate. William left everything to you.”

“Emily, I advise you–”

“We didn’t have much,” she interrupted, not caring anymore what her attorney thought, “the house had no equity, and we’d only lived there one year.”

Reed narrowed his eyes, and pursed his lips. “Not much? I don’t think I would call a bank account with seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars
not much
.”

******

Steven cringed, turned around, and started eating his sandwich with enough speed to rival his junior companion. Emily’s former father-in-law was the last person he expected to see in Edna’s diner. He heard the man sit down at a table behind him.

“What can I get for you, Mr. Grant?” Edna sounded a bit flustered, and Steven wondered exactly how important this man was to this town.

“I heard Emily has come back. What do you know of this?”

Edna cleared her throat. “Well, I heard the same thing. I was shocked, simply shocked to hear it. I never thought I would see Emily again. Why, it’s been over five years now since she left, and this town has had to pick up the pieces. A lot has changed in this town in the last five years, why, they’ve built–”