The Heart of Lies

chapter 13



“Dead? I didn’t do it, Emily—I swear.” Josh proclaimed his innocence over and over again, as he paced the living room floor. “I beat the crap out of him, I’ll admit that, but he was alive when I left.”

“Why, Josh?” Emily was perched on the edge of the couch, keeping her voice down. “What could have possessed you to attack him?”

Josh looked her in the eye. “He was fooling around with his assistant, okay? I saw them.”

“What do you mean you saw them?”

“At the engagement party. They were in the den giggling and probably making out. I walked in on them and they looked surprised.”

“You said they were probably making out? You didn’t see them actually doing anything?”

“Well, I think she was wiping lipstick off his lip. Besides, I stopped by his office yesterday afternoon. When I walked in on them, I thought they were a little too cozy then too. And now this. He tried to tell me they were talking business, but they looked pretty guilty.”

“Why didn’t you tell your mom last night?”

“I confronted Lucas right then and I told him I’d give him twenty-four hours to tell her, or I would. I warned him to break off the engagement, but I knew he hadn’t done it yet when I talked to you on the phone. That’s why I asked if the wedding was still on.”

Emily remembered him asking that.

“So I went to see him, to make him pay for hurting my mom. Then I was going to tell her.”

“Why didn’t you come home after your fight with him?”

“I wanted to. That’s what I had planned to do. It’s just that I was having trouble working up the courage to break her heart.”

He slumped into a chair and leaned forward, putting his elbows on his knees. “I thought a few beers would give me the courage,” he said, hanging his head down, “but that didn’t work.”

Josh shook his head and raised his eyes to Emily. “Funny, I can find the courage to kill our enemies, but I couldn’t find the courage to rip my mom’s heart in two.”

“Nothing funny about that,” she assured him. “I hope this whole mess doesn’t reflect badly in your military record.”

He looked down at the floor and ran a hand over his face.

Emily braced herself for more bad news. “Something you want to tell me?”

“I got kicked out of the Navy—I’m so ashamed. I didn’t want to tell my mom until after the wedding, but now it’s going to come out and make her feel even worse.”

“A dishonorable discharge? For what?”

“I did something really stupid, and let’s just say they strongly encouraged me to take the early-out offer. I drank too much one night, and me and a couple of my buddies played a prank on an officer. Apparently he didn’t think it was funny. We all got the same offer. I guess we’re lucky they didn’t throw us in the brig.”

“Oh, Josh,” was all she could manage to say.

“I know. It was stupid.”

She didn’t even want to ask what he did. She rose to her feet. “Let your mom sleep and have a good talk with her in the morning. She’s going to need you more than she ever has. You can’t imagine how hard it is to lose someone you love.”

“You’re talking about Evan, aren’t you?”

She nodded, releasing a sigh. “I’m going to go now, but I’ll check in with you tomorrow.”

~*~

Daybreak came and the morning light began peeking through Emily’s bedroom curtains. She was slowly waking from a romantic dream about Colin and she felt warm and tingly all over. Startled by a sharp knock at the door, she bolted upright and checked her digital clock, which read six forty-five.

“What the heck?” She swung her legs over the side of the bed and reached for her silky white robe. Irritated, she ran to the door, wondering who would be knocking at such an early hour. In the dim early morning light, through the row of small windows across the top of her front door, she saw the top of a man’s head covered by a dark ball cap. After having been broken into recently, she stood still for a moment trying to decide what to do. Should she open it? Should she get her gun?

Another hard knock jolted her attention and she flinched. Only when she heard the man’s voice did she relax.

“Emily? Open up! It’s Colin.”

With delight, she flung the door open wide. Wearing a big smile, he stepped inside, sweeping her up into his arms. “Good morning, sleepy head.” He gazed into her eyes, then swept the door shut with his foot.

As he lowered his face to hers, she anticipated his long-awaited kiss. He brushed her lips with his, then smiled at her, as if he was waiting for an invitation. She pushed up on her tiptoes, pulled off his cap, and pressed her lips to his.

In response, Colin pulled her tighter into his arms and her body melted against his. He returned her kiss more deeply and passionately than she had expected, sending heat radiating through her body. She let his hat fall to the floor.

When he finally released her, she felt weak and dizzy under his power. “Whew, I think I need to sit down,” she cooed.

He led her by the hand into the living room and sat beside her on the sofa, resting his arm on the back. She leaned against him, pulled her bare feet up under her, and nuzzled her face into the crook of his neck as she rested a hand on his chest. He lowered his arm around her shoulders and held her close.

“I’m thrilled to see you, Colin,” she breathed in his masculine scent and savored the warmth of his body against hers, “but what are you doing here?”

“Ernie called me last night, said Maggie’s fiancé was murdered. He thought you might need me.” He brushed a stray curl back from her face with his finger. “Was he right?”

Yes, she needed him. She had ached for him since the day he left to help care for his dad. Being startled awake from that dream-like space between being asleep and fully awake, she had not yet given any thought to the events of the night before. His comments brought them rushing back at her—walking in on Lucas’s bloody body, Maggie’s avalanche of shock and grief, her probing conversation with Josh.

She sat up straight and stared wide-eyed at him. “Yes, Colin, I need you. You have no idea.” She cupped his face in her hands and kissed him softly. “I’m thrilled you’re here.”

“I was hoping you’d say that. I drove through the night to get here.”

“But what about your dad?”

“He’s improving every day, so I’d already arranged for my aunt and uncle to come and help while I came up for Maggie’s wedding. After I got the call from Ernie, I phoned them and asked them to come early. They’re retired, so it was no problem. As soon as they got to the house, I hit the road.”

“You must be starved,” Emily said. “Why don’t I make you something to eat? Then I can tell you all I know over breakfast.”

He tapped his chin. “Hmm…As I recall, you’re not the best cook.” He offered a sly grin. “Why don’t we go out to breakfast? My treat.”

Emily had to agree with his assessment of her cooking skills, and she graciously accepted his invitation. “Just give me a few minutes and I’ll be ready to go,” she called out as she dashed down the hall to her bedroom.

~*~

“Can I get you anything else?” The young waitress smiled and refilled Colin’s coffee cup.

“Just the bill, thanks,” he replied, as they finished their breakfast at The Griddle.

“This was a great idea, Colin,” Emily said, swirling her last bite of French toast in the remaining maple syrup on her plate.

“Lucas Wakefield sounds like a piece of work,” Colin said. “For Maggie’s sake, we need to get to the bottom of this thing fast.”

“I agree. From the start, Isabel and I had a bad feeling about him—well, Isabel more than me, at least at first. She threatened to do a background check several times, but other things seemed to crowd her time and she put it off.”

“I wish she’d done it early on. Maybe this whole mess could have been avoided.” Colin sipped his hot black coffee and took his last forkful of omelet.

“I take part of that blame. I warned her Maggie wouldn’t be happy if she found out we were checking him out behind her back. Now I wish I’d pushed more for it.”

“And what about Josh?” Colin asked, sliding his empty plate aside. “You said he went to see Lucas last night and admitted he had a physical altercation with him?”

“Around here we call it a fight,” she teased, “and yes, he admitted it, but he swears Lucas was alive when he left.”

“And you believe him?”

“I want to,” she said, dumping a packet of sweetener into her coffee. “But I wonder, if Lucas was alive when Josh left, but then died shortly after that from the beating. The medical examiner and CSI unit were coming in when I was leaving. I wish I knew what they found.”

“The body’s at the medical examiner’s for an autopsy by now, I’m sure. They’ll probably have a cause of death soon.”

“Could you talk to Ernie and find out what’s in the ME’s report?” she asked.

“I can try,” he offered. “Maybe he’ll let me know what the CSI unit found, too.”

Emily’s phone began to ring and she dug it out of her purse. “It’s Maggie,” she whispered to Colin.

“Hello.”

“Emily, I need you to come over right away,” Maggie said, sounding frightened and breathless.

“What’s wrong?” Emily looked at Colin and his eyes were riveted on her.

“The police are here. They’ve arrested Josh.”

“Oh, Maggie, no,” Emily exclaimed.

“I already called Isabel and Alex. Alex is headed down to the police station right now.”

Emily could hear Maggie sniffling, and she felt a heavy weight in her chest, knowing what her friend was going through. “We’ll be right over.”

“What do you mean we?” Maggie questioned.

“Colin is here with me. He drove through the night when he heard what happened.”

“That sweet man. Maybe he can get some information from the police—I couldn’t.”

“Don’t worry, Maggs. We’ll be there before you know it.”

~*~

When Emily rang the doorbell, Maggie let them in, finding Camille and Jonathan had arrived minutes before them. Following a round of hugs, Maggie described what had happened that morning, the police showing up with an arrest warrant, taking Josh away in handcuffs, giving little information in response to Maggie’s tearful stream of questions.

Emily did her best to try to console her friend, as did the others, but Maggie was beyond that. Maggie’s fiancé had been murdered, and her son—her only child—had been accused of killing him. What could she say to make it better?

Dressed in jean shorts and a white t-shirt, Maggie had barely combed her hair and she had no makeup on. Emily wasn’t used to seeing Maggie like this, but she remembered having days like that right after Evan was killed, hardly having the energy to get out of bed. It was Maggie, Isabel, and Camille that had gotten her through it.

“Did anyone call Sully?” Emily asked, wondering if Maggie’s brother was aware of what had happened.

“I called him,” Maggie replied, working to stifle her sobs, “but it just went to voicemail. I didn’t want to leave that kind of message on his phone.”

“I’ll try him again for you,” Jonathan offered.

“Thanks, hon,” Camille said, lightly patting her husband’s back. “Maggie, dear, have you had anything to eat this morning?”

“No,” Maggie replied softly, her tears subsiding.

“Why don’t you let me make something for you? You’re going to need your strength today.” Camille went to the kitchen and Jonathan stepped outside to make the call to Sully.

“Is Isabel on her way?” Emily asked.

“No, Alex said she had to go into work today, you know, that big FBI case she’s workin’ on.” Maggie walked to the sofa and dropped onto it. She leaned into the cushions and put the back of her hand against her forehead, closing her eyes. “The trial starts next week and she has to tie up some final details. He said he’d let her know what was happenin’ and have her stop by as soon as she could.”

Emily remembered Isabel mentioning the trial. She also recalled having told Isabel she’d drop something off to her last night that would have Lucas’s fingerprints on it so she could have the FBI run the prints first thing Monday morning. That’s when she realized the crystal paperweight was still in her purse. With the murder last night, she had forgotten all about it. Keeping it now seemed unnecessary, but how could she return it without being noticed? She decided to keep it awhile longer.

Jonathan stepped inside from the porch. Before he went to help Camille in the kitchen, he told everyone about the call to Sully. He said Sully was going to head straight down to the police station to find out what was happening with Josh, and he’d let Maggie know as soon as he knew anything.

Emily watched Colin from across the room as he took a seat next to Maggie, promising they were all going to do their best to help her through this nightmare. Emily knew he understood Maggie’s heartache as much as she did. All three of them had violently lost someone they loved.

Colin took Maggie’s hand and spoke softly to her. Emily couldn’t hear all of what he was saying, but his tenderness and compassion fanned the flame of her affection for him. She would have to thank Ernie later, for calling him last night.

He patted Maggie’s hand and caught Emily’s gaze as he stood and walked over to her. “I’m going to go call on Ernie and see what I can learn from him.”

Emily pushed up on her tiptoes and gave him a quick kiss. “Thank you, Colin.”

“For what?” He seemed puzzled.

“For being you. I saw how gentle you were with Maggie just now.”

“You and I both know what she’s going through. I simply wanted to help. But what I need to do now is go and talk to Ernie.”

“I want to be there,” Emily said, “hear what he has to say.”

“I think it’s best if I go alone, talk to him man to man.”

“You mean detective to detective?”

“Something like that.”

“I’m a detective. A private detective.” She poked a finger at his chest, feeling like maybe he didn’t think she was on par with them. She tried not to react the way she had in the beginning of their relationship when she used to prickle at what she considered to be his condescending attitude toward her lack of experience. They’d gotten past that. She had experience now—heck, she carried a gun and taught self-defense classes.

“I remember,” he said with a grin. “Who do you think nicknamed you the smokin’ hot lady PI?”

“So why are you shutting me out?” Emily asked.

“I think Ernie will be more forthcoming if it’s just him and me. That’s all. Don’t get your panties in a twist.”

“You know I hate it when you say that.” Emily frowned.

“I know,” he chuckled. He glanced over at Maggie, sitting with her eyes closed and her head leaned back on the sofa. “Stay here with Maggie and Camille and I’ll let you know what I learn from Ernie.”

Before she could protest again, he was out the door.