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“We’re done here.”
“I can pay cash. Double your usual going rate.”
I glare at her. “Why would you do that?”
“As I said, she took someone very important away from me.”
“You mean her husband that you were having an affair with.”
The look on her face is of shock and repulsion. I’m just as thrown by her unexpected reaction as I am by her request.
“An affair?” She presses a hand to the center of her chest. “Is that…is that what she said?”
I allow my silence to speak for itself. I’m not sure that anything coming out of her mouth is the truth, but I have to figure it out. Now. I need answers, and I’m not leaving until I get them.
“Glenn was my son-in-law, the son I never had. We were close, yes, but that was because of my daughter. She has a knack for pushing people away, for treating those who love her like pariahs.” She leans forward in the booth, her voice lowering. “Faith isn’t well. She’s always been a very jealous, vindictive person. Growing up, she was a difficult child. Anything she could do to push my buttons, any reason to get into trouble. It escalated as she got older. The lies, the violence. Eventually, I couldn’t take it anymore. The moment she was legal, I kicked her out, but she already had Glenn to run to. It’s never been easy for us, but I thought when she eventually brought Glenn home that she’d finally made a smart decision.”
“So, you approved.”
“Not at first. I thought there had to be a catch.” She shakes her head and sits back again, her gaze growing introspective. “Glenn wasn’t the best match for her. He was sweet and caring, generous. I don’t know why she picked him, except maybe for what he could give her.”
I’m growing impatient. I don’t want to hear theories. I’m only interested in facts. “Get on with it, or I’m gone, lady.” I should be at the airport by now, catching a plane to wherever the hell the wind takes me, but instead, I’m here wasting my time.
“Glenn wanted her to go back to school to pursue her dreams. He wanted the house, the kids, everything a married couple usually wants. But Faith wouldn’t hear of it. She wanted her freedom before the ink was dry on the marriage certificate.”
“Then why didn’t he get it annulled and move on?”
“Glenn was a romantic. He loved her dearly, and he didn’t want to just give up. For years, he tried to make it work. He came to me for advice, and over the years we grew close. She hated that.” The woman was scowling now, and I wondered what memory had inspired it.
“So your daughter is the bad guy here. Is that what you want me to buy?”
“Yes. I do. Faith has always been crafty, opportunistic. She couldn’t stand that we enjoyed each other’s company. She hated that Glenn actually liked me, that he didn’t agree with her on everything, that he chose to maintain a relationship with me when she refused to. And when I got diagnosed with breast cancer, she hated it even more that he took time to check up on me, make sure I had the things I needed.”
Memories of Glenn taking time from work to deliver food to her home cropped up in my mind. The hugs in the doorway. Could I have misinterpreted everything?
“It was causing such a rift in their marriage that I grew worried. I was afraid that Faith might act out, and I didn’t want anyone to get hurt. So I told Glenn to stay away, but he refused. He didn’t take any of it seriously. He didn’t see the person I did in Faith. He never saw the darkness. He just thought she had emotional problems, and with time and patience, he could fix it.”
But he couldn’t. If her story was to be believed, it meant I had been a party to killing an innocent man. My gut churned at the thought. I only killed the guilty. “Why should I believed you?”
“Because I wouldn’t lie about this. I went to Tony because his brother and I had something once, a connection, and because I helped their family when they needed it. He owes me, but if I were to lie to him, I’d be the one paying for it.”
And pay for it she would. In the most horrific way imaginable. Like me, Tony didn’t suffer liars. That’s where I learned it, after all. Even killers had morals and values, skewed though they may be.
But her story still didn’t prove anything. Where was the motive? Why would Faith risk everything just to rid herself of someone and not get anything in return for it? I did my homework, and I knew Faith stood to gain a measly twenty-thousand-dollar death and dismemberment policy from Glenn’s workplace, but that wasn’t a hefty enough sum to warrant murder. Freedom always had a price, and it was usually sky high.
“This is all conjecture.” I met her eyes. “If you can’t give me more motive than she was manipulative, then I’ll be on my way.”
“You want motive?” she challenges. “How about the million-dollar life insurance policy she’s cashing out today? Is that enoughmotivefor you?”
Her anger alone is enough to convince me without proof that she was telling the truth. People’s most honest reactions are often given in a moment of desperation, and this woman saw her window of opportunity closing.
My heart beats hard against my chest. What policy? I checked her financial records, saw where all of their combined assets were and what she stood to gain. My conclusion was not much. Faith would go on to lead a meager existence, eventually having to find a full-time job to make ends meet because the money would run out.
There was never a hint of a policy like this woman mentioned.
“And where is this so-called policy?”
“With a private bank. I wouldn’t even know about it, except I overheard her conversation with the bank person while I was at her house yesterday helping clean out Glenn’s personal effects.”
