AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Would Alan not help you?” I asked, finishing the last of my drink.
Hey, she was clearly a talker, and while I was sympathetic to her situation, I was also sympathetic to my own.
Stephanie shook her head. “We don’t get along. He never agreed with Declan marrying me—he said I was too young. His own marriage was on the rocks at the time, and Declan always said he’d come around, but he didn’t. I tried to help him out when it looked like he would be getting a divorce, but he wouldn’t accept it. I think it was out of pride, more than anything.”
“That’s tough.”
“Yeah, it was, but I got over it. I’d ask him for help if I thought for a second that he’d give it, but he wanted a complete break away from Declan and the company. They’ve fought so much over the last year.”
Ah-ha.
“Over Alan wanting to sell his share?” I asked, hoping I was as nonchalant as I wanted to be.
If I wasn’t, I don’t think Stephanie noticed. She was back to watching the waves come and go.
“The price discrepancy combined with the lawsuits were a big issue. Alan was the one in the office fielding all the calls and media speculation while Declan was out there, living large, not caring that his best friend was struggling. He was never the same after his accident.”
“I didn’t know he had an accident,” I lied.
“How? Oh, right, you probably wouldn’t. You didn’t live here.” She tapped her nails against the wall. “I can’t remember exactly what site it was, but they were demolishing a condemned building. Alan was in charge on the site, but the demolition went wrong, and the building collapsed on top of him. He broke his back in several places and was paralysed for a while… His left side, I think. Understandably, it changed him.”
“Wow. That must have been hard,” I said. “I can see why it all got to be too much for him.”
Stephanie nodded. “If it had happened on anyone else’s site, he’d have gotten a huge pay out and been set for life. He didn’t make any claims on the business, and I don’t think he ever really dealt with it.”
“It sounds like you like him a lot more than he does you.”
“I sympathise with him,” she said, smiling sadly. “He’s always a day late and a pound short, to paraphrase. I initiated divorce proceedings before he approached Declan to buy him out, and I think he blames me for Declan trying to short-change him. Like he didn’t know my husband was a cheap bastard.”
Well.
He wasn’t that cheap when he was trying to hand me a million pounds for my property, but I didn’t think that was appropriate to say now.
“Anyway, I’ll just pay Alan off what I think he deserves. It’ll be more than he wants, so after the lawsuits are dealt with, I can sell and hopefully get a clean break.” She sighed and looked at me, then smiled. “Thank you. I didn’t know I needed to talk like that. I’m sorry if I’ve kept you from anything.”
“It’s all right,” I replied, smiling. “Believe it or not, I needed the distraction.”
The sadness came back to her eyes. “You had no reason to kill Declan. I didn’t do it, and I had far more to gain than you did.” She stood up and brushed a few errant stones off the back of her dress. “There are a lot of people out there above you on the list of people who had a reason to kill him, let me tell you that.”
I also got to my feet, clasping my empty cup between my hands. “Stephanie…”
“Call me Steph. I just unloaded on you; the least I can do is save you a few syllables.”
Fair enough.
“Steph, do you think Alan might have done it?”
She inhaled slowly, then dropped her shoulders on the exhale. “I don’t know. I’ve been asking myself the same thing. Sometimes, I think he couldn’t do it because of his lingering issues after the accident, but then…”
I waited.
She shook her head. “I’ve witnessed more than one fight between them, and they’ve thrown punches at one another more times than I can count. Knowing how Declan died, I’m not entirely sure Alan couldn’t have done it in the heat of the moment, you know?”
“Sorry, but I just… how did he die?”
“He was stabbed,” Steph said, slowly bringing her gaze to meet mine. “Thirteen times.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
