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I nodded with a frown. “I was with Zack when he got the call?”
“When?”
“Yesterday, around noon,” he said. His face grew serious. “Lillian, any ideas who’d do that?”
Lillian wouldn’t meet either of their gazes.
I retook Lillian’s hand. “Lillian, you have to trust us.”
“What’s missing?” Lillian asked in a rasping voice.
“Until you can get back to the house and give us a full accounting, we won’t know for sure.” Zack’s mouth drew into a line. “I think you have an idea of who did this.”
She shook her head but refused to meet either Zack’s or my gaze.
“Lillian,” I said softly. “The night of your fall, who was at your house?”
“What makes you think I had company?”
I squeezed Lillian’s hand. “I know you. There’s no way you’d go to bed and leave a sink of dirty dishes. Plus, there were too many for just you. Can I guess?” I shifted my gaze from my stubborn neighbor over to Zack and then back. “Lillian, I know you trust Zack and me.” I drew a deep breath and said, “It was your grandson, Randall, right?”
A tear dripped from Lillian’s eye. Her lips tightened. I guessed she was fighting the tears and the need to tell someone what really happened. In my heart, I just knew it was the man who’d visited my office this morning, and I swore, if he intentionally hurt this wonderful woman, I was going to use my high heels to teach him a lesson.
Zack patted Lillian’s hand. “If this involves your grandson, I promise I’ll do what I can to help him,” he said. “But I have to know what’s going on.”
The tear on Lillian’s cheek was joined by a second one and then a third. “Yes, yes. Randall came to dinner. I haven’t seen him in so long, maybe five years.” She sniffed. “When my daughter died, he didn’t come for the funeral. He’s just so angry at me, at life, at everything.”
“So, what really happened when you broke your leg?” I asked softly. I ached for my neighbor while fury at Randall raged in my gut.
“It really was like I said, or close enough. Randall had come to dinner. I asked him to stay the night. I was in the kitchen, on the stool, trying to put a heavy pitcher back into the cabinet. As I slid it in, the stool shifted on the rug. I reached for something to hold on to, but as I fell, I saw Randall watching me.”
“Did he push you?” I asked. I forced my tone to be calm and caring, but emotionally, I was far from both.
Lillian shook her head. “No, but he wouldn’t help me either. He said the sooner I die, the sooner he gets what’s coming to him.”
Zack fisted his hand. “I’d like to give him what’s coming to him and hard.”
“After my daughter, his mother, died, I changed my will and set up a trust.” Her gaze slid over to me. “Your sister was wonderful to help me.”
I smiled. “Yeah, Dee’s pretty special.”
“Have you read the trust?”
I shook her head. “No. She showed me the medical and financial powers of attorney you gave me, but I didn’t need to see the rest. Dee is good at keeping client information private.”
“Well, Randall insisted on getting a copy of my will. I explained that I have everything in a trust now, but I don’t think he understood what that meant. The last thing he said was for me to quit acting like an idiot and get off the floor, and we’d continue our talk in the morning. Then he went to bed.”
“With you on the floor?” My tone was furious, colored with disgust at her grandson.
Lillian shut her eyes. Obviously, telling this story was embarrassing and draining for Lillian, but I knew Zack needed all the information. I appreciated his letting me take the lead with this discussion instead of being all cop-like and hitting Lillian with a ton of cop questions.
“Yes,” Lillian finally said with a long sigh. “He didn’t know I’d broken anything. His mother was such a drama queen about everything, so I’m sure he learned to ignore her, just like he did me.”
“You’re no drama queen,” Zack said in a growly voice.
“I know that, and you know that, but Randall doesn’t.” She sighed again as if this story was wringing her dry. “I tried to get on my feet for a while. Finally, I gave up and called you.” She looked at me. “Thank you for coming over.”
“Lillian, I’ll always be around when you need me. I swear. I’m not going anywhere.”
