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“Honey, please,” my mother said, but her voice wavered. “Your father said he doesn’t think it was murder. He said he’d been to Runstan and everybody there said it was a suicide, that they should know best and that he has no reason to doubt that. The police haven’t retracted the coroner’s finding, so let’s not get ahead of ourselves.”
“But they’re investigating whether it was murder. He could have at least vouched for me.”
“You know your father. He was defusing the situation, trying not to antagonize them.”
“He was trying to suck up to them, and God forbid he go against John.” I felt like the family was taking sides, dividing into factions against each other. “Didyouanswer their questions, too?”
“They didn’t ask me anything. They thought I was ‘the wife,’ so I played ‘the wife.’ ”
Ouch. “But, Mom, couldn’t you have said, ‘There’s no way my son had any involvement’? Couldn’t you have stood up for me?”
“Honey, I never volunteer information, ever. It goes against every cell in my body.” My mother’s voice took on an authoritative tone. “All it does is provoke another question. I’m sure your father had the same instinct.”
I realized that they had gone into lawyer mode, not parent mode. “Mom, what about Gabby? Does she know what’s going on?”
“No, I’m going to call her now. I was trying to get to you first. TJ, I’m doing everything I can to help you. You need a lawyer, and I’ve already called Angela, but she hasn’t called me back yet.”
“Angela Martinez, from before?”
“Yes, she’s the best, and I’m sure she’ll be happy to represent you again. She’ll know what to do. She’ll get you out of this.”
“Nobody can get me out of this, Mom.” I didn’t think activating the privilege machine would help this time. John and Dadwerethe privilege machine.
“Angela will be aggressive. She’ll back them down.”
“Do you think she can get a copy of John’s statement? I want to know what he said. I swear to God, I think he’s pinning Lemaire’s murder on me. I think he might beframingme.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
“I don’t know him anymore, Mom. I wouldn’t put it past him.Everything I did for him makes me look guilty. I investigated Lemaire. I talked to reporters. I talked to cops. I got into Lemaire’s computers. I went after Barry Rigel. All of it makes me look guilty as sin.”
“I’m sure John didn’t accuse you. Why would he?”
“I don’t know,” I answered, then it struck me. “The fight at the wake happened in front of in-house counsel for Vuarnex. We know John wants to save the acquisition and his fee. He can’t shut me up, so maybe he’s trying to discredit me. Framing me for murder does that effectively, don’t you think?”
“No, that is absurd—”
“Stan would have the same motive. They could be in it together.” I made myself think through the next logical step. “What if…John killed Lemaire?”
My mother gasped.
“John’s the one who knows Lemaire, Mom. Maybe John was embezzling with him. Or Stan, or both of them. What if John was embezzling with Stan and Lemaire?”
“What? Why would he? John has money. So does Stan, and after the acquisition—”
“But what if the scheme started before Vuarnex came into the picture? The acquisition offer came in through John, but out of the blue to him. Maybe Lemaire wouldn’t stay quiet about the embezzling. Maybe he threatened to tell Vuarnex—”
“TJ, your imagination’s running away with you. I’m not going to entertain this conversation. It’s wrong, and you’re getting yourself all worked up.”
“I’m thinking aloud, trying to figure it out.” I didn’t know where Fake Elliott Thompson fit in, unless Stan had hired him from the old days, but I couldn’t be sure of that yet.
“TJ, let’s talk later. I have to call Angela again.”
“Thanks, Mom, I love you.”
“Love you, too. We’ll fix this.”
I hung up, afraid that I’d be going back to prison. If I did, I knew I’d have one big regret.
