Chapter 14

CHAPTER 14

I was sitting at a table in my favorite coffee shop with Owen, my frigid hands cupped around a hot mug of mocha to keep them warm.

He smiled at me and said, “Told you I’d get released on bail.”

“Yes, you did.”

He leaned closer to me, lowering his voice. “I’ll be honest, when it came right down to it, I thought bail was going to be denied.”

“Why?”

“A minute into the hearing, and I realized my approach was the wrong one. You were right about checking my attitude. Thanks … for, uh, the advice.”

“I’m glad you took it.”

“Any updates on the case?”

“I still don’t know who murdered her or why,” I said. “I’ve been to the school, and I’ve talked to Claire’s coworkers. I’ve also met with Leah and your neighbor, Marianne.”

“Do I even want to know what Marianne had to say?”

“She saw Claire crying from time to time, and she assumed you were to blame. I explained Claire was still processing her mother’s death, but Marianne … she’s a stubborn one.”

He rolled his eyes. “Tell me about it.”

“I talked to her about the argument she told the police she’d overheard. Turns out, she didn’t even hear what was said. Your curtains were drawn, so she didn’t see anyone either. She heard two people talking with raised voices. Presumed it was you two.”

“There’s no way. I never raised a voice to Claire a day in my life.”

“Is it possible you had an argument with someone else? Or vice versa?”

He took a few sips of his coffee and went quiet.

“If there’s something I should know, tell me,” I said.

He ran a hand through his hair and sighed. “I’m guessing the argument she heard was between Nadia and me. Right before we called it quits, she stopped by the house, which shocked me.”

“Why?”

“Well, it was a rule we’d agreed on—to never show up at each other’s house. Not to mention it’s common sense, for obvious reasons.”

“She must have had a good reason for breaking the rule,” I said.

“Yeah …”

“I talked to Nadia,” I said. “She told me you were interested in pursuing her after the divorce. She also said you wanted her to leave her husband, which is different than what you told me. Nadia saw the affair as a temporary one. Seems one of you is lying to me. Or maybe you both are.”

“I wouldn’t say we’re lying. It’s complicated.”

“No, it isn’t. Even if it’s a bit of a gray area, a lie is still a lie, and I don’t work for people who lie to me.”

He raised his hands, saying, “Whoa, hang on. It’s not what you think. Look, we’ve said things to each other that we shouldn’t have said, or maybe we should have. Hell, I don’t know. Nadia told me she loved me, and I’m not saying she does or doesn’t. I’m just telling you what she said.”

“How did you respond to her?”

“I may have told her I loved her too.”

“There’s no may . You either told her or you didn’t.”

“You’re right, I did. Next thing I know, she shows up at my house saying we can’t ever see each other again, and yeah, we argued. I didn’t see her again, not until after Claire died.”

“How do you feel about Nadia now? Do you still love her?”

He tapped a thumb on the edge of the table. “I don’t know. Some days when she’s on my mind, it feels like love. Other days, it doesn’t. Ever since Claire died, it’s hard to know how I feel about anything. I guess numb would be a good word to describe it. Felt that way ever since I walked through the door and found her … I saw her on the floor, all helpless and bloody, and I … I …”

Tears welled in his eyes.

He wiped them with a hand and jumped up. “Excuse me a minute.”

He walked to the bathroom, returning to his seat a few minutes later.

“Sorry about that,” he said.

“Don’t be.”

“Sometimes I wonder if I could have prevented what happened somehow. Wish I had.” He glanced down at his watch. “I should be heading out soon. Anything else you want to know before I go?”

“Did you tell Nadia you wanted her to leave her husband?”

“Not in those exact words. I asked if she would ever consider leaving him.”

“What did she say?”

“Here’s where the complicated part I mentioned before comes in. She may love me, and I’m inclined to believe she does. She also loves her husband, and I get it, I do. I had mixed feelings about Claire and Nadia myself. Some days, I was set on getting a divorce. Other days, I thought about Claire living alone, without me, and I didn’t think I could bring myself to go through with it.”

I enjoyed seeing him like this, vulnerable and without the ego he’d had the first time we met.

“When the police gathered things from the crime scene, they noticed Claire had wrapped up a bottle of cologne,” I said. “According to Leah, you don’t use cologne.”

“Sure don’t. I think a man should smell like a man. Always have.”

“Any idea who the cologne was for, then?”

“The other man she was seeing, I guess.”

The other man.

Who was he?

“I haven’t been able to prove there was another man in her life,” I said. “Leah was with Claire when she bought the cologne. Claire told her it was for you.”

“Well, it wasn’t.”

Claire had been reclusive and withdrawn after her mother’s death. If there was another man, only one place came to mind where they could have met.