Chapter Twenty-Five Her

Chapter Twenty-Five Her

Present Day

The last twenty-four hours crawled by without the expected knock on the door by Detective Sessions and his minions. I didn’t

know if he’d actually be the one to come and arrest me. Probably, since I think it was a fantasy of his. Elias warned me about

questioning and forensic testing and a whole bunch of nonsense I barely remember because I was wearing a disinfectant-soaked

T-shirt at the time.

After I finally got permission to return to the house I used the rest of last night to put everything the police ripped apart

back together. The crime scene cleaners had already been here once to remove any sign of Richmond’s demise. I didn’t want

a repeat of that experience.

My nosy neighbors spent most of the search warrant time standing outside in their driveways, straining for a better look.

By now, the news of what had happened likely ping-ponged around the country club set. The idea of walking into a beehive of

angry Richmond supporters kept me at home. I could make my own coffee.

Three showers and the smell of disinfectant still clung to my hair. I needed industrial-strength shampoo to kill the scent. Searching for it would be risky but maybe there was a way. I’d barely swiped my finger across the cellphone screen when I heard the deep bong from the front gate and my security app lit up.

I checked the video. “Sweet hell.”

A Kathryn and Portia visit this time. Looked like news about the search warrant had made its way across town to the other

Dougherty household. Last thing I needed was a showdown and I really didn’t want to engage in a yelling match in front of

Richmond’s kid.

Bong

The noise turned into one long moan. I could see from the camera that Kathryn held her finger on the intercom button. The

woman was endlessly annoying.

Fine. I’d play along. The app let me respond without leaving the kitchen.

“What do you want?” Nothing in my tone said welcome .

“Let us in.” Kathryn’s clipped voice echoed through the kitchen.

A snide response about her having her own house seemed in order. Only the panicked look on Portia’s face stopped me. The kid

wanted to be anywhere else. I empathized because I once was that age and wanted to escape a messy mother-daughter relationship.

I blew out a long breath and prepared for another unwanted round with Kathryn. Five minutes after I buzzed them in the doorbell

rang. Two minutes after that we were standing in my kitchen. The goal was to confine Kathryn to one room of the house. Not

let her wander around and cause trouble.

“You changed the gate code.”

Kathryn barely let me walk into the room before launching that one. I ignored her and focused on Portia, whom I’d spoken to exactly twice in my life for a total of less than five minutes. “Do you want something to drink?”

Portia shook her head.

She looked less severe today than she had at her father’s funeral. Still dressed all in black. Black pants and a black sweater.

The latest in sullen teenage fashion. But her choice of outfit didn’t explain why she was here.

“Is your school on some kind of break?”

Kathryn held up her hand to stop Portia from answering. “She’s staying with me for a few days to get her bearings.”

“My school is about twenty minutes away. It’s easy to go back and forth. I only board five days a week anyway,” Portia said.

“It’s what?” Why in the world was I paying for her to live and sleep at a spa-like adventure camp that was close enough to

home for her to bike to it? I should have listened closer when Elias brought this subject up and I agreed to pay. Kathryn

and Richmond really wanted to offload this poor girl.

“Thanks, by the way.” Portia’s voice came out like a whisper this time.

The kid stumped me. “For what?”

Portia shrugged. “Mom said you’re paying for my school through college graduation.”

Is that what I agreed to? She was fifteen. That meant years of being connected to this family in some way.

“I didn’t tell you. You were snooping around my desk and saw the confirming email I sent to the school about the payment responsibility change.”

Kathryn made it very hard to like her even a little bit. Treat me like shit, sure. That was to be expected. Snapping at her grieving kid was an asshole move. “You’ve already notified the school they should forward the bill to me?”

“Of course. The boarding fees were due, so I couldn’t wait. The school needed to know about the new arrangements.”

Yeah, of course. Silly me.

“And it’s all of the school bills, not just tuition. Housing. Meals. Uniforms. Activity fees.” Kathryn had the nerve to smile.

One of pure satisfaction.

This conversation kept rolling downhill. Time to end it. “I appreciate the gratitude but—”

“Look.” Kathryn let out a long sigh as she plopped her expensive bag on the counter next to her and wrapped her fingers around

the edge of the counter. “I’m here about a retrospective.”

That sounded like rich people code for something. I had no idea what. “Excuse me?”

“A celebration of Richmond’s life.”

Hell no. “Wasn’t that what the funeral was for?”

Kathryn ignored the question. “We’re thinking about a party of his closest friends and colleagues.”

I waited for the punch line.

“As his widow that is something you should organize and pay for,” Kathryn added.

I finally sat down on the stool because I didn’t see a quick end to this conversation. Kathryn was fired up. I wouldn’t have

been surprised if she handed me a stack of bills for her personal expenses. “Is there anything you don’t think I should pay

for?”

“Oh, you’re going to pay.” Kathryn dropped that nugget as if it were some sort of gotcha .

Portia rolled her eyes. “Mom.”

But that didn’t stop Kathryn. “I heard the police were here.”

And there it was. The real reason for the visit.

“They searched the house and grounds. It’s standard procedure in a case like this.” At least that’s what Elias told me. This

was actually the second search. The police took a good look around, collected forensic evidence, and snapped photos on the

day of Richmond’s death. This was their second shot. The one that telegraphed a we’re closing in message to me.

“You mean in a murder case. Richmond was murdered,” Kathryn said.

Portia winced. Kathryn didn’t notice. I did. “Maybe now isn’t the time to discuss this.”

“My children deserve answers. Closure.” Kathryn put a supportive hand on Portia’s back. Ran a hand over Portia’s hair.

The gesture looked affectionate. Genuine. Motherly. I was more familiar with maternal touching as part of a ruse. A setup

for a scam. Kathryn’s sudden care and attention for her daughter surprised me. It didn’t logically follow the conversation

and her seething up until now. It also stopped me from telling Kathryn to shut up.

I went with a more neutral comment. “I thought you were here about a party.”

“The police fumbled the investigation from the beginning. You should have been arrested that first night before you could

destroy evidence. I made demands but Nick insisted he couldn’t storm in here without probable cause. I guess he has it now.”

Kathryn’s voice stayed calm and steady. “You should have taken my deal.”

Portia shirked away from her mom’s hold. “Mom, we should go.”

This kid might be the only family member I liked. “Listen to your daughter.”

Kathryn had her agenda and was not ready to abandon it. “On second thought, it might make sense to postpone the party. You

can’t exactly organize it from jail.”

The woman didn’t have an off button. “I treasure our visits.”

“Mom, you promised,” Portia said.

“We’ll leave.” Kathryn didn’t try to hide her big smile. “Don’t make any major changes to the house. You won’t have it for

long.”