Chapter Nine Her

Chapter Nine Her

Present Day

Having the whole town think you offed your famous husband made it tough to sneak out for coffee. After two days of rattling

around in that big house and hours spent searching for the bat, I needed a break.

A simple plan. Pick a small place on a side street. Outside of rush hour. Quick in and out. It didn’t work because the entire

café patronage of eight stilled when I walked inside. The air. The people. The talking. It all stopped. Only the sound of

dishes clanking in the back room and the hiss of the espresso machine greeted me. A group of women at one table openly stared.

One pointed and shook her head.

Such a welcoming town. Kathryn’s town. News of my venturing out in public likely ricocheted around the country club set via

text right now.

The choking tension of the room clashed with the welcoming smiley faces drawn on the chalkboard menu, announcing the daily

specials. The guy behind the counter glanced around as if he needed someone to tell him what to do.

Fine. I’d do it.

He greeted my order with a nod then gestured for me to step back and wait. Not wanting spit in my cup, I hovered on the other side of the counter and watched him make the drink.

What felt like an hour passed before he handed me the to-go cup. A quick tip, the kind I wish I would have gotten back when

I waited tables and washed other people’s dishes, then out. Not one to linger but not one to run from a problem either, I

greeted every nosy patron with eye contact and a smile as I took sure, confident steps to the door. No bolting in shame here.

Once outside, I gulped in fresh air to decelerate my racing heartbeat. But the drink would need to wait. The new problem was

the man leaning against the driver’s side door of my SUV.

An unwanted confrontation. On the street where everyone could see and report back to the police and Kathryn. The fine people

of this town had been whispering and gossiping since I landed here as the new Mrs. Dougherty. Only the touching of my car

was new.

“Yes?” I figured that greeting covered most things.

The man had a jumpy, uncomfortable-in-his-own-skin look about him. He wore khakis and an oxford shirt hidden behind a light

jacket. The ensemble said Dad picking up the kids from middle school. Not threatening but this could flip in a minute. It always amazed me how fast a man could move when he led with a punch. But

this guy’s hands were fisted at his sides. Every now and then I heard a jingle, which probably meant he was holding a set

of keys. No weapon made that sound... I hoped.

“You’re Mrs. Dougherty.”

Were we going to fight on the street? “I am.”

“Your husband’s death won’t stop this.”

Cryptic and unhelpful but intriguing. “Clue me in here. What are you talking about?”

He finally blinked, breaking the charged staring contest between us. “I thought he faked it at first.”

That sounded like something Richmond would do. “He’s very dead. I assure you.”

His untimely demise had been all over the news and in screaming headlines and retrospectives on his life. Avoiding his face

and the overly flattering stories had been impossible. I know because I’d tried.

“Was the possibility of bad publicity too much? With his ego I bet he couldn’t stand to see his secrets dragged out in public,”

the man said.

This was an odd game, but the guy had my attention. Not just mine. The ladies sitting at the café window openly gawked. A

man a few parking spaces away took an unusually long time shutting his car door.

“Richmond fell down the stairs at the house. It was an accident.” I almost screamed that last part for our unwanted audience

before lowering my voice again. “What publicity?”

“He tried to pay me off, you know.”

I didn’t because I had no idea what we were talking about, but Richmond’s tactics weren’t new. He’d tried that with me, too.

Eventually. His answer to every problem: throw money at it. He’d threatened and puffed up his chest, but I won and now had

to deal with whatever fallout the guy leaning on my car had in mind. “Sir, I don’t—”

“You can’t avoid the truth.” His eyes narrowed as he looked me up and down. Not in a sexual way. Assessing, like sizing up

an opponent. “You’re his wife. You know. His attorney knows.”

Ah, yes. Elias. Of course. Drill down and there he was. Knee-deep in all the trouble.

“We’re not done. I’m not letting this go.” The guy talked in some sort of code and nothing about the conversation made sense. “I made a promise to my son.”

A clue. Richmond had been a pediatric surgeon. A highly specialized field that paid well. There were fewer than two hundred

specialists in New York State, and only a couple thousand in the entire country, and none of them was as well-known as Richmond.

The notoriety fed his ego. It also sounded like he’d landed in a pile of crap.

I wanted to ask the man if his son was okay but dreaded the answer. An innocuous question seemed safer. “What’s your name?”

“Did your husband have so many enemies that you don’t even know who I am?”

Possibly? “Humor me and fill me in.”

“Peter Cullen. My son’s name was Ben.”

Was . Shit. The worst word. “I honestly don’t know anything about you or your son, or whatever beef you had with Richmond, but

I can talk to the attorney and—”

“I know I should be celebrating. Karma finally got your husband and now he can’t hurt anyone else. But it’s not enough. People

need to know.”

Amen to that. “If you’re owed money, I’ll make sure you get it.”

“It’s not about the money. It’s about making sure people know who Dr. Dougherty, dead or alive, truly was.”

Sounded like I could get to like this Peter guy.

He pushed off from the car and walked away without saying anything else. I didn’t try to stop him because he deserved to have

the last word. More details would have been good, but now I had a hint about where to look next in the who killed Richmond saga. Not Peter, unless this was some sort of deflection to throw the scent off him. If he had done the deed, good for him. He’d get a pass and a warning to not implicate me.

One of those documents back at the house might explain the issue with the Cullen family. Elias had to know. People at the

hospital must have a clue.

Time to shake the truth loose.