In Love with a Stranger (17 page)

“No, but they probably wanted to make it so you’d need the money so bad you’d take it instead of him. I heard her, that’s what they want. You’ve got a daughter, Hannah. You can’t trust them with her. What if she’d been in the apartment?”

“You know about the money?” William asked him.

If looks could kill, William would be dead. “I know about the money. The guy was shouting at her about it the day he tried to kill her, and I saw that British bitch trounce through here with her disapproving looks. Everyone in the store heard that fight about Hannah taking the money. You’re not worthy of her. Your sick family is so beneath her, and you have the gall to act like she’s something less. Well, she’s not, you are!”

Thankfully, the delivery truck pulled up, interrupting the mess. Carter said I could have the stuff sent to his home. I had online orders I needed to fill and pre-purchased inventory to sell. Luckily, I had a large internet presence, so I’d be able to float a bit until the insurance money came in.  I gave the new address to the driver, but not before I grabbed a box off the truck. It held the latest edition to the series Marvin read.

I took out a copy and handed it to Marvin, before I hugged him again. “Thank you, Marvin. I’m so lucky to have you looking out for me.”

He pouted, his bottom lip sticking out, making him look like a cute toddler. “I don’t want you to get hurt. You’re a nice person.”

“Thank you, Marvin. We have the police and fire marshal involved. They’re not getting away with hurting me this time. I’m going to be fine.” 

There was a spark of lightening, and we all looked up at the sky. “It looks like rain.” Marvin frowned at his book. I knew he didn’t want to leave, but he wouldn’t want to get that wet, either. It looked like we’d have to put off searching through the remains until our return from Scotland.

“You should get going, so your book doesn’t get ruined.”

He reached for his wallet, but I stopped him. “On the house for my hero. The store’s going to be closed for a while, but I’ll still have stuff available on-line if you need to peruse something.”

He gave me a soft smile. “Thanks, Hannah.” Another crack of thunder rolled, and he said goodbye, tucking his book into his shirt to keep it safe. Marvin might’ve been creepy, but apparently at one time, he’d been my savior.

Chapter 20 – All in the Numbers

HANNAH

Dealing with the aftermath of the fire was crazy, but Regina, Ophelia and Carter’s mom, pointed out that I was blessed in a lot of ways. My business records, accounting information and files were all backed up on a cloud, and I could access them with my laptop. All of my photos and videos of my friends and family were on it as well. Living in a little apartment with no storage had saved all of my keepsakes and important stuff, since they were stored at Ophelia’s. So, after a morning of crying at Regina’s home, she asked me to name all the things I’d lost that were so important to me.

When I went to point out my store and its inventory, she said it wasn’t lost, just displaced, and the insurance would replace that. It’d be the same for my furniture and clothes, and all of my physical possession that’d gone up in flames. I was left with no home and no possessions, but she’d made it clear that Penelope and I would always have a home with her family. The important memories were recorded and saved. People moved all the time, leaving behind homes they loved, but they took what was good and meaningful with them. I was blessed to be able to do that as well.  I had my family and my memories, and that was the blessing I needed to focus on.

Penelope was handling the loss of her home and possession alright. We were lucky she’d taken her favorite toys and books to Nana Regina’s house, when she’d gone to spend the night, but I think a lot of her resilience had to do with the way William handled it. He picked her up and told her she was going to be staying with him.  Camille left on the night of the fire, heading home to snoop around London to see if she could get some sort of evidence that their father had been involved. 

When we approached the police with our new information about my attack that’d resulted in my memory loss seven years ago, they apologized and said they couldn’t do anything beyond five years after the incident. They were involved with the arson case, though, and they did want to talk to Marvin to see if they could get a lead off of him for the fire.

According to Brian Stuart, William’s private investigator, Marvin was a creature of habit. He didn’t like his day or schedule interrupted, and he’d only do so for someone or something he liked. I, being the someone, and his books, being the something, that Marvin liked.

It was decided we’d meet with Marvin at a little diner not far from his work, where he ate lunch every day. William pointed out that the diner was very close to where we had lived when we’d first moved to New York. “Our flat is just around the corner over there. It’s no surprise he saw you out and about. We came here for coffee a few times.”

“You should wait out here. He was really agitated with you this morning, and I don’t want him to shut down or start a fight with you,” I suggested.

William and I were with Detective Rogers. “You make sure she doesn’t do anything stupid,” he told Rogers. “And you,” he pointed at me, “Don’t get the guy’s hopes up. We don’t want him turning into a real stalker.”

Marvin and his brother were engrossed in a conversation, and we hung back and listened for a moment.

“…Then I said, ‘Fine, I’ll pay your fee, check’s in the mail, good luck cashing it,’” Norman snapped and then started snickering, “And when I filled out the check, I wrote the sum down in a complex equation. That’s going to give someone a headache. Payback’s a bitch!” They cheered and high-fived each other.

“Oh, I have a joke, why don’t calculus and alcohol mix?” Marvin asked excitedly.

His brother put his hand up for a moment, stopping him from giving him the answer, and then he bounced, energized. “Because you don’t drink and derive! Okay, I got one, I got one. What do you get when you cross a mountain climber and a mosquito?”

Marvin shouted laughing, “Nothing! You know you can't cross a scalar and a vector!”

“Good morning, boys.” The waitress seemed at ease with the brothers, as she set their drinks in front of them. “What do you get when you add seven Q and three Q,” she asked his brother.

“Ten Q?”

“You’re welcome,” she grinned. “I knew I could teach you two some manners.” 

The brothers chuckled politely.  

“It wasn’t that bad. I’m a waitress with a high school education. I should get brownie points for trying.”

Norman blushed. “Your tip will be squared for effort.” She gave him a flirty grin, and I wondered if she actually liked him.

She took their orders, and once she was out of earshot, Marvin rolled his eyes. “That was lame.”

“It was better than yesterday’s, ‘How do you make seven even? You subtract the s,’” Norman snorted.

“I think she likes you,” Marvin said with an encouraging smile.

“No way.”

“You should totally ask her out for ice cream,” Marvin pushed.

“Because it worked so well for you,” his brother taunted.

“She wasn’t into anyone. She never dated at all, not even for ice cream, so it wasn’t my method. Give it a try,” Marvin nudged his brother, as their waitress walked in their direction.

“Hey, Martha, you are one well-defined function.”

She smiled, but then it wavered. “Is he making fun of me?” she asked Marvin.

“He’d like to take you out for ice cream.” He whispered, “Idiot,” at his brother under his breath for botching it.

“Really, or are you guys being mean?”

They snickered. “Mean, we’re better than mean,” Norman joked badly.

Martha frowned and started to walk away. “No, wait, I do want to take you out for ice cream,” he called after her.

“You do?” She sounded hopeful, and he nodded, blushing. “That’d be great,” she answered him with a big grin.

His brother seemed thrilled for all of two seconds, and then he freaked out. “Oh, my god, Marvin, what if she thinks I’m making fun of her on our date?  She’s gonna hate me, and we’ll have to find a new diner.”

“Just don’t say anything that has to do with math.”

“What the heck am I gonna talk about?”

I decided to step in, because the boys seemed rather nice, even if they were a little nerdy and strange. “Why don’t you discuss the ice cream flavors that are available, and then let her talk about herself? Girls like that,” I offered.

“Hannah?” Marvin looked shocked.

“She’s pretty,” his brother said quietly. Marvin was red, but didn’t look mad.

“Mind if I join you?  I was hoping to talk to you about the fire and the attack. I brought Detective Rogers with me.”

Marvin cleared his throat and sat up a little straighter. “Take a seat, can I order a drink for you?”

“Coffee would be nice, thank you.”

He happily flagged the waitress down to take our orders.

“Can you tell me what you remember about the attack seven years ago?” I asked nervously, hoping I could get some clues.

“Do you mind if I record this?” Detective Rogers asked.

“Go ahead,” Marvin answered, pleased.  “I saw Hannah walking home. She used to have lunch here.”

“With you?” Rogers asked.

Marvin shook his head no and continued. “I wanted to talk to her, but I hadn’t gotten the courage up yet. It was the second time I followed her, trying to catch up to her and ask her out, that a man approached her. He seemed to know her, and I stayed back, not sure if I should try and talk to her.”

“Could you describe this man?”

“Dark hair, almost black, and short, he only had a few inches on Hannah, but he was stocky and talked with an English accent. His eyes were blue, and he was clean-shaven.”

“What did he say?” I asked.

“He said he had fifty thousand dollars and a ticket to send you home to Nevada. He said it was in the Greyson’s best interest if you took it and left William alone. I thought it was some kind of test, Hannah. You should’ve taken it and gone home. I would’ve gone with you.”

“Gone with her? Did you know Ms. Madison before the incident?”

“We went to school together. We saw each other around campus. I had her in a few classes over the course of our college years.”

I frowned, not able to place him. I felt bad for not being able to remember him.

“She has a bit of a memory problem,” Marvin stated, and I was surprised he knew that.

Detective Rogers looked at me curiously.

“I couldn’t remember a large chunk of time after the attack. There are still pieces missing.”

“Do you at least remember me helping you with your boxes before you left, or that you bought me a piece of pie and a coffee to thank me?”

My brow furrowed in concentration. “Calculus,” I pointed at him, “You said you were in my calculus class that I barely passed. You’re the one the professor always called on to know the answers.”

“Yes!” Marvin was excited that I was finally able to place him, and I was worried I was giving him too much hope.

“Why didn’t you tell me that when you started coming into the store, Marvin?”

“I realized you didn’t remember me, and they say you should let people try and remember things on their own. I tried to give you clues. I bought books to give you hints. I even special ordered that calculus textbook, remember?”

“Yes, I do. I’m sorry it took me so long.”

“It’s alright,” he smiled.

“Did the attacker say anything else?” Rogers got us back on track.

“Hannah told him she didn’t know him and to leave her alone. He got mad and said she was backwoods American garbage, and she needed to take the offer, because it was the best she’d ever get. She told him to go fuck himself and kept walking. He shouted that she wouldn’t get a pence of the family’s money or esteem. She disappeared into her building after that.

“The next day, he showed up again, and he offered her the same deal and told her William’s family would make her life a living hell if she didn’t take it and leave him alone. She blew him off again. It was the day after that when he was there waiting for her. He didn’t even try and talk to her. She saw him, and she didn’t slow down. She went to pass him, but he yanked her back into the alley he was standing in front of. He hit her hard and slammed her head into the side of the dumpster. I swear I got there as fast as I could,” Marvin pleaded in tears.

“He ran off, and I chased after him. I wasn’t going to let him get away with hurting you. I caught him and confronted him, and he jumped on me, but I ended up getting the upper hand and beating him up pretty bad. He was unconscious when I left him. I ran back to see if you were okay, but you were gone. I thought maybe you’d just went home. I went back to where I’d left the guy, and I was going to call the cops, but he was gone, too. It wasn’t long after that you were reported missing. I was scared the guy had come back for you. I called the tip line and told them everything. I thought they’d catch him for sure.

“It was almost a year later that I saw you walking around with that woman, Ophelia Harper. She and her brother were always around, so I couldn’t get close enough to ask you if they’d caught him and if you were alright. I finally thought I had my chance, when you opened the store, but I quickly realized you didn’t remember me at all.” He frowned, and I felt even guiltier for not knowing him.

“I’m sorry.”

“S’okay, it’s not your fault,” he let me off the hook.

“What can you tell me about the night of the fire, and what were you doing outside of the store?”

“I heard William talking to his mother. I knew she wasn’t happy they were together, and I was scared they were going to hurt her. She has a little girl, and I’m pretty sure she’s his. He doesn’t deserve to have them in his life, and I was worried they were going to do something to them. I tried to warn her. I told her to not let history repeat itself, but I could tell she didn’t get it.

“I finally decided to just screw medical advice and tell her what happened. I went to the store, but she was already gone. I thought maybe she’d come back, but after waiting a couple of hours and then seeing a pizza guy coming and delivering pizzas to the men who were already there, I knew she was most likely out for dinner.

“I planned to come by and tell her in the morning. I’m sorry I was too late. I should’ve told you sooner. If I had, you might still have a store. I was going to help you unload the shipment. I was hoping me moving boxes would help jog your memory, and you’d believe me when I told you what happened. You believe me now, don’t you?”

“Yes, Marvin, I do. Thank you for looking out for me.” His story explained a lot of things, but left us with even more question. We were still no closer to finding out who’d set my store on fire.  One thing I knew for sure, it definitely wasn’t Marvin, and it was looking more like William’s family had been involved.

Our flight to Scotland was leaving at 8:00 P.M. We thought that would be the best time to go, since it was about Penelope’s bedtime. It was a ten-hour flight, but she’d hopefully sleep through most of it.

I just hoped William’s family didn’t catch up to us, at least until after the wedding.