Not What She Seems (13 page)

******

The afternoon sun was low in the sky when Steven glanced up to see Alex coming into his office.

“You know, we do have these great inventions on our desks, where you can pick it up, push a button, and you can talk to me without having to come down the hallway.”

Alex rolled his eyes but didn’t comment. “
Douglas
from Accelerated Communications is holding on line two. He gave me a figure and asked if we’re interested.”

“How much?”

“Twelve million.”
Alex grinned.

“Not bad, but he’ll go lower. Have him fax an asset list, and a detailed financial report.”

“I gave you those figures days ago.”

Steven sighed. “It will tell him we’re interested, but cautious. The financial report will not look good. He’ll get nervous. In a few days you can offer him five.”

“You’re the boss.” Alex turned to leave.

“Wait, while you’re here, I’m going to
Cleveland
tomorrow morning.”

“Tomorrow’s Saturday. You can go wherever you want.”

“I just wanted to tell you where I was going, just in case.”

“In case of what?”

“In case something happens to me.”

Alex gave him a very strange look before saying, “Do you plan on something happening to you?”

“No.”

“
Ooookay
then.”
Alex walked out of the office, stopping to look once more at Steven before turning the corner.

******

Ice lined the streets and Steven drove slowly to the address Gerald gave him. The clock read ten in the morning when he turned onto
Juniper Street
. He swerved to avoid running over a broken beer bottle. Two blocks later he slowed to a crawl searching for house numbers. He stopped in front of 1821 and turned off the car.

The house sat in the middle of the block, small compared to its neighbors. The white paint peeled in several places, and the blue trim had faded in the sun over the years. A detached garage stood to the left of the house, sagging. Emily’s car sat in the driveway. He didn’t blame her. The garage looked like it could cave in at any moment. The house had a fairly large yard, and he imagined Connor playing outside in the snow. If he turned Emily in, Connor would have to go to a foster home. He swallowed his guilt and stepped out of the vehicle.

The sidewalk needed shoveling. Steven felt snow fall into his shoes while he walked up the path. He climbed up the crooked wooden steps to the porch. The railing hung in desperate need of repair.

The thought crossed his mind that she might not be home; however, he soon heard noises coming from the house. She was inside. He hesitated for a minute, standing in the cold on her porch. He took a deep breath and rang the doorbell. The muffled sound of footsteps approached as someone came to answer the bell.

Chapter Fifteen

When the bell rang, Emily went to the door expecting the neighbor boys. They liked to shovel the walk for a couple of dollars, and it had snowed pretty hard last night. Instead of two little boys on the porch, she came face to face with Steven.

Her heart lodged itself into her throat, and she couldn’t breathe. How could he be here? She stepped back, not knowing what to do.

“Let me introduce myself. My name is Steven Ashton… but something tells me you already know that.” Blue eyes pierced through her. All the guilt she’d suppressed came back ten fold. He’d come to confront her about the money. What was she going to do? She couldn’t repay him. She had nothing.

“I–” Emily’s vision blurred and she blinked back the tears. She tried to speak, but all that would come out was a whisper. “Please, don’t.” The door pulled the chain taut. “Go away.” She turned to look at Connor on the floor behind her. He hadn’t spied Steven yet.

“Emily, I need to talk with you.” He leaned closer to her, the look on his face more serious than she had ever seen.

Then she thought of something else. If Steven was able to find her, that meant Richard could find her as well. She hadn’t been careful enough. Panic rose in her chest. She didn’t know what Richard would do if he caught up with her.

“I can’t.”

Steven’s eyes softened, and he lowered his voice. “I’m not going to hurt you. I just want to talk.” Even under these circumstances she felt her knees go weak. He was so good looking.

“No, please, you don’t understand.” She wrung her hands, anxious to grab Connor and get out of there. “I need to leave. If you found me here, he will too.”

“Do you mean Richard?”

The mention of his name caught her by surprise, and she froze. Something flitted across Steven’s face. Emily couldn’t quite tell if it was anger or pain. Perhaps it was a little of both. “How much do you know?”

“Not enough, Emily. Please, let me in.”

She considered her options. If she told Steven everything, he might take pity on her and help. She hadn’t spoken to anyone about that day, not after telling Richard, and the thought of admitting to Steven what she had done was appalling. On the other hand, he may already know everything. She sucked in a breath of air and shut the door to unlock the chain, then opened it, unable to bring herself to look him in the face.

Steven folded his arms and leaned on the doorframe, seemingly waiting for her to step out of the way to let him in. After a lifetime, she raised her eyes and met his gaze. His usual smile was gone, and he stared at her, his face a mask of stone. She backed away, and he came inside, allowing her to shut the door and bolt it.

“Ethan!” Connor stopped what he was doing and jumped up.

“Hey, buddy. How are you doing?” Steven grinned and rumpled Connor’s hair.

“I’m fine. Come see my new house!”

Emily bent down and took Connor’s hands in hers.
“Hey, big guy, why don’t we do that in a few minutes?
Mommy and Ethan need to talk right now. Let’s go watch Saturday morning cartoons.”

“Okay!” Connor followed her into the other room where she situated him in front of the television. After fiddling with the reception for a minute, she was satisfied that he would be occupied for a little while. She paused for a moment before throwing her pride in the circular file and walked back into the living room.

******

Richard shut off the car and pocketed the keys. His eyes narrowed. He knew the rental car in front of Emily’s house meant Steven had arrived before him. Pain throbbed in his hand as he clenched it tight.

He sat for a few moments, before getting out of his sedan. He started walking in the opposite direction. When he came to the end of the block, he turned and lit a cigarette, surveying the neighborhood. The street looked deserted. He continued to walk until he got to the alley. Laughter came from somewhere up the street, probably stupid kids throwing snowballs. Richard slid into the alley and crept past the houses until he came to Emily’s small backyard.

A thick blanket of white covered everything, making it impossible to walk up to the house without leaving deep impressions in the snow. He cursed and threw his cigarette on the ground. His hands were freezing; he pushed them deep into his jacket pockets. With no other way in sight, he plunged into the snow and approached the back of the house.

******

Steven sat on the saggy orange couch, and took in his surroundings. The living room appeared to be furnished with things from a garage sale, or perhaps Emily found them on the curb waiting for the garbage truck to take them away.

Emily came back into the living room, and sat down on the very edge of the couch, as far away from Steven as she could. She wrung her hands and didn’t look at him. He felt horrible for her, but his words came out cold when he spoke. “Did you and Richard follow me to
Huntington
?”

She was barely audible when she spoke. “Yes.”

Steven cringed. He knew what the answer was going to be, but it still hurt to hear it. “Because you knew who I was, and wanted me to give you money.”

Even though it was more of a statement than a question, Emily whispered, “Yes.”

“Why only five thousand? Wasn’t that a lot of work for only five grand?”

Emily fiddled with her hands. “Richard wanted me to ask for more. It was his idea to follow you—for me to go out with you.”

Hearing her admit she hadn’t wanted to go out with him was harder than he thought it would be. He decided to change the subject. “Did you kill your husband?”

Emily covered her face with her hands. She was silent for a few moments before placing her hands in her lap and whispering, “Yes. But I didn’t mean to. He was so angry, yelling and…” She didn’t finish her sentence, but instead said, “It was an accident.”

A glimmer of hope flickered in him. “You were defending yourself, then. He hit you, didn’t he?”

She nodded. “Yes.”

“Why did you run if it was self defense?”

“I didn’t think he was seriously hurt. I thought he was just knocked unconscious. I was afraid of what he would do to me when he came to.”

“You really thought a hammer to his head would only knock him unconscious?”

Emily shook her head. “No, that’s not how it happened. We were fighting, I pushed him, and he hit his head on the marble fireplace.”

Steven shifted. Something wasn’t right here. “Wait, I don’t understand. Tell me what happened that day.”

Emily fidgeted in her seat for a while before speaking. “William was drunk. He was in one of his moods. I was so angry and tired of his lies. I knew I was pushing his buttons but I didn’t care. He came at me and I shoved him… hard. He fell backwards, and hit his head on the fireplace. I’ll never forget the sound of his head hitting the marble. I was frightened. I thought he would kill me if he woke up and I was there, so I left. I went to Richard’s house. My face was all messed up, and Richard got pretty upset. I pleaded with him to go talk to William, to calm him down, and tell him I didn’t mean what I said. He didn’t want to go. It took me several hours to convince him. Then he left, and when he came back he said that the police were there, that William was dead. He wouldn’t let me leave, said I would go to prison. I was going to turn myself in anyway, but then I found out I was pregnant. Richard said they would take away my baby.” Tears flowed down her face.

“Are you saying to me that you pushed William, and that’s how he died?”

“Yes.”

Steven pulled out his copy of the newspaper article. He spread it out on the coffee table.

“Did you read this article?”

She shrunk away from the paper, as if it would harm her. “No.”

“It says William was hit in the back of his head with a hammer.”

Emily’s eyes widened and her hand flew to her mouth. She mumbled softly, “No. No. No. I didn’t.”

“Emily, I don’t think you killed your husband.”

“Then who…?” Her face filled with confusion, doubt, and then realization. “Richard.
Oh no.”
A sudden crashing noise coming from the back of the house made them both jump.

Steven hissed, “Get Connor and go outside, now!”

She dashed into the other room while he inched his way to the kitchen. He could hear Emily calling Connor, trying to sound calm. When he turned the corner he let out his breath with relief. Connor stood in the kitchen, a broken drinking glass on the floor.

“He’s in here!” Steven leaned over and picked up Connor, who looked like he was going to cry.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to,” Connor sniffed.

“It’s okay, honey, it was an accident.”

Emily came running into the room and took Connor into her arms. She trembled. “Sweetie, we have to go now. Let’s go use the bathroom.”

“But I’m thirsty.”

“You can have a drink after you use the toilet.” She took him into the other room while Steven stood staring at the broken glass on the floor. Out of the corner of his eye he saw something move outside. He went to the window, examining the backyard. There were footprints in the snow up to the house. Unease swept through him, and he raked his hand through his hair and turned. Emily was down the hall waiting for Connor to finish in the bathroom.

“There are footprints in the snow in the backyard. Did you make them?”

The color drained from Emily’s face. “No.”

“Get Connor’s coat on him. I’ll go outside. I want you to lock the door behind me.”

“No, if Richard’s outside he could hurt you.” The way she said it made him almost think she cared about him.

“I need to make sure it’s safe for you and Connor to go out.”

She stared at him for a moment, then nodded and followed him to the front door. Steven unlocked the chain and dead bolt. He opened the door and stepped out onto the porch. The door closed behind him and he heard the click of the lock.