Paper Castles (35 page)

“I’d never seen him so angry.” The tears were streaming down Roxanne’s face now.

“He wrote me a check and practically threw it at me. Told me to go to Mexico and get rid of it. Then he walked across the room and poured himself a drink as if it he hadn’t just told me to kill our baby.” She choked on
baby.

Sympathy rose up in Savannah’s chest. She was well aware of the cold demeanor this woman was describing. It was the same detachment Price had displayed walking out her front door the night of the murder.

“Something inside me snapped,” Roxanne said. “I remembered the gun he had in his desk drawer. He’d shown it to me before. Showing off. I just wanted to get his attention, make him listen. That’s all. I swear, I never meant... He tried to grab it from me... It was an accident.”

Judge Houser hammered his gavel on the desk. Briggs had his head in his hands, watching his career dancing out the door. Journalists raced one another out of the room, hoping to be the first with the scoop. Savannah sat back in her chair as the truth literally set her free.

Court was adjourned and the jury escorted out. Judge Houser called both members of council into his chambers, instructing the bailiff to take the witness into custody.

Walking out of the court, safe in the huddle of her family, Savannah looked back over her shoulder. She couldn’t help the sliver of pity for the distraught young woman with her arms wrapped around her belly. Roxanne met her glance and the two women locked eyes, acknowledging the connection. Two lives torn apart by one man’s lies. Two women who would never be the same. Savannah’s fear was now Roxanne’s truth: Price had driven her to murder.

“Y
OU’RE A free woman, Savannah Palmerton.” Phil picked her up and swung her around the living room. The Kendalls crowded close, voices rising in victory like a gospel choir amidst back slapping, hugs and kisses.

“Thank you, Phil. I owe my life to you.” She looked up at her savior. Her uptight Yankee lawyer. His grin wide enough to crawl into. He did it, with a Hail Mary pass at the two-minute warning.

Phil set her down and her legs buckled beneath her. Everyone laughed as Phil led her to the nearest chair. Savannah had to sit down and hold the new found truth in her lap. “I didn’t do it.” She mumbled, head in her hands, rocking back and forth. “I didn’t do it.” Each time she said it, her voice got louder. Stronger. Surer.

Months of living with the torment of not knowing washed away like yesterday’s rain. She wasn’t a killer. She wasn’t going to prison. She had her life back.

“I would’ve loved to save the day with my thunderous closing argument,” Phil said. “But a win is a win. And I certainly wasn’t counting on a witness stand confession. That only happens in the movies. I felt like Perry Mason.”

“So Roxanne is under arrest, now?” Savannah asked.

Phil nodded. “You can thank Cecily for that.”

“So this was your out-of-town assignment?” Savannah turned to the dark-haired assistant.

Cecily grinned. “Phil’s the one who figured it out.”

“It started with the check Price wrote to Roxanne,” Phil said. “I was matching up the bank statements to Lou Ann’s records. Something about it didn’t feel right, even though he’d written other checks to Roxanne, dispersing funds from her father’s estate. This check was written from the firm’s account. The fact that there was no appointment entered for Roxanne on that day, and Lou Ann didn’t enter the check into the log for the week was a red flag.”

“Not to mention Roxanne’s eleven visits to Price’s office,” Cecily rolled her eyes. “Call it a hunch.”

“So I had Cecil do a little digging on our Miss Murney,” Phil said, waving his arm and giving Cecily the floor. “Don’t be shy, Cecil. Regale them with your exploits.”

“Turns out Roxanne quit her hostess job on Monday, February seventeenth,” Cecily said. “Told her boss she had to move back home to New Bern to care for her aunt.”

“And that’s where I sent our illustrious spy,” Phil said, grinning.

Cecily laughed. “When I got to New Bern, I found out Roxanne had concocted this story about being married to a sailor. A convenient excuse for a missing husband. So I decided to pose as a journalist doing a piece about Navy wives coping with their husbands’ long absences. She invited me to her home for the interview. I couldn’t believe my luck when I saw the picture of Roxanne in those earrings sitting on her bookshelf. I swiped it while she was in the kitchen making coffee.”

“I taught her everything she knows,” Phil said.

“Of course, Roxanne had no idea the earrings were at the center of the murder case. That little piece of information hadn’t been leaked to the press,” Cecily said.

“We filed an emergency subpoena and the rest is history,” Phil said, lacing his fingers behind his head.

Savannah reached for Cecily’s hand. “Thank you.”

“My pleasure,” Cecily said.

“What about the car?” Savannah asked Phil.

“I had someone digging into the list of owners for everyone who purchased that same vehicle,” Phil said. “But we didn’t get the confirmation we needed until the morning Roxanne was set to testify. I was flying by the seat of my pants. My guess is Price gave her the money to buy it as a cover. It worked,” Phil said.

“Too well.” Savannah shivered, realizing how close Price’s alibi had come to taking her down.

“And because Roxanne was a Twin Oaks employee her name wouldn’t have been on the roster of attendees for that night,” Phil said. “That
damn
list of names.”

He and Savannah laughed now.

“I think it’s time for a toast.” Kip popped the cork on the champagne then filled the glasses to overflowing, bubbling foam running down the sides.

Savannah felt it too, as if her joy was bubbling over from within, spilling over the sides and puddling at her feet. Men loosened their ties, women kicked off their heels, and everyone sank into the celebration. Savannah looked around at this family who’d stood by her and she knew she would never be able to drink her fill of this moment.

After some of the exuberance died down, Savannah found herself in a quiet corner. Beverly slipped up beside her and draped an arm around her shoulders.

“A penny for your thoughts.”

“Neenie never heard the truth,” Savannah said aching for the arms that would never hold her again.

“She knew, honey. Don’t doubt that for a minute. Just like your father and I never doubted. You’re not capable of such a thing. Everyone who loved you knew the truth.”

“I hope so.” Savannah patted her mother’s hand. “Let’s go call the kids.”

A
NGELA AND PJ would be home in two days. Savannah couldn’t wait to see them, to start over in the assuredness of her innocence, her name cleared and all doubt removed. But in the meantime she and Phil had two glorious days to themselves at the beach.

“Call it a forty-eight-hour victory lap,” he said, as they unloaded the car.

Savannah stared at the vast assortment of fishing gear in the trunk. “Whatever will we do with ourselves?”

“Maybe fish,” he said, deadpan.

Phil reached over and ran his hand along her cheek, and Savannah bit her lip, relishing the moment of permissible contact. They would drop their hooks into the sea of possibility and explore the promises just below the surface. No more hiding in plain sight. No more looking away when a gaze lasted too long. No more looking for excuses to brush up against one another: a hand fumbling with a door knob, fingers reaching out for one another when handing off a glass of tea.

“I’m going to the beach,” she’d said to Phil, yesterday. “To feed my soul.”

“Could your soul use a little company?”

“Always,” she said.

They both knew where they were going.

Now they walked along the shore hand in hand, letting the ocean soothe their nerves. She was relieved their talk was easy, their laughter easier and her hand fit nicely inside his.

“After all you’ve been through, Savannah, I’ll say it again: I’m in awe of your strength.”

“
My
strength?”

“Think of it. Dealing with a murder charge, dealing with Angela’s behavior and then Neenie’s death. Yet you walked into that courtroom every day with your head held high. You sat listening to every bit of ugliness a person could hear about themselves. I was so proud of you.”

“I don’t know if I’d call that strength. I’ve been a wreck inside for so long. It’s hard to remember what a day without fear looks like.”

“But that’s exactly what strength looks like. Getting up and facing it down every day, no matter how scared you are on the inside.”

“I wish I could’ve recognized that strength a lot sooner. My whole life would be different. I would’ve never married Price.”

“Really? I thought he swept you off your feet.”

They’d found an old log to sit on and Savannah stretched her legs out before her, burying her feet in the sand until they found a cool spot.

“Oh, he did,” she said. “I was walking ten feet off the ground until the day before the wedding.”

“What happened?”

“I found Price and one of my bridesmaids in a—compromising position.”

“The night before the wedding?” He couldn’t hide his disgust.

“The same. Such a cliché.” Her toes drew circles in the sand, giving her words time to catch up with her thoughts. “I was devastated. He convinced me he didn’t mean it, he was drunk, it was nothing. I’d hear that many times over the years. The point is, I chose to marry him anyway. Because of who he was and the life we were going to have. Because the invitations had already been sent out. Because I loved him to pieces and I wasn’t strong enough to walk away. Not brave enough to withstand the whispers.” She gave a wry wink, “Which of course would’ve been nothing compared to the whispers going on now.”

“You were only twenty-two,” he said.

“Old enough to know better.”

“Don’t be so hard on yourself.”

“Well anyway, I walked down the aisle and the charade began.”

“And now it ends.” Phil cupped her face in his hands. A protective shelter from the winds and the world.

He kissed her and the earth shifted back onto its axis. Savannah wrapped her arms around his neck. This was nothing like the frantic, stormy kiss that had her up against the kitchen wall. This kiss knew there were many more to come and Savannah fell into it, heart first.

“You saved me,” she said, looking into his blue eyes, positive she could see her smiling reflection in them.

“It’s what you hired me to do.”

“But you saved me twice. Remember the day we met on the beach?”

“Do I remember? Are you kidding? I saw you out there with Daisy. You know you can tell a lot about a person when you watch them with their pet.”

She hugged her arms tight, remembering the feeling of that Day. “I was at my absolute lowest point.”

“I can understand that.” He touched her cheek with the back of his hand.

“No. You can’t. I was contemplating ending it all. Suicide was my worst nightmare, but I convinced myself it was the best thing for everyone. Even the best thing for my kids was to be rid of me. I had nowhere left to turn... And then you showed up. An answer to a prayer I didn’t even know I’d sent.”