Chapter 13
CHAPTER 13
Morgan
“Asshole,” I said as I stepped outside and collected my clothes he threw out the window last night.
I tossed my pants and shirt on the table while I made a cup of coffee. He walked into the kitchen and stopped as I leaned against the counter with my hands wrapped around the warm mug.
“Damn. You look sexy in my shirt. Good morning.” He walked over and kissed my lips.
“Don’t do that.”
“Don’t do what?” he asked with a slight turn of his head as he reached into the cabinet and pulled down a mug.
“Kiss me good morning. That is a gesture for couples only, and we are not a couple.”
“We certainly aren’t,” he said. “But I disagree with your statement.”
“You can disagree all you want, but I’m right.” A smirk crossed my lips.
“Friends can say good morning and share a kiss,” he said .
“On the cheek, maybe, but not the lips. Are those your brothers?” I glanced at the monitor.
“Yeah. They have a key.”
“I hope everyone is decent in here!” Julian shouted from the foyer. “If not, we’re willing to join you.”
“Shut the hell up, bro. We’re in the kitchen.”
“Well, well. What do we have here? Did someone have a sleepover and not invite us?” Julian grinned. “Good morning, Morgan.” He kissed my cheek.
“Morning, Morgan.” Parker kissed my cheek.
“See, they did it correctly.” I smirked, staring at Roman.
“Did what correctly?” Parker asked.
“Morgan thinks it’s inappropriate for two people who aren’t in a relationship to kiss someone good morning on the lips. She says it’s only for couples.”
“I tend to agree with her,” Parker said.
“Ha! I told you.” I smiled, pointing at Roman.
“What about a woman’s other set of lips?” Julian smiled.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” Roman shook his head.
I couldn’t help but laugh.
“See. Morgan thinks it’s funny.”
“What are you two doing here?” Roman asked.
“What do you mean? It’s our golf day.”
“Shit. I forgot.”
“Whoa, bro. How could you forget about playing golf?” Parker asked.
“I’ll go get ready.” He left the kitchen and went upstairs.
“Do you two have girlfriends?” I asked Julian and Parker.
“No way. But I might make an exception if you’re interested.” Julian winked.
“I can see why you’re single.” I pointed at him.
“Now that’s right.” Parker laughed .
Roman walked into the kitchen in his golf clothes. What the man did or didn’t wear made him sexy as hell.
“I’ll pick you up at the hotel around six-thirty.”
“Uh, we have dinner with Dad tonight. Did you forget?” Parker asked.
“No. Morgan is coming with us.”
“Have you lost your mind?” Julian laughed. “Better kiss her goodbye now. Because after tonight, she’ll be on the first flight back to New York.”
“Knock it off. I’ll see you later.” He kissed my cheek and winked.
I put on last night’s clothes, returned to the hotel, and showered. Grabbing my phone, I called Detective Lambert.
“Detective Lambert,” he answered.
“Detective Lambert, my name is Morgan Ashley. I’m a private investigator for Roman Hamilton at The Hamilton Group. You were the lead detective for the Grace Norway case, correct?”
“Yes. How can I help you?”
“I would like to meet with you. I have a couple of questions.”
“That was three years ago, Miss Ashley. Her killer is in prison.”
“I know that detective. I just have a couple of questions. It’ll only take a few minutes.”
“Fine. I’m at The Greasy Spoon having lunch. Do you know where that is?”
“I do.”
“Then hurry up and get here before I finish and leave.”
“I’m on my way.”
Grabbing my purse, I left the hotel and climbed into a cab. When I entered the diner, I saw Detective Lambert sitting alone at a table by the window .
“Detective Lambert?”
He looked up from his phone. “Miss Ashley, I presume?”
I extended my hand before sliding into the seat across from him.
“Hi, honey. Can I get you anything?” The waitress walked over.
“Just a cup of coffee, please.”
“Coming right up.”
“I don’t have a lot of time, Miss Ashley. Theodore Williamson was convicted of the murder of Grace Norway. I don’t understand why you have questions now and why The Hamilton Group has you investigating.”
“Mr. Williamson claims he’s innocent, and Mr. Hamilton hired me to see if I could find any evidence to prove that.”
“It was an ironclad case. All the evidence pointed to Mr. Williamson. It only took the jury two hours to come back with a guilty verdict.”
“I know. I read the transcripts. So, you had no other suspects at the time?”
“No. It was an open and shut case.”
“What if I told you that Theodore’s brother’s car was seen across the street from the restaurant the night Grace was killed?”
“His brother?” His brows furrowed. “How do you know this?”
“I viewed the CCS footage. You probably didn’t notice the car pulling away after Theodore left because you were convinced he did it. And once you learned about his anger issues, the argument outside the restaurant, and Grace’s DNA under his nails, you stopped looking, although he told you from day one he didn’t do it.”
“They all claim they didn’t do it, Miss Ashley. But the evidence was there and enough to get a jury to convict him. ”
“You can call me Morgan. I believe he’s telling the truth. The necklace that Grace wore when she died was given to her by Theo’s brother, Gregory. He was the one she was having an affair with. It was his baby she was carrying.”
“And how do you know this?” His eyes narrowed.
“I found a charge on Gregory Williamson’s credit card from Tiffany for the same amount the necklace cost. I went to the store, and the manager pulled the receipt with Gregory’s name.”
“And why would Gregory Williamson murder Grace Norway?”
“Because she threatened his future and family,” I said, bringing the coffee cup to my lips. “Think about it for a minute. He has an affair with his brother’s girlfriend, knowing Theodore has anger issues. Grace gets pregnant and wants to keep the baby. But Gregory couldn’t have that. So, he followed the two of them to the restaurant that night. Perhaps she told him that she was going to tell Theo. He saw them arguing and knew when Grace turned up dead, Theo would be the prime suspect. You put the wrong man in prison, detective. How does it feel knowing the real killer is still out there?”
“All the evidence pointed to Theodore Williamson.” He pointed at me. “Gregory Williamson had a rock-solid alibi.”
“And his father is lying.” I pointed at him. “He’s covering for him. I’m positive that house has cameras. Did you check the footage of Mr. Williamson entering and leaving the home?”
“No. He wasn’t a suspect. Why would we think he was? Witnesses outside the restaurant saw Theodore grab Grace’s arms in a rage while arguing. After she refused to get inside the car, Theo took off, circled back around, followed her down the street, climbed out of his car, forced her inside, took her to the park, strangled her, and left.”
“I agree, but it wasn’t Theo who did it. It was his brother. He was the one who followed Grace after Theo left. He pulled up, she saw it was him, climbed into the car, and then he killed her.”
“The text messages we found on her phone were from a guy named Travis.”
“Did you trace the phone number of this Travis guy?”
“Of course we did. It turned out to be a burner phone. We tried to locate the guy but couldn’t, and nobody knew a thing about him, not even her friends or co-workers. We did locate the store from which it was purchased, but the person paid cash.”
“That’s because their affair was a secret. She couldn’t let Theo find out, but everything changed when she got pregnant with Gregory’s baby.”
“A paternity test was done on the fetus, but there wasn’t a match. Gregory shares a significant amount of DNA as his brother. Something would have turned up.”
“You don’t know?” I said, cocking my head.
“Know what?”
“Theodore was adopted. He and Gregory don’t share the same DNA. His mother was told she could never have children. A week after they brought Theodore home, she found out she was pregnant.”
“That was never mentioned during the investigation,” he said.
I reached inside my purse, took some cash out, and threw it on the table.
“Your lunch is on me. Thank you, detective.”
“Wait a second. Where are you going?”
“I need to pay a visit to someone.” I smiled.