Chapter 10 #2
“I’ll get Wade right on it.” He pulled his phone from his pocket and began swiping his finger over the face. Then he put it to his ear. “Hi, Wade. I need current information on three women asap. They are Carissa Tyson, Lacey Cooper and Emma Foster.” He put his phone back in his pocket.
“What do we want to ask them?”
“Why they lied about where Paige was that night? And tell them we have proof she wasn’t at the concert, as they claimed.”
“Okay. Anything else?”
He turned away from the window. “I want to know who this Marco character is and how long Paige had been seeing him.” His phone buzzed.
He took it out of his pocket and answered it.
“Harper.” He listened. “That was fast even for you, Wade.” Again he listened.
“Great. Thanks.” He shoved his phone into his pocket.
“You already know where there are?”
“Yes. He’s texting me the contacts for each of the women. Apparently, they are all still working. None are married.” He rolled his eyes. “Why am I not surprised?”
“You make the calls and I’ll change my shirt. I’m assuming you want them in here as soon as possible.”
“I do. I’ll tell them to be here by three o’clock. That gives them an hour.”
“Okay. Are we meeting them here or in your office?”
“The office.”
“Then I’ll be right back. I want to change my shirt to something more professional.”
He held his phone and pressed the call button before putting it to his ear. “No hurry. I’ll wait and we can go down together.”
She nodded and hurried to her room. There she pulled a white oxford shirt from the closet. Then she removed her t-shirt and donned the other one.
She looked in the full-length mirror on the back of the door and decided to put on dressier pants than her jeans. She pulled on a pair of black slacks and a pair of gold hoop earrings. That will have to do.
Meri headed back out to the living room. “I’m ready.”
Chase looked her up and down. “You look very nice.”
“Thank you. Have you called them all?”
“I have, they will be here,” he looked at his Rolex. “in about thirty minutes. I also called the police and told them about the diary.”
“Good. Shall we go?”
He nodded and then headed toward the door. “I’d like to be in my office when they arrive.”
They left the apartment and took the elevator down to his office.
When the elevator opened, Meri faced solid blue walls just waiting for her murals. Her hands itched to paint. That could wait until tomorrow. For now, they needed answers, and only Paige’s friends could give those.
Chase stopped at Rita’s desk. “I need you to make a copy of these pages.” He showed her the pages in question.
“Then return the diary to me and take those pages to the police station and ask for Detective Martinez. He’ll be expecting them.
But before you leave, I’m expecting three women.
Show them in and then go to the station. ”
“Will do.” Rita took the diary to make the copies.
Ten minutes after she settled in the office chair, Meri heard Rita buzz Chase. He depressed the speaker button.
“Three women are here to see you.”
“Send them in.” He looked over at Meri. “The show’s on.”
Meri stood and walked behind Chase’s chair.
Rita opened the door.
Three young women walked inside.
Rita followed them and returned the diary to Chase. Then she left, closing the door behind her.
All three women were dressed for business, and, considering their quick arrival, they must work downtown.
Chase greeted them, but was reserved. “Ladies, good to see you. Please, take a seat.” He waved his arm toward the sofa.
“Let me introduce you to my associate. Meri Anderson, this is Carissa Tyson, Emma Foster, and Lacey Cooper. They were the last people to see Paige alive. Isn’t that right, ladies? ”
Carissa had dark, almost-black hair, cut in a pixie and round glasses with black frames. She sat back on the sofa, her back rigid. “That’s right.”
“We went to the Red Hot Chili Peppers concert.” Lacey was blonde, with her hair in a thick French braid that hung to one side halfway to her waist. Her baby blue-eyes were wide.
Meri could only describe the look as fear.
“That’s right,” said Emma. “What she said.” Emma looked like the youngest of the group, with the lightest blonde hair and a heart-shaped face that gave her the look of a fairy. All she needed were the wings.
Chase held up a hand. “Stop right there. I know Paige wasn’t at the concert with you and I want to know why you lied.”
The women all looked at one another, and then their shoulders slumped as one.
Carissa scooted forward on the sofa. “We didn’t want you to stop the money you’ve been giving to Paige’s family. They need all the help they can get, since Paige isn’t here to assist them anymore.”
“You realize that by withholding information, you might have let her killer get away?”
Carissa looked at the other two women and then back at Chase. “We thought it was a random shooting?”
The women disgusted Meri, but she did her best to not let it show on her face.
I wouldn’t have gotten shot if you had told the truth three years ago.
Marco was probably just trying to cover the murder they had nearly witnessed.
But what if he recognized Chase and knew the parking lot murder could lead him to Paige’s murderer?
Whichever the reason, she had been shot, and she didn’t like that this animal was still on the street.
Chase wiped his hand down his face. “Random or not, if we could have figured out she was seeing this Marco person, we could have interviewed him and perhaps gotten information from him. But no one knew about him or his relationship with Paige.”
Carissa frowned and looked at the other two women, but her eyes were wide when she looked back at Chase. “We didn’t know. We didn’t think we were doing anything wrong.”
“Just obstructing a police investigation. Do you realize you could all go to jail for this?” Chase slammed his hand against the top of the desk.
Meri jumped a little at the loud sound.
The three women all startled. Their mouths dropped open, and they widened their eyes.
Carissa leaned forward on the sofa. “Please, Chase. We said nothing about Marco because Paige said she was breaking it off with him that night.”
“You didn’t think that maybe he didn’t want to break it off and could have killed her instead?”
Carissa shook her head. “We didn’t mean to do anything but protect Paige’s parents and daughter.” She slapped a hand over her mouth.
“Daughter? What daughter?” Chase stood, frowning, and then paced to the window and back. “Why didn’t Paige tell me she had a daughter?”
A daughter? Was Chase the father? Meri looked at Chase and saw nothing like pain on his face. Maybe the girl was someone else’s daughter.
“She was afraid you wouldn’t want her if she had a daughter out of wedlock,” Carissa admitted. “You knew the child. Paige introduced her as her baby sister.”
“Ariel is Paige’s daughter?” He clenched his teeth. “What would have happened when we were married? Would she have told me then?”
Meri didn’t think Paige would have if she was too afraid to tell Chase the truth while they were living together. And she guessed they had lived together for about a year before Paige died. That was plenty of time to tell Chase.
All three women shrugged.
Carissa clasped her hands and scooted back on the sofa as far as she could go.
Then she looked down at her lap. “I guess we didn’t think this through before we acted.
” She turned her gaze toward Chase. “But you have to admit, remembering Paige as the woman you knew was better. Her affair with Marco was ending. She knew he couldn’t give her what you could, even though she loved him.
She said she had to look out for Ariel. I think she would have told you after you were married for a while. ”
Chase ran a hand over his face.
Meri wanted to go to him, but she stayed where she was. He wouldn’t appreciate her sympathy right now, even though she knew he was hurting. The woman he loved wasn’t the woman he thought she was. Paige wasn’t the woman he knew at all.
Chase took a deep breath and let out a sigh. “What can you tell me about, Marco? Where can I find him? And don’t lie. For all you know, he’s the one who killed her.”
Lacey sighed. “We don’t know much about him. His name was Marco Cabrel. Back then, he lived in Federal Heights. But Paige often met him at an apartment at Sixth Avenue and Downing Street.”
Chase turned and walked behind his desk. “Well, at least we have something to go on. Thank you for coming in, ladies.”
The three women stood.
Carissa turned toward Chase. “We are sorry, but we were afraid.”
He looked up, his mouth flat and his eyes narrowed. “I would have thought that getting Paige’s murderer off the streets and avenging her death would have meant something to her so-called friends. I was mistaken. Goodbye, ladies.”
They exited the room. None of the women looked like successful businesswomen now. Their shoulders slumped, and they tilted their heads forward, looking down. None of them made eye contact as they left.
Lacey closed the door behind them.
Meri walked to Chase where he stood behind his chair, gripping the back. His knuckles were white. She placed her left hand on his right shoulder. “Are you all right?”
He fisted his hands. “No. I’m not. I’m so angry right now, I can’t see straight.”
“Can I do anything to help?”
He whirled and took her into his arms, holding her.
She held on to him by his waist until she felt some of the tension leave. “Chase. You okay?”
He nodded into her hair and then released her. “Thanks. I’m glad you’re here.”
Meri sat in one of the leather chairs in front of the desk. “What is our next step? We’re still going through with the plan, right?”
Chase’s jaw clenched. “I know of Marco Cabrel. It appears Paige was working and having an affair with one of the biggest movers of fentanyl in the city. He could easily have had her killed or done the deed himself. If the police had only known before. Those women.” He jerked his arm towards the door.
“They don’t know the damage they’ve done and wouldn’t care even if they knew.
That’s just the type of people they are.
I knew Paige was associating with some self-centered people. Still, I’m surprised.”
She walked to him, leaned over the chair, and wrapped her arms around his shoulders as best she could.
He was so stiff. She felt the anger rolling in waves through him.
“I’m sorry. It’s always hard learning that the person you cared about wasn’t that person at all. Believe me, I know what that is like.”
He huffed out a breath and reached up, placing his hands on her arms.
She wasn’t sure if he would push her away or not.
Chase gave her arms a little squeeze. “Thank you.” He leaned forward, dislodging her, forcing her to release him.
She walked back to her chair, sat, and connected with his gaze. A gaze that was unsettling.
His eyes were narrowed and nearly black. His mouth turned down and stayed that way even as he spoke. “In answer to your previous question, yes, we go ahead with our plans just as they are.” He stood and paced to the window again. “Just as soon as you’re ready to do so.”
She couldn’t make him wait. He’d already waited too long to put this tragedy behind him. And with this looming, no space existed for a potential new relationship, if that was her intention. And her uncertainty remained.
Meri stayed seated and let him pace. Let him work things out in his head to his satisfaction.
He stopped pacing and looked at her.
She smiled. “I’m ready whenever you are. Let’s get this guy behind bars.”
He strode over and took her hands, pulling her to her feet. “Thank you. I know you don’t have to do this.”
“But I do. If I don’t, that man will kill me. I have no desire to die when my life is just getting interesting.”
He lifted a brow and then smiled. “I’m glad you find your life interesting.”
She smiled and released his hands, then placed her arms around his neck. “As I’ve told you, I find you fascinating, Mr. Harper. Very fascinating indeed.” Then she lifted onto tiptoes and pressed her lips against his.
He pulled her tight to him and took over the kiss.
Taking it from sweet to sweltering in a heartbeat.
Her heart pounded and her knees buckled. If Chase hadn’t embraced her so securely, she might have landed on the floor.
He pulled back. His blue eyes bored into her, and then he smiled.
“Wow. You really know how to kiss, Mr. Harper.”
“Thank you. As a matter of fact, Meri, I think we need to renegotiate our business arrangement.”
She stiffened and tried to pull out of his embrace. “Renegotiate? Why?”
He held her tight, not even letting an inch between their bodies. “I know now isn’t the right time, but I can’t help it. I want you, Meri, on a permanent basis.”
Meri narrowed her eyes. “What do you mean, on a permanent basis? I know you want me to do murals in all your offices. I admit, that will take a long time, but—”
He closed his eyes for a moment and then smiled. “I’m doing this all wrong. I want you to marry me. Be my wife.”
Her heart leaped, and her eyes widened. “M…marry you?”
“Yes.” His gaze bore into her.
She saw his vulnerability then and lifted a hand to cup his jaw. “You don’t have to marry me to get my painting services, you know.”
He rolled his eyes, and then his mouth turned up on the corners. “To heck with the painting. I want you. Just you. All of you.”
He still didn’t say he loves me. What if he still loves Paige?
“I’m not answering you now. I want all of this behind us, and then I want you to ask me again.”
Chase let out a sigh. “Whatever you need, I’ll do. So, let’s get moved to your place and get this over with, because I can hardly wait for you to agree to be my wife.”
She placed her arms to around his waist and laid her head on his chest. I love you so much. I wonder if you can love me even a little.
Meri didn’t know how long they stood there, wrapped in each other’s arms. She could stay like this forever. Listening to his heart pound against his chest. Or was that her heart she was hearing?