Chapter 17
Vee
While Trish advised me not to speak to Bre, I couldn’t help myself. She was in my home and had information I wanted to know. Carrying two bags of groceries, I entered my condominium. Fin stood and Bre stared as I walked down the hallway to the kitchen and living room.
“Bre.” My one-word greeting came out colder than I planned as I placed the bags and my leather satchel on the kitchen island.
Slowly, Bre stood. “Vee, I hope you don’t mind I’m here. I need to talk with you.”
After taking off my coat and laying it over a dining room chair, I turned toward the living room and crossed my arms over my chest. “I should tell you that my attorney advised me not to speak with you.”
Her lower lip trembled. “Please. I was just telling Mr. Graham that I’m scared.”
I took a few steps closer. “Bre, what are your plans regarding your pregnancy? You are pregnant, right?”
She laid her hand gingerly over her stomach as I’d seen other women do.
“My plans…this baby is part of Reid, part of a man I love and who loved me. My plans are to have this baby, to raise him or her, to love them with the love of a mother and father.” She brought her teary-eyed gaze to mine.
“Reid did that for you. He loved you enough for both parents.”
The small hairs on the back of my neck stood to attention. “I won’t discuss my mother with you.”
“It’s all right. Reid told me all about what happened. I know he loved you, Vee. I don’t want you to feel threatened by this baby.”
I scoffed. “Are you threatening me?”
Her eyes opened wide. “No, not at all. This baby will need all the love and support it can get. I want you to be a part of your brother’s or sister’s life.” She sniffled and took a step closer to me. “That’s part of what I want to talk to you about.”
“About being a part of your child’s life?” I asked.
“Reid’s and my child, yes. I had a lot of time to think when I was in jail. First, Vee, you know I’d never hurt Reid. I wanted to marry him, to raise our child together.”
Fin placed his hand in the small of my back. “I can go into another room.”
“No.” I turned to his cobalt stare, made brighter by his blue sweater. Gazing into his eyes lifted a bit of the tension. “Please, stay here.” I looked at his phone lying upside down on the coffee table and back at him.
Fin’s nod was almost imperceptible, telling me that the conversation was being recorded.
“Why don’t we all sit down,” I suggested.
Bre retook the seat on the sofa while Fin and I sat in chairs side by side.
“Vee, I want to ask a favor of you,” Bre said.
“A favor?” This was unexpected. “What favor?”
“I didn’t hurt Reid. I would never hurt him. He knew about the baby.” Her cheeks rose and her lips turned upward, despite tears spilling from her eyes. “Why would I hurt him?”
Shaking my head, I sighed. “I don’t know.”
“I wouldn’t. But they think I did. I want to believe this nightmare will all go away and I’ll be rendered innocent. If it doesn’t…if my attorney doesn’t win…” She wiped her cheeks with a handful of tissues. “I’d like you to raise our baby.”
“Say what?” I turned to Fin whose eyes were as round as saucers and back to Bre. “That’s…well, that’s a shock. I’m not qualified.”
Bre’s smile was back. “You are, the most qualified. I want our baby to know the love of his or her father. You know that love better than anyone else. You could tell our baby about his father in a way only a sibling could do.”
“Surely, you have family or someone,” I said.
Bre looked down as she nibbled on her lip. “I have a sister in Oakland. I was going to go there to visit after the funeral and let her know about the pregnancy.”
“Your one-way ticket to California,” Fin said.
“Yeah. It was one-way because I had enough credit with the airlines to cover a one-way ticket. I planned to return by the end of the bye week.”
“Do you have proof you planned to return?” I asked.
“Internet searches, but those weren’t enough to convince the judge I wasn’t a flight risk.”
“Does the judge or the prosecutor’s office know about the pregnancy?”
“I told Mr. Shiveley, my attorney. He said it might help with bond.” Her smile was gone. “It didn’t.”
“Did you tell your attorney that you claim my father is the father?”
Bre nodded. “He said that releasing that information at this juncture wouldn’t help my case. They already have the note I wrote, and he was worried the court might see me as a scorned lover.” She sniffled. “I wasn’t scorned, Vee. Reid wanted to have a new life with our child and me.”
Sighing, I rubbed my temples and looked to Fin and then Bre. “You mentioned a note. Did the two of you talk about the evidence the police have against you, Bre?”
“Yes. As I told Mr. Graham, I purchased Benadryl for Reid. His allergies were bothering him. The police found Benadryl in a pillbox in his glove compartment. He also had sleeping pills in his system.” She looked at Fin and back to me.
“Reid took sleeping pills regularly at night to avoid sex with Daphne.”
I shook my head, not in disbelief but out of shock. “I’d rather avoid my dad’s sex life.”
“Anyway,” Bre said, “there was a note in the glove compartment, one I’d written when I put the Benadryl—in the store box, not in a pillbox—on his desk.
In the note I said I bought the pills for him and told Reid I loved him.
I also wrote that I was tired of waiting for his divorce. I wanted us to be together—a family.”
“And that last part,” Fin said.
“I wrote that our love would outlive our days. That wasn’t a threat.” She added the second part quickly. “It was something we would say to one another. We’d already missed out on too many years. Our love was too great to be contained in the days and years we have left. Had.”
“That’s their evidence?” I asked.
“They were able to track the purchase to a drugstore near Maker’s Mark. I used a company credit card.”
I stood and walked around my chair. “I don’t understand how that’s enough to charge you with murder.”
“They claim I was pressuring Reid to leave Daphne. When he didn’t, I knowingly provided Reid with medication that would impair his driving. They claim I put the pillbox in his car, so he’d have access to the antihistamine, and he’d get drowsy as he was driving.” She stood. “I wouldn’t.”
Suddenly, I recalled the pillbox. “Did Dad have a pillbox like the one they found?”
Bre shook her head. “I don’t know. I never saw the one they showed me in pictures before. Like I said, I gave him the box of Benadryl from the store.”
“Did anyone else know you bought Dad Benadryl?”
Bre shrugged. “Anyone in our office. It wasn’t unusual for me to run errands for Reid. I would pick up dry cleaning, coffee, or go after anything he needed. It wasn’t only part of my job, I enjoyed doing things for him, things Daphne would never do.”
My fingers blanched as I gripped the back of the chair. “You told me Joseph Eads, Dad’s attorney, knew about his plan to divorce Daphne and marry you.”
She nodded.
“I spoke to Mr. Eads. He denies there were any problems in Dad and Daphne’s marriage.”
Her eyes widened as more tears trickled down her cheeks.
“He’s lying. I even met with him once.” She appeared to be thinking.
“We were in Reid’s office at Maker’s Mark.
Reid called me in.” She retook her seat.
“Reid specifically told him that he wanted to file for divorce. Mr. Eads cautioned Reid that Daphne could cause problems due to the length of time they were married.” She swallowed.
“Reid said he wanted to pursue the divorce after this season was complete. He didn’t want his personal life to overshadow the Coopers. ”
“Is there any way you can prove any of this?” Fin asked.
“I’m not lying.”
“I’m not an attorney,” I said, “but if this goes to court, I think you’ll need more than your word. Especially since Joe Eads isn’t corroborating this story.”
“I have the engagement ring Reid gave me. Actually, it’s in my desk at Maker’s Mark. Could you get that for me?”
“I don’t know what they’ve done with your things,” I said. “What about all the notes and pictures I saw?” I prayed they weren’t with the ring in her desk.
“I have them at my apartment,” she replied. “You told me to get them out of his office. They’re at home in a tote.”
“Go through them,” I suggested, “every one. If you can find anything that verifies your story, make sure to give it to your attorney.”
“You believe me, don’t you?” she asked, looking between both Fin and me.
“I don’t know,” I answered honestly. “Once the baby is born, I want a paternity test.”
Bre nodded. “There’s zero chance this baby is anyone else’s child. I’ve been faithful to Reid for years. It’s why he was avoiding sex with Daphne.”
“Are you after Reid’s money?” Fin asked.
Quickly, I snapped my face toward him. His question was direct, blunt, and almost cruel. Nevertheless, I waited to hear Bre’s answer.
“Not all of it,” she replied. “I want enough to raise our child the way Reid would have done.”
“What about the Coopers?” I asked.
“You’re the new owner. It’s been all over social media and sports shows. Maybe someday you might consider including your brother or sister in the family business. I don’t know.” She lifted her eyes. “Especially, if you raise him.”
Raise a baby.
I didn’t have enough time in my life for a cat, much less a small human.
“Talk to your sister,” I said. “I know you can’t leave the Lexington area, but you can call her.”
Fin stood and Bre followed.
She took the hint and said, “I should be going. Thank you for speaking to me in person. The things the prosecutors said aren’t true. I wasn’t trying to leave Lexington because I’m guilty. I wanted to talk to my sister about the baby.”
“How far along are you?” I asked.
“The doctor at the jail said eight to nine weeks.”
I lifted an eyebrow. “The doctor at the jail knows about your pregnancy.”
“They say they test every female inmate.”
“What about a doctor outside the jail?”
“I haven’t been to one.”
Shit. I didn’t want to care about this kid.
Exhaling, I shook my head. “Bre, you need to be under the care of a doctor. Dad would want that.”
“It’s been… a lot.”
“And stress isn’t good either. My attorney said that cases like this often take time, maybe over a year or two. Take care of yourself and the baby.”
“I can’t go back to work.”
“You’re on paid leave,” I said. “I’ll check with HR, but I believe that means you still have your insurance.”
She feigned a smile. “Thank you, Vee. I just knew if I could talk to you that you’d see my side. I understand why Reid loved you so much.”
Fin and I walked Bre to the door.
“How can I get in touch with you?” she asked.
“I don’t know that you should.”
“You can contact me,” Fin volunteered.