Chapter 30
30
M argo relaxed. The weather was gorgeous. It had cooled down a bit into the low eighties. There was a light breeze coming off the water and the air wasn't nearly as humid as it had been.
She kicked her sandals off under the table and played in the sand with her feet. It was warm, soft, and felt comforting as she wiggled her toes in it.
She leaned back in her chair, Jace's arm around her back. She looked around the table at new friends, her beautiful sister, a new boyfriend, and a new life.
Hopefully, the bad things that had kept happening were over. She was still dealing here and there with little bouts of anger at Logan's deceit. And the nasty little things he tried to do after his death. And there'd be those thoughts for a time. If they got worse instead of better, she'd start to see a therapist.
But most of the grief related stuff she'd looked up online was all just part of the process. Not the affair. Not the grabs from the company shares. None of that. Not the stolen necklace. But simply the grief at the loss of what she had from her previous life. And in her logical, wide-awake brain, what she had previously was nothing compared to what she had now. At least not relationship-wise.
She could see it now. She'd been blinded to it before. For a smart woman, she sure was dumb about some things. But she wasn't going to beat herself up about it anymore.
Her phone rang, and she ignored it. Anybody who wanted to buy a house could wait for her to be available tomorrow. Tonight was about celebrating Jace's purchase. Getting to know her new friends better. And just being. That was something that, as she thought about it, she hadn't done that over the last few years.
Her life revolved around work, work, work, work, work. It was time to take care of Margo.
Her phone rang again, and she thought how irritating it was that someone was insistent on contacting her on a Friday night.
She turned her phone over and saw it was Grant Park.
"Oh," she said, "I better take this. Please excuse me."
She stood up and walked out toward the water's edge as she answered her phone. "Hello, Grant. How can I help you?"
"Hi, Margo. I'm sorry to bother you on a Friday night, but I wanted to let you know a few things that have just come to light."
"Okay. That sounds a little scary."
"Well, not scary for you. I'm happy to report." He cleared his throat. "First of all, I've confirmed that Logan did not properly transfer any shares to Sierra. So, that worry is off the table. She's — her attorney has already been notified of that. And through my conversation with her attorney, he made a couple of comments about some of her other lawsuits. Mostly just an innocent comment, I think, that was simply put as ‘Which lawsuit is this or which case is that?’"
"Okay," she replied.
"Which had me asking Jailisa to do a little research on Miss Sierra Stigler. And she did. We found out that she's been mentioned in several lawsuits. And three of them were from former widows who she was trying to take money from. She'd had affairs apparently with their husbands. According to some of the social media posts Jailisa was able to pull up."
"No kidding! Wow!" Margo's heart raced as this news seeped in.
He continued. "And then about an hour later, Miami Sheriff's Department called me."
"Oh, dear. Why on earth is the Miami Sheriff's Department calling you?"
"Apparently, Sierra Stigler is being investigated for murder."
"Murder?" Margo gasped and put her hand to her mouth. She stared out as the water lapped the sand, changing the color from a light brown to a dark brown. It rolled over her toes, then she watched it slide back out.
"What on earth is going on, Grant?"
"Well, I just wanted to let you know that the Sheriff's Department may be contacting you to examine Logan's ashes. They might be checking for poison. They also may be asking for copies of his medical records. And they will probably be investigating his doctors and nurses, asking if any poisons had been detected in his blood system."
"Oh, my God. You think she poisoned him?"
"I don't know, Margo. I don't know. At this moment, this is just preliminary information that I've gotten. But I want you to be aware that you may be contacted by Miami police, and I don't want you to be worried about it. It's not anything against you. And if you would be so kind as to grant permission for Logan's medical records to be released so that they don't have to go through legal channels to get them, it would surely speed up the investigation."
"Of course, of course. Absolutely. Whatever they need. I will help."
"Good. Well, thank you for taking my call. I didn't want to leave this all on voicemail. I can hear music in the background, so you must be enjoying yourself. Have a good rest of your night. I will keep in touch with you as I find anything out."
"Thank you, Grant. Thank you so much."
Margo tapped the end call button and numbly walked back to the table with her friends. Carley leaned over and said, "Is everything all right?"
"Yes. Yes, everything is all right. Weird, but all right."
Jace had placed his arm around the back of her chair again as she sat. His hand reached around and squeezed her arm. He rubbed up and down softly. His voice next to her ear was low. "If you need to talk or if you need to leave, or whatever you need, I'm here."
She turned and looked at him. A soft smile on her face. "Do I really look bad? Everyone's asking me if I'm okay."
"You are always beautiful, but you look shocked, I guess."
She took a deep breath. "I am shocked, to be honest."
Grace sat directly across from her and smiled. "If you need to talk, we're here. And if you want to let it go. That's fine, too."
She swallowed and relayed the information Grant had just told her.
They all had the same shocked expression on their face she imagined she had on hers.
Carley said, "Unfucking believable. That woman. That fucking murderous woman."
Margo nodded. "Well, we don't know for sure, but there must be enough suspicion that she's being investigated. So, I'll allow them anything that they want for their investigation."
Carley asked, "Are you alright, Margo?"
She smiled at her sister. "I am. Just shocked at this turn of events. But if Logan had been poisoned by her, it doesn't change anything. Not for him and not for me."
She took a sip of her wine, and her hand shook slightly. She looked up at her friends. "Today's fun fact." Her friends nodded.
Jace held his glass up. "A toast."
Margo took a deep breath and held her glass up. Their friends did the same.
"New beginnings."
"Cheers."