Chapter Twelve #2
The corner of Grace’s mouth lifted into a smile. “Oh, yes, I’ll definitely let them know, and I won’t be having that conversation in the house but rather on the porch, so you’ll both be able to watch and listen. The babies are tucked away safe with Etta Jean?” she asked.
Addie nodded, but she sent a text to Etta Jean to tell her to take the twins into the bathroom. Yes, she wanted to see the reactions to the will, but Addie didn’t want that info to come with any additional risks to Lily and Rose.
“Do any of the four have alibis for the time of Yvette’s shooting?” Judson asked Grace as they all made their way to the front of the house.
“Nope. I asked them that when I did the phone notification, and all claimed to be at home or on their way home. We’ll check and see if that can be verified.”
“I will see her now,” Shane shouted, his voice so loud that it would have drowned out anything else that Grace said.
Elijah wasn’t exactly being quiet, either. He was yelling out a demand to see Grace and Judson. Trevor was in the mix, too, shouting at the top of his lungs. Addie couldn’t hear Jennifer at all.
When Judson, Grace and she made it to the front door, Addie saw Livvy and Bennie were blocking Shane and Elijah from coming in.
She spotted Trevor on the porch steps, and Jennifer was by the gate.
Jennifer was the only one of the four who looked grief-stricken, and it was obvious the woman had been crying.
“What the hell happened to my mother?” Shane demanded when his attention landed on Grace. The man also shot looks of disgust at Judson and Addie. “Did those two kill her?”
“Throttle back now,” Grace snapped through clenched teeth. “Or I’ll arrest you on the spot.”
“Yeah, yeah, and kill me, too,” Shane taunted. “Just like they murdered my mother.”
“They didn’t kill Yvette,” Grace said, moving between Livvy and Bennie to face Shane head-on.
“Then, damn it, who did?” That came from Elijah. Like Shane, his face was tight with rage.
“We’re looking into that.” Grace aimed a warning finger at Elijah when he took a menacing step toward her.
“If I have to arrest you for threatening a police office, trespassing and other assorted charges, it’ll mean hauling you down to the station.
It could be hours or days before you get any info from me.
Or you could all just shut the hell up and I’ll tell you right now what I know. ”
That silenced Trevor and Shane, but Elijah still looked ready to push Grace. He seemed to rethink that after sliding glances at the three other cops, who were clearly ready to back up their boss.
“All right,” Grace continued once they’d all hushed. Well, their shouts and accusations had stopped, but Shane and Elijah were still doing some glaring. “Yvette was shot and killed by an unknown assailant. She appears to have been fleeing from that assailant when she died.”
“Unknown assailant,” Elijah snarled in a yeah, right tone. “You can’t make me believe those two didn’t want her dead because she took those kids.” He turned his glare on Addie and Judson.
Grace shrugged. “Believe what you will, but they didn’t kill her, and there’s a manhunt for the person who did. To rule yourselves out as suspects, I’m asking you all to submit to GSR testing.”
That brought on more cursing from Shane and Elijah, but Trevor stepped forward. “I’ll do it,” he said.
“So will I,” Jennifer agreed.
Elijah tossed her a what the hell look, clearly not approving of her cooperation. If it was cooperation, that was. Jennifer could have still been the shooter, but maybe she was certain there wouldn’t be any residue on her clothes.
“I want to know what happened to my mother,” Jennifer added, showing some defiance of her own against Elijah. She shifted her attention to Judson and Addie. “Did she say anything before she died?”
Addie heard the question, but she focused on the reactions of the three male suspects. All of them seemed to have a second or two of stunned silence while they considered that.
Or feared that.
Were they worried that Yvette had said something to incriminate one of them? Maybe.
“She did say some things,” Grace admitted. “We’re going to analyze it further and try to enhance the dash-cam feed.”
That sent Shane on a cursing spree. “What kind of doublespeak is that? Tell us what she said.”
“Sorry, but I’m not at liberty to disclose that,” Grace fired back. “But as soon as the analysis is done, I’ll be in touch. Trust me on that.”
It sounded like a threat, and while her expression, tone and badge had Elijah backing up a step, Shane held his ground.
“However, I can give you some other info,” Grace went on a heartbeat later. “It’s about Yvette’s will.” She paused, waiting until all four were staring at her. “Did any of you know that Yvette redid her will last week?”
Trevor groaned and muttered something under his breath that Addie didn’t catch. “I told her not to give in to Shane’s demands.”
So, he’d known the change to the will was possible, and it made Addie wonder if Trevor had used those drugs to try to stop her. In fact, the drugs might come up if Trevor decided to challenge the will.
“Yvette left everything to her kids,” Grace let Trevor know. “She purposely excluded anyone else, including a husband.”
Elijah smiled. Actually smiled. Until he must have realized that wasn’t an appropriate response and shut it down.
Trevor certainly wasn’t smiling. He was riled to the bone, and, cursing, he stormed off the porch, headed to his car and then sped away.
Addie shifted her attention to Shane, who wasn’t smiling but did appear more than a little shocked. It was the same for Jennifer, who began to cry again.
Elijah hurried off the porch to go to her, and he tried to put his arm around her, but she stepped away from him. The man didn’t show any irritation over the rejection. Instead, he turned back to Grace.
“How soon will Shane and Jennifer be able to settle Yvette’s estate and get the money?” he asked.
“Stop it, Elijah,” Jennifer snapped before Grace could respond. Well, respond other than rolling her eyes and making a loud huff. “Just go wait in the truck for me,” Jennifer ordered.
Now, the irritation came, but Elijah didn’t push back. Probably because he figured out that badgering Jennifer wouldn’t help him get his hands on her dead mother’s money. Kicking at a rock that was on the pathway, Elijah went to the truck, slamming the door behind him after he got in.
“I did encourage my mother to cut Trevor out of the will,” Shane admitted. “I still believe the man was solely after her money.” He paused. “And I believe he could have been the one who killed her.”
“Maybe,” Grace said, not sounding at all convinced of that. “He agreed to the GSR test. What about you?”
The muscles tightened in Shane’s jaw, but he finally nodded. “I’ll be tested, too.”
“Good. Then, go to the police station and one of the deputies will take the swab. The results come back like that.” Grace snapped her fingers. “And you might be surprised at how hard it is to wash off gunshot residue. A shower and change of clothes usually aren’t enough.”
Shane stood in silence for a couple of seconds before he nodded and walked away, heading to his car. Jennifer, however, didn’t budge. Not until her brother had driven away, and then she came up the porch steps toward them.
“Did, uh…are you sure someone killed my mother?” Jennifer asked. “Are you sure she didn’t take her own life?”
Those questions seemed like giant, waving red flags, and none of them jumped to respond. Grace hadn’t said a word about a suicide note being found in Yvette’s car, but maybe Jennifer hadn’t needed to be told.
Maybe she already knew.
“Did she take her own life?” Jennifer repeated. Her hands trembled while she wiped away more tears.
“Why do you think that?” Grace finally asked.
Jennifer didn’t give a quick answer. She squeezed her eyes shut a moment, and a sob made its way from her throat. “Because I think Mom was considering it. Ending things,” she added in a hoarse whisper. “She was depressed. Or something. I think she was using drugs.”
“Did she say that or did you see her use them?” Grace pressed.
Jennifer shook her head. “No, but something was off this past week or so. She left rambling messages about when she’d lost custody of Shane and me. In one of them, she said this place was evil, that the people here basically stole children from their loving parents.”
Good grief. Addie had to bite back the anger and frustration over that. Yes, mistakes could and did happen in the foster system, but Mellie had worked hard for the children in her care.
“You didn’t mention any of this during your interview,” Grace reminded Jennifer. “Why not?”
For a second, Jennifer got the deer-caught-in-the-headlights look, but she shook it off. “I, uh, didn’t remember until now.” She paused and glanced around as if to make sure no one else was listening. “I think someone’s trying to kill me,” she whispered.
“Who?” Grace demanded.
“My brother, I think,” she admitted after wiping away more tears. “I believe Mom told him about the change in the will. He was the one pushing for it. Him and Elijah,” she added, her voice dropping to a whisper again.
“Has Shane done something specific to make you think he might want to kill you?” Grace asked.
Again, no quick answer, but Jennifer took out her phone and handed it to Grace. “I recorded Shane. And, no, I didn’t tell him I was doing it, so I guess that’s not exactly ethical.”
“It’s not,” Grace agreed, but she took the phone. “What’s on the recording?” she pressed.
“Just listen to it,” Jennifer insisted. “And when you’re done, maybe it’ll be enough to arrest my brother for murder.”