Chapter 18
Chapter Eighteen
Aiden
A knock sounded on my open office door. Mark, a local contractor who does appraising as a side job, stood in the doorway. Damn. Her husband worked quickly.
“Hey, Chief. I got a call to do an appraisal on Nellie’s place. The owner thought you might have a key if his wife wasn’t there.”
I tapped my pencil, pretending I didn’t have a key to Nellie’s place on the ring on my belt. “Nope. But Nellie’s granddaughter drove home a few hours ago, so she should be there to let you in.”
“Oh,” He straightened and turned. “Good enough.”
“So he’s really planning to sell the house out from under her?”
Mark stepped back. “Don’t know. I was just called about a job.” He shrugged. “Guy made it sound like it was a done deal. Are you saying the wife doesn’t know?”
Shaking my head slowly, I sighed. “I don’t think she does.”
“Well, shit.” Mark stared at the floor a moment. “I already took the job.” He turned and left, grumbling.
I picked up the phone, to give Katie a heads-up, but then set the receiver back in the cradle.
This was what I wanted. She needed to sell and move somewhere else.
Pain radiated from my chest. A dick move?
Sure. But I needed her far away from me.
I didn’t want to worry about her or feed her or check on her to make sure she was sleeping.
I didn’t want to fucking care. Not again.
My cell rang. Pops. “Hey?—”
“I should have noticed. Should have seen what was going on.”
Thumbing through the report on my desk, I paused. “What are we talking about, Pops?”
“Nellie’s house. Her things.”
Crap. I’d told him to stay out of it.
“I went over there. Confronted her.” Anger and grief poured through the phone line.
“I thought we agreed that you’d stop going over there.” Damn, stubborn man.
“I wanted her to explain. I didn’t mean to push her, though.”
“Listen, Pops, anyone could have made the mistake—wait. Did you say you hit her?”
“Pushed, not hit. I was trying to?—”
“Jesus. You’re almost a foot taller and about eighty pounds heavier. What the hell?”
“It was an accident! I was trying to open the front door, but she wouldn’t budge. I just kind of knocked her off-balance, into the doorjamb. Damn it! That’s not the point. She told me herself that she’d thrown away Nellie’s things because they were old and ugly.”
The pain in my chest intensified. “Let me see if I have this straight. You went to her house, yelled at her, tried to force your way in, and shoved her when she didn’t move.
And after all that, she told you that she’d thrown away Nellie’s things because they were ugly?
” She’d kept her promise. Pops had assaulted her, and still she kept her word to protect him from the truth.
“Exactly! She said she thought Nellie’s things were ugly, so she threw them away. Just like that. Seventy-five years of living, of being a good, kind woman, and it’s all tossed because that spoiled brat didn’t like the looks of it!”
Shit.
“You were right about her, and I told her so. She’s nothing but a cruel, shallow bit of nothing! I don’t even mind Nellie’s house being sold as long as it doesn’t go to her.”
I couldn’t rule out a heart attack at this point. I flexed my left arm, breathing deeply. “You told her I said she was shallow and nothing?”
“Damn right I did! You were on the money with that one. I told her I’d do a little jig when her husband sold the house out from under her. And I will, too.”
Heather walked in. “Chief, you have a call on line one.”
I nodded and Heather left. “I’ve got a call, Pops. Do us both a favor and leave Katie alone. By rights, I should arrest you for assault and battery?—”
“It was an accident.”
“Accident or not, Pops, you shoved a woman who might be a hundred pounds soaking wet. You yelled at her and tried to force your way into her house. Stop acting like you’re the victim here. It’s just furniture!”
“But—”
“But nothing. I want you to think long and hard about what Nellie would say if she could have seen your little stunt today.”
After I hung up on Pops and dealt with a call about a stolen car, I sat, staring out the window.
After everything Katie had already dealt with today, an appraiser would be pulling up any minute to let her know she’d be losing her house, as well.
I didn’t know how to fix this. Or even if I wanted to.