Chapter 31

He trusted her. She looked at him with such tenderness that he had to. His heart leaped as he looked into her eyes. She was smiling up at him, and he stopped breathing. His eyes rested on her lips, and her smile faded, but she kept her gaze upon him. She was breathing shallow, and it pleased him. He stepped closer to her, and she made a step back, meeting the balcony rail.

They’d been out there for about half hour, standing in silence while he allowed his heart and mind to settle. If he was to move forward, he had to come to terms with the past, present, and future. What future? The only thing certain was that he wanted Chelsea in it, but did he even deserve her? What kind of future could she have with a man who was headed to prison? Still, he could not help falling head over heels.

Her tongue came out and slowly ran across her soft pink lips. As he dipped his head, he heard someone clear his throat. Chelsea took the opportunity to duck under his arm and flee. He watched as she slipped through the French doors back into the main room.

“What are you doing, Colt?” Reid’s voice was hard as nails.

“What do you mean?”

Reid glowered at him. “With Chelsea.”

“I don’t see that as any of your business.”

“All I’m saying is that you need to sort this thing out before getting serious. She’s no ordinary girl,” Reid said in a cool tone.

He sighed and replied, “I know.”

The phone rang once more, and Reid rushed to answer it. He followed the manager back inside and took a seat close to Chelsea. While Reid spoke with the lawyer, Colt continued to tell Chelsea about his past. He won the guitar when he was sixteen and had no idea how to play. His boss at the restaurant had a friend who was a tutor and got Colt into the music class. There he learned to play different instruments and develop the love for rock music.

“Colt,” Reid’s voice interrupted them again.

“Yeah,” he raised his face to his manager. “Have you made arrangements to see my mother?”

“The attorney wants you to go to the San Pedro Police Department. There’s something you need to know.”

“Is she dead?” he asked, fearing the worst.

“No, it’s not your mother, let’s go.”

Reid picked up the keys to the car he’d rented a few days back. He always got a car for quick travel. They left the suite and headed down to the hotel parking lot. Reid drove in silence all the way to the police station. Colt didn’t know what to think. If it had nothing to do with his mother, what then? Was this the final destination? He knew that he’d have to face some jail time; he just didn’t expect it so soon.

Reid was the one to speak to the officer at the front desk when they got there. “Detective Henry—is he around. He’s expecting Reid Richards.”

“Over there.” She indicated another officer by a desk.

He was wearing a baby blue shirt rolled up at the sleeves with a loosened navy tie. He looked more like a white collar executive than a police detective.

“Colt Montgomery?” the officer asked as they approached.

“Yes,” Reid replied.

“Your lawyer called and asked for the case file. I was the officer on duty at the time. I was a sergeant back then. It’s strange, why do you need the file now. We know Williams died of a brain aneurysm.”

Colt wasn’t sure what he just heard. “What?” he asked, dumbfounded.

Henry repeated, “Williams died of an aneurysm, didn’t you know this?”

Colt staggered back. A heady sensation washed over him as the night he stabbed his stepfather resurfaced. Lightheaded, stomach churning, he stumbled to a nearby wall leaning wearily, trying to regain his strength. He could not believe what he was hearing. This must be a mistake. His mother spent the last twenty years in prison covering his crime, though it was a crime of passion or self-defense.

“What are you saying?” His shock was quickly being replaced by a deeper emotion, which began to burn fiercely in his belly.

The anger was quickly becoming a raging fire that flared and made his skin burn. His hazel eyes became as hard as rock as he listened to the detective recount the events of the cold case.

“Edna Montgomery married Williams,” he was reading from a file. “They had three kids between them. She made several complaints against him during the course of their marriage. The day he died, it was reported that he was stabbed by Edna in defense. However, the case was resolved before the autopsy report since she confessed. We sent a copy of the report to the DA. We had no jurisdiction over the matter. When the lawyer called, I knew the name was familiar, so I drew up the file and here it is.”

The detective picked up a sheet of paper from the file and handed it to Reid. Colt ground his teeth together in agitation as the mystery of the past unraveled before him. Something was fishy about this. If the autopsy report was sent to the DA, why was his mother still in prison for a crime neither of them committed?