With only an hour left until closing, Lily decided to call it a day.
“Annie?” she called to her friend, who was busy polishing the counter top and straightening the menus.
“Yeah?” Annie answered without looking up.
“I’m gonna go now. Will you lock up?”
“Yup.” Her tone was stony.
Lily placed a hand on her arm. “Sorry about how I spoke to you when Aiden was here. I didn’t mean it. He and I, well, we’re not on the best of terms right now.”
Annie turned to the grill and began scraping it clean. “No need to explain.”
“He’s a detective. Wilkins hired him,” she said.
Annie threw down the scraper and turned to face Lily, her mouth agape. “What?”
“It’s true. He was only trying to get close to me to see if I killed my sister.”
“Oh, Lil, I’m so sorry. I don’t know what to say.” She walked around to the other side of the counter, and for a moment Lily thought she was going to hug her. She might have liked a hug at that moment, but Annie stopped herself and instead gave her a sympathetic frown.
“There’s nothing to say. It is what it is. At any rate, I told him everything and I think he believes me and wants to help, so things are looking up.” She tried to inject a cheery tone into her voice.
“Hon, are you OK? Is there anything I can do?”
Lily had had no time to assess her emotions. How did she feel? That was an excellent question. In the short time she’d known Aiden, or thought she knew him, he’d stolen a large piece of her heart, but he’d betrayed her in the worst way possible. What hurt most was knowing she’d been his number one suspect. How could she ever trust him again?
“I’m fine, Annie.” She sighed at the heavy realization of the falseness of her words. She needed to go before the tears started. “Gonna duck out now, OK?”
Annie nodded and smiled. “Sure thing, girlfriend. Got it all under control.”
* * *
“Wilkins in?” Lily asked after pulling open the front doors of the sheriff’s department.
Julia, the shortest, fattest deputy in the East, was seated behind the counter. She eyed Lily with contempt like everyone else in town.
“He’s busy.”
“So, that means he’s in.” Lily kept walking, right past deputy fat ass and straight to Wilkins’s office. A halfhearted “Hey” came from behind her but no approaching footfalls. Probably too lazy to get off her ass.
“You son of a—”
Wilkins was on his feet in a flash, stilling Lily with two words, “Aiden O’Rourke.”
She huffed in frustration. “Why?”
“It’s not personal, Lily. You know that. Just doin’ my job.” Wilkins sat down and gestured for Lily to do the same.
She stepped farther into his office but didn’t sit. “No. You’re doing nothing. You hired Aiden to do your job.”
Wilkins pulled open a drawer and took out a bottle of Pepto-Bismol, unscrewed the top and took a swig, then put the lid back on and put it back. “All this crap is giving me an ulcer.” He pounded a fist on his blotter. “Damn, I can’t believe he’s blown his cover so early. Maybe it was a mistake to bring him in.”
She hadn’t expected this reaction. Her intentions were to blast Wilkins, let him know she was onto his game and then leave, but now, a knot of worry tightened in her gut. Was Wilkins going to fire Aiden now, after he’d given her a small glimmer of hope and told her he believed her?
“I have nothing to hide. I didn’t kill my sister! Let him finish his goddamn investigation.”
Fire blazed in the sheriff’s dark eyes. “Calm yourself. Why don’t I have Julia bring you a cup of tea, and we can talk about this. Sit down.” Wilkins’s voice was deep with authority.
She didn’t want to stay another second. Her heart pounded with fear. What had she done? Was Aiden going to be sent packing? And why was she so scared he might be? Because he promised to help find her sister’s killer, or was there more to it than that?
Lily finally sat with an indelicate drop into the creaky old chair. Wilkins buzzed Julia and a moment later, a cup of hot water and a tea bag were placed in front of her. Julia slapped a couple of sugar packets down beside it and left.
“Should I call my lawyer?” Lily asked.
“No need for that.” Wilkins gave his head a good shake. “Look, this is as frustrating for me as it is for you. As much as I want to, I can’t clear you as a suspect yet, Lily.”
“So, Aiden will continue with the investigation?”
He sighed, deep and long. “Suppose so. Guess it’s best to let the man do his job.”
“Was he expensive?”
“Beg your pardon?”
“Just wondering how much you paid to try to bring the dangerous criminal, Lily Valier, to justice.”
A voice came from behind her. “You could save us some dough if you confessed.” It was Deluca.
She was on her feet, her tea untouched. She looked at Wilkins. “Why don’t you save the taxpayers some money and retire? You’re getting a wage for sitting on your ass doing nothing but harassing innocent women.”
Deluca made his way to her side and touched her arm, but Lily pulled away. He grinned and took a step back. “I understand how frustrating this must be for you, but you’re the most likely suspect at the moment.”
“Really? I’d think Zander or Gabrielle Lyons would be higher up on your list. My sister was pregnant with Zander’s child. He wanted her to have an abortion, and when she refused, he threatened the life of her child.”
“You’ve already told us that, Miss Valier, and Zander Lyons vehemently denies the accusation and besides, he has an alibi.”
“What about Gabrielle then? Was she even brought in for questioning?”
“We spoke to Mrs. Lyons and, frankly, she really doesn’t fit the profile.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me! Profile? What profile? It’s not like you’re hunting down a terrorist here. She’s the wife of a philandering husband, one who happened to impregnate my sister. Isn’t that enough of a motive?” She wanted to scream, stamp her feet, pull out her hair.
Deluca shook his head and gave Lily a condescending look. “No, I’m sorry, but we really don’t think she’s guilty of the crime. And before you even bring up his name, Phil Kemp is an even less likely suspect, so, guess who that leaves?” Deluca’s grin was now a wide smile.
Lily looked at the sheriff with pleading eyes. “Why are you letting him take over this case?”
The sheriff ran a hand over his closely cropped gray hair. “I’m not letting him take over, but Deputy Deluca does have experience with homicides.”
Deluca broke in, “Don’t forget we’ve got a third party involved now. It was Sheriff Wilkins’s idea to get some extra help, so I haven’t actually taken anything over. I’d say Aiden has done that.”
Lily wanted to say so much more. She wanted to call them both a few choice names but said only, “You know where you can put that cup of tea, don’t ya?” before turning on her heel and stomping from the office.