Death of the Family Recipe (A Scotti Fitzgerald Murder Mystery Book 3) (39 page)

I frowned in confusion. "Nobody has thank me or return favors. It was just my job. That’s all." Atkinson’s stupid grin was relentless and getting on my nerves. "You really need to leave now."

He nodded and shrugged. "Okay." He backed down the steps. "But when you’re least expecting it, you’ll be rewarded for all your hard work."

The guy was strange and just talking to him made my skin crawl. "Good bye, Mr. Atkinson."

I closed the door and locked it. Peering through the window, I watched him get into the passenger seat of a light colored Lexus. He spoke to the driver, who I couldn’t see, then the car pulled away from the curb and drove off.

Fuming, I marched into the kitchen and made a call. When he answered, I screamed into the phone, "Joe, what the hell have you done?"

I paced the kitchen while we argued on the phone.

Joe’s voice pitched high. "How many times do I gotta say it? I didn’t send him."

I groaned. "I didn’t say you sent him, but he got my address from you somehow." I sighed. "Did you give him a file or something?"

He sighed hard to show me he was annoyed. "Course I didn’t give him no file. Probably found it on your Internets or something."

I slapped the counter. "Except if not for you, he’d never know me at all."

He clucked his tongue. "The case is almost over."

"So what?"

"So, he won’t bother you after that."

Angry tears burned in my eyes. "But in the meantime, I should keep a look out for him? So that’s it? I’m on my own?"

"Oh pish. That ain’t what I meant." Voices mumbled in the background. "Hold on." He covered the phone, but I could hear him talking with someone. "He won’t bother you again. Dan’ll handle it."

"That’s all you have to say?"

"What else can I say? Something you expecting me to say?"

I wanted to cry because it felt like I was talking to a stranger. "Nope, nothing at all." I slammed the phone down. When I turned, I saw Ted in the kitchen doorway and jumped. "And you, stop sneaking up on me!"

Ted frowned and held out a grocery sack. "I come in peace, I bring ice cream."

Heart thumping, I pulled the ice cream out of the sack and opened it. "You’re lucky I need chocolate." I scowled at him. "And what took you so long?"

Ted brought two spoons to the butcher block and gave me one. "I had to go the three different stores to find your ice cream. I wasn’t gone that long — what the hell happened?"

I looked at him trying to gauge his reaction to learning Spencer Atkinson had paid a visit. "Somebody came by while you were at the store."

Ted spooned a glob of ice cream out of the container and put it in his mouth. "Who, the Avon lady? Trying to sell you stretch mark cream?"

I swatted him and laughed. "Enough with the cracks." The ice cream tasted good and provided endorphin relief. "Spencer Atkinson."

"What?" Ted had a way of making four innocent letters sound dangerous. "Are you fucking kidding me?"

I threw up my hands. "It’s not like I invited him. The doorbell rang and there he was with his face pressed against the window."

Ted got that quiet dangerous tone. "What did he want?"

I got up and grabbed a couple of bowls from the cabinet, then started scooping ice cream. "He said he wanted to thank me and his mother wanted to thank me for all my help." I raised my brows. "Strange, huh? That guy is beyond weird."

"That’s all he said?"

I nodded and rubbed my neck. "Yeah, but…" I pushed the ice cream away. "It’s the way he said it. Almost sounded like a threat."

Ted pulled out his cell phone. "That’s it!"

"Who are you calling?"

"Joe needs to rein this s.o.b. in."

I put my hand over his. "Who do you think I was on the phone with when you walked in? He said Atkinson won’t bother me again and Dan would handle it."

Ted’s nostrils flared, and he grunted but put down his phone. "How’d he get our address?"

I shook my head. "I don’t know. Joe swears he didn’t give it to him." I pursed my lips. "He must’ve seen it at Dan’s — on a document or something."

Ted frowned. "Did you call the cops? Daniels?"

I made a face and snickered. "And tell him what? That somebody had the nerve to ring my bell and say thank you? Not against the law as far as I know. Even for murder defendants." I went back to my ice cream which at least made my hormones happy. "Let’s just forget about it."

Ted stared at me. "What is it about this guy and you?"

I looked up from my ice cream. "There is no this guy and me. What do you mean?"

"Has Joe ever forced you to work on a case before?" I shook my head. "And you’ve asked off cases in the past, haven’t you?"

I smooshed my ice cream in the bowl. "Yeah, I have."

"But no matter how many times you asked, he wouldn’t let you off this one?"

Ted was aggravated enough, so I didn’t mention Dan’s cryptic note about Atkinson wanting me on the case — and I didn’t plan to tell him either. I shrugged. "Don’t read so much into it. This is probably the biggest case Joe’s ever worked as a PI." I stirred my smooshed ice cream into soft serve. "He was a homicide cop most of his life. Maybe he misses the action. Could be this case makes him feel like he’s back in the game?"

Ted nodded, put the ice cream in the freezer and his bowl in the sink. "Maybe." He came back to the butcher-block. "It still doesn’t explain why he’d push you to work a case that upsets you so much."

I took my ice cream to the sink and ran water in the bowl. "These days I don’t rate any special treatment from Joe."

Ted turned and made a face. "What? You’re like a daughter to him — he walked you down the aisle at our wedding. And he elected himself as granddaddy to our kids."

That made me want to cry. "That was then, this is now." Ted opened his arms, and I accepted the invitation. "I don’t think he gets how much this has hurt our friendship."

Ted hugged me tight. "You two will patch things up. When this is all over."

I lay my head on his chest. "It might be too late by then."

Monday morning, I couldn’t wait for Ted to go to work and for Matt and Zelda to leave. When I was finally alone, I locked the doors, made a pot of tea and parked myself in front of the TV. The show was about to begin and I didn’t want to miss a minute of it. Assistant D.A. Landi Pembroke looked striking in a turquoise suit, that hugged her long lean figure and played up her deep auburn hair. Her expression somber, she called William Hyden to the stand. And I let out a yelp.

Hyden wore a simple chambray shirt, khakis and a worried expression. His warm, expressive eyes were guarded, and he flicked a look at the defense table.

After Pembroke went through the preliminaries, she asked, "Mr. Hyden, my office contacted you early on in this case, correct?"

Hyden nodded. "Yes."

"But you declined to testify?"

Hyden nodded again. "Yes, I did."

"Can you tell us why you declined to testify previously?"

He spoke softly into the microphone. "I didn’t feel I had anything to contribute to the case."

Pembroke turned toward the jury. "But now you feel you have something to contribute to the case?"

"Yes."

"Can you tell us why? What changed your mind?"

Hyden cleared his throat and turned to the jury. "Because I saw Spencer’s testimony, and I couldn’t allow the untruth’s to remain."

Murmurs rose from the gallery and the judge said, "Silence."

Pembroke turned back to Hyden and smiled. "Did you know Tina Devereaux, Mr. Hyden?"

"Yes, I did."

"And how did you come to know Ms. Devereaux?"

Hyden cleared his throat then sipped from a water glass. "She was a student in my acting class."

My heart pounded. I leaned forward, holding my breath.

"So, your relationship was purely professional with Ms. Devereaux?"

Hyden looked at Atkinson and said, "At first, yes. But we quickly became friends." He cleared his throat again. "And then lovers."

The courtroom erupted, and the judge threatened to clear the courtroom if everyone didn’t settle down. The room went silent, and Pembroke addressed Hyden. "And while you were intimate with Ms. Devereaux, you had occasion to notice bruises and other injuries on her body?"

Hyden’s face twisted in sadness. "Yes."

Pembroke stepped closer to Hyden but looked toward the jury. "Did Ms. Devereaux offer any explanation for her injuries?"

Hyden put his hand to his mouth to compose himself. "I asked if Spencer had hurt her, and she didn’t deny it." He shrugged. "She said he was a complicated and high-strung man."

Pembroke turned toward the defense table and pointed to Atkinson. "And when you say Spencer do you mean the defendant Spencer Atkinson?"

Hyden glared at Atkinson. "Yes, I do."

"And did Ms. Devereaux ever elaborate about her relationship with the defendant?"

Hyden stared at Atkinson. "Yes. She said he had a temper and would blow up for no reason. That sometimes things got out of hand.

Pembroke turned back to Hyden. "Did Tina cite any specific events relative to the defendant blowing up or getting out of hand?"

Dan stood. "Objection Your Honor…"

The judge shook his head sternly. "Overruled counselor. Sit down." To Hyden, he said, "You may answer the question."

Hyden took a moment then said, "Yes, Spencer accused Tina of sleeping with her boss because he called her at home. They argued about it, and Spencer told her it wouldn’t be pretty if he ever caught her with another man." He looked to Pembroke for encouragement, and she nodded. "On another occasion, when they were in an ice cream parlor, a man in line complimented Tina on her smile, and Spencer dragged her out of the shop." He sighed and looked at the D.A. "She had lots of stories like that."

Dan was up and down, objecting to hearsay but was overruled. Dan grumbled. "Move to strike the last statement as unresponsive."

Landry smiled at the judge. "Your Honor, we can certainly have Mr. Hyden specify to each and every incident Tina Devereaux related to him if my esteemed colleague prefers."

The judge wasn’t having any of it from Landry either. He groused. "Move it along, counselor."

Pembroke nodded with a self-satisfied grin. "And did Tina ever describe her relationship with the defendant as abusive?"

"She never came out and said that directly, no. But it was obvious to me that she’d been abused." He shrugged. "Tina didn’t like to criticize. She tried to see the best in people."

Dan jumped to his feet. "Objection!"

Landry fanned her arms. "Withdrawn." She turned back to Hyden. "When did your relationship end with Ms. Devereaux?"

"Three months after we started seeing each other. About a year and a half ago."

"Did Ms. Devereaux offer any explanation as to why she was ending the relationship?"

Hyden took a moment to compose himself. "Spencer convinced her to go back to him. She believed he’d changed." He shrugged. "She just couldn’t cut the ties to him." Hyden wiped at his tears with the back of his hand. "I blame myself. If I could’ve stopped her, she’d be alive…"

Dan jumped to his feet. "Objection! The witness is testifying outside the scope of the question."

The judge sustained the objection and cautioned Hyden to answer only the questions put before him.

Pembroke smiled sympathetically and gently asked, "And after she resumed her relationship with the defendant, did you ever see or speak to Tina again?"

"Yes." He stifled a sob. "I saw her in the park where I used to run. She was quite pregnant by then. But I didn't speak to her."

"Why didn’t you speak to her?"

"Because she was with Spencer." He sighed. "And they looked happy together. And I thought that maybe they’d worked things out." He smiled at the jury. "I just wanted her to be happy."

"Did you see her again, after that."

Hyden’s voice cracked. "Yes, at her funeral."

Pembroke waited for Hyden to compose himself. "Did you believe yourself to be the father of Tina’s child?"

Hyden shook his head. "No, not until a few days ago."

"What happened a few days ago that changed your mind?"

My heart knocked against my rib cage, and I held my breath.

Hyden sipped water and cleared his throat again, his hands visibly shaking. He looked toward the jury. "Tina left some of her belongings at my house. Just a few things in a drawer. I guess I left it there, hoping she’d return for it. Then after she died, I couldn’t open the drawer." He shrugged. "It was my way of keeping her alive I suppose. I don’t know why, but after listening to Spencer’s testimony, I looked in her drawer."

Pembroke picked up a piece of bagged evidence and showed it to Hyden. "And is this one of the items you found in Ms. Devereaux’s drawer?" She turned to the judge and said, "For the record, this is an Easy Detector Early Pregnancy Test kit." She turned back to Hyden. "Do you recognize this, Mr. Hyden?"