Murder Is Secondary (13 page)

Chapter 34

“Mom, I have to talk to you,” said Joey. He and Julie had just sat down to dinner.

“Sure. What’s wrong?” said Julie. She could tell it was serious by the tone of his voice.

“The other night at the baby shower, I overheard your conversation with Zachary Chichester. Carolina and I were sitting behind the tool shed.”

“What? You were there? What exactly did you overhear?” Julie’s heart dropped to her feet. At that moment, her world changed.

“I heard everything. I heard that you were once married to him but that you changed your name and faked our deaths.”

Julie felt like she was going to faint. She took a few deep breaths and said, “Joey, I…..I never wanted you to find out this way.” She had played this scenario over and over again in her head since the day they fled from the city. Would Joey abandon her now that he knew the truth?

“Come on, Mom. Be honest. You never wanted me to find out at all.”

“Joey, it was for your own good. Zachary abused me from the day we were first married. He hit me, kicked me, ridiculed and humiliated me. He was an evil, evil man.”

“Mom, I can’t believe you went through that.”

“That wasn’t the worst thing. One day, he was angry and slapped
you
across the face. You were just a toddler. I couldn’t let him hurt you too. When I got the chance, I made us disappear. I thought we’d be safe here in Westbrook. I knew he would have come after us if he thought we were alive. He would have stopped at nothing to find us.” said Julie.

“I figured it was something like that. The way he was talking to you, I knew he would hurt––make that kill––you if someone didn’t stop him. After all, he’d already tried to kill you once. Look what he did because Amber was wearing your raincoat. He thought she was you and ran her over with a bulldozer. That was supposed to be you. What kind of lunatic does something like that anyway?”

“Lunatic is an understatement.”

“I was going to talk to the police this morning, before I heard that he’d been murdered. I’m glad he’s dead. I know you were just trying to protect me. I would do the same for you.” He hugged her.

“I love you, Joey. You are everything to me. Now that Zach is dead, I feel at peace. All these years I lived with the worry that he might find out the truth and come after us. Now we never have to worry about that again.”

“I love you too, Mom. I’ll be going to MIT next year. I don’t want you to be alone. You deserve someone who treats you right. Mr. Copland seems to make you happy.”

“I don’t want to think about you being away, but I have to admit that Tank and I are getting closer.” Julie smiled, remembering how he’d referred to her as his girlfriend that night they were being chased by Zach. “Now that he has been cleared of the murder and the sexual harassment charges, and I’m completely free from Zachary, I’m thinking our relationship can finally blossom. He’s a wonderful man. We’ve been friends for many years.”

“I like Mr. Copland a lot. I hope things work out for the two of you.”

“Thanks, Joey.”

Chapter 35

Dalia had just finished her phone conversation with Julie. They both felt relieved and free now that Zachary was gone. She was thankful that she’d met Julie and that she had warned her about Zach being in town. She’d felt as if she had an ally. Julie was probably the only other person in the world who knew what it was like to live with Zach. She heard a knock.

“Phillip, you shouldn’t be here,” said Dalia when she opened the door and saw her lover. “We don’t want anyone to become suspicious about us being involved.”

“I couldn’t help it. I wanted to see you.” He embraced her and tried to kiss her but Dalia pulled back.

“I miss you too, but I think we need to be careful. You have an alibi for the night of the murder, but I was there at the party. Fortunately, there’s no apparent motive for me wanting Zachary dead. As far as the world is concerned, I’m just a grieving widow. However, if the police find out I’m having an affair with my husband’s business partner, or that his business partner is stealing from the company right under my husband’s nose, that will cast a shadow of suspicion over us.”

“I guess you’re right,” said Phillip. “I don’t want anything to jeopardize our future––our family’s future––together.”

“And that’s another thing. No one knows I’m pregnant yet. I figure I’ll pull out that card––the poor pregnant widow thing––if and when I need to.”

“What about Kaitlyn and Joey? Do you think they’ll come forward and tell the police they are still alive? How will that affect the life insurance money? Won’t they have a claim to it? And to Zach’s half of the company?”

“I’m sure Zach must have put me as his sole beneficiary. I don’t
think
it will be a problem. Julie wouldn’t risk going to the police. After all, there’s no reason to now.”

“Alright.” Phillip sat down on the bed. “Let’s order some room service. I’ll go back in the morning.”

Chapter 36

Susan picked up Lynette on the way to Ihop. Lynette had been having cravings for chocolate chip pancakes and Susan, being the good mother that she was, decided to forgo her morning oatmeal with flaxseeds and instead take her daughter out for breakfast. She wanted to tell Lynette about finding the adoption papers and ask her how difficult it would be to find her birth parents, if she decided she wanted to go forward with a search. After inhaling the aroma of coffee and carbs, they sat down at a table, and opened their menus. Lynette could no longer comfortably fit in a booth.

“I’ve been craving pancakes all week,” said Lynette.

“One of the perks of being retired is being able to go out for breakfast on a weekday morning,” said Susan. She ordered banana nut pancakes, with bacon and sugar-free syrup.

“Lynette, I want to talk to you about something. The other day I went down to the bank to close out Grandma’s accounts. I’d forgotten all about her safety deposit box, but when the lady at the bank reminded me, I decided to gather the contents and close that out also.”

The waitress put a steaming carafe of coffee down on the table. Susan poured herself a cup as she tried to talk herself into continuing this story.

“When I looked inside, I found the usual things––a marriage license, a passport––but I also found something quite unexpected.”

“What did you find?” asked Lynette.

“I found adoption papers.
My
adoption papers. Lynette, Grandma and Grandpa weren’t my real parents. They adopted me.”

“What?” said Lynette. Susan watched as Lynette’s jaw literally dropped. “Did I hear what I thought I heard?”

“I couldn’t believe it either. It’s taken me a few days to absorb the whole thing and even be able to talk about it,” said Susan.

“Why did Grandma and Grandpa hide this from you?”

“Back then, there was more of a stigma associated with adoption. This explains why Grandma was in her forties when she had me though. She had probably tried for years to conceive before that. Maybe she was embarrassed that she couldn’t get pregnant.” Susan wished she hadn’t said that.

“I know what that’s like,” said Lynette. Susan remembered how difficult it was for Lynette to become pregnant. She and Jason had tried for quite a while before it happened. “Do the papers give the names of your real parents?”

“You mean my birth parents? Grandma and Grandpa will always be my real parents. No, it was a closed adoption.”

“Do you want to search for them?” asked Lynette.

“I’m still not sure. I have mixed emotions. On the one hand, it’s very difficult for me to squelch my natural curiosity. On the other, I’m afraid of what I might find out. There’s a good chance they are no longer even alive. Not everyone lives to be 101 like Grandma did.”

The waitress set a heaping plate of chocolate chip pancakes in front of Lynette, and a stack of banana nut pancakes in front of Susan. That first bite tasted like heaven itself.

“Well,” said Lynette, “sit with it until you feel comfortable. If you decide to search for them, I’ll be happy to help. This is hard to believe. What did Dad think about this?”

Susan poured herself another cup of coffee.

“You know, I haven’t even told him yet. He has so much on his mind already. This is a difficult thing for me to talk about. I’ll sit down with him and tell him the whole story soon though.” Both she and Lynette had attacked their plates with gusto, but both were now beginning to slow down.

“I’m getting stuffed,” said Lynette.

“I’ll ask for boxes when the waitress comes back. You know, Lynette, I have something to tell you that may be related to the murder case,” Susan had decided it was time to share the news about Julie’s fake identity.

“What is it, Mom?”

“It’s about Julie Martin. She…”

“Owww,” cried Lynette. She clutched her stomach and doubled over. “It hurts.”

“Lynette, Lynette, what’s wrong?” Susan could see that Lynette was in pain and she herself began to panic. She got out of her seat and looked around the restaurant. “Is anyone here a doctor?” she asked.

“Call 911,” said Lynette. She clutched Susan’s hand. “I think something is terribly wrong. I’m so scared that the baby is in trouble.”

Chapter 37

Susan rode in the ambulance with Lynette and called Mike and Jason to tell them what was happening. She was so upset, she wondered if they understood half of what she said. When the ambulance arrived at the hospital, Lynette was quickly taken to the emergency room while Susan paced the floor of the waiting room. She was terrified that her daughter and grandchild were in jeopardy. Soon, Mike and Jason arrived. The nurse took Jason to the back to be with Lynette while Mike stayed with Susan.

“What’s going on?” asked Mike. “Is she okay? Is the baby alright?” Mike generally kept his cool during emergencies, but Susan could tell by his voice that he was every bit as worried as she was.

“I don’t know anything yet. Everything was just fine. We were enjoying our pancakes when suddenly Lynette doubled over in pain. I called 911 and they came almost immediately. I’m so scared.” Mike put his arms around her.

“I’m sure it will be okay. You got her here right away and so far this pregnancy has been smooth sailing. I wish we could do something. I hate that all we can do is wait.” Mike went to the vending machine and handed Susan a cup of bitter tasting coffee. He paced back and forth across the room while they waited.

After what seemed like an eternity, Jason came into the waiting room.

“How is she? How’s the baby?” asked Susan.

“They are both going to be okay, but the doctor has put Lynette on bed rest. The pain has stopped but they want to keep her here a few hours to make sure.”

“Oh, thank God,” said Susan. She felt her body relax.

“Jason, we’ll be there for you. Susan and I can stay with her while you are at work,” said Mike. His strained expression had softened.

“I don’t think she will need someone there every minute, but I’m sure she’ll appreciate some regular company. The doctor says she has to avoid stress.”

“Knowing Lynette, it’s going to be hard for her to stay put,” said Mike.

“Yes, but I know she’ll do everything the doctor says in order to protect the baby,” said Jason.

“The important thing is that she stays calm and follows doctor’s orders. I’ll order up some Netflix, pop some popcorn, and spend my afternoons with her.”

“Thanks. We’re lucky to have you both nearby. Speaking of which, I need to call my parents and let them know what’s going on. Let me go back and do that.”

“I’ll call you tonight,” said Susan. She guessed she would have to explore Julie’s past on her own now.

Chapter 38

After the scare with Lynette earlier that day, Susan was having trouble falling asleep. She started thinking about the secrets Julie was keeping. If Julie had faked her own death, then whose identity was she using? Was there a real Julie Martin? If so, where was she? Was she dead? If Julie was capable of keeping her identity a secret for so long, perhaps she wasn’t as sweet and naïve as she seemed. Did she have anything to do with the death of the real Julie Martin?

If Zachary posed a threat to her and Joey, that could have been a motive for murder. A mother will go to any lengths to protect her child. If Julie had something to do with the real Julie’s death, perhaps Zachary had found out and that would be an even stronger motive. And then there was Tank. Julie seemed like she really cared about him. How could she let him take the blame for a murder she committed?

Susan must have eventually fallen asleep because the next time she looked, the alarm clock said 7:00 and the sun was out.
Mike must be downstairs having breakfast
, she thought. This may be a good time to tell him what I found out about my parents.

“Good morning. I’m glad you finally fell asleep last night. You were tossing and turning something fierce,” said Mike. He scooped some scrambled eggs out of the frying pan and put them on a plate. “Do you want some? I can make more.”

“No thanks. You have to get to work. I’ll sit down with you and have some coffee for now.”

“Jason already called this morning. He knows we are early risers. Lynette is doing just fine. At the moment, she’s relishing the idea of lounging around in bed all day, but we know her better than that. It won’t be long until she starts feeling restless.”

“I know, but she will put the baby’s wellbeing above everything else. You know that.” She swallowed hard. “Mike,” she hesitated. “Hey, there’s something I want to talk to you about,”

“What is it? You look very serious all of a sudden. I know you’ve had a lot on your mind these days.”

Susan took a deep breath. “I found out something shocking about my parents the other day.”

“Shocking? Like what––your mom came from a line of Scottish royalty and abdicated the throne to marry your commoner father?”

“Come on, Mike. Just listen.” She went on to tell him how she’d found the adoption papers in the safety deposit box.

“That’s unbelievable. Why didn’t you tell me sooner? You must have been shocked. Why did you wait this long to tell me?”

“I know. It’s just that I needed to get over the initial shock before I could talk about it. And you were so stressed about Tank.”

“Did it say in the papers the names of your birth parents?”

“No. It was a closed adoption. I don’t even know if the agency still exists and whether or not I even want to pursue this. What if I find out my parents were criminals or something?”

“She was probably an unwed teen. Back in those days it was considered something to be ashamed of, being pregnant and unwed. Lots of times in those cases, parents sent their daughter away somewhere to have the baby, then it was given up for adoption. As far as anyone knew, the girl went on an extended trip to visit relatives or study abroad, then came back home like nothing had ever happened.”

“You’re probably right. I don’t remember watching any Teen Mom reality shows on the three television stations we got when I was a kid, no siree.”

“Lynette can probably help you find them. She has time on her hands now. I’ll bet she wouldn’t mind searching from her laptop or making a few phone calls.” Mike grabbed another cup of coffee.

“Not yet. I can’t decide what I want to do. I need to think about it a while longer.”

“Okay, then. You know I’ll support you whatever you decide. Did you tell Lynette yet?”

“Yes. She said she’d help me if I decided I wanted to find them. I’m not sure what the point would be. They may very well be dead or if not, I’m sure they went on to have families of their own. How would their children react to this? It could turn a lot of lives into a tailspin.”

“Hey, you might have brothers and sisters running around out there.”

“Yeah, I hadn’t thought of that. Maybe I’m Angelina Jolie’s long lost sister or something.”

“Yeah, you look so much alike.” Susan gave him a swat. “You know I meant that she would be jealous if she saw how beautiful her older sister was,” said Mike.
Boy
, thought Susan.
I have trained this man well.

“I’ve got to get to work but we can talk about this some more later. Love ya.”

“Love you too,” said Susan.