Murder Past Due (30 page)

That’s exactly how Kanesha looked.

Rick spoke again. “Son, I’m truly sorry you had to find out this way.”

“Mama, is it true?” Justin put a trembling hand on Julia’s arm.

Julia didn’t answer.

“It has to be,” Rick said, his voice steady. “I suspected it for a long time, and I just let it go, I guess. Julia had dumped me for Godfrey. And then she went and married Ezra. She made it clear she didn’t want me, even though I’d asked her to marry me.” He paused. “I didn’t realize until today that she was claiming Godfrey was the boy’s father. I couldn’t let the lie go on any further.”

“How can you be sure?” Kanesha asked.

Rick shrugged. “The last time I saw Julia back then”—and we all understood that
saw
was a euphemism—“was in early December. Godfrey didn’t blow into town until mid-January.”

We could all do the math. If Rick was right, Godfrey couldn’t have been Justin’s father.

“Did Mr. Priest know about your relationship with Mr. Tackett?” Kanesha went back on the attack.

“No,” Julia said. “He was only here for about two weeks that time, and I made sure he didn’t hear about it. He never knew.”

I had to speak up, though it hurt me to do so. “He found out about it on Tuesday,” I said. “I told him. It just came up in the conversation. My family and I were here for Christmas that year, and we saw Julia and Rick together. I told Godfrey that, and he seemed surprised by it.”

“She told Godfrey the boy was a preemie.” Andrea Ferris got off the sofa and came to stand near me. “When Godfrey first told me about it, he said he was thankful the boy hadn’t had any significant health problems despite being two months premature.”

“Mr. Priest confronted you that afternoon, Mrs. Wardlaw. He had figured out that he might not be Justin’s father. I imagine he was very angry with you.” Kanesha glared at Julia.

Julia was sobbing now. All she could do was nod.

Rick got up from his chair and extended a hand across the coffee table to Justin. “Son, I think you should come with me.” He glanced at Kanesha, and she nodded.

Justin, obviously torn, still clutching Diesel, looked first at Rick and then at his mother. Julia said, “Go. Please.” She wouldn’t look at her son.

Justin hesitated, then kissed her cheek. He gently pushed Diesel aside and got up from the couch. He moved from behind the coffee table, and Rick put an arm around the boy’s shoulders. We all watched as he led Justin from the room. Diesel came to sit by my chair.

“Mr. Harris, would you go to the door and wave at the cars parked outside? They’ll know what it means.” Kanesha moved closer to Julia, and I got up from my chair to do what the deputy asked.

As I headed for the front door, Andrea, Willie, and Miles Burton all moved to the other side of the room.

I opened the door and waved. A moment later three deputies stepped out of the cars and headed up the walk. I moved aside to let them in. I kept an eye out for Diesel in case he decided to wander outside.

I saw him scampering up the stairs when I closed the door behind the deputies. I was tempted to follow him, because I didn’t think I could bear to see Julia being arrested. I was appalled by what she had done, but I also hated the thought of her being so alone now.

I went back into the living room and sat down on the couch with her. Kanesha had begun the process of arresting her for murder.

 

 

On Monday morning when I was about to leave for the college library, Justin walked into the kitchen. With Julia in custody, he had gone home to Ezra Saturday afternoon. I went with him, to try to explain to a very bewildered man what had happened.

Ezra’s illness was taking its toll and Justin stayed with him until the evening, when Rick Tackett arrived. The boy was too dazed to make any decisions for himself, and I encouraged him to go with Rick. He was going to need a father, and Rick had the quiet strength, I thought, to help his son.

All Julia had wanted to do was help her son, too, but she had gone about it the wrong way. Godfrey had treated her badly, driving her to choose Ezra instead of going back to Rick. I had no doubt now she bitterly regretted that choice. She seemed determined, however, to make Godfrey pay for what he had done, and even though Godfrey realized Justin wasn’t his son, he must have felt guilty enough to give her money anyway. He probably thought he could simply buy her off, but by then Julia was, I suspected, so irrational that she simply acted without any consideration for the consequences. Otherwise she wouldn’t have forgotten Justin’s cell phone or have let something so simple as the time stamp on her deposit receipt trip her up.

The tragedy of it all was stunning, and I felt such pity for Julia. I could do something for her, though, by continuing to look after her son however I could.

“How are you?” I examined Justin with concern. He looked like he had slept very little the past two nights.

Justin shrugged. “I don’t really know. It’s all too freaky.”

Diesel rubbed against his legs, and Justin squatted down to hug the cat.

“Yes, it is,” I said. “I want you to know, though, if I can do anything to help you, I will.”

“Thank you,” Justin said, looking up at me. Besides the fatigue, I thought I could see the beginnings of a new maturity in his face. He stood.

“Actually, there is one thing you can do for me, if you will.” Justin watched me calmly. “I’d like to stay here with you for now.”

“Of course you can,” I said. I had to speak around a lump in my throat. “Diesel would miss you terribly, you know.”

Justin gave me the ghost of a smile. “I’d miss him, too. Rick wants me to move in with him and my brothers and sisters.” He shook his head. “That sounds so weird. I have brothers and sisters now. Half, that is, but still.”

“I’m glad. It’s good to have family.” I paused. “But it can be a bit confusing to try to get to know them all at once. Maybe you need a little time to get used to the idea.”

“Yes, sir,” Justin said. “Thank you, Mr. Charlie, and you too, Diesel.”

He stood there for a moment, and my heart ached for him. But Diesel and I would do our best to help him.

“I think I’ll go up to my room and take a nap,” Justin said.

“Sounds like a good idea.” I smiled at him. “And I’ll bet you can talk Diesel into coming with you.”

“Come on, boy,” Justin said, waggling his fingers at the cat. “Let’s go upstairs.”

I sat down at the table, forgetting about work for the moment, as boy and cat left the kitchen. I heard Justin clumping up the stairs, and I realized what a reassuring sound that was.

In the years since my wife died, I had done my best to isolate myself from all but the necessary daily contacts with other people. With my son and daughter off living their own lives, I had only Diesel for any kind of emotional companionship.

That had been enough for a while. But the shock of the events of the past week had broken through that shell I had almost unknowingly put up around me.

For a moment I fancied I could see both Jackie and Aunt Dottie sitting at the table with me. “It’s time,” Jackie would say, and Aunt Dottie would nod in agreement.

I smiled as the images I conjured up faded away, leaving only the glow of happy memories.

Yes, it was time.

I gathered my things and headed for work.