The Magnolia Affair (12 page)

The doorbell rang.

“I’ll get it,” Avery offered. “It’s probably more flowers. I wish people would think of something else to send.”

She walked into the kitchen followed by Detective Pendleton and two other officers. “Audrey?” She searched my face for comfort. I had none to offer.

I stood, tightening the robe around my chest. I was still in my T-shirt.

“Mrs. Kingston, we’re here to search your house.” He held up a document. “We have a search warrant.”

“Excuse me?”

“What are you talking about?” Avery stood in front of me.

“We need to search the house. We believe there is evidence that can assist with your husband’s case.”

“Oh. Ok.” My breath returned to a normal rhythm. “I haven’t seen anything.”

“We understand. If you and your sister could stay here, we’ll collect the evidence we need and get out of your hair.”

“All right.” I sat at the table.

Avery whispered to me, “Do you need to call one of the attorneys?”

I shook my head. “No, I guess they’re just going through Spence’s things.” I could hear them in the office.

“Is this legal?” she questioned.

“If they have a warrant, it is. They could have just asked me.” I stared out the window. The magnolia blocked my view of Paxton’s house. Damn him.

Twenty minutes later, the officers hauled our desktop and a box of files to their car. Pendleton walked toward me.

“I’m going to need your phone.” He held out his hand.

I froze. “My phone?”

“Yes. It’s included in the warrant.” He reached in his pocket to show the warrant for the cell phone.

I picked it up off the table. Everything was in it. The texts from Paxton were there. Pendleton would know.

He plucked it from my hand, rather too triumphantly for a man who had been feigning sympathies to a widow.

“When can I get it back? All my contacts are on there. I don’t have a landline.” I prayed he would scan it and hand it back.

“It’s part of the investigation. You will probably need to get a new phone.” He walked toward the front door. I locked the door behind him.

“Avery?”

“Yeah?”

“I need to borrow your phone.”

“Sure. Want to call mom?” she asked.

“No, I need to call an attorney.”

She looked worried. “Here you go.”

I watched the cars back out of the driveway. There was a black car parked in front of the house. It didn’t leave with the others. The man behind the wheel had on sunglasses and a dark suit.

I didn’t want his help. I didn’t want any of this. The anger engulfed me.

“I’ll be right back.” I left the phone on the table.

“Where are you going?”

I ignored her and slammed the door behind me.

I threw the tennis ball for Pepper so he wouldn’t try to follow me to the edge of the yard. I pushed past the magnolia branches.

I didn’t know if he was home, but since it was Sunday morning, I had a good chance of finding him here. I banged on the kitchen door.

“Audrey, come in.” He looked over my shoulder.

“Did you hire someone to watch my house?” I demanded.

“Yes, you need protection. You’re not safe.”

“Stop pretending like I’m in danger. I told you I didn’t want your help. I don’t need it.”

“Until we know for sure who killed Spencer, I’m not taking any chances with your life. I know you hate me right now. You’re angry. But that doesn’t change how I feel about you. I’m going to keep you safe.”

I shoved his chest. “You bastard! The only person I need protection from is you. And I’m going to tell the police.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I know you killed him.” I bit back angry hot tears.

“You can’t be serious. I would never— I couldn’t even think about…”

“Shut up. Just shut up! This isn’t a political rally or a press conference. There’s no one to hear your spin.”

He grabbed my shoulders. “There’s no spin. I didn’t kill Spencer. Believe that.”

“You did. You had to.” I let the first tear escape.

He wrapped an arm around my shoulder, and for a second, I let him pull me against his chest. “I know you did.”

He ran his fingers through my hair. “Shh…you’re hurt. You’re angry. You’re scared.”

I closed my eyes. I was all of those things. I couldn’t think straight.

“Let me help you. I can’t stand that you’re in pain.”

The tension in my frame eased at his words.

“Look at me, Audrey.”

I raised my eyes, the tears gathering on my bottom lids.

“Tell me why you think I would do anything in this world to hurt you? I love you.”

I looked into his eyes. The eyes of a man I just accused of being a murderer. Suddenly, I felt stupid for shoving him and yelling at him. It was reckless.

“I got carried away. I shouldn’t have said anything.” I pushed away from him. “I have to go.” I pulled the door open. “You should know the police have my phone.”

Panic streaked across his face. “What?”

“They showed up with a search warrant and took it. They’ll find out about us in one text message.”

I closed the door behind me.

I
had never been in a police station before. Never. The interrogation room, as they called it, was like a rundown conference room at school. A long table in the middle, surrounded by chairs, the stuffing plucked and pulled where the vinyl had been picked.

Detective Pendleton had returned to the house only an hour after he left. He asked me to ride with him to the station. He promised it wasn’t anything formal. He just had a few more questions to ask me about Spencer.

I agreed and asked Avery to have Stella Price meet me there. She was the only female partner at Spence’s firm. If I were going to be humiliated with the revelation of the affair, I’d rather have her next to me.

I waited in the room, the fluorescent lights buzzing overhead. The door opened and Stella walked in. She had on a suit. I don’t know why I thought she might wear jeans on a Sunday.

“Audrey, you ok?” She squeezed my hand.

“I am. I’m scared.”

“I’m sure you are. But this is routine.” She pulled out a leather-bound notebook and began scribbling.

“They came to the house this morning with a warrant. They took Spence’s hard drive and some files.”

“Ok.” She underlined something on the pad.

“And they have my cell phone.”

“We can probably get that back. I bet they were looking for last texts from Spence. Something that would help put together the timeline before the shooting. Do you know why he was driving back in the middle of the night?”

“No. I didn’t hear from him at all that night.”

“All right. Then, there’s nothing on the phone that can help. I’ll make sure we get that back today.”

I shook my head. “There’s something on it.” I wrung my hands in my lap.

“What is it?”

“I was having an affair.”

If Stella thought I was a slut or a murderess psychopath, she didn’t let on. She scribbled more notes. “How long?”

“What?” I was waiting for a lecture. I was waiting for shock and the look of disappointment. I was wearing shame and I needed someone to see it.

“How long had it been going on?”

“Three months.”

“Name?”

“Paxton Tanner.”

She laid the pen down. “The candidate, Paxton Tanner?”

“Yes.”

“The one on the front page of the paper this morning?”

“Yes, that one.”

“Were you planning on leaving Spencer for him?” Stella picked up the pen again.

I shook my head. “I don’t think so. I mean, we only talked about it once. I hadn’t really decided yet. I was confused. I—”

“Did Spencer know?” she asked.

“No, he didn’t know.” I hung my head.

“Is there maybe some way he could have found out about it?”

“No. No one knew. We were careful.” God, that sounded awful. I realized all the lengths I had gone to to keep my secret from my husband. That crime seemed almost worse than the affair. Secrets on top of lies.

“Tell me about the texts before the detective walks in. I don’t need to be surprised.”

I tried to think about the things Paxton and I sent to each other. It was careless to leave them on my phone, but I liked reading them. Since Spence died, I hadn’t thought to delete anything.

“You know, just messages to each other about when we would see each other.”

“Anything explicit?”

“Yes. They were.” I couldn’t look at her.

“Just from him, or did you write them too?” The questions didn’t stop.

“Both, I guess.” I tried to think of the dirtiest thing I wrote. Probably something about him being inside me. I grabbed my stomach.

“Audrey, you ok?” Stella paused.

“No.” I didn’t think I’d ever answer that question any other way.

“Do you need a second, or can I keep going?” Her eyes wore concern.

“Just keep going. I have to get through this.”

“Were there any texts or emails about you two running off together? Anything that would suggest you might be planning on leaving your husband?”

I closed my eyes. “No. Nothing like that. It was only about us.”

She pursed her lips. “Do you think there’s a possibility Tanner is involved? Candidate Tanner, that is.”

“I don’t know. It’s possible. He owns a gun and he told me he wanted me to leave Spence the same night he died. He also has
people
. People who can make things happen. Things get erased if he wants them to.” I started babbling, spouting off things I knew about Paxton. My theories about Sarah I didn’t know I had. The car accident, how he probably had her run off the road. It wouldn’t stop. I kept talking until the door opened.

“Ms. Price. Mrs. Kingston.” Detective Pendleton dropped into the open seat. “Thanks for meeting with me. I have a few questions. Nothing official, you understand.” He flipped open the lid on his laptop.