Page 52 of One Last Lie

What I learn is very telling.

“You can’t ask me to do that. They’re my children.”

“They’re his children.”

“They’re my children too.”

“Yeah, but be honest. They would rather it was you in the ground, not Johnathan.”

I stiffen at that. A little coffee spills over and burns my hands, and I bite my lip to keep from crying out from the pain. I wait for Cecilia to fly off the handle at him and kick him out of her house, but instead, I hear her sigh and say, “Yeah, you got that right. Elijah’s halfway to thinking I killed him.”

“Has he asked about me?”

I flinch again, but this time, I don’t notice the pain from the spilled coffee. Why would he ask that? Why would that thought follow Cecilia’s?

“I mean, I’m the one who was investigating the death. Does he think I did something?”

I relax slightly. If he’s the officer in charge of investigating Johnathan’s death, then maybe it makes sense that he would worry Elijah would be angry at him.

Still…

“He thinks I did something. I don’t know if he suspects you.”

“Cecilia, if he thinks you murdered Johnathan, you need to get him out of the house. It’s too risky to keep him here. Isabella hates me, and if she gets wind that Elijah thinks you’re a killer, she’s going to start looking for a reason to implicate me. We can’t risk that.”

“They’re my kids.”

“I can give you more kids. It’ll be like we talked about. We can have the family we always wanted.”

“I want my children, Richard. They’re my family.”

“Well, I can’t be with you if the kids are here just waiting for an excuse to point the finger at both of us. No, I… God, I didn’t mean that. I just… I’m tired of living a lie. Aren’t you?”

She laughs drily. “It’s a little late to change that.”

“You know what I mean. Hey, what’s taking the coffee so long?”

I open the door and walk into the room with a plastic smile on my face. “I apologize for the wait! Here’s the coffee.”

I set one cup in front of Richard and the other in front of Cecilia. Cecilia actually smiles at me and thanks me. I would think that she’s putting on an act, but her eyes are elsewhere. She’s forgotten entirely about the fight we had earlier, at least for the moment.

Richard smiles, too, but he seems irritated that I'm here. I think he saw my invitation as a chance to talk to Cecilia alone, but now he realizes that I'm not just going to disappear into the ether.

“Should we talk in your room?” he asks Cecilia.

Cecilia gives him a dry stare, clearly assuming he wants to do something other than talk. That doesn’t seem to stop her, though. “Sure. Why not? I’m sure it’ll be more fun than this.”

“I didn’t mean…” Richard catches himself and looks at me. He smiles and says, “Sorry to abandon you so soon, Miss Wilcox. Thank you for the coffee.”

"Oh, not at all," I say, flipping my hand dismissively. "I understand you have private things to discuss. I'll finish my coffee, then get started on some chores." I look at Cecilia. "Don't worry. I'll leave enough to keep the children occupied when they return."

She gives me another absent smile, then leads Richard from the room. I wait until I hear the door to her bedroom close.

Then I get up and rush to Johnathan’s study.

CHAPTER TWENTY ONE

I don’t know what exactly draws me to the study. It’s some instinct that runs deeper than thought. I know that what I need to find, I'll discover in the most private of Johnathan's sanctums.

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