Page 57 of What Happened Last Night

“It’s my turn to ask the questions, Detective, as it seems to me that you’ve been asking the wrong ones,” Morrie said.

He turned back to face the Aldens. I wondered briefly why he seemed to be holding the gun on Carlotta, being that it was William he had so many issues with, but now wasn’t the time to ponder small details like that. Now was the time to appease Morrie until he dropped that damned gun. I could shoot him, of course, but he would have time to pull his own trigger if I did, and even if I took him down with one shot, he would be able to kill Carlotta before he fell.

“What do you want to know?” William asked, seeming to have gotten over his offense at Morrie breaking into his home.

“I want to know the truth. All of it. Not the half-assed version you two gave to the police,” Morrie said.

Both of the Aldens turned their gazes to me, and I realized they were waiting for me to instruct them on what to do. I had only a split second to think about it and the answer came to me almost instantly. It would be risky, but I thought the only way to diffuse this situation was to get Morrie’s anger off the Aldens and force him to focus on me.

“Well, you both know we don’t have enough evidence one way or the other to charge either of you,” I said, purposely keeping my tone casual. “And anything you say here would be classed as being under duress and would never hold up in court, so you might as well do as he says.”

I paused for a moment to gauge Morrie’s reaction. He didn’t turn away from the Aldens for even a second, and I knew I had to push it a bit further. Morrie had always been obsessed with William; certain he was the culprit. Maybe if I made it seem as though the investigation was leaning more toward Carlotta being the guilty party, it would make Morrie angry at me.

“Come on, Carlotta, you’ve avoided jail already. You might as well just tell us what happened,” I said.

It didn’t have the desired effect. Morrie kept the gun on Carlotta. But Carlotta composed herself a little. She nodded her head and cleared her throat.

“You know what, Detective? I think it’s time I did just that,” she said.

I hadn’t managed to disarm Morrie yet, and I knew I had to keep my focus on him, but I also heard the resignation in Carlotta’s voice, and I knew instinctively that the story she was going to tell Morrie really was going to be the actual truth.

Chapter Thirty-One

Carlotta

Idon’t really know what came over me there. I went from being so terrified I thought I would actually pass out from the fear to being so calm and accepting of the situation in the blink of an eye. I don’t know if it was a sudden rush of adrenaline or whether it was more a quiet acceptance of the fact that I was likely going to die there, but I suddenly felt calm, almost serene.

I thought that maybe what had really calmed me down was knowing I was finally going to get to tell my story. The truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help me God. Because that’s what they were going to get. Detective Del Rey would know I was speaking the truth. No one could lie convincingly with a gun pushed into their face. And Morrie would hear how it was all a tragic accident, and maybe he would put the gun down. At the very least, he would see he had it on the wrong person. Not that I wanted him to shoot William. He was still an asshole, but I didn’t wish to see him shot. But if Morrie started to move the gun’s position, it would be the opportunity Detective Del Rey needed to shoot him without risking our lives.

“Morrie,” Detective Del Rey said before I had a chance to start my story. “Don’t you think it would be a whole lot more civilized if you and I put our guns down and we all sat down for this?”

“No, Detective,” Morrie said, his eyes not leaving my face. “What I think is that suggestions like those might lead to someone being shot here.”

“Okay, I hear you,” Detective Del Rey said.

He nodded to me and I cleared my throat.

“Where do you want me to start, Mr. Xavier?” I asked in a level voice.

“How about with the part about your husband breaking my daughter’s heart?” Morrie said.

I nodded and cleared my throat again.

“Yes, my husband had an affair with your daughter. I didn’t know it at the time, but Candy thought it was more than an affair. She thought they were starting a real relationship. Of course, that was never the case. When I found out about the affair and told William to end it, he did. And that’s when Candy started showing up here, watching the house. She even knocked on my door one day, you know. I think she wanted to size up the competition or whatever,” I said.

Morrie was glaring at William now, but the gun was still very much trained on me. It was more nerve wracking that way somehow, looking into the barrel of a gun and knowing the person holding it is mad at someone else and might just react and shoot you.

“Mr. Xavier?” I said, bringing Morrie’s attention back to me. “I apologize for my part in this. If I had any idea Candy was unstable because of the affair, I would have come to you, told you she needed help. But I didn’t know. I thought she was just jealous and wanted to try and split William and me up.”

“You don’t have to apologize for that,” Morrie said. “It’s that fucker who couldn’t keep his dick in his pants.”

He made a fair point, and I gave him a half nod and then continued.

“On the night in question, Candy broke into our home. She was drunk or high or maybe both. She clearly wasn’t rational. She was talking about William leaving me, about their being a family. William tried to calm her down, but she was just getting more agitated. She had a knife and she came at me with it. There is no doubt in my mind that if William hadn’t gotten between us, she would have killed me.

“William jumped between us, and he pushed Candy away from me. For a moment, she seemed like she had regained her footing, but then she stumbled again and lost her balance. She flew through the air and crashed into the window. She fell out of it, and well, I think you know what happened then.”

“Haven’t I told you from day one that he was responsible for killing my daughter, Detective?” Morrie said.

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