Page 45 of Half Baked

Maddie

We left Dawn soon after that. Noah gave her his card on the way out, telling her to contact him if she ever thought of anything either of us might want to know.

We headed down the hall before I stopped, pressed my back to the wall, and closed my eyes, taking several deep breaths. I was close to crying, but I knew Noah had another interview set up. “We’re meeting with Rebecca Hennessy next?”

Noah wrapped his arms around my back and pulled me to his chest, tucking my head under his chin. I told myself it was okay if he hugged me. Friends offered hugs when they were in pain. But I couldn’t ignore the fact that he’d been declaring himself my boyfriend. With Dawn, I could see it as part of the ruse for him being with me while I asked questions. But he didn’t need a reason with Trista.

I liked him claiming me, a little too much. It gave me hope that we really could make this work.

He held me for several seconds before saying, “I’m sorry if I talked too much. I said I would let you ask the questions, but I jumped in anyway.”

“No,” I said, my voice muffled as I pressed my cheek to his shirt. “I’m glad you asked. Thank you.”

“That had to be hard. She told us some difficult things.”

“I’m more upset by the things she refused to say.”

He pulled back slightly, studying my face. “You caught it too.”

“I’d have to have been on the other side of town to miss it. I just can’t put my finger on what she was leaving out.”

“I think your mom had a boyfriend she never told you about.”

“I know that’s what she implied, but I don’t see how,” I said, pulling out of his embrace. “There were never any men.”

“Dawn said your mom didn’t want introduce men to you. It doesn’t mean she wasn’t meeting them somewhere else. Your mom was beautiful, and she was pretty young. Not only would she have attracted men’s attention, but she probably wanted it too.”

I shook my head. “No. Not my mom.”

“Dawn said she had a wild streak before she had you. It’s not an easy trait to smother.” He paused and seemed to choose his words carefully. “What if she just didn’t date anyone seriously enough to want to introduce them to you?”

I narrowed my eyes. “Are you calling my mother a slut, Noah Langley?”

He held up his hands in defense. “Far be it from me to judge someone’s sex life or lack thereof. I’m saying that Dawn said she didn’t want you to meet the men she dated. For all we know, she could have had many boyfriends or one-night stands.” He paused again. “Remember how I told you the crime lab had photos of the scene? The tech showed them to me. Whoever killed your mother didn’t do it in cold blood. It was vicious.”

The hall spun slightly, and I reached out and grabbed fistfuls of Noah’s shirt to stay upright. His arm returned behind my back, holding me with gentle pressure.

“Sorry. I should have phrased that differently.”

I shook my head. “No. I want to hear the truth, even when it’s hard.” I drew in a breath. “So you think one of her many boyfriends could have killed her. I may not be a cop, but it sounds like you’re talking about a crime of passion.”

He nodded slightly. “She was raped, stabbed,andstrangled. Whoever killed her was furious.” He tugged me a little closer. “It could have been a spurned lover. I think that’s one possibly we need to pursue.”

“What about the president of the women’s club?”

“It’s worth looking into, but given the fact your mother was raped and the president was out of town, likely confirmed, it seems weak.”

“And the other possibilities?”

“We need to look into Tony and his family.”

“Why? I never met my fatherorhis family. Aunt Deidre said the authorities contacted him after Mom was killed about taking custody of me, and he refused. What possible motivation would they have had to kill my mother?”

“You were close to finishing your sophomore year. College was on the horizon. Dawn said you were the most important thing in her life. What if she was trying to make sure financial constraints weren’t holding you back from going to the school of your choice? She might have asked them for money and pissed them off.”

“I doubt that’s likely,” I said. “I’d planned to go to Knoxville. That’s where my mother went and apparently met Tony. It’s a state school. I would have probably needed loans, but I could have done it.”

“How did you afford it after she died?”

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