Page 62 of Inherited Light
Cat was concentrating as we spoke. “I haven’t hung out with Xavier in easily five years. Ren would likely know more about him than I do since they played ball together. I do know he made at least three enemies for every friend he made. He wasn’t well-liked in the baseball community and he had an ego big enough to take up the whole room. Anyone who dared tarnish the image of Xavier Carellton would end up on his list. Take Ren for example. Somehow it got back to Xavier we were going out and he immediately decided to threaten him.”
“I don’t understand why,” Noah said. “If you really haven’t dated in years, why would he care who you date? Did you date for a long time?”
She shrugged. “It was his personality, especially if he believed he’d been wronged. We dated for maybe two months and I’m talking a handful of dates I never classified as anything serious. After the first month, it was obvious I had to get rid of him, but it took another month to accomplish it. He never took no for an answer and it was starting to scare me. He didn’t like being shot down. He never gave up even after I got rid of him the first time. He called me all the time asking to take me out. It got to the point I avoided public places because I believed he had a stalking problem.”
“But you never talked to the police?” Noah asked.
She shook her head. “Why would the police believe me? As if a guy would be obsessed with a woman in a wheelchair.”
I leaned down and kissed her cheek. “I don’t know, I’m a guy many years younger and I’m obsessed with a woman in a wheelchair.”
Her cheeks turned bright red and she held out her hand for me to take. “I guess I didn’t think it had become a dangerous situation I couldn’t handle. Maybe I was wrong?”
Noah leaned back in his seat. “I always tell women if some guy seems overly interested in you when you’ve shut down their advances over and over, chances are they’ve hit a level of obsession the police need to know about. Usually, our little speech is too late and there has already been an attack on either person or property. In this case, hindsight doesn’t matter, since he’s dead.”
“I wish I could be of more help,” Cat said, twisting her hands. “I never hung out in the same circles. He gravitated to the muscle and I preferred the creative.”
Noah addressed me. “Do you know of anyone who may have had a grudge against him? Did you run in the same circles?”
I choked back a snort of laughter at the idea. “No, I avoided his circle on purpose. I know none of the other coaches from any of the other teams liked the guy either. Many hated him, in fact. If you have access to his social media accounts or his phone, you might want to check into the women in his life. While he had a fixation with Cat, he also liked to bed ‘em and leave ‘em. He probably slept with thirty women in the last year alone, and I’m not exaggerating.”
“Do you think another coach could have done this?” Noah asked, scribbling in his book.
“Half of Little Ivywood and Martindale could have done it, Noah. All it would take would be him messing with the wrong person. The way he was killed almost feels like a crime of passion, though.”
Noah’s eyebrow rose up toward his hairline. “Care to elaborate?”
“He died from a blow to his head with a hammer, right?” He nodded and I held my hand out. “He sleeps with a woman who isn’t mentally stable,” I explained shaking the hand, “and she takes a swing at him to make it appear like it was someone from a ball team.”
He waved his hand. “Wait, you think whoever this is would have gone to all the trouble of setting you or Cat up to throw the blame off them?”
I rubbed my chin. “It’s the most troubling part, to be honest. Whoever this is had to be watching me to know what I was doing and where I traveled. They had to see the opportunity to get the toolbox and then the opportunity to get her prints on it. It’s the reason I’ve been watching our backs for the last few weeks. For one reason or another, someone has become unhinged.”
“I agree with you there. It’s all very disturbing for a town like Little Ivywood. I want to solve this case, but more than that I want the both of you safe. I think you should avoid spending any time alone, and always carry a weapon. I’m not condoning killing, but you should have something to defend yourself with, especially when at home.”
“He’s staying with me for now,” Cat said shyly. “We keep the alarm set and have his baseball bat by us at all times. I hoped this would be over by now so we could go back to our normal lives. My business is going to start suffering.”
I rubbed her back while I addressed Noah. “I’m almost done with the job at the shelter and then I don’t know what I’ll do. If I were you, I would look closely at the women in his life. Maybe he bedded a married one without knowing it or, knowing Xavier, he slept with the girlfriend of an enemy.”
Noah finished writing and laid his pen down. “Good idea. We asked about girlfriends and his roommate said he didn’t have one. He said he liked to play it fast and loose, never sticking with one woman too long. We’re getting there with the search, but his personal life is extensive.”
“I’m not surprised,” I said. “Xavier had some problems of his own and the only way he could make sense of his own life was to continue to attract attention, even if it was the wrong kind.”
Noah sighed and closed the notebook. “We’ve seen the same when going through his belongings. We found a book all about Cat, which I didn’t plan to tell you about, but I think it’s important to mention. If you ever think someone is harmless let the experts make the decision, okay?”
She nodded mutely while he and I stood. I shook his hand and he shook hers one last time. “Thanks for coming in. I know the direction we need to go now and with any luck we’ll have a suspect and an arrest in the next few days. Hang in there a little longer, okay?”
We agreed and followed him out of the interrogation room. When we got to the end of the hall, he stopped and motioned at the both of us. “Never alone, got it?”
“Yeah, man, we got it,” I said, holding her to me. “I’m stuck to her like glue.”
“Good,” he said, saluted, spun around, and trotted away.
I gazed into her eyes, which now held fear instead of love, and caressed her cheek. “I’ll keep you safe,” I promised.
Chapter Twenty-One
Cat had stayed up later than usual drawing, which made it hard for me to stash the pillows I bought earlier in the afternoon. When she took a shower, I turned on all the exterior lights, grabbed my Maglite, and dashed to the truck to get the items from the bed. I didn’t have plans to use them tonight, but considering how expensive they were, I didn’t want them stolen.
