Page 18 of The Summer that Changed Everything
Done with work for the day, he closed his laptop and put his credit card on the table so he could pay before the dinner rush started. There wasn’t any need to continue taking up space. But then he heard Lucy’s name and motioned for the waiter, who’d started toward him, to get him another glass of wine instead.
“That was what he said,” Patti insisted.
“But why would Lucy suddenly show up at his place out of nowhere?” Nelson responded.
“He said she doesn’t believe her father’s guilty of Aurora’s murder and she’s come back to prove it.”
“Seriously? She sat through the same trial we did. She knows her father’s a cold-blooded murderer.”
“Love for a parent is a strong bond to break. She must stillbe in denial. Otherwise, why would she ever come back here and... and upset us again? Haven’t we been through enough?”
Nelson didn’t respond right away. When he did, his speculative tone surprised Ford. “Except...”
“What?” Patti had obviously picked up on the change.
“You know what Reggie’s like, Patti. He’s hardly a pillar of the community.”
“What does that mean?” she demanded.
“It means I’ve often wondered how reliable he is. A person like that would probably say anything to save his own skin. And the police were under so much pressure to solve the case... Maybe they were a little too eager to accept his story.”
“You can’t really mean that!”
“I’d be lying if I said his lack of credibility has never crossed my mind.”
Patti lowered her voice; Ford had to strain to hear her. “I don’t care if hewaslying. And when he called me, I told him as much. So what if the police had to bend a few rules? At least they got the man responsible for our child’s murder! Mick McBride’s in prison now, where he belongs. That’s what counts.”
“That’s why I’ve never openly questioned Reggie’s testimony. But think about it for a second. What if hewaslying?”
Patti leaned closer to her husband. “Where are you going with this? You always have to play devil’s advocate, but I’m not having it. Not when it comes to Aurora.”
“Honey, I loved her, too,” he said soothingly. “So bear with me for a second.”
Apparently, she wasn’t willing to even entertain the idea because she came back fighting. “Mick McBride has to have done it!”
Ford was tempted to turn so he could see them in more than his peripheral vision, but he was afraid that would draw their attention. So he continued to sit quietly, with his back slightly to them, as Nelson lowered his voice.
“Calm down. We’re in public.”
“You think that matters to me? You thinkanythingmatters more than Aurora?”
“I’m not challenging you. I just wish there’d been more direct evidence.”
“Mick McBride killed the Matteos, too. It’s not like he’s rotting away on the testimony of only one unreliable witness!”
“I’m glad he got caught. It’s just... hard to think that... that maybe the person who took Aurora’s life might still be out there.”
“Oh, my God!” Patti cried. “Are you listening to yourself? There is no one else! Are you forgetting how jealous his daughter was of Aurora? Aurora was everything Lucy wasn’t.”
“Some would say Lucy was beautiful, too,” Nelson said, which Ford had to applaud, given the man’s obvious prejudice. Personally, Ford had found Lucy to be more attractive.
“She was no good, just like him,” Patti spat. “The way he rambled around this town at night was creepy, especially in retrospect. He had the opportunity, and his own daughter gave him the motive.”
“But I wouldn’t be able to trust what Reggie said if I didn’t want to believe it so badly. You don’t feel the same?”
She lowered her voice again. “Of course I do. But... why would he lie about this?”
When Nelson didn’t answer, Ford had to assume he was giving his wife a shocked look. Reggie definitely had something to gain; Nelson had already pointed that out.
