From across the room, a voice says, “I can help with that.”
We both turn to Barrington, who’s leaning against the wall, his arms crossed, watching us with an amused grin.
He gestures to the chairs. “Have a seat, and I’ll explain.” He gives me a pointed look. “Like I told you I would on the phone.”
Huffing out an exasperated breath, I ease Lily back into her chair before scooting the other one as close to hers as possible so I can wrap my arm around her shoulders. “Okay, we’re seated. So get on with it.”
Barrington chuckles, which is unnerving, since he’s usually an asshole. He and Wilcox join us at the table.
Wilcox looks between the two of us, then over to Barrington. “This is a development I didn’t see coming.”
“Yeah, thank goodness we didn’t arrest her, or this could be really awkward,” Barrington jokes with a smirk.
Lily grabs my thigh, signaling for me not to lose my temper. I’m sure she can feel how tense this is making me.
She says her first words since I arrived when she asks, “Can you please explain to me how you all knew to be at the house today?”
Looking down at her, I’m even more confused, but I stay silent as I wait for the detectives to elaborate.
Barrington’s smile is genuine and sympathetic when he looks at Lily. “I’m glad we decided to make a move on Vernon today. Though we didn’t anticipate what he had planned. I’m sorry you got wrapped up in that. Can you tell me why you showed up today?”
Lily shifts beside me. “Vernon called me and said he had some urgent papers I needed to sign for Blake’s estate.He asked me to meet him at the house.” She looks up at me. “I tried to call you, but I remembered you were in court. So I borrowed Anna’s car. I thought it wouldn’t be a big deal.”
Gripping the side of her neck, I pull her in so I can press a kiss to her forehead. “It’s okay, baby.”
She nods and sniffles. “Vernon has the code for the locks and the security system, even though it never got set after you all left last night. He was waiting inside for me.” Her inhale presses her body into mine. “With a gun. He said he was going to fake a suicide to collect the life insurance. I guess he’s the alternate beneficiary if I’m dead. Fun fact, I found out today insurance policies do, in fact, pay in the event of suicides.”
Despite her attempt at softening the severity of what Vernon has planned, I tense, and her hand on my thigh squeezes again, reminding me she’s safe and in my arms. I slowly exhale, releasing a little of the tension.
Barrington nods. “We’ve been investigating him for a while. We were able to obtain evidence that he was involved in whatever the hell your husband was doing before he died, thanks to Carlos’s help.”
Carlos will be happy to hear that they actually utilized what he provided. But he’ll hate as much as I do having to admit maybe Barrington and Wilcox aren’t as bad as we’ve been saying they are.
Wilcox picks up where Barrington left off. “Unfortunately, we all felt making it seem like you were our sole focus would give Vernon peace of mind that we weren’t onto him, so he’d get sloppy and make mistakes that would get him caught.”
“Which is exactly what he did,” Barrington adds. His expression becomes more serious. “I’m not sure if you’reaware, but your husband, with the help of Vernon, hired someone to kill you.”
Lily nods. “I did find that out recently.” She doesn’t add that we found that out because we have Blake’s laptop. I’ll turn it over to them now that Lily is in the clear, but probably best not to mention it right this second. “Vernon also brought it up. He said the life insurance policies would help pay off some drug dealer?”
I realize I never told her that the person I asked her about in Gatlinburg was a drug dealer.
“Yeah, shockingly, Vernon led us to a man we’ve been trying to locate for a very long time. We were able to make that arrest this morning before we got to your house.”
Tony will be disappointed that cops got to Goodwin first.
“Busy day,” I murmur.
Wilcox smiles. “You have no idea.”
“Okay, so you got this drug dealer. You’ve arrested Vernon. Did Vernon admit to killing Blake?” I ask, needing to know what’s happening with that part of their case.
Barrington shakes his head. “No, he’s saying he didn’t do it. But the evidence, while not as strong as we would like, isn’t looking good for him. As we speak, actually, we’re offering him a deal on Blake’s murder to get him to turn on the dealer.”
Lily grips my thigh under the table, out of sight from the detectives. I move my hand to rest on top of it.
“It better not be too good of a deal for what he did to Lily,” I bite out.
“Calm down there, buddy. He isn’t getting out any time soon. Given his…advanced age…he probably won’t be getting out. Ever,” Wilcox provides.
