Chapter Fourteen
"Why are you two looking at me like I asked a crazy question?”
He wasn't sure what was going on, only hearing Terry's name being mentioned as he walked down the stairs. But from the look on their faces, he could tell they were hiding something from him.
"Can I talk to Riley alone for a few minutes?"
"No," Winter said, not thinking about his answer. “You two are hiding something from me and I want to know what it is.”
“Just give me a few minutes to talk to Riley…”
“What don’t you get that I’m not going anywhere?” he yelled.
"Why the hell are you being so fucking difficult?" Creed snapped.
"I don't know what the hell is going on, but you two are hiding something from me and I want to know what it is." Winter was certain that something was going on and wanted to know what they were hiding from him. "Why did you bring Terry's name up?"
"What do you know about him?" Riley asked.
"He's one of my friends, and I trust him with my life. Why?"
"Do you feel the same way about Jarrod?" Riley asked again.
"Of course, what the hell is going on?" Winter was getting irritated, and it unnerved him that Creed hadn't said anything, leaving all the questions to Riley. "Answer me, Creed, what the fuck is going on?"
"We think Caroline and Richard were murdered," Creed whispered.
"Wha...what did you just say?"
"We're not certain, but..."
"No...no...." Winter chanted as his heart rate sped up and started to hurt, along with a ringing in his ear. His world titled for a second, and he had to grab onto the nearest thing to keep him standing. “And you think Terry and Jarrod had something to do with it?” Creed closed his eyes and nodded. “You're wrong. It was an accident." He heard himself say. “Terry loved Caroline, and Jarrod was Richard’s friend and his business partner. They wouldn’t hurt a fly much less plot to kill their friends.”
"Where is the evidence saying it's an accident?" Creed asked.
"The police report," Winter answered. “What, you think they are wrong?”
"I know how this sounds,” Creed said walking over to him, resting his hands on his shoulders. "But Richard thought he was going to be killed before Connor was born. And I want to have an autopsy done on them.”
"What?" Winter couldn't believe what he was hearing. “Are you crazy?”
“No, I’m not, and neither was Richard. It was in the letter he left me, telling me, what he thought was going on.”
“Caroline would have told me what Richard was thinking,” Winter added.
“He never told her,” Creed said.
“This is all nuts, Creed, listen to yourself.”
“I know what the hell I’m talking about, Winter. Riley and I have been trying to put the pieces together.” He stepped back from Winter and sighed heavily. "I wanted to collect all the evidence that we needed before I came to you with my theory. I didn’t want to be wrong.”
“You had no problem telling Riley, whether you were wrong or not.” Creed didn't trust him, was what Winter heard. His gaze shifted to Riley who was standing there staring at them. "You don't trust me, but you trust Riley enough to confide in him?"
"When did I say that?" Creed shouted.
"You didn't have to, your actions speak louder than words," he said, not raising his voice; he was too angry to see reason.
"Maybe I should go?" Riley said.
