“What do you mean? We have an opening in less than an hour.” He frowned.
“Why’d you lie to me, Mal? That woman isn’t even Greg’s wife. First, you’re a club owner, and now this. What else are you simply not telling me?”
“I’m sorry, honey. I just didn’t want you to feel uncomfortable around them,” he soothed. “You’re right. I should have told you.”
I sighed. “I hate lies, Mal.I hate fronts. You know that.”
“I do, baby, I really do. I’m sorry.” He ran a hand down my arm, sending chills down my spine, then he leaned in and kissed my forehead. “I won’t do that. Not again.”
Like always, I gave in. Mal knew just what to say to me, and he always won. The truth was, I doubted anyone could marry a man like Gregory, so I wasn’t surprised that nobody had.
ChapterThirteen
Luke
“Mrs. Grant, thank you for seeing me on such short notice. I’m sorry about your son,” I started, hoping I sounded sincere.
We were sitting in the sunroom at the front of the house. From the old look, this was where she’d lived since Malcolm Morgan was a young boy. She’d changed her surname back to her maiden name when she divorced Malcolm’s father years ago.
The older woman assessed me before taking a seat across from me.
“Dr. Greene,” she greeted me with a solemn gaze. “This was an unexpected visit. The investigators didn’t see the need to talk to me before, so I can’t imagine what could have changed.”
She was hard-edged and not the warm and inviting kind. She must have been in her late fifties, with pin-straight black hair which was tied in a ponytail at the nape of her neck. She wore black striped pants and a pale blue shirt. She was rake thin, and her hands were slender.
“I am not an investigator. I’m a behavioral psychiatrist, actually, and I am charged with treating your daughter-in-law, Alyssa Morgan.”
“Do not mentionthat woman’s name.” Her voice raised, and her features appeared even sharper.
“I understand, but it’s not why I am here. I just thought I’d introduce myself. I’m following up on some of the loose ends in the case, and I wondered if I could ask you a few questions about Malcolm.”
She looked at me suspiciously. “That case is closed. The only part I didn’t agree with was putting her in a hospital. That woman should be in prison like the rest of the scum of the earth.”
I fought the urge to clench my fists. I despised the way this woman spoke about Alyssa.
“Mrs. Grant, can you tell me about Malcolm in recent years? Did you see him a lot?”
“Not as much as I would have liked. He was a busy man, always jetting off to start something new. An ambitious man like his father was,” she told me proudly.
“How would you describe his marriage to my patient, well… from what you did witness.” I was sure not to use her name. I didn’t want her blowing up at me again.
“He doted on the King girl. He wanted to give her the world, not just in recent years but from a young age. They became parents when they were just teenagers, and although both families were taken aback by the news, we made it work. We loved our children above all else, I suppose, and well, our granddaughter too. So when Malcolm could, he wanted to make all that woman’s dreams come true. He loved her from the day we pulled up outside this house.” She smiled fondly, thinking about her son.
“And his father? How would you describe their relationship?”
“They were close when Mal was younger, but as he grew into his own, Derek, my ex-husband, kept putting pressure on Mal to do better, but nothing he seemed to do was good enough. He ended up getting in trouble a lot at school, nothing serious, though. I figured he was trying to get his father’s attention.”
“Did Malcolm ever display any signs of aggression?”
She shifted in her seat and wrapped her hands together.
“Not at all,” she answered, tight-lipped.
I nodded, making a note.
“What does that have to do with the case?” she asked, her nostrils flaring at the insinuation.
“Just covering all ends, Mrs. Grant.”
