A Stranger on the Beach(96)

“Swear to God, Kel. I didn’t do it. You’ve got to tell him,” Aidan said, choking up.

“I don’t want to talk about that. It’s not why I’m here. I’m here for Tom.”

“Yes. Can you tell him I love him? And that I’m innocent? This lawyer is going to prove it, and I can’t thank you guys enough for paying for her.”

“I’m here to tell you we can’t pay for that anymore. I’m sorry, but we have legal troubles of our own now. Didn’t the lawyer tell you?”

“Tell me what? What is it?”

The bad news. It must be truly bad, if Lisa couldn’t bring herself to tell him.

“Tom got suspended. He’s under investigation. The old lady next door heard the burglar alarm going that night. She looked out and saw you and Tom. She saw him let you go, Aidan, and she reported him to the state police. He’s going to lose his job.”

“My God. No. I’ll tell them—”

“Tell them what? You can’t say it’s not true, because it is true. You know how I know? Tom can’t sleep at night. That’s why he hasn’t been to see you. He can’t look you in the eye. He believes it’s his fault for letting you go. If only he’d had the guts to lock you up for burglary, you wouldn’t be in for murder now. Tom thinks he ruined your life. Hah, can you believe that? My saint of a husband, always seeing the best in his screwup of a brother.”

Aidan felt like he might vomit. Of all the things that had happened, Tommy taking this fall for him, blaming himself for Aidan’s stupidity, was the worst of all. It was more than he could bear. He had to change this, to make this not happen to Tommy, because of him.

“You must hate me,” he said, and instantly knew it was a stupid thing to say.

So self-pitying. He wasn’t a whiner. He needed to fix this.

“I wish I hated you,” Kelly said. “It would be easier. I love you, and so does Tommy. This is wrecking him. I fear for his health.”

“I’ll fix it. I promise.”

“You can’t fix this, because you are the problem. There’s something wrong with you, Aidan. Bad luck, bad judgment. Call it what you like. Disaster follows you. You destroyed your own life, and now you’re ruining ours, too. I don’t see that changing at this point. Do you?”





57


Two officers showed up at the jail to transport Aidan to the sit-down at the prosecutor’s office. One of them was a young woman he remembered seeing with Caroline in the police station on the night he was arrested. The other was Mike Castro. Figures. Mike had been waiting for this for years. Two things he’d always wanted in one package. To see Aidan take a fall. And to steal Tommy’s job. He must be licking his chops.

Aidan rode in the back of the patrol car, handcuffed, behind the mesh screen, looking out the side window. He’d been inside for a week, more or less, and had already forgotten the outside. The sight of it hurt his heart, because it was everything he was set to lose. The clear blue sky, the chill in the air. The leaves on the trees bright with autumn colors. Kids getting on a school bus, laughing. He didn’t want to spend the rest of his life in jail. But if it was necessary to save his brother, Aidan would learn to live with it.

They entered the office building through a loading dock in the back. Aidan was then whisked upstairs in the freight elevator to spare the general public exposure to him. The world had always treated him like he was different. Now it saw him as dangerous, which made him feel alone. But then he saw Lisa Walters waiting for him in a small conference room and his spirits lifted for a moment. Until he remembered that he was about to disappoint her.

“Thanks, guys. You can uncuff him. And we’ll need privacy,” Lisa said, as Mike and the female officer escorted Aidan into the room.

“You sure about taking off the cuffs?” Mike asked.

“A hundred percent. You can stand outside that door if you like.”

“Oh, believe me, I will.”

“No eavesdropping though.”

She winked. Aidan wanted to high-five her for taking his side, but antagonizing Mike right now, as good as it would feel, would be a mistake.

Aidan waited for the door to close. He kept his voice low, so the cops standing outside wouldn’t overhear.

“Why didn’t you tell me Tommy was under investigation?” Aidan asked.

“Because there’s nothing you can do about it. You need to focus on your own problems.”

“He is my problem. He’s my brother, and he’s in trouble because of me. Besides, there is something I can do about it.”

“What’s that?”

“I can plead guilty. Tell the prosecutor everything was my fault. Which it was. They got him on a charge of—what do you call it—obstruction? For not reporting me? But see, that was right in the middle of the hurricane. There was a state of emergency. Tom had to respond to calls. He couldn’t take me to the station right then. He told me to turn myself in, and I promised I would. But I didn’t. I went back to Caroline’s house instead.”

“That won’t work.”

“Why not? I’ll take the fall if they dismiss the charges against Tommy. That’s my deal.”

“That might help your brother, but it won’t work for you. You’ll end up spending the rest of your life in jail. You saw the prosecutor in court. He’s a real up-and-comer. Football hero back in the day, now a lawman. There’s already a Vernon Mays for Congress committee. If you plead guilty, even if you agree to testify against Caroline, Mays will still ask for a significant jail sentence for you. He can’t risk looking soft on a murderer. That’s why you need to convince him you’re innocent.”