Page 13 of Alibi for Murder
“Yes, sir.”
Red looked from one to the other. “Good to see folks from the old neighborhood still coming around.”
Allie decided to take a chance. She was here. She might as well. “Red, do you remember much about my father?”
He made a puffing sound. “Are you kidding? Course I do. He stole the heart of the prettiest girl in Woodstock.” He grinned. “Lots of guys around here never forgave him.”
Allie laughed. “I wish I remembered more.”
Red nodded, his face somber. “What happened was a terrible thing.”
“Do you remember anything about his work at Ledwell?” Steve asked.
Red studied him for a long moment before answering. Allie’s nerves went on edge.
“His work was not something he talked about. It wasn’t allowed. No one talked about what went on in that place. Still don’t. But, to answer your question in a roundabout way, there was a problem at Ledwell back then,” he said with a covert glance around their booth. “There was tension. Your grandparents,” Red went on, his gaze shifting to Allie, “were concerned about what he was getting into. He wouldn’t talk about it, but they suspected it was bad business.”
“Do you believe my father was involved in some illegal activity?” Allie’s grandmother had certainly never said anything of the sort.
“No.” Red swung his head in a firm negative. “It was something bad though. Your mother wanted him to leave the company, but he was afraid he’d be blackballed and wouldn’t be able to get another job, so he stuck it out.”
“The Holts never mentioned anything specific,” Steve nudged the older man, “as to what the issue was?”
Red gave another shake of his head. “No, but we all knew there was funny business at that company. Getting into allkinds of research that was going to come back to haunt anyone involved, I suspect. All our concerns got played off, and we were called paranoid and what-have-you, but we were right. It’s all coming out now.” He leaned forward. “All that AI business is going to be the end of us, you mark my word.”
There were those with that opinion, for sure. Allie wasn’t sure where she stood on the matter.
“Do you think my parents were afraid?” All these years, she had believed it was a simple car crash that took their lives. Bad luck. Wrong place, wrong time. But maybe that wasn’t true.
“I know your grandparents were.” He nodded, his face grave. “And after the accident, Virginia and Gordon went to the police, to the FBI—to anyone who might listen. But no one would. They were labeled crazy…overwrought with grief. Didn’t matter. They knew that accident was no accident. We all knew it.”
For a moment, Allie couldn’t speak. There had been questions. She always sensed that, even as a child. But no one had ever uttered those words out loud.
No accident?
“Do you have any evidence?” Steve pressed. “Did the Holts ever talk about any real evidence?”
To Allie’s knowledge, they certainly never had, but she kept quiet…mostly because she wasn’t sure what to say.
Red smirked. “What do you think?”
Allie held up her hands. “I don’t understand why I have no memory of this…this nightmare you’re describing.”
Red smiled sadly. “I’m sorry. I get carried away when I allow myself to think about it. The reason you don’t remember, I guess, is because a year after the accident your grandmother put her foot down and called it enough. She and Gordon were fighting a losing battle, and they knew it. Nothing they had done had gotten the investigation beyond some BS mechanical malfunction conclusion. Virginia decided there was nothing shecould do about what happened to her precious daughter and her husband, but she could be a part of what became of you.Youwere more important. They decided they would put the past behind them and focus on taking care of you. On giving you the best life possible.”
Allie didn’t doubt this for one second. Her grandparents had always been overprotective and had over planned everything for her. They offered to send her to the best college, but she turned down all options except the one that kept her close to home. After all they’d done for her, she couldn’t bring herself to abandon them. Maybe deep down she had always known something wasn’t right with what happened to her parents.
All this time, that vague notion had simmered inside her…and now it was out. She didn’t know exactly how to feel.
“I think,” Allie began, “what you’re telling me is someone murdered my parents, in all likelihood, because of something my father knew or did in his work. My grandparents let it go in an effort to protect me.”
Red held her gaze for a long moment. “That’s exactly what I’m telling you.”
She wanted to jump up and demand to know where the cameras were and what reality television show had decided to make her the subject of its newest episode. But she understood that wasn’t the case. Her emotions were spinning. One moment she was angry, the next terrified and then…just numb. But…this was real. All these years, the things she had believed about her family were stories made to keep her safe…to keep her happy and not digging around.
Yet now…somehow…something had gone wrong. A glitch in the stream of life had occurred, and now she was being drawn back into this no matter that she had no idea what this was.
Red shook his head again. “I’ve said too much.”
