Page 79 of Last Date
“I understand. It must be disappointing because I know you were attracted to him,” Merrick said blankly.
“God, don’t remind me.”
I was horrified by who Allister had really been. Even if Elon’s death hadn’t been murder, he’d still killed his younger brother and then blithely gone on with his life as if nothing had happened. He’d watched his mother’s agony, day after day, searching for her child, believing he’d one day return, all the while knowing Elon was buried somewhere on their property. I didn’t care for Mary Green, but that was too cruel for words.
“Of course, Timothy knew nothing about any of that. He just knew Elon had disappeared and was probably dead. He figured he could just step into his shoes, since they were the same age and physical type. He didn’t expect Allister to be so cold and aggressive because he had no idea Allister knew beyond a doubt he couldn’t be Elon.”
“That’s why Captain Roscoe referred to him as a phony.” I met Merrick’s gaze. “Did Selena know all this?”
He shook his head. “Not until her father was shot. He spilled everything to her.”
“That poor girl.”
“She’s a wreck.” He wrinkled his brow. “Of course, she did threaten you with a gun, so I don’t feel too sorry for her.”
“She was desperate.”
“Yes. Still.” His mouth was a hard line.
“So all of that insanity has unfolded, but we still don’t know who killed Allister?” I stretched my legs out, and my foot brushed Merrick’s thigh. I pulled back, but he reached out and grabbed my foot.
“You can touch me. I won’t bite.”
“You sure about that?” As his warm fingers curled around my toes, I shivered. To distract myself, I asked, “Who was the woman I saw with Timothy at the park? The one he lied about being with.”
“That’s his biological mother.”
“I see.”
“Apparently, she wasn’t thrilled about what he was doing, but he didn’t want to listen.”
“Timothy’s plan was so convoluted.” I frowned. “His mother could have filed for child support, and they could have benefited financially. Ken Green would have had to pay in arrears too, I believe, right?”
“Yep. But Timothy’s mother never told Ken about the baby. Ken didn’t know Timothy was his child. Not until the DNA results came in. I’m sure he was as shocked as everyone else when he was a match.” Merrick’s smile was wistful. “It’s kind of sad really. Timothy said he did all of this because he wanted to live in the big house, like Ken’s other kids. He wanted to be accepted as a true Green, not just the illegitimate spawn of some horny rich guy.”
“God, and that almost got him killed.”
“Yeah. Captain Roscoe still believes Timothy killed Allister. I don’t think he did.”
“I don’t either. He’s an odd kid, but he’s never seemed violent.”
Merrick groaned and rested his head against the back of the couch. “There are still so many loose ends. We need to catch the killer ASAP, and we need to figure out who attacked you at the Rusty Pier.”
“You really don’t think Bob Tiegerman killed Allister?”
“No.”
I squinted at him. “Even though he had the morphine,andhe was at the marina the night of the murder? He seems like the obvious person.”
“The CCTV from the pier never showed Bob going anywhere near the yacht. He was too busy collecting recyclables.”
“I see.”
He closed his eyes. “I’m so bone-tired.”
“You probably should have just gone home to sleep. I didn’t need an early scoop on any of this.” I smiled weakly.
“I needed to come back,” he said softly.
