Page 58 of Outlaw Ridge: Griff
Margo hesitated, then nodded. “Yes.”
Lily pressed. “Can anyone verify that?”
“No. I didn’t have anyone with me. I didn’t call anyone. No deliveries. No visitors.”
“And during the earlier time frame—2:30 to 3:15?”
Margo blinked. “I… I was at the house then too. I’ve got receipts from the hardware store that morning, and I stopped for lunch around one. But after that, I was home.”
Lily jotted the details down but kept her gaze locked on Margo. No alibi. No witnesses. Just Margo, alone, near the murder scene.
And with motive to spare.
Griff reached into the folder and withdrew a single photo, sliding it across the table until it rested just in front of Margo. Caleb Davidson, age fourteen. Fresh haircut. Slightly forced smile.
Margo’s reaction was instant.
A soft gasp broke from her throat, barely audible, but unmistakable. Her hand trembled as she reached for the picture, stopping just shy of touching it. Her eyes welled with something fierce and raw before she quickly turned and whispered something frantic to her attorney.
David Kellerman glanced at her, then shifted his focus to Griff. “Where did you get this?”
Griff’s voice was calm, cool. “School records. The photo is from last fall. Standard class portrait.”
Margo stared at the photo, her mouth pressed into a line, but the damage was done.
Lily leaned forward slightly, her voice low but firm. “You never mentioned him before. He’s fourteen, born about seven months after your sister’s death.”
Margo said nothing, but her knuckles were white on the edge of the table.
Griff picked up where Lily left off. “And he looks like Bobby Ray. Enough to turn heads. Enough to raise questions.”
The silence that followed wasn’t denial. It was confirmation.
Margo’s hand hovered near the photo, trembling just slightly. Her lips parted, but it took a moment before she found her voice. “He has nothing to do with this,” she said, barely above a whisper.
Griff didn’t flinch. “He could if he’s Bobby Ray’s son.”
With her defiance flaring, Margo’s eyes snapped up to his.
“Is he?” Griff asked, calm but unrelenting. “Is Bobby Ray the father?”
“And before you answer,” Lily added, “we can get a court order for a DNA test.”
The silence stretched.
Then, Margo’s breath hitched, and the words rushed out of her in a single, pained exhale. “Yes. His father is Bobby Ray. Butthat still hasnothingto do with what happened to Hannah. Or Catherine.”
Lily studied her, but it was hard to see anything in Margo’s expression now except a storm of panic and exhaustion. But across the table, her lawyer didn’t look nearly as confident. Kellerman’s forehead creased, his eyes narrowing in concern. He leaned in close, whispered something low in Margo’s ear.
Margo didn’t respond. She just kept staring at the photo of her son as if it might vanish if she wished hard enough.
Lily leaned in just slightly, keeping her tone careful and even.
“Tell us about your relationship with Bobby Ray,” she said. She left it wide open—no assumptions, no leading.
Margo sat still for a long moment, her jaw tight, the school photo of Caleb still sitting between them like a ghost. Then she let out a long, shaky breath.
“He was my lover,” Margo said quietly. “Not Hannah’s. No matter what everyone said back then, about him being obsessed with Hannah, about him stalking her. It wasn’t true. He was withme.”
