Page 45 of Witness To Murder
Leah nodded. “Did Raymond ever talk about his ex-wife?”
“He never said anything good, that’s for sure,” she said. “He complained that she was always having her lawyer go to a judge and demanding more child support and alimony. He wanted to be free of her in the worst way.”
“Do you know her?” Owen asked. “I would think a person as intelligent as you would have looked into the situation before agreeing to the sort of deal you made with Douglas.”
She shrugged. “I did a little checking up on her. Her family was poor. She met Raymond at a nightclub where she worked as a waitress. He always said that once she got her claws into his money, she wasn’t letting go. He realized as soon as they had their first kid that he was never getting away from her. She proclaimed right from the beginning that she was never going to be poor again. He says he stuck it out as long as he could for the kids’ sakes.”
Leah wanted to throw up. What a jerk he’d been. She would never have accepted a date with him if she had known what sort of person he was. “You couldn’t have told me this.”
Alyssa had no answer, just stared at the ground.
“Did he ever say anything about how far she would go to keep his money?” Owen asked.
The woman shrugged. “All he said was, she would never let go as long as he was alive.”
“We need to set up a meeting with Detective Lambert,” Owen said. “Will you cooperate?”
Alyssa backed up a step. “I don’t think I can do that.” She glanced at Leah. “I’m sorry, but this has gone too far. I’m out.”
“Please,” Leah urged, “your life could be in danger.” Maybe she would cooperate if she feared for herself. She certainly cared for no one else. “Someone has been watching me.”
“The black sedan,” Al suggested.
“Yes.” Leah grabbed the bars of the gate. “Do you know who it is?”
She shook her head. “That same car was watching me even before Saturday. I mentioned it to Raymond, and he said it was probably just some guy who had a thing for me, but I knew he was wrong.”
“Let us help you,” Owen urged.
“I can’t.” She took off running toward the other end of the alley.
Owen tried to open the gate, but it was locked. “Let’s go. We can cut her off on the next block.”
They ran to the car and climbed in. He shot out of the parking lot.
When he pulled out his cell phone, she put her hand on his. “Don’t call Lambert.”
He arrowed her a look. “You sure about that? We can’t be certain she was telling the whole truth.”
“I know. But we can’t be certain she isn’t either.”
He left the phone on the console and focused on driving. They drove around several blocks but never spotted Alyssa. She was gone.
Leah hoped she stayed safe. As angry as she was at her former roommate for what she had done, she didn’t want her to die too.
She just hoped they could both survive this…thing that was still somehow continuing even though Raymond was dead.
Then Alyssa could go to prison and suffer the consequences of her actions.
Leah felt like a seesaw. Up and down… One minute she was up and wanted to believe Alyssa, the next she was down and didn’t believe a word she said.
How would they ever find the truth?
CHAPTER TWELVE
Harold Washington Library Center
South State Street, 8:15 p.m.
