The Widow and the Will (21 page)

Chapter 36

Hudson dialed Tess’s number for the third time since arriving at the office around eight, only to get her voicemail again. Her phone was off and that was odd. Usually it would ring a couple of times and she would answer his calls. Instantly, he was worried. There was always a chance she would run, overwhelmed by the insanity of being suspected of murder, facing a possible life sentence in prison. But Hudson never really thought she would do it. She seemed to have too much confidence in him – way more than he had.

With days flying by and no new evidence coming to him to explain Jack’s death, Hudson was getting more concerned. He and Ford worked day and night, around the clock, to figure out what they were missing. Something they weren’t seeing. Some avenue gone unexplored. They often argued and bickered, like brothers do, but it was becoming more volatile and belligerent the faster the days ticked by.

And just where was Ford anyway? He had promised to be in the office early. It wasn’t like him to break a promise. Hudson dialed his brother’s number and it too went directly to voicemail. A sense of foreboding bubbled in his stomach, making the protein bar and smoothie he’d consumed for breakfast jump and jostle. It was almost noon and Hudson didn’t want to be worried about both his brother and Tess. If he couldn’t reach either, it made him think that something terrible could have happened that he didn’t yet know about.

As he was about to try Tess’s number again, Ford walked through the door. The first thing Hudson noticed was that he looked… rested. As though he got some real sleep and not just booze-induced unconsciousness. His hair was wet from a fresh shower and his clothes looked reasonably clean.

“Where have you been?” Hudson demanded. His eyebrows furrowed with suspicion and the tone of his voice was clipped.

“Sorry, brother.” Ford tossed his leather jacket onto the chair and leaned inside the doorframe. “Late night last night.”

“Hmm,” Hudson sighed. “Again? Don’t become a client, Ford. You need to lay off the booze.” He swore he could smell beer from where he sat.
Or maybe I just think I do
?

“You got it, brother. Did you make coffee?”

“About four hours ago. I used the last packet. It’s my turn to pick up more.”

“Shit.” Ford poured two cups of the lukewarm, tar-like substance and then tossed them into the microwave to reheat.

Hudson clicked around on the internet for the time it took Ford to heat the coffee, printing out sheet after sheet. Gathering them from the printer, he moved out to the desk where the rest of Tess’s file still sat, spread from one end to the other.

“I’ve been looking up some information about that poison. Being organic, it could have come from any number of plants. I’m not sure there’s any way we’ll ever be able to tell exactly what plant produced it.”

“That is not what I wanted to hear this morning.” Ford handed him a cup, then sat down.

“I found a website that lists a few dozen different flowers that could possibly do it, but I don’t know that we have time to look into all of them.”

“Uh, I think we’ll have to make the time, don’t you?”

Hudson’s brows furrowed. “I’m doing the best I can here, Ford. I’m not a scientist.”

“Then we need to get one, don’t we?” Ford’s eyes crackled with determination. “I have chemist buddies. Let me have a copy of the tox report and I’ll start spreading it around. See who comes up with something first.”

Hudson handed over the report. “Go for it. Maybe they can narrow down the list of plants.” He felt his brother’s resolve boosting his own confidence. He pulled some more yellow sheets of paper out of a file and began sifting through them. “Tess said that they were getting deliveries from people the whole week before the wedding. Flower arrangements, goody baskets with all kinds of food and tea and coffee. The poison had to be in one of those. It’s the only thing that makes sense.”

Ford nodded. “Probably. It was probably dumb luck that Tess didn’t eat or drink the same thing.”

“Yeah,
shitty
dumb luck. I know I wouldn’t want to live with that kind of survivor’s guilt.” Hudson ran a hand through his hair and stood up. He came around his desk to pace in and out of the door to his office. “What’s worse is that she might have poisoned him after all.”

Ford nearly spilled his coffee as he gaped. Hudson put up his hands in defense. “I don’t mean she murdered him. But if she gave him the food or drink with the poison in it, even unknowingly, the PA could still try to charge her.”

“Jesus,” Ford whispered, wiping away the drops of coffee on his jeans.

“Yeah. I’m going to need to go over things with her again. We have to figure out how to trigger her memory somehow.”

“I bet she has a list somewhere of the names of florists or the people who sent stuff.”

“Yeah, sure, if I could get a hold of her. She’s not answering her phone. I’ve been trying all morning to reach her.” Hudson’s irritation was evident by the frown on his face. He was about to make another snide remark when he noticed Ford staring into his coffee cup. “Have you spoken to her?”

“Nope.” Ford lifted the cup to his mouth to drink. Hudson continued to stare at him.

As much as Ford knew how he thought, Hudson could read his brother’s tells just as easily.
He’s not telling me something
.

“What’s going on, brother?” Hudson sat back down and forced his brother to look at him. “Is something up?”

Sighing, Ford ran a hand through his damp hair. “Tess stopped by last night. She saw the light on and needed someone to talk to.”

Hudson waited, but Ford remained mute. “And?”

“What?” Ford got up to get more coffee. “She got here around midnight and left about one. She said she wasn’t sleeping, so I bet that’s where she is.”

“What did she tell you?” Hudson’s bad vibe meter was deeply in the red. “Tell me everything she said.”

“Nothing, brother. She was sad about Jack and worried about prison. She just needed to vent for a while. I listened and then she went home.”

The needle bounced back into safe territory and Hudson relaxed. “Okay. You had me worried there for a second. You looked nervous and I thought maybe she confessed or something.”

Ford laughed and sat back down, looking more composed. “No. She most definitely did not confess.”

“I’m sure she’ll call me back.” Hudson turned back to the mess on the table. “In the meantime, I want you to get that report to your chemist pals.”

“You got it.”

After Ford left, Hudson sat back, chewing on the end of his pen. His brother hadn’t been himself this morning and he knew it. Something was going on that he wasn’t ready to talk about and it definitely had to do with Tess. Hudson felt a little miffed that Tess had chosen Ford to confide in, rather than him. He knew it was ridiculous to feel jealous, but he couldn’t help it. It was hard not to feel protective of her, especially when her whole life was depending on him.
Just a client
, he reminded himself.

Hudson forced himself to shake it off, setting it aside for more introspection later. He needed to keep digging and fast, if he was going to keep his prettiest client ever out of prison.

Chapter 37

“I’m here! What’s the big emergency?” Lilly called out as she walked through Tess’s front door. She was immediately assailed with the smell of coffee and bacon. Her stomach rumbled, even though she had already eaten a bowl of cheerios.

“In the kitchen!”

Lilly dropped her purse and keys on the couch, quickly following the delicious scents into the kitchen. Tess stood at the stove, fork in hand, poking at the crackling strips of bacon in the frying pan. “Hey, sis.”

“Hey, sis.” Tess finished what she was doing and then gave Lilly a hug. “Thanks for coming.”

“No problem. What’s up?”

“Well, let me finish getting breakfast together and then we can talk.”

Lilly groaned. “You’re going to make me wait that long?”

Tess chuckled and gave her a wink. “You can handle it. What kind of eggs do you want?”

“None for me. I already ate. But I will munch on some of that bacon. I’ll set the table.”

As Tess continued cooking, Lilly grabbed plates and silverware then took them to the table. She also poured coffee into the carafe, grabbed mugs and cream, and put all that out too. She couldn’t stand waiting for whatever news her little sister had, but didn’t feel all that nervous about it. If it were something bad, Tess would never have been able to contain herself. She’d have been all over Lilly the minute she walked in the door.
Maybe something
good
has finally happened
.

Lilly sat down and poured herself a cup of coffee and waited as patiently as she could for Tess to join her. It didn’t take long before she appeared, carrying a plate heaped with bacon and another one loaded with scrambled eggs.

“I know you said you didn’t want any, but help yourself. There’s plenty.”

“Just sit down and spit out whatever you have to tell me. I’m on pins and needles here,” Lilly groused as she snagged a few pieces of bacon.

“Okay, okay.”

Tess didn’t say anything right away, though, and Lilly was forced to watch her fill a plate and take a bite.

“What’s going
on
?” Lilly demanded.

“Well,” Tess said through a mouthful of eggs. “Something happened last night.” She washed them down with a sip of coffee.

“
What
?”

Tess’s face held a bunch of different expressions. Her eyes were sparkling and bright, much more lively than they’d been in a long time, probably since before Jack died. But her mouth was slightly turned down and the sound of her voice wasn’t exactly troubled, but held a hint of worry.

“Last night I hooked up with Ford.”

Lilly’s eyes exploded open and her chin dropped to her chest. It was the last thing she expected to hear. “You what?!”

“I was in a really low place. I went for a drive and saw him at the office, so I stopped in.”

Lilly waited for more. “And?”

“I seduced him,” Tess whispered, her face flushing a lovely shade of pink. “I can’t believe I did it.”

Lilly laughed, relieved that no other tragedy had occurred. “I have to tell you, that’s definitely not what I thought you were going to say.”

“What did you think I was going to tell you?”

“I don’t know, but not that you hooked up with your lawyer’s brother.”

“I won’t lie. I felt a little ashamed of myself at first, but then I decided to get over it. I’ve spent a lot of time beating myself up over stupid shit and I didn’t want to have any regrets.”

Lilly grinned. “Good idea. I’m proud of you.” She grabbed another piece of bacon and broke half of it off in one bite. “No details, no specifics. How was it?” Lilly loved Tess and they shared a lot of things, but the minutiae of their sex lives was not one of them.

Tess cocked her head to the side and smiled just a little bit. “Different.”

“Just different?”

“It was good,” Tess said softly. “
Very
good, actually. But it’s hard not to compare him to Jack, ya know?”

“I do.” Lilly was only four years older than Tess, but still, she had taken way more laps around the dating pool. “You’re only 25,” Lilly reminded. “And you’ve been in a very bad place for a while. I don’t see anything wrong with it. You needed a release and Ford was it.”

“Thanks, sis. I do feel a lot better today.”

Lilly nodded and smiled at her little sister. She was going to do everything she could to keep Tess going up. “You look better. Did you get some sleep?”

“Yes, about six hours solid with no nightmares.”

“Uh oh,” Lilly teased. “You’re going to have to ask him to move in until all this is over, if only to keep the bad dreams away.” She poked Tess in the arm and gave her an exaggerated wink.

Tess snorted and rolled her eyes. “If only it were that easy. Actually, it’s not going to happen again. We both know what a risk it was, and I can’t do anything stupid anymore. Not until we figure out who killed Jack and I’m off the hook.”

Lilly frowned and crossed her arms over her chest. “Well that sucks. I mean, you two would be a really cute couple. Kind of like beauty and the beast.”

Tess raised an eyebrow at her and shook her head. “No way. We would not be good together.”

“Why not?”

“Too much baggage. I may only have a couple of suitcases right now, but he’s got a moving van full of it. It definitely wouldn’t work out.”

Lilly pursed her lips, looking unconvinced.
This is something I’ll have to dig into with her, I see
. “Well, I wouldn’t count him out.”

“I already do.”

“Yeah right,” Lilly grumbled. “I reserve the right to say I told you so.” There was something more to the story, but Tess wasn’t willing to give it all up. That was okay. Lilly could be patient and wait it out.

“Did you ever do anything like this?”

Lilly munched on another piece of bacon and shrugged. “Yeah. After I divorced the ‘toad’, I had a couple of dalliances I never told anyone about.” She tried to stay casual about it, not make a big deal, but she could feel the heat spreading across her face. It didn’t escape her little sister’s notice either.

“You’re blushing!” Tess tossed a napkin at her.

“Oh stop!” Lilly snatched the paper in midair and fired it back. “It’s not something I’m proud of. Neither one of my one-nighters were a tenth as good looking as Ford. But then again, I was wearing beer goggles.”

They both started to laugh until neither one of them could get their breath. It took minutes for them to get control to the point where they could speak. “You sound like a guy, L. The kind of guy we call a douchebag.”

“Yeah, I know. Like I said, I’m not proud of what I did and I can’t think about it too much or take it too seriously, or I’ll get depressed. Especially since I haven’t had a boyfriend in God knows how long.”

Tess frowned. “Is that what’s going to happen to me? I’m going to get depressed about this too? I’m already on the brink of a nervous breakdown half the time.”

“No, sis, you aren’t. You didn’t get divorced, you got widowed. There’s a big difference. I also never got accused of murder and had all the financial shit to deal with that you do. You can’t compare apples to oranges.”

That was Tess, always overthinking things and second guessing herself. Sometimes it drove Lilly crazy, but what could she do? Her sister was her sister and all she could do was support her and tell her about her own experiences in life, even if it meant comparing apples to oranges.

“Just take it at face value. You needed someone and Ford was there. Did you ever stop to consider he might have needed you as much as you needed him?”

Tess took a sip of coffee and shook her head. “No, I didn’t. He did tell me a little bit about his background. Sounded like he had a real shit childhood.”

“There you go. Think of it like two ships passing in the night,” Lilly suggested.
For now
.

Tess chuckled, but the ringing of her phone cut it off. She glanced around and saw it vibrating on the coffee table across the room. She darted over to snatch it up. “Shit, it’s Hudson. He’s been calling all morning.”

“Why didn’t you answer? Wouldn’t talking to your lawyer be a pretty important thing to do right now?” Lilly admonished.

“Ordinarily, I’d say yes,” Tess silenced the ringing and tossed the phone back on the table, “but since his brother didn’t leave until after ten this morning, I wasn’t really in a position to take his calls.”

Lilly burst out laughing, rocking back and forth. “Oh, you dog!” She sobered abruptly and looked a little sad. “This sucks. I think Hudson has a little crush on you.”

“I know. I think it’s just a proximity thing, though. We’re together a lot and he’s handled so much for me that it’s really only a lack of options. If he had a girlfriend or a social life, I don’t think he’d look twice at me.”

Lilly shrugged and her eyebrows popped up. “Hard to say.”

Once again, Tess’s phone began to ring. The Law & Order bong repeated itself for a solid thirty seconds.

“You really need to take his call, Tess. How many is that now?”

“I think it’s on five. I guess I’m worried he’ll hear something in my voice and just know what I did with Ford. That’s the last thing I need for him to find out.”

“He won’t know,” Lilly insisted. “Guys are clueless.” She wasn’t so sure, personally, but wasn’t about to let Tess know that. She was here for support and encouragement, so that’s what she would do. Nodding her head and twirling her hand, she urged Tess to answer the phone.

* * * * *

“I’m sorry, Hudson. I was sleeping.” Tess listened to him upbraid her gently about the importance of being in contact. She didn’t mind at all. “Yes, I can come to the office. Now? Well, my sister’s here.” She glanced over at Lilly, who was waving her arms and standing up to leave. “Maybe she can help. I’ll bring her along.” Lilly frowned but sat back down. “Yes, okay. We’ll see you in about a half-hour.”

“Why are you dragging me along?” Lilly demanded.

“Because you’re my sister and I need your moral support.” Tess flipped her hair back. “And you might be able to help me remember stuff.”
And I need a buffer to put between Hudson and me so he won’t know I slept with his brother
.

“All right. Hurry up, you said thirty minutes and I know how long you like to be in the bathroom.”

Tess got up and walked toward the bedroom. At the last second, she turned and stuck her tongue out at her sister. Some things she would never outgrow.