“That means nothing to me. I knew my daughter for twenty-one years and, somehow, I feel like I didn’t even know her at all,” Emily snapped. “What happened between the two of you that night?”
“Nothing happened,” Greg growled, shrugging as his wide eyes scanned the kitchen.
“You’re lying!” Emily screamed.
“I am not!” Greg yelled back as he darted to his feet. “Who the fuck are you to come into MY house and to say this shit to me, huh? Who the hell are you, Emily? How dare you!”
“For someone with nothing to hide, you’re getting awfully upset,” Emily said.
“How can you believe this, Emily? You know Greg!” Kate said as she shook her head to herself, her eyes filling with tears.
“Do I?” Emily smirked. “To tell you the truth, I don’t know anything anymore. How do I know you’re not covering for him, huh?”
“Now wait just a God damn minute!” Kate snapped as she stood. Emily quickly stood up, their chests pressed together.
“No, Kate! I’m done waiting! I want answers and I want them now! I’m through with the games and I’m through with the lies! All I want is the truth! That’s all I’ve ever wanted!” Emily cried.
“And you think coming into our house and accusing Greg of this is going to help you get those answers?” Kate snarled. “Look at yourself, Emily! You’re a drunk! I can smell the liquor on your breath!”
“Fuck you!” Emily yelled, stepping back from Kate.
“No, fuck you! How dare you come in here and accuse him of this! After all the shit we have done for you? After everyone else left your ass on the curb? After everyone else gave up on you and we stuck beside you, you want to pull this shit with us? You want to question us?” Kate yelled. “We were the only people still left in your corner! We have been the only ones that have stuck around for you and you want to say this shit?” Kate screamed, slamming her hand on the table beside her. “Get out!”
“How can you stand here and defend him, Kate?” Emily snapped.
“Because he is my husband, Emily! I know him better than anyone else in this God damn world! I looked past the drunken black-out nights! I looked past the three a.m. calls! I looked past the shit you’ve pulled just get to get your little lips wrapped around the tip of a vodka bottle! But I can’t look past this!” Kate cried as she wiped her eyes. “I think you have some serious issues, and I think you need help. I’m so sorry about what has happened to Blair, but I can’t do this. I need you to go. NOW.”
“I just want the truth.” Emily sobbed.
“I said I want you out,” Kate snapped. “Go home and have a drink for all I care. You’re a better drinker than you are a mother, so go do what you do best and pop open another bottle of wine.”
Emily spun around, darting through the kitchen doorway as she made her way into the foyer. If finding out what happened to Blair meant losing her best friend, then so be it. If she couldn’t see just what her husband was capable of, that was her own grave. She couldn’t convince Kate. She couldn’t convince anyone. Emily stormed out on the front porch of the McCallister house and slammed the door. She charged down the creaky steps as she made her way down the concrete walkway. If Greg had nothing to hide, he never would have reacted that way. He had to be guilty. He had to be the father of Blair’s baby.
Emily rushed across the road and toward her house as she felt her phone vibrate in her coat pocket. Emily stepped on her front lawn as her flats moved along the wet, slick grass.
“Hello?” Emily said, her heart racing in her chest, as she made her way toward her front porch ahead.
“Miss Keller, this is Sheriff Ross. I was wondering if you had a moment to talk?”
“Yes, why? Do you know who did this?” Emily asked as she rushed up her front porch steps, making her way toward the front door.
“We found traces of human DNA under Blair’s fingernails.”
“What?”
“Yes, ma’am. Do you know anyone by the name of Hank Saunders?”
questions
“So, what’s the story here, Hank? Did you have the mom, so you had to give the daughter a taste test, is that it?” Sheriff Alan Ross asked as he glared back at Hank from across the table in the Elwood police department interrogation room. Hank sighed as he rested his elbows on the table, burying his face in his hands as his leg bounced up and down nervously.
“It wasn’t like that,” Hank said.
“Then what was it like, huh? Blair’s a pretty girl. I can understand that temptation. But that’s a pretty sick move, man, to get it on with your girlfriend’s daughter.”
“It was not that serious! We fooled around a couple of times and that was the end of it!” Hank snapped, slamming his hands on the metal table.
“Oh, it wasn’t that serious? Well, let me tell you what IS serious,” Sheriff Ross said as he pulled open a yellow folder in front of him. Sheriff Ross began flicking his finger along the crime scene photos, sending them across the slick surface of the table to Hank. Hank’s teary eyes stared down at them as his heart raced in his chest. Hank stared down at the photographs of Blair’s dead body, her arms and legs sprawled out and the entire back of her skull caved in, her blonde hair caked in blood. “How about that, huh? Is that serious enough for you, buddy?”
“Good God.” Hank winced, shoving them away. “I never would have
