Chapter 18
Emily couldn’t
believe that it had come to this. Today was Mitch’s preliminary
hearing. The past two days had been a living hell for her. The
police weren’t interested in another suspect, weren’t interested in
listening to anyone’s theories about what might have happened the
afternoon Rod Simmons was murdered. As far as they were concerned,
they had their man.
Mitch had been transferred from the
Fairhope jail to the Baldwin County jail in Bay Minette yesterday
morning. At this point all they could hope for was that the judge
would release Mitch on bail. Mr. Hightower had said the evidence
against Mitch was so strong that there was no doubt he would have
to stand trial.
For the first time since her marriage
to Stuart, Emily hadn’t been able to turn to Fowler Jordan for
help. When she had suggested that Charles might be Rod’s murderer,
her uncle had gone into a rage.
“I can’t believe that you’re still
defending Mitchell Hayden!” Fowler had said. “Despite everything
he’s done-killing Stuart and your baby and now Rod Simmons—you
still think you’re in love with him.”
She had wanted to confront Charles, but
realized that she should heed Nikki’s warning to stay away from
him. After all, he would hardly confess to murder. And if he really
was unbalanced, who was to say what he might do?
“I’m going to take a shower,” Nikki
called out from her bedroom. “Zed’s not due here to pick us up for
another hour, is he?”
Emily checked the wall clock. “Fifty
minutes. You’ve got plenty of time.”
The telephone rang. Emily jumped. She’d
been a nervous wreck for the past two days. She picked up the
receiver. “Hello, Nikki Griffin’s residence.”
“Emily, my dear, I must see you
immediately. Your very life could depend upon it.”
“Uncle Fowler?”
“Yes, dear. Please, come to Mobile, to
my house, as quickly as you can.”
“What’s wrong? What do you mean my life
could depend on it?” Emily’s stomach flip-flopped.
“Are you alone, my dear? Is there
someone else listening to our conversation?”
“Nikki’s taking a shower. I’m alone in
her living room. We’re waiting for Zed to pick us up for Mitch’s
preliminary hearing. What’s going on, Uncle Fowler? You’re scaring
me.”
“You have every right to be scared,
after what I’ve just learned.”
“What have you just
learned?”
“I’ve discovered the truth, a horrible,
ugly truth, about Charles.” Fowler’s voice quivered.
“What have you found out about
Charles?”
“Charles has been behind everything. He
confessed to me. He...he...oh, dear God, Emily, how could I have
been so blind?”
“You have to call the police, Uncle
Fowler. Now. Tell them what you know.”
“No, Emily, I—I’m not certain I can do
that.” Fowler’s voice lowered to a mere whisper. “I need to see
you...to talk to you...before I turn Charles over to the police. I
want to do the right thing. But...Charles has been like a son to
me. I need to talk to you, for you to help me do what I must.
Please, Emily.”
“Are you at home now, Uncle Fowler?”
Emily asked.
“Yes, I’m at home. Charles just left.
He went on in to work as if...as if nothing had happened. He thinks
I see things his way. That I approve of what he did.”
“Stay right there. I’ll call the police
and have them meet me at your house.”
“No, please, Emily. Please, come and
talk to me first, then...then I promise I’ll go with you to the
police.”
“Uncle Fowler, I don’t understand why
you want to wait, why you—”
“Please, come to me as quickly as you
can. And please, don’t mention this to anyone. Not even Nikki. I
simply can’t believe that Charles would... He actually killed Rod
Simmons and framed Mitch Hayden.”
Emily debated her options. Poor Uncle
Fowler was distraught. He wasn’t thinking clearly. It was up to her
to stay sane and rational, but it was also up to her to keep her
uncle calm and willing to turn his beloved protégé over to the
police.
“I’ll leave right now and be at your
house shortly,” she told him.
“You won’t call the police? You’ll come
here and talk to me, and then we’ll go to the station
together?”
“I won’t call the police. I’ll be there
in a little while, and I’ll stand by you and help you get through
this nightmare. I promise.”
“You’re such a dear girl. I do love you
so, Emily.”
“Just sit tight until I get there, and
if Charles returns before—”
“He won’t. Remember, he thinks I’m on
his side. That I actually approve of what he did.” Fowler sighed
deeply. “Please hurry.”
“I’m on my way.” Emily replaced the
receiver, breathed in deeply, then released her breath
slowly.
Her instincts told her to call the
police, but if she did and they showed up on her uncle’s doorstep,
he might panic. Once he saw that she was there to give him all the
support he needed, he would do the right thing. Knowing how her
uncle felt about Charles, and his obvious emotional dilemma over
having to turn him in to the authorities, Emily didn’t want to do
anything that might cause him any more grief.
But if she didn’t show up at Mitch’s
hearing, he would worry and wonder what had happened to her. And if
she just left without leaving any kind of message, Nikki would go
ballistic.
Checking her watch, she realized court
would convene soon. If she could persuade her uncle to go to the
police immediately, Mitch would be a free man today.
She had to hurry. She scribbled a quick
note for Nikki, telling her that she’d meet her and Zed at the Bay
Minette courthouse, that she wanted to leave early so she could see
Mitch before the hearing. Just a little white lie so Nikki wouldn’t
worry too much.
But she needed to let someone know
where she was going, so that if she was delayed, Mitch wouldn’t
worry. She decided the best thing to do was leave a message with
Zed Banning’s secretary.
Emily jerked up the .phone, hurriedly
punched the numbers for Zed’s office and waited. “This is Emily
Jordan. I need for you to get a message to Mr. Banning at the
courthouse later this morning.”
“You can reach him on his cellular
phone,” Sandra Whitten said. “You have that number, don’t you, Ms.
Jordan?”
“No, I don’t want to call Zed and
disturb him right now. Please, just make sure he receives my
message when he arrives at the courthouse.”
“All right, Ms. Jordan. What message
would you like for me to relay?”
“Please write this down and get every
word,” Emily said. “Tell Zed that I am meeting my Uncle Fowler at
his house, and that I’ll bring my uncle with me to Bay Minette. He
has discovered that Charles Tolbert killed Rod
Simmons.”
“Is that the complete message?” Sandra
asked.
“Yes. Thank you.”
Fowler met Emily at the door and pulled
her into an embrace, hugging her fiercely. “Thank God, you’re all
right. Did you park in the garage, the way I asked?”
She slipped her arm around his thin
waist and led him from the foyer into the front parlor. “Of course
I’m all right. And yes, I parked my car in the garage, but I don’t
understand why—”
“I’m heartsick, my dear, simply
heartsick. To think that I trusted him, loved him like a son,
wanted you to marry him.”
“Come on and sit down, Uncle Fowler. We
need to decide how you want to handle this situation.”
He glared at her, his mouth trembling
as he spoke. “You didn’t call the police, did you?”
“I promised you that I wouldn’t,” she
told him. “And you promised me that you would—”
“Yes. Yes, I will. I will. I’ll do what
I must do. But first, I need time to think, to try to make sense of
what has happened, to understand why Charles would do such a
thing.”
“Don’t torture yourself this way. It
breaks my heart to see you so upset.”
Fowler allowed Emily to help him onto
the sofa. When she sat down beside him, he clasped her hands.
“You’re so very sweet. You know that all I’ve ever wanted for you
was your happiness.”
“We have to contact the police and tell
them that they’ve arrested the wrong man—an innocent man—for Rod
Simmons’s murder.”
“You love Mitch Hayden very much, don’t
you?”
“Yes, I do. I love him with all my
heart.”
“I had so hoped... Well, it doesn’t
matter now, does it? What I wanted isn’t possible any longer.”
Fowler choked on his tears.
Emily draped her arm around his
shoulders. “I know this whole ordeal must be terrible for
you.”
“You have no idea. To have all my hopes
and dreams destroyed. Just like that.” Fowler snapped his fingers.
“I tried to make you happy. To give you everything. If only you had
stayed here with me. You would have been safe. None of this would
have happened.”
“I couldn’t stay here and continue
being only half alive. And even if I’d stayed, I don’t think I
would have ever agreed to marry Charles. I wanted and needed real
love.”
“You wanted passion. The kind of
passion a man like Mitch Hayden could give you.” Fowler folded in
on himself like a dying hothouse flower deprived of proper
nourishment. Clasping his stomach, he cried. His slender body
shivered. “How could you have let that man touch you? He’s not
worthy of you. He’s not fit—”
“Please, Uncle Fowler, now isn’t the
time to discuss this. Charles is walking around a free man, and
Mitch is in jail. Just tell me what you want me to do to help you.
We can’t afford to waste any more time.”
“Yes, you’re right, of course. Talking
about your relationship with Hayden is a waste of time.” Fowler
glanced around the room, as if searching for something. “I
misplaced my reading glasses. I had them on when I looked up
Nikki’s number so I could call you. What could I have done with
them?”
“Don’t worry about your reading
glasses. We’ll find them later.” Emily placed her hands on her
uncle’s narrow shoulders. “Come with me now. Please.”
“Go with you, my dear? Where?” Fowler
gazed quizzically at her.
What was wrong with him? He was acting
odd, as if...as if... No, please, dear Lord, no. Don’t let him have
a nervous breakdown. He doesn’t deserve to suffer any more. And if
he loses control and can’t reason properly, how will we convince
the police that Charles really did confess to him?
“We’re going to the police station to
tell them about Charles.” Emily stared directly at
Fowler.
“Yes. We must go.”
Emily helped her uncle to his feet and
led him out of the living room..Just as they entered the
marble-floored foyer, Fowler halted abruptly.
“My reading glasses. We must find them
before we leave. What if I have to sign papers at the police
station? I can’t see to read without those glasses.” Jerking his
head from side to side in an agitated manner, Fowler wrung his
hands. “I can’t leave without my glasses!”
“We don’t have time to hunt for your
glasses now, Uncle Fowler. If you have to sign anything at the
police station, I’ll read it to you and show you exactly where to
sign your name. Please, let’s stop wasting time.”
“Yes, of course, you’re right. We must
hurry. We must get Mitch Hayden out of jail,” Fowler said, allowing
Emily to lead him toward the front door.
Suddenly the door swung open and
Charles breezed into the foyer, smiling when he saw Emily. Fowler
pulled away from Emily, placing himself between her and the other
man.
Charles’s sunny smile illuminated his
face. “I came rushing over the minute you called, Fowler.” Charles
took a tentative step forward. Fowler moved to block his advance.
“I’m so pleased...no, I’m ecstatic that you’ve finally come to your
senses, my darling.”
“What—what are you talking about?”
Emily moved slowly backward, fear dictating her actions. What did
Charles mean when he said that Uncle Fowler had called him? And
what was he so damned happy about? She hadn’t changed her mind
about anything.
“I’m talking about your decision to
marry me,” Charles said, walking around Fowler and straight toward
Emily. “When Fowler phoned and said you wanted me to meet you here,
that you’d said you were through with Hayden, I could hardly
believe my good fortune.”
Emily glanced from a deliriously happy
Charles to her uncle, whose odd little smile gave her a sick
feeling in the pit of her stomach.
Emily gasped. Charles jerked his head
around and stared at the man pointing a rather large,
sinister-looking gun at him.
Zed and Nikki rushed inside the
courthouse, both of them breathless by the time they reached Judge
Anderson’s courtroom. They had been delayed by a four-car accident
on Highway 59. As Zed started to open the door, a uniformed
policeman laid his hand on Zed’s shoulder.
“You’re Mr. Banning, aren’t you?” he
asked.
“Yes, I’m Zed Banning.
Why?”
“I’m Officer Turner. Mr. Hightower
wanted me to keep an eye out for you and let you know that he and
Mr. Hayden are in the district attorney’s office waiting for
you.”
“What’s wrong?” Nikki asked. “Is the
preliminary hearing already over?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“What happened?” Zed
asked.
“It seems a witness showed up at the
police station early this morning with some information that blew
some mighty big holes in the case against Mr. Hayden.”
“Where is the district attorney’s
office?” Zed glanced around, not at all familiar with the Baldwin
County courthouse.
“I’ll be glad to show you folks,” the
officer said. “But you might want to phone your office first. Your
secretary has called twice and said it was urgent that you contact
her.”
“I don’t understand why she didn’t call
me directly.”
“She wouldn’t leave a message, just
said to tell you to phone her when you got here.”
“Fine. Show us to the district
attorney’s office first,” Zed said. “I’ll call Sandra after I talk
to Mitch.”
“I suppose Emily is with Mitch and his
lawyer,” Nikki said, slipping her arm through Zed’s as they
followed the policeman.
Before they reached the office, Zed saw
Mitch and Gerald Hightower walking toward them. Mitch didn’t look
like a man who’d just been set free. He looked
worried.
“Well, I’ll see you folks,” the
policeman said. “You won’t need me for an escort now.”
“Thanks,” Zed said absently, then
focused his attention on Mitch. “What happened?”
“A woman who’d had a romantic afternoon
meeting with her boyfriend in the apartment directly across from
Rod Simmons’s came forward,” Hightower said. “She confessed that
her conscience bothered her, and even though telling the truth
about what she saw might cost her her marriage, she couldn’t let an
innocent man be wrongfully accused.”
“What did she see?” Zed
asked.
“She saw another man enter Rod
Simmons’s apartment about thirty minutes before she saw Mitch
arrive. Then a few minutes after Mitch showed up, she saw the other
man leave,” Hightower said. “You want to know who we think the guy
was? The witness gave us a pretty good description.”
Nikki gripped Zed’s hand.
“She said the guy was about five-nine,
slender, a slight stoop to his shoulders. He had thinning gray hair
and wore wire-frame glasses,” Hightower told them. “She guessed his
age to be somewhere between fifty-five and sixty.”
“Fowler Jordan!” Nikki cried
out.
“I’ve consulted with the Fairhope
police, who are familiar with the harassment case and Ms. Jordan’s
friends and family,” Hightower said. “They say the description
definitely fits Fowler Jordan.”
“Oh, my God, Emily must be devastated,”
Nikki said. “Where is she? Gone to wash her face? If I know her,
she’s been crying—with joy over Mitch’s being released and sadness
over her uncle.”
“What do you mean where’s Emily?” Mitch
grabbed Nikki’s arm. “Isn’t she with you and Zed?”
“No, she...she came by herself. She
left me a note saying she wanted to see you before the hearing.”
Nikki trembled uncontrollably. “Oh, no!”
“Goddammit! I don’t like this,” Mitch
said. “Something’s happened. I can feel it in my gut!” Clenching
his fist, he punched his stomach. “When she didn’t show up, I got
an uneasy feeling. But when you two didn’t show up, either, I
figured she was with you and something had delayed
y’all.”
“Mr. Banning?” Officer Turner called
out from a nearby office. “Your secretary is on the line. I told
her you were here.”
“I’ll be right back.” Zed gripped
Mitch’s shoulder, pressing firmly. “Emily is all right. We’ll find
her. Just stay calm.”
Mitch met Zed just as he walked out of
the office. “I can’t wait any longer,” Mitch said. “I’ve got to
find Emily before... before—”
“She’s gone to Fowler Jordan’s house,”
Zed said.
“Dammit, why did she go to Jordan’s
house?” Mitch grabbed Zed’s arm. “How do you know she’s with Fowler
Jordan?”
“Emily left a message with my
secretary,” Zed explained. “Emily said to tell you that if she
didn’t get here in time for the hearing, it was because she’d gone
to Jordan’s house and that she would be bringing her uncle here to
Bay Minette so he could tell the police Charles Tolbert had
confessed to him that he’d killed Rod Simmons.”
“Oh, God! Why the hell didn’t she just
call the police?” Mitch slammed his fist into the
wall.
Zed laid his hand on Mitch’s back.
“Don’t go to pieces like this. Don’t assume the
worst.”
Zed glanced over at Nikki, who stared
back at him with big, round eyes.
“Mr. Banning?” Officer Turner stood a
few feet away. “I called and checked the way you asked me to, and
there’s no Emily Jordan or Fowler Jordan at any police station in
South Alabama.”
“He’s got Emily.” Mitch gripped the
lapels of Zed’s jacket. “If he hurts her—”
“We’ll go straight to Mobile.” Zed
said. “I’ll hire a helicopter.”
“Is there a problem?” Officer Turner
asked.
“Yeah.” Zed calmly covered Mitch’s
hands and loosened his grip on his suit, then he grabbed Mitch by
the arm as he turned to the policeman. “Call the Mobile police and
have them send some men out to Fowler Jordan’s house. I don’t know
the address, but that shouldn’t be difficult to find out. We have
reason to believe that he may be holding his niece against her
will.”