Page 12

Taylor narrowed her eyes at the detective. “How does how quickly I was married have anything to do with finding the person who shot my husband?” Taylor asked.
The detective shook his head, “I have to say I am not surprised at your lack of cooperation. Seems to be a Preston family trait.”
Taylor raised her brows, shocked that flames were not shooting out of her eyes to engulf the detective. “I fail to see how you doubting my answer equals lack of cooperation,” she replied. She also doubted how well the police were going to be able to handle solving this matter with this approach.
“I think you are not being forthcoming with information, Mrs. Fletcher,” Detective Watts admonished. “If I don’t have your full cooperation with this investigation, I will never be able to track down who did this.”
Taylor dug very deep in order to maintain her composure. “I am sorry you feel that way, Detective, but I am being as transparent as possible.”
“Are you, though?” he asked snidely. “You were gone for a long time, Mrs. Fletcher. It was, how many, five years before you came back to take over your family’s company.”
A chill went through Taylor and she hoped she was masking it with her exhausted facade. “Yes, I took time away,” she responded as evenly as possible.
The detective attempted to stare her down. “Where were you exactly?”
“How is my time away relevant to your investigation?” Taylor softly demanded.
“Well, since your return there have been many deaths, so the question of where you were and what you were doing could be a key factor here.”
“Are…are you accusing me of something, Detective?” Taylor asked, horrified.
“Should I?” the detective countered as Taylor stared at him, her mouth agape.
“I—”
“That’s enough,” a stern voice echoed through the hall and all parties turned to see Todd steaming towards them at full speed.
“Hello again, Mr. Hammel,” Watts said dryly. “I was just reviewing some things with Mrs. Fletcher.”
“I am quite sure you were,” Todd said through set teeth. “From now on, all questions go through our lawyers instead of accosting her on her way to her husband’s bedside.”
“Of course, of course,” Detective Watts said, his tone dripping with sarcasm. “I thought that Mrs. Fletcher would want to cooperate in the investigation to find out who shot her husband, but obviously I was mistaken.”
“But I—” Taylor was cut off before she could finish her explanation.
“Your lack of compassion and use of scare tactics on a vulnerable woman have been recognized, Detective Watts,” Todd said and pulled Taylor away from the man and down the hall.
“Don’t you ever get tired of defending and protecting the above-the-law Prestons, Hammel?” Detective Watts questioned their quickly departing backs.
“Are you okay?” Todd asked her at the doorway to Derrick’s room.
Taylor couldn’t answer because she really wasn’t sure. One thought kept coming back to her from her encounter with the detective. “Todd, do people really think I tried to hurt him?” she asked as she looked in on her husband, tubes and lines coming out of everywhere.
“People believe things that help them make a story connect, Taylor. It helps them feel better about why something happened. They just want answers to things.”
“But how can they find who really did this if they are focused on me and where I have been?” she asked in a hushed tone. Panic started to seize her.
“Taylor, they will be looking at whatever angle they can to get this thing answered and squared away. You are the only target they have right now.”
Taylor rubbed her forehead and looked at Derrick again. “What if they try again? How are we going to figure out who did this to him? Are they going to figure it out?” she asked in rapid-fire succession as tears dripped down her cheeks.
Todd’s face was a stone facade now. The face Taylor was used to from Todd. He said nothing.
A voice came from behind him. “Let the police do their job, Taylor,” said Charlie, who seemed to appear from out of nowhere. “They will figure out who has done this.”
“But how can I keep him safe,” she asked looking at Derrick yet again. “How can I keep him from harm if they aren’t looking for who really did this and instead just trying to blame me?”
“We will make sure you have plenty of security with you at all times,” Charlie assured her as he pulled her into a hug. “Please do not worry, Taylor, we are on top of it.”