Page 41 of The First Gentleman

CHAPTER 37

I t takes Felicia about five minutes to get her daughter settled down.

All Teresa can talk about is her reward and how she’s not going to get it now.

“Amber gave me some very useful information,” I tell Teresa.

“We still need to investigate it. You putting me in touch with her was a big help.”

“Didn’t help me,” says Teresa, accepting a mug of black coffee from Felicia.

“Or her.”

“Brea is trying to solve the case,” Felicia says.

“It’s not like you have any friends down there at the Seabrook police department who are willing to help us.”

Teresa is silent, tapping her coffee mug with her lacquered nails.

“I know we’re all shocked about Amber right now,” I say.

“But I need to ask you both about somebody Suzanne was dating before she started seeing Cole Wright.”

“You mean fancy Tony?” says Teresa, looking up.

“Tony Romero, yes.”

I look over at Felicia.

Her expression brightens.

“Oh, Tony! What a charmer!”

Charmer, I think.

Right. The charmer who just beat my partner to a pulp.

“Tony loved to buy me gifts,” says Felicia.

“And Suzanne too. Even Teresa. I think Teresa had a little crush on him, right, honey?”

“Mom! I was just a high-school kid!”

“Well, didn’t Tony take you along on some of their dates? Down to Seabrook Beach? Treat you nice?”

Teresa glances down again.

She looks embarrassed.

“Yeah. Sometimes.”

“For a while,” says Felicia, “I thought Tony might be the one, but something happened.”

Interesting.

“Did Suzanne say anything at the time?”

I can see Felicia searching her memory.

“I disagreed with her decision to break it off with Tony. He’s Italian, just like our family. That’s important.”

“Then Cole Wright came along,” says Teresa bitterly.

“That’s right,” says Felicia.

“It almost seemed like he was waiting for Suzanne to be free. And a few weeks after they met, Suzanne started looking for apartments in Boston. Amber had an apartment in Mission Hill, and she needed a new roommate. It was supposed to be the start of a new chapter.”

There’s nothing more to say.

Teresa picks up her car keys and walks out.

I need to get back to Garrett, find out what he learned from the inmate in Cranston.

It could bring peace to this broken family.

“I’m sorry, Felicia. I should go too.” I give her a strong hug.

“Thank you for showing me the video of Suzanne. That’s the way I’d like to remember her.”

“Me too,” says Felicia.

When I head down the front steps, I see Teresa starting to pull out.

I walk right in front of her car.

She brakes hard. “Hey!”

“Teresa, I need to ask you something. How did you know where I’d find Amber?”

She’s irritated, impatient.

“I was FaceTiming with a friend from Virginia Beach. Her brother knew Amber down there in electrician school, right before she changed her name to Lillian. My friend heard that she’d been a cheerleader. And she knew that my sister had been one too. That’s why she brought her up. Said she was working in an Irish bar in Southie. Eventually, I found a bartender with the right name.”

“And did you tell anybody else up here about Amber? About what her new name was? About where she was working?”

“Nope. Just you.”

“Well, somebody found out.”

Teresa taps the steering wheel.

“So. You and your boyfriend getting any closer to nailing Cole Wright?”

What can I say?

“You’ll know when we do.”

“Well, get busy,” says Teresa.

“Now move!” I step aside.

She puts the car in gear and pulls away.

I don’t trust Teresa enough to tell her that somebody else just confessed to murdering her sister.

If O’Halloran’s lead pans out, Cole Wright might be in the clear—at least for that crime.