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The Tessarae Inn |
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Suspicions In Scarlet Repose CHAPTER 26
Todd stopped just outside of RJ’s office door, which was cracked open enough so that voices spilled out. He moved carefully and positioned himself so he could see into the office and get a glimpse of RJ’s visitor. It was Bryan Treyscott and the man looked like it was third down with thirteen yards to go. “John Earl called me and told me you were down there asking all sorts of questions,” Treyscott said in a tight, harsh voice. Maybe if he was talking to someone other than RJ the voice thing would send his listener looking for something to crawl under, but he was talking to RJ and all RJ did was growl at him. Treyscott straightened up and walked closer to the desk. RJ leaned back in his desk chair and fixed his gaze on Treyscott’s face. “Carmen is dead. I need to know why. It’s part of a debt I owe.” “To whom?” RJ shrugged. “You said why. Don’t you mean you need to know who killed her?” “I’m pretty sure I’ve got that part figure out. Now I want to know why you acted like you’d never seen her before when—“ RJ suddenly shifted in his chair and rocketed his gaze out into the hallway. He spotted Todd and ran his tongue across his upper teeth then said, “I didn’t see you there, Manning. Come on in.” Todd strolled into the office. “Well, you know how I like to lurk around like one of those supernatural serial killers in a Stephen King novel.” RJ rolled his eyes. Treyscott frowned. Todd slipped into the most comfortable chair that would give him the best vantage point for seeing both RJ and Treyscott and anything else that happened in the office. Treyscott balled his fist then almost imperceptibly shifted his weight from foot to foot. “Manning, we’re in the middle of something. You need to come back later.” “This is my damn office, Treyscott,” RJ said with a hard edge in his voice. “He stays or he leaves, but it’s his call not yours.” Treyscott glared at him. “We have some things to discuss. I’m not sure you want to do this in front of an audience.” RJ shrugged. “Secrets have damn near killed me, destroyed what I thought I’d never have in my life again. I’ll talk in front of him. Shit let me go call Toni and get it all out once and for all.” Todd snorted then said, “She’s out there with Blair.” RJ opened his hands and then glanced at Treyscott. “Figures. Let’s take this to an appreciative audience, Treyscott.” Treyscott’s face turned a bright red. “Are you f**king crazy? This is my life here and yours too.” Blair stuck her head in the door. “What’s going on? We could hear you shouting all of the way down the hall.” RJ stood up. “Where’s Toni?” “I’m right here,” Toni said, then stepped around Blair and slipped into the office. RJ walked around the desk and then leaned against it. Todd noticed that he never took his eyes off of Toni. Blair moved next to Todd and then perched on the arm of his chair. He looked up at her and she placed her hand on his back and let it drift slowly up and down. He smiled and then looked at Treyscott smugly. He noticed that RJ was studying Toni with longing in his eyes but she did not move closer to him. Treyscott stared at Toni then frowned. He narrowed his eyes and cocked his head to the side as he switched his gaze to RJ. RJ glared back at him. Treyscott curled his lips then said, “Fine. We’ll do this here and your way.” He walked closer to Toni and said in a barely audible voice that was had edges hard enough to cut, “Did you know that RJ and Carmen were married?” Toni straightened her back, lifted her chin, crossed her arms over her chest and said in a clear firm voice, “Yes.” Treyscott studied her for a second then shifted his gaze to RJ as if to challenge him. RJ glared back but made no other move. Treyscott nodded and shifted his gaze back to Toni. “Did he bother to tell you that they were still married when she died?” Toni whipped her head toward RJ and then just as quickly returned her gaze to Treyscott. She shook her head and stepped back. Treyscott mirrored her head shaking with nods, and then said, “He was planning to marry you under false pretenses. He’s been lying all this time.” Todd could see that Toni was battling to stay in control. He felt Blair move beside him as if she was about to get up but he held her back. Toni needed to hear this and deal with it—or not. Either way if he had read RJ right then it was important to him that this final secret hit the fan. Toni took a step backwards and distanced herself from Treyscott. “You are such an ass, Treyscott,” she said then turned toward RJ. “Is this true?” RJ reached for his shot glass full of bourbon that had been sitting undisturbed at the edge of his desk, took a sip then said, “She was supposed to file the papers.” Treyscott chuckled. “Yeah, right. I believe that…” Treyscott shrugged. “Or maybe I do. Carmen could convince people of all sorts of things. But either way it sounds like a motive to me. From what I hear, she wanted something in exchange for the divorce and for keeping your marital infidelity on the down low.” RJ growled. “Shut up, Treyscott.” “Why? Didn’t you just tell me that the truth would set you free?” Toni walked toward RJ. “She was blackmailing you? RJ exhaled loudly. “Yeah, she was.” Todd could literally see a wave of anger sweep across Toni from head to toe. She was surprising the hell out of him. No crying or whining. She was just flat out pissed off. “That bitch,” hissed Toni. “That’s what she meant that night. That’s how she knew. That bitch. I swear I should have kil…” “Killed her?” said Treyscott finishing her sentence. He had a smirk on his face. “And what night are you talking about? You mean that night, right? You saw her that night didn’t you?” “I didn’t say that.” “Well, when was the last time you saw Carmen… alive?” “I don’t remember.” “You saw her that night. Admit it.” “I wasn’t anywhere near that hotel.” Todd snorted. That was a lie and half and he knew it. Maybe all this time he’d been wrong not to seriously consider Toni as the killer. He didn’t care if she did it. As far as he was concerned they should hang a medal on her but she’d let his babe walk under a cloud of suspicion and opened the door to some rank blackmail by the rancid ass Asa. This shit had to stop now. He cleared his throat loudly. “You weren’t there that night? Yeah, right. Look, I’m sorry, Toni, but I’m tired of this shit. I don’t care if you offed that troublemaker but own it. I bet I speak for everyone in this room when I say: Let it out. Fess up. And it won’t go beyond that door. Then we can all get on with our lives.” Toni looked at him with a shocked expression on her face. “What are you saying, Todd?” RJ bristled and stood up straight. Treyscott bared his teeth and said, “Speak for yourself, Manning. Most of us are not career criminals who’ve skated by with a slap on the wrist like you.” “Screw you, Ass-scott!” “In your f**king dreams.” Todd felt the cold fury that had too often led him to strike-out-now-and-think-later grip at his consciousness. He forced himself into a quiet zone in his head and demanded that he think. Think. Why was Treyscott pushing this? Why had he lied to them about knowing Carmen and when? Why— “What’s your stake in all of this, Mr. Football Man? I was with RJ in Louisana and there was all this talk about Playerman who went onto the big time. You right? So exactly when did you meet Carmen?” Toni perked up. “Yeah, why were you at the hotel that night?” “I wasn’t there, damnit! How many times do I have to say that?” “Maybe until someone believes you,” Toni said. “I was in Miami. Miami, Florida. Hundreds of miles away and I have an alibi.” Toni scoffed loudly and crossed her arms over her chest once again and locked her gaze on Treyscott. Blair placed her hand on Todd’s shoulder. “But you did know Carmen, didn’t you? Long before she came to Llanview supposedly following RJ.” “I don’t think that matters,” Treyscott said. RJ stared at Treyscott for a second then banged his shot glass on the desk. “The hell it doesn’t! “Then why were you stalking her in Creedyville?” Toni demanded. “Yeah,” Blair said chiming in. “People saw you lurking around keeping tabs on Carmen in Creedyville. That’s how we figured out you were involved in this mess.” Treyscott rocked back on his heels. “What the hell are you talking about? I’ve never been to any place called Creedyville. What are you people smoking? Why would I go some place like that?” “Because Carmen was there and you were trying to head her off,” Blair said. “But she was a slippery little witch and she probably got out of town before you caught her.” Treyscott released air from his lungs in a rush as if he was totally exasperated. “So she was trying to avoid me and to do that she came running to the town where I’ve been living?” RJ hit his desk with his open hand. “Damn! How did I miss this before? It was you.” “What?” “How could I have been so stupid and not see this before?” “What are you talking about, RJ?” growled Treyscott. “Tucker told me about his friend he called Scotch who he thought he could count on to take care of Carmen but he’d been wrong.” Treyscott was obviously shaken. He stared at RJ then slowly slipped into a chair. “You knew Tucker?” “Damn straight I knew him.” “How… I mean how could you? He died in prison...years ago.” “Yes, he did. And he died feeling f**ked over by his best friend. The one he called Scotch. He left this world feeling like you stabbed him in the back. What did you do, man? Did you drop a dime on him? Is that what happened?” “No. No. It wasn’t like that.” “What was it like then?” “It was about Carmen. He wanted me to take care of her but we were really young, man. Carmen was like a full-time commitment. And none of it would have happened if it hadn’t been for her.” “None of what?” “I mean Tucker wouldn’t have gone to jail if it wasn’t for her.” Todd leaned forward and said, “Mama Bright said you, Tucker and Carmen were inseparable. Then the trouble came and Tucker went to jail and you went to college to play ball.” “No as usual that gossipy old bat is wrong. We both went to LSU. Got serious scholarships, man. Carmen was still in high school but Tucker insisted that she tag along and finish down there.” Toni narrowed her eyes and said, “You finished college but Tucker didn’t. Why?” “Tucker almost finished, too, but then he got arrested.” Treyscott shook his head as if remembering something that was totally improbable. “Last semester of his senior year.” Blair glanced at Todd and he could see her mind working—shifting the information around, looking for a pattern. “You were dating Carmen back then?” Blair asked. “We got close eventually but in the beginning she was really little more than jail bait and I kept my distance. I mean with all my options on campus, I didn’t need that kind of drama, but after Tucker left things were different. She needed somebody.” RJ nodded his head. “There was just the two of them, so when Tucker was sent away she was alone. That’s why Tucker wanted you to look after her.” Todd snorted. “But you got a big deal with the NFL and all bets were off.” Blair leaned forward. “You didn’t take her with you?” “I told her I would send for her. She had a decent job at a department store selling stuff. She was all right for a while.” “But you never sent for her, did you?” “The league was a different world. I… I… just got busy and—“ Blair tightened her lips into a line then said, “You moved on to something better.” “We weren’t married or engaged or anything,” Treyscott said with a ting of anger in his voice. “I’m not the first guy who ever changed his mind about a girl.” “You dropped her like a hot potato,” Blair said. Toni harrumphed. “Just like he dropped Heather.” Treyscott sat up straight. “Wait a minute here. Whose side are you on? You know what Heather did to me. I had my reasons for breaking that off and—“ RJ cut off Treyscott’s plea. “What did Carmen have over you?” Treyscott leaned back, slouched in his chair and then mumbled, “What do you mean?” “It wasn’t like Carmen to give up without a fight,” RJ said. “I don’t need you to confirm that she came after you in Texas and you needed the whole team as your backup to get her out of town and away from you.” “I never said that happened.” “You didn’t have to say it. I knew Carmen. And I know she would never have given up so easily on you, unless she got distracted by someone else.” “You. She got distracted by you.” “Maybe for a few months but not longer than that and Carmen was the type to hold a grudge for a lifetime or two. So she may have bided her time until she thought the opportunity was perfect but she had something over you and tried to blackmail you with it.” “She didn’t do that.” “So she came after me, tried to jack up Blair’s friend and put an old man in the hospital and God only knows who else put the squeeze on for money, but she left you alone? The man who treated her like ten day old garbage? I ask again: What did she have over you, Treyscott?” “Nothing. It wasn’t like that with us. She just claimed that she wanted me back.” “And how did she plan to do that with Heather in the picture?” Blair asked. “Heather and I weren’t together… when Carmen came into town.” Blair snorted. “Please. That Heather has her claws in you deep and everybody can see it. I bet it took Carmen two seconds to figure out whose cage she needed to rattle to get your attention.” Treyscott leaned forward. “Well, she sure rattled your cage, Blair. Where were you that night?” “At The Palace having dinner with my cousin. I never saw Carmen or went anywhere near the fourth floor.” Treyscott narrowed his eyes. “Yet it’s interesting that you know which floor she was staying on. Now who’s lying?” Todd glanced up at her. “It might help, babe, if we put it all out there.” “All right then. Yeah, I went up to there and I went to her room door but I never saw her.” Todd eyed Treyscott then said, “That’s when you bumped into the food service cart and got that stuff on you dress, right?” Blair nodded. “I did catch a glimpse of you, Treyscott, and I heard the two of you fighting--pretty viciously.” “Do you people ever listen? I wasn’t there. I have an airtight alibi. You’re as bad as Heather. Why won’t any of you believe I wasn’t around…wasn’t even in the same damn state.” Toni crossed her arms over her chest. “Maybe it’s because your lies smell like dead crawfish left out in the sun for ten days in July.” “Look who’s talking. I’ve heard you and Carmen got into a near ‘bout knock-down-drag-out that night. And I bet you damn well knew about it, Blair, but you let Heather sit up in jail all that time when—“ “When what? Your psycho girlfriend got arrested for cause. She was found standing over the body with a knife in her hand.” “She didn’t do it. She was stupid to pick up that knife, but she didn’t stab Carmen.” “Ha,” Blair said. “She’s been almost Looney Tunes for weeks now— like a big ol’ walking ball of monthly witch hormones gone wild. She just snapped.” Treyscott glared at her. “Damn you. You know don’t you? Yet you weren’t going to tell me.” “Know what?” “About the baby.” Everyone gasped. “Oh, hell no,” Toni said. “Are you saying she is with child?” Treyscott sighed and looked away. “Is it yours?”
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Suspicions In Scarlet Repose FAN FICTION SLIDESHOWS
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