Chapter 20
Hayley’s head was spinning as she raced out of the hotel room and back to the office. Everyone had already left for the day. She scooped up the phone and tried calling Liddy several times on her cell but she wasn’t picking up. She knew if Liddy was showing a lot of properties today, she would undoubtedly stop by Randy’s bar to decompress when she was finished.
Hayley finished up her work at the paper, checked on the kids to make sure they would be home for dinner, and then drove over to Drinks Like A Fish, where, as expected, Liddy sat on a stool at the bar, nursing a gin and tonic and chatting with Randy, who was refilling a snack bowl with trail mix.
Liddy lit up and smiled when she spotted Hayley walking toward her. “Hey there, how was your day? Mine was a nightmare. Do you know how challenging it is selling a foreclosed property in desperate need of some tender loving care? I just don’t have the energy to make it presentable to buyers. I’ve slashed the price four times already.”
“We need to talk,” Hayley said.
“Sure, sweetie, what’s on your mind?”
“Somewhere private.”
“Hayley, the only one here is Randy and I have no secrets from him.”
“Okay. We need to talk about Mickey Pritchett.”
Randy’s ears perked up behind the bar.
Liddy’s face went ashen and she grabbed her purse, which was sitting on top of the bar. “Randy, we’ll be outside.”
Randy shot Hayley a look: What the hell was going on?
Hayley gave him a thin smile and followed Liddy, who was now shaking as she scurried across the wooden floor, her heels clicking, and out the back door into the alley. Hayley was right behind her.
Outside, Liddy spun around to face Hayley, and put on the most innocent face she could muster. “Now, who do you want to talk about again? Mickey who?”
“Mickey Pritchett. The recent murder victim. You do know who I am talking about, don’t you?”
“Yes, Hayley, I have a computer with Internet access and I occasionally read the paper. I know who he is.”
“How well do you know him?”
“Well, just what I heard from you. That he was a drunk and a mess and Wade fired him the night he was shot and killed.”
“Don’t lie to me, Liddy. You’re my best friend. I expect better.”
“What are you talking about?”
Hayley reached into her pocket and pulled out the earring. She dangled it in front of Liddy’s face. Liddy’s eyes popped open in surprise.
“You found it!”
She grabbed the earring from Hayley, and caressed it lovingly.
“Yes, I found it,” Hayley said evenly. “In Mickey Pritchett’s hotel room.”
“Oh,” Liddy said, staring at the sparkling diamond as if in a trance.
“What was it doing there, Liddy? What were you doing there?”
“Maybe he stole it. He could’ve been stalking me around town. I drive a Mercedes, after all, and maybe I left the door unlocked when I went into the Big Apple to get some coffee or something, and he grabbed it.”
“He stole one earring. From your car. And hid it underneath his bed.”
“Well, it doesn’t sound so plausible when you say it like that.”
“You know what I think? You come here for a drink almost every night after work. Mickey had been coming here, too, until Randy kicked him out. I think the two of you met and hooked up and while you were having sex, your earring fell off and into his bed and when the housekeeper came the next morning to change the sheets, it somehow slipped through the space between the mattress and the headboard and onto the rug underneath the bed. Am I getting warm here?”
“What do you think I am, some kind of slut, Hayley? I would never do something that sordid. Mickey Pritchett? He’s a drunken redneck!”
“That’s why you were so anxious for me to find out about Stacy Jo. You were terrified I was going to discover your secret and so you were desperate to send me off into another direction.”
“I’m not that calculating!”
“Then look me in the eye and tell me I’m wrong.”
“I don’t have to prove anything to you.”
“Tell me, Liddy. And I’ll forget the whole thing. Because we’ve been friends too long and I trust you.”
Liddy stared at Hayley, her eyes brimming with tears. And then she started crying. “I can’t lie to you. I just can’t. You’re my best friend.”
“So I’m right.”
“Yes. I was having a rough day. I was feeling bloated and miserable and I had two houses fall out of escrow and I had too many cocktails and Mickey turned on the charm and I just fell for it. I didn’t realize what an ass he was until it was all over and he asked me to leave because he was tired and I had to endure a walk of shame through the hotel lobby to my car. If I could do it all over again, I never would have gone back to the room with him.”
Hayley hugged Liddy, who was sobbing. “Please don’t judge me, Hayley.”
“No one’s judging you.”
“But the town will if anyone finds out. I can’t get a reputation for being the town skank. If people find out I slept with Mickey, it could affect my business.”
“You should be more concerned about being a murder suspect.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Liddy, you had a relationship with the victim.”
“Oh, please, it was a one-night stand, not a relationship.”
“But you were intimate with him, and you were in his hotel room, and at the very least, I’m sure Sergio will want to question you.”
“No! No one can know I was ever there. Please, Hayley, you have to support me on this. It will ruin me if this gets out.”
Hayley was torn. On the one hand, she didn’t want to be the reason Liddy became the talk of the town. But, on the other hand, she didn’t want Sergio getting mad at her for withholding vital information pertinent to the case.
Suddenly she sniffed the air. “Do you smell something?”
Liddy wiped away her tears. “No.”
“It smells like smoke,” Hayley said, and turned around. There was a green Dumpster a few feet away from them. Hayley spotted a waft of smoke floating up from behind it.
“Is there a fire?” Liddy asked, clutching Hayley’s shirt.
“No. It’s cigarette smoke. Who’s there? Come out here right now.”
There was a long pause.
And then Bruce Linney walked out from behind the Dumpster, a lit cigarette between his fingers.
“Omigod, Hayley, Bruce was having a drink at the bar before you arrived. I thought he left, but . . .”
“Just came outside for a quick smoke,” Bruce said, his eyes darting back and forth between Hayley and Liddy.
“How much did you hear?” Hayley asked.
“Pretty much all of it.”
Liddy threw her hands to her mouth and gasped. “Oh, Hayley, talk to him. He can’t print anything I said.”
“Bruce, please . . . ,” Hayley pleaded. But she knew it was hopeless. There was no way Bruce would ever ignore a bombshell like this.
“Sorry, Liddy. But I have to do my job,” Bruce said, flicking the cigarette to the pavement and crushing it with the heel of his shoe.
He walked back inside with a smile on his face and Liddy fell into Hayley’s arms, weeping.