The Tessa Randolph Collection, Books 1-3 by Paula Lester (good short books .TXT) 📕

As she arrived back in the driveway, Tessa's phone buzzed, and she pulled it out to see the text from Gloria: Meet me at the police station. I have a plan.

Chapter 18

WHEN TESSA PULLED UP outside the police station, she thought for a moment that her mom was waiting in front of the building for her. After a second, she realized it was Gloria, dressed in a pantsuit.

Tessa jumped out of Linda and hurried over to Gloria. She gestured toward the outfit. "Not really your style, is it?"

"I borrowed it from Ella. She works for a CPA. Just trust me, all right, and trust our badges to get us through." She headed toward the door, and Tessa followed along, clutching the badge on her lanyard.

They approached the front desk inside the police station, which was behind a layer of bulletproof glass. Gloria rapped on it to get the attention of the desk sergeant, whose back was turned as he stood waiting for a Keurig to finish dripping coffee into a black mug with a Star Trek logo. He glanced over his shoulder but didn’t come toward them until the cup was full. Then he carried it over and slid open a circular piece of glass to talk through. "How can I help you ladies this morning?"

"We represent Lark Jordan, and we’d like to speak with our client alone. Right now. You’ve kept her here long enough without representation." Gloria’s tone was firm.

The officer looked nonplussed. "She had her phone call," he said. "Used it to call her mom. She did say her lawyers should be showing up, though. Hang on, I'll come around." He snapped the hole shut, grabbed his coffee mug, and disappeared out the back of the office. Moments later, he reappeared in the lobby and gestured for them to follow him through the open door.

Gloria and Tessa glanced at each other as they followed the man down a short hallway. Gloria gave Tessa a thumbs-up, and she returned it halfheartedly, wondering how much time one could get in jail for impersonating a lawyer. Probably a lot.

The officer left them in a tiny room that was barely big enough to hold its rectangular table and four rickety wooden chairs. After a few moments, he dumped Lark into the room as well. Gesturing toward a panel on the wall, he said, "I'm going to lock the door. When you're done, use the intercom to call, and I'll be here to let you out."

After he was gone, Gloria stuck out her hand to Lark. "I'm Blanche Stewart. We need to have a little talk and get some facts straight about your case."

Lark's eyes flitted over to Tessa, and she wrung her hands. "Okay," she said in a small voice.

Tessa noticed Gloria didn't specifically tell Lark she was a lawyer, and she hadn’t used the word with the desk sergeant either.

Lark sat down across from the two non-lawyers. Gloria leaned back in her chair. "I assume you're going to tell me you didn't kill Artemis Green or Nathaniel Neilson," she said.

"That's exactly what I'm going to tell you because it’s true. There's no way I would've killed my dad. He and I had a great relationship."

"Okay, Tessa tells me that you worked for Mr. Green and that he knew you were his daughter. Have we got it right so far?"

Lark nodded. "My mom worked for the Greens first, for many years. She'd take me to work with her, so I could see my dad. I also played with my half-sister, Hannah, all the time. It was really neat—I sort of got to grow up with her, even though she didn't know we were truly sisters." A troubled look flitted over her eyes.

Gloria leaned in closer. “I feel like you’re holding something back.”

Lark winced. "I did try to tell her one time—"

"Really? How did that go?" Gloria shifted in her chair, clearly interested in this answer.

"She was angry. Called me a liar. From that moment on, she hated me. I completely ruined our relationship when I tried to tell her the truth." Lark sniffed as though trying to hold back tears. "I guess it must've come as a big shock to her after Dad died, to find out I was really telling the truth."

Tessa’s mind raced at this new information. Hannah hated Lark, but she’d known the closely guarded secret. The puzzle pieces fell together. Hannah must've found out that Artemis had changed his will and knew the only way to keep her full inheritance was to frame Lark for the murder, so she would be disallowed from receiving the business. But Silas being there and getting arrested had put a wrench into her plans.

It all made sense except for one thing—would she really have killed Nathaniel too? Why would she have done that?

Gloria and Lark were still talking, but Tessa wasn't listening anymore. She chewed over the problem in her mind. Had Nathaniel actually killed Mr. Green and then Hannah killed him to keep the secret? She supposed that made sense. Hannah was his wife, so she would've had the best access to him that night, plus it would be easy for her to say that the handwriting on the suicide note wasn't his.

It was hard for her to believe someone would kill their own father and husband, but she remembered Hannah's impassive, non-emotional face at the reading of the will, and a chill went up her spine.

"I guess I'm going to miss my dad's funeral this afternoon," Lark lamented, and Tessa’s attention snapped back to her.

"Where is it?"

Lark shrugged. "Where else? At the estate. Mrs. Green doesn't go out—hasn't for a long time. He's being buried in the private cemetery on the grounds."

“What time is the funeral?”

“Two,” Lark answered.

Tessa checked her watch—it was 12:30. She’d have to hurry.

She cut her eyes to Gloria, and her friend nodded. "You go. I'll handle things here."

Tessa jumped to her feet and crossed the room to hit