"What do you want to know about Lacy Knighton?" Aaron asked flatly.
Who had ratted him out? It had to have been someone from high society. Everyone there knew how much Aaron hated the woman"s constant pestering.
Detective Ruano answered his question with a question. "How long have you been married, Mr. Hale?"
"Nine months. How is that relevant?"
"Lacy"s father mentioned that the two of you were supposed to be engaged slightly over a year ago. How is it that you"re now married to someone else with children?"
Aaron snorted. "Brann Knighton is out of his mind. He and my father wanted us to get engaged but I never agreed to it. I was already courting my wife at the time."
Unsuccessfully, but they didn"t need to know that. Why were they even asking him this? He had an alibi! Ask him about his alibi! He felt the need to clarify something. They probably thought this was a case of a relations.h.i.+p gone sour.
"Look, I never so much as went on a single date with Lacy Knighton. She was interested in me but I never gave her any indication I reciprocated. In fact, I told her to leave me alone every time I saw her."
The detectives exchanged a glance.
"I"ll cut to the chase, Mr. Hale. We already know of your animosity toward Lacy Knighton. We"ve spoken to your doorman and he told us she was on a no entry list and had been thrown out of this building over a dozen times. What I want to know is where you were and what you were doing last Thursday," Detective Flynn said firmly.
"Simple. I was in Rochester with my wife, children, and father-in-law. We left on Wednesday morning and didn"t come back until Sunday afternoon. I can show you my airplane tickets, timestamped photos of the trip, and let you talk to my friend who was watching our cats while we were gone if necessary."
"I take it you already know why we"re here then?"
"I"m aware that she"s dead, yes. My friend"s little sister found the body and told me about it," Aaron said bluntly.
"He knew about how Lacy had been hara.s.sing me for years. My wife and I were actually discussing the possibility of getting a restraining order against her while we were out of town before I heard the news. I took her on vacation to get away from the stress that woman was causing by stalking our apartment building."
"I would like to see those tickets and photos, please," Detective Ruano said mildly.
Aaron showed him at least one photo from each day they were gone before heading upstairs to find the tickets Keeley had left on top of her dresser. The detectives were appeased by the evidence of his innocence. Thank goodness.
"We only have one more question. Is there anyone else you"re aware of that harbored a grudge against Lacy Knighton?"
Yeah, his half-brother. But he wasn"t going to say that because then he might be implicated as an accomplice. He honestly didn"t care if Gray got away with murder. Lacy had gotten exactly what she deserved.
He had come to believe in karma after being reincarnated. Everyone got what was coming for them.
"No," he stated simply. "You might want to try checking with her friends. Like I said, I hardly knew her. She was the one who latched onto me."
"Thank you for your time, Mr. Hale. We"ll be in contact if we have further questions. If you can think of anything else that might be helpful, please call us," Detective Ruano said as he handed him a business card.
Aaron nodded before showing them out. Ugh. That was so stressful. Stupid Lacy. How could she still be causing him problems from beyond the grave?!
He stomped up the stairs and flopped onto the bed beside his wife.
"How did it go?" she asked.
"I"m pretty sure they don"t think I did it. But it was still a waste of my time."
Keeley patted his upper arm comfortingly. "Well, it"s all over now. You don"t have to worry about it anymore."
Was that really true though? It was still hard to believe that she was really gone. Lacy Knighton had been a thorn in his side over two lifetimes and now she was gone before she could cause any real damage to his family.
Everything was going suspiciously well for him right now. Aaron didn"t mean to be a pessimist but considering how many things had gone wrong throughout his existence…how much heartache he experienced to get here…it was almost like he was too happy right now.
He was married to the woman of his dreams and sometimes he thought she might actually be able to love him again. They had two beautiful children. He actually had friends. This was far too much goodness for him to have at once.
Would he ever stop feeling like there was something bad waiting for him? Was he really allowed to simply be happy with his family like anyone else?
"Things are going too well for me right now," he mumbled as he covered his eyes with the crook of his elbow lying flat on his back.
"…you think being questioned about a murder counts as things going too well?" Keeley asked with a small giggle.
"You know what I mean."
She sighed. "Yeah, I do. You can"t think like that though or you"ll never be at peace. A lot of terrible things have happened to us but we"re okay now, aren"t we? That"s what matters."
Aaron really appreciated her use of the word "us." It made him feel secure. They were in this together.
Feeling a bit overwhelmed with love for his wife, he sat up and buried his face in her neck, wrapping his arms around her waist as she continued to feed Violet. She was his anchor in this tumultuous world.
"I love you," he said fervently.
"I know. And you know the crazy thing? Despite everything, I might actually love you back."
His head snapped up so he could meet her eyes, not sure if he heard her correctly. He had wondered for a while if she was wavering in her feelings but to actually hear her say it…
"Really?" Aaron asked, trying not to reveal the pathetically desperate amount of hope coursing through him.
Keeley"s smile was soft as she gazed back at him. "Yeah. Like I said, it"s crazy."
"Can you say it again? Just so I"m sure I"m not dreaming. You have said you hate me about a hundred times in this life so…"
"Would you like me to pinch you?" she asked crossly.
"Aww, come on Keeley! Please?"
She rolled her eyes at him while suppressing yet another smile. "You"re hopeless but alright. I love you, Aaron."
He sighed contentedly and resumed his position with his head on her shoulder. That was what he had been waiting to hear. It had been eight and a half years since he met his wife again and he had finally won back her heart.