The Third Grave (Savannah #4) - Lisa Jackson Page 0,57

it. “Then I took off to be with Ashley . . . Ashley McDonnell, she was my girlfriend at the time, and you know when you’re a teenager you just can’t get enough alone time, or any. My folks were strict and they acted like I was supposed to take care of the girls whenever they wanted. Mom, she kinda understood, but Harvey, he was”—Owen’s fists curled and relaxed, curled and relaxed as he searched for the right word—“a real ballbuster. He was a ‘my way or the highway’ kind of guy.”

“He adopted you.”

“Yeah . . . right after Holly was born. Mom made a big deal about it. We were all a ‘real family.’ ” He made air quotes and rolled his eyes. “That’s what she said.” He snorted. “As if.”

“And your biological father? I just got the records. He’s Reggie Scott? Right?”

Owen’s lips curled. “I met him. A couple of times . . . well, I might’ve met him as a baby, but I don’t remember him. It was just me and Mom and then Harvey. I can’t even recall a time when Harvey wasn’t around.”

All this wasn’t new information.

“Where did you meet him?”

“The last time was at a bar downtown. When I was . . . maybe twenty-two. Out of the blue he wants to talk to me, see how I’m doing. Just out of prison. Again.” Duval’s lips twisted at the memory. “He was all ‘hey, it’s great to see you,’ and ‘Wow, you’re a man, now,’ and ‘gee, I’m sorry I wasn’t around when you were growing up.’ You know, all that bullshit.” He glanced out the doors with a view of a pergola and pool. “And it was all a big con. All he wanted really was to hit me up for some money. Didn’t even buy my damned beer.” Frowning, he glared at Reed. “Why are we talking about my dirtbag of an old man? I never knew him and I never will.”

“Just checking details,” Delacroix said.

“Scott’s not a detail. He’s nothing. And by the way, I wouldn’t mention any of this to my mother. The last thing Margaret ever wanted me to do was get in contact with my old man. Now I know why.”

Delacroix didn’t let up. “You’re single, right?”

His jaw tightened. “Yeah.”

“But you’ve been through several girlfriends?”

“So what?” He lifted a shoulder.

“Starting with Ashley McDonnell.”

Owen waited, but he was silently seething, his eyes narrowing on Delacroix.

“What happened there? Why’d you break up?” she asked.

“What? What’s this got to do with . . . ?” Irritated, Duval threw up a hand. “We were kids. We dated, we broke up. It happens all the time and it was, like, a million years ago.”

Wells said, “I don’t see what this has to do with anything.”

“And you dated a girl named Maria Coronado, isn’t that right?” Delacroix asked.

“A few years back when I Iived in Atlanta, yeah—hey, wait!” A vein started to throb near his temple. “What the hell is this?”

“She had you arrested for domestic violence.”

“What the—no! That . . . it was all a mistake. Blown way out of proportion.” He looked to his attorney for help but kept talking. “We got into a fight, that’s all. She thought I was cheating on her.”

“Were you?”

“No, but she was batshit crazy jealous. As I said, we got into it. Harsh words and then she hit me with a goddamned metal spatula. Split my lip. She was screaming and yelling and the neighbors called 911. The cops hauled me in, but it was all a big mistake. Nothin’ happened. She didn’t have a scratch on her and she dropped the charges!”

“Okay . . . let’s get back to the day you were supposed to be looking after your sisters,” Delacroix suggested, and Duval, already agitated, started to bristle. “So you left in your car and went to pick up Ashley,” Delacroix prodded.

“No, no, no. Are you kiddin’? What is this? Do you think Harvey would trust me with the Taurus? No way! I walked the girls to the theater and jogged over to Ashley’s. Harvey and Mom took the car to look at the open house. Ashley’s folks were out, so we hung out at her place. I already told you all this!”

Again—his story was just as he’d previously said. Unshaken. Despite Delacroix’s best efforts. She’d watched his interviews and read the transcripts. She knew that he’d walked his sisters to the theater. She was just trying to rattle Owen, Reed guessed, to try