Steal My Heart

Chapter 8

“WHAT DO you mean?” Brian felt like the rug had been pulled out from under him—again. “Gramps and I were there. The video is time-stamped. What more do they want?”

“Calm down,” Gran said. “Let Hilliard get us out of here, and then we can talk it all through.” She leaned back, and Hilliard started the car and drove slowly back to the main road. Hilliard made the turn back to Fort Bragg and pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant. Brian wasn’t hungry, but Gran probably was.

Brian was still steaming and wanted some answers. “So what gives?” he pressed as soon as they stopped.

“Okay. The burglary took place between twelve thirty and about three, when Violet got home from the ladies’ group meeting. You and Gramps appeared on tape about one seventeen and then appeared once more a little before two. The prosecutor will argue that you could have gotten back to Mendo and broken into the place before she got home, especially since you would have known the schedule because of your grandmother. It’s stretching it, so we could argue how preposterous that is. What we found is great. It isn’t a slam dunk, but it’s close.”

“Okay,” Brian said, his insides still churning, but at least he felt better. “So what’s next? We try to find out who really did it?”

“No. We try to see if we can find the receipt for the purchase your grandfather made. Do you think that’s possible? It looked like he kept the receipt.”

“And after we went to Point Cabrillo, we got something to eat at Noyo River Grill. Gramps insisted on paying since I did all the driving, but you know him, he always paid cash.”

“And he probably shoved the receipt in his pocket.”

“Chester always did that. I was forever cleaning his daily crap out of his pockets.”

Hilliard continued, “Do you still have the clothes he was wearing? Don’t worry if you haven’t. I’d expect that you would have gone through his things.”

Gran looked so fragile as she shook her head. “I have some of his things in a box upstairs under the bed. I couldn’t throw out everything. It was like letting him go all over again. But I only kept mementos of our time together, not receipts.”

“It’s okay, Gran. We can look through that when we get back.” Sometimes his life felt like he was taking two steps forward and one step back. “And if it isn’t there?”

“Then we’ll look at other ways of narrowing down the timeline.” Hilliard opened the door and got out. “Let’s go have some lunch and celebrate a little. We found something big, and the rest is narrowing things down.”

“DO YOU think it’s possible that the receipt is still in the house?” Brian asked once they got back home and Gran lay down for a nap.

“I don’t know. It depends on what Beverly kept. But either way, the video we found proves your story was true from the beginning, and it puts you at Point Cabrillo well inside the time that the burglary took place. If a jury had seen this evidence the first time around, you would not have been convicted, and the police would have been forced to look at other suspects.”

Hilliard had stopped by his house to grab his laptop before bringing them to Gran’s, so he plugged in the drive and downloaded the video to his computer. He brought it up and scrolled through it once more, finding where Brian and Gramps entered and then where they came in once more. “I’m just making detailed timeline notes. I want to build as much detail as I possibly can to see where the holes are.” He continued watching and smiled.

“Look, isn’t that your grandfather yet again? Right there.” Hilliard brought the video in closer. It got a little blurry, but Gramps and his cane could be made out. “What was he doing?”

“I don’t know.” They replayed it.

“He’s unwrapping a candy of some sort. Yeah, he’s eating something.”

“I bet he came back inside because I was out wandering the cliffs looking for sea lions and he needed to be out of the sun.” It was that simple, and that also meant they didn’t leave the lighthouse until after two o’clock.

“That makes it even tighter.” Hilliard made more notes and then continued the video, but there was nothing more to see.

Brian sat next to him as Hilliard continued working. “Okay. Beverly said the ladies’ group meets at twelve thirty and that they are done by three. If that’s the case, then getting to the lighthouse before one thirty would mean that you would have to have done the deed, picked up your grandfather, gotten him in the car, driven down to the lighthouse, and gotten down that road with all the people out for a Sunday stroll, parked, and had your grandfather out of the car and into the gift shop in less than an hour. I would doubt that. And even that would mean pushing it hard, especially with your grandfather using a cane.”

“Gramps didn’t move fast—Gran can vouch for that. You can see in the video that each step was measured.”

“True. So that leaves you getting him in the car, driving back, and dropping him off. You could do that in half an hour if you put him right in the car and took him home, because there’s less walking and you just had to get him in the car. No fussing and stuff. So that would leave a half hour or so for you to do the deed. Even that’s stretching it, considering what we’re talking about, but it’s possible, I suppose. I’ve seen lawyers make more preposterous leaps stick. But this does verify your story, and it incriminates the police who botched the investigation.” Hilliard sat back. “You said that you had a late lunch after you left in Fort Bragg, so let’s look at that to button this up.”

“But what do we do otherwise?” Brian asked.

“We get Gran to talk to some of the ladies at church. She can tell them that we’ve found evidence that proves you didn’t do the burglary and that we can motion to have the conviction vacated. With new findings, it’s unlikely the DA would retry the case, and I can petition to have the conviction expunged. That will spread through her circles like wildfire, especially if Beverly has an I-told-you-so attitude. After a couple of days, the truth will be everywhere, including making it to the actual thieves.”

“Okay.”

“Also, be sure to lock your truck, and if you have any sort of alarm, set it. I wouldn’t put it past the thief to try to throw suspicion back on you. The truck trick worked before, so they could try again. Take pictures of the truck at night, all that sort of thing. In the morning, if you find anything, call me and then the police.” He closed his laptop. “Once the rumor has a chance to spread, you and I will pay Violet a visit.” He crossed his arms over his chest, smiling smugly.

“She won’t let me in the house.”

Hilliard lightly stoked his cheek. “She will when she sees the video.” He leaned closer. “I always knew you could never hurt anyone, and now we have proof, and we’re going to make sure everyone knows it.”

Brian closed his eyes, holding Hilliard’s hand. “But what if the thief comes after me or Gran?” He could take care of himself, but Gran was another matter. “It’s always possible. They thought they got away with it, and now there will be people looking around again. It could stir up a hornet’s nest.”

Hilliard met his gaze. “I don’t have an answer for you. I honestly don’t think that will happen. But what we do is up to you and to Beverly. It has to be you who make the decisions.”

“Don’t you dare,” Gran said from the living room doorway, and Brian stiffened and jumped back. “You are not stopping. We are so close to proving your innocence, and we have to have some backbone. No one is going to hurt me.” She slowly sat down in her chair, sighing when she finally settled.

“But Gran—” he began, and she cut him off.

“That’s enough. We’re going to go through with this. Now, you make sure your truck is secured and do all the things Hilliard suggested. I’ll keep my doors locked and watch out for prowlers.” She closed her eyes. “We need to figure out who might have done this, and no backing down now.” She had always had a fierce streak, and Brian knew better than to argue with her.

“I thought you were napping.” Brian figured he could change the subject. No matter what Gran said, he was still worried about any repercussions, especially toward Gran. She was the only family he had. She was getting older, and his time with her was limited. He didn’t want to lose a second of it.

“And you two were canoodling on my sofa. What does that have to do with the price of tea in China?” She shook her head, and Hilliard chuckled next to him.

“She has you there.”

“He agrees with me.” She seemed way too self-satisfied.

“That we were canoodling on the sofa? Yeah, we were.”

Gran leaned forward. “Neither of you is too big for me to take over my knee.” She was nearly smiling, and her eyes sparkled. “That’s enough of the teasing. What do you need me to do?”

“I DON’T know if I like putting Gran on the spot like that,” Brian said that evening as they sat on Hilliard’s back porch, each with a beer in hand, the marine layer fog in the air reflecting back the lights of the town.

“She’s the only one who can do it because everyone will listen to her. Just relax. It’s only a few phone calls and some talk after church. Besides, do you think now that we have proof of your alibi that she isn’t going to crow about it a little? She never doubted the truth, and that says a lot.”

Brian sipped his beer. “I know. I hung on to the fact that she believed me while I was in jail. It isn’t that I worry about. She says she can get the police report.” The question of how she was going to do that had his head spinning.

“Your grandmother has resources neither of us has. She’s been here almost her entire life. She and your grandfather have a well of favors and goodwill to call in that neither of us does.” He set the empty bottle beside his chair. “We’ve gone over this with her, and I don’t think we need to do it again.”

Brian wasn’t convinced. “I’m worried, okay? I can deal with whatever comes my way, but I hate Gran being in the line of fire in any way.”

“All she’s going to do is tell a few friends that she was right and that we have proof of it. Then she says she has a way to get the police report and that we are not to ask anything more.” Hilliard’s lips quirked. “I keep wondering what your Gran has in mind. My brain keeps picturing something naughty, and every time it does, all I want to do is groan because I do not need to be thinking that about your grandmother.”

Brian snickered. “Can you just imagine Gran calling the station to talk to a certain officer and offering to bake him some of her cookies ?” He did his best to make it sound dirty, and Hilliard cackled. “Or that she’s hurrying over to the station to give him what he always wanted?”

Hilliard met his gaze. “I have to ask. You don’t think she got us out of the house because she is going to lure over some officer near retirement that she’s had her eye on for the past few months?”

Brian shivered. “I wouldn’t put it past her. Not that there’s anything wrong with her having a life after Gramps. Still….” He shivered again, and Hilliard pressed another bottle of beer into his hand. “Thanks. I think I needed that.”

“No one wants to think about their parents having sex….”

“But your grandmother in a teddy heading down to the police station is more than I want to think about—ever.”

Hilliard nearly did a spit take. “For the first part, wow, that’s some imagination you have… and second, I did not need to have that image in my head.” He opened the beer and drank. “I might need to get drunk to wipe it away.”

Brian sipped his beer, and they settled into silence for a while. When he was in jail, silence and the dark were the enemy. It meant he had only his own thoughts to while away the hours, his mind repeating almost constantly that he didn’t belong there, that he had done nothing wrong. But the silence with Hilliard felt completely different. Brian was comfortable and content, something he used to doubt he would ever feel again.

Hilliard placed his hand on top of Brian’s, and he turned it over, entwining their fingers. “Have you decided what you’re going to do with the house? Are you going to stay? You know you could sell it in a matter of days if you wanted.” God, he hoped that Hilliard didn’t intend to blow into town and then breeze out again like the rains that sometimes came through.

“I still haven’t made any long-term plans. Every time I think about going back to Cleveland, my belly aches, and I know that isn’t the right thing for me. So then I think about what I could do if I stayed here, and I wonder if I can make a living as a gay lawyer. My practice in Cleveland was pretty general. I have experience in a number of areas of the law, and I’ve applied for membership in the California bar, but it will take some time for them to review my application and paperwork, and I have to take an exam. The next one is scheduled in a few months, and I applied to sit for it.”

“Are you nervous? Is that why you’re hesitating?” Brian asked.

“No. I have the materials, and I’ll spend a couple hours a day preparing. I should be fine. I passed the Ohio bar on the first try, but I’m not taking any chances.” He paused. “I just don’t seem to be able to make any decisions right now, though a plan is formulating in my mind.” He brought Brian’s hand to his lips and kissed it gently.

“Change sucks sometimes, and I understand how you feel. Your ex really hurt you, and it’s only been a few months. But this house is yours, and it could be the basis of a good life here.” It wasn’t like he was asking Hilliard to commit to a life with him.

“I know. I think I just need some time and some stability. Taking the exam and being accepted to the bar here won’t hurt my career or my standing in the profession. So I’m going to go forward while I think things through.” He continued holding Brian’s hand as he finished his beer.

“Is that partly why you haven’t done anything?” Brian asked. “I mean, you kiss me like you want to devour me, and you set my head on fire, but you never do anything beyond that.” He sat forward. “Is there something wrong with me?”

Hilliard set his bottle on the floor next to the others before turning toward him. “I don’t know. I guess I thought that if we took things a little slow and didn’t just jump into bed to hump our brains out, we could get to know each other first.” He leaned closer, and Brian’s heart beat hard enough that he wondered if Hilliard could hear it. “Besides, I mean, you’re really sexy, and I found out that the last guy I was super attracted to cheated on me more times than I could count and that I was lucky not to have come down with anything because of it.” He paused. “I think I’m a little gun-shy, and I don’t want you to be a rebound sort of thing.”

Brian sighed softly, his nervousness abating. “So that means…. I’m sorry, but sometimes I just need to know. I can’t stand all the teenage kind of angst around relationships. I never could.”

Hilliard smiled. “Me neither. So it means that I like you and I don’t want to mess shit up.”

“God, I’d like to smack Alan into the middle of next week. Sometimes relationships end, but you sit down and talk about it. You don’t go running around behind someone’s back.” He clenched his fists, squeezing Hilliard’s hand.

“I know you wouldn’t do that, but….” Hilliard sighed.

“There’s no hurry.” It had been his own insecurities coming forward to smack him in the head. He relaxed once more, just watching the sky as the clouds moved closer to the ground.

They both jumped at a firm rap on the door, followed by additional pounding. For a second Brian was carried back to the day he was arrested and the police nearly beat down Gran’s door. He breathed deeply as Hilliard got up and went through to the front door. “What’s going on?” he asked, and then there was silence for a long time. “What are you doing here?”

At the tone, Brian went to see what was wrong.