Wicked Lies

42. alice

Grant Griffiths knows my grandma.

That's all I could think about last night as I tossed and turned next to Jasper. Could it be just a coincidence? Or is there something I'm not seeing?

I'm not feeling my best this morning. I feel hungover even though I only had one cocktail last night. I don't think coffee will do the trick today, though, but I'm still drinking it.

Aria Watson walks through the doors of the cafe where we agreed to meet; I told her I'm working on Wesley's case and that I need to ask her a few questions. She agreed right away. I'm hoping that if she's open to discussing her stepbrother, she'll also be open to talking about her stepfather.

She's still wearing her school uniform. It's only ten in the morning, which means she probably has to be back soon.

"Aria?" I say as I approach her. "Hi. I'm Isabela Leon."

Her big brown eyes look at me cautiously as she shakes my hand. "Nice to meet you," she says with a shy smile.

"Would you like a coffee? My treat."

"I'm fine, thank you," she shakes her head. "I'm in a hurry. I need to get back in time for my third period."

"Of course. Listen, I'll be as straightforward as I can, okay? Wesley is going to prison. He committed a crime, and he needs to pay for it. But something tells me that there's more to the story than just a man killing his father to inherit some money, so if you know something, I need you to tell me."

She looks down at her hands intertwined on the table. "I don't know anything about why he did it," she says.

"How was Barton as a father?" I ask, taking a different approach. "Was he nice to you? Was he nice to your mother?"

She keeps her head low.

"Aria?"

"I don't want to talk about him. I thought this was about Wesley."

"This is about Wesley." She hesitates. There is definitely something she's scared to tell me. "He left a bank account with money for you. He's making sure you have a future. He worries about you. If you know something that could at the very least lessen his sentence, I am asking you to please tell me."

"I never asked for his money. I never asked for anything from him." She stands up and stares at me. "I remember you, you know? Wesley used to keep a photo of the two of you on his desk at his home office. I'd see it every time I'd do my homework."

She walks out of the cafe and once again, I'm left without the answers I'm looking for. How much of an asshole was Barton Newman that everyone is still so scared of talking about him and the things he did even when he's already six feet underground?

"Isabela?"

I turn around and see Neil standing there, holding a cup of coffee, smiling. He's wearing a black running hoodie and pants.

"Neil, what are you doing here?"

"I live nearby," he says. "I come here almost every day after my morning jog. What are you doing here?"

"I was meeting a friend." He opens the door for me, and we walk outside. "She couldn't make it, though."

"Oh, that's a shame. At least we ran into each other." He drinks his coffee. "I've been worried about you. Is there a problem with Daniel? Is he bothering you?"

"You know Daniel?" For a second, I forget who I'm talking to. "Of course you know him. You were Melissa's bodyguard, and he was her boyfriend."

He nods and smiles. "So, do you have a problem with him? I know he can be... intense."