“But—” Her eyes light up. “Maria! She and I were working on the silent auction together! She also had access to the account.”
“It wasn’t Maria.”
I can see the wheels turning in her brain. “Maria is the one who told you to look at the account, didn’t she?”
Oh God. She must have seen that burner phone in Maria’s purse, and now she thinks Maria is the one tormenting her. I can’t let her believe that. “I received an anonymous text message telling me to look into it,” I lie.
April’s face turns pink. This might be the first time I’ve ever seen her lose her composure. “Look,” she says, “Maria set me up. She created this false account, then she ‘discovered’ it. And now it looks like I’ve been stealing money! But you have to know, I would never do something like that.”
“April…”
“Maria is evil!” she cries. “She’s been tormenting me for months by sending me threatening text messages.”
My stomach sinks. She’s convinced Maria is the one doing this to her. This isn’t good. Especially since I know what April is capable of. “How do you know?”
“I just do.”
“What sort of text messages? Can I see?”
April sits there a moment, quietly gnawing on her thumbnail. Finally, she says, “I deleted them.”
And then I feel a rush of relief. She has nothing on me. Nothing on Maria. She’s too scared of her secrets coming out. “That’s unfortunate,” I say.
“You’ve known me for years! You really believe her over me?”
“Listen, April.” I use my courtroom voice—no emotion. “I’m not going to turn this matter over to the police, but I expect you to return the money. If you don’t, well, then it will be a police matter.”
Her eyes fill with tears. Is it all an act? I can’t tell with April. But I’ve shaken her. I hope she returns the money so I don’t have to go to the police.
“Julie.” She stares across the table at me. “This is a huge mistake. Believe me.”
I get that chill down my spine again. I wonder if she’s right. Maybe I’m making a mistake by crossing her. But I have to take the chance.
I can’t let her get away with it anymore.
Chapter 51
After confronting April, I go to Helena’s to see Maria.
Unfortunately, she’s busy with customers. She tells me she’s got a break coming up in about half an hour, so I wait in the back, browsing merchandise. Maybe I’ll buy something, get Maria a nice little commission.
And that’s when April comes into the store.
Instinctively, I hide behind a rack of dresses. I feel like an idiot, camped out behind the dress rack, watching April. But I can’t look away. She’s looking through Maria’s purse. Is she searching for that phone? Whatever she’s looking for, she doesn’t seem to find anything.
And then I watch her march over to Maria, and the two of them have it out. I want to leap to Maria’s defense, but something tells me my presence will only escalate things. I don’t want to get Maria in trouble at work. So I hang back.
And then I watch April storm off while Maria goes to help another customer. But the next thing I see, I can hardly believe.
April takes a pair of earrings off a rack. She glances around to make sure nobody is watching her, but she can’t see me crouched behind the dress rack. She expertly removes the tags from the earrings, then drops them in her bag. She does it like somebody who has stolen many things in her lifetime—that doesn’t surprise me one bit. And then she strides purposefully toward the exit.
I nearly leap out of my hiding place to warn Maria that April is about to steal some earrings. But it turns out it’s unnecessary.
The alarm that goes off is almost deafening. My first instinct is to cover my ears, but that isn’t what I do. Instead, I take out my phone and snap a photo of April being apprehended by the security guard.
That should give her something to think about.
Maria is fuming mad when the security guard takes April away into a back room. I come out to talk to her, and her face is pink. “Can you believe that woman?” she rants. “She tried to steal two-hundred-dollar earrings!”
“I believe it,” I say. April has stolen far more than that from her own son’s school.
“What a mess.” She shakes her head. “Now we’ve got to deal with the police coming over. And I’m sure she’ll pretend it was all a mistake. The police officer will probably end up taking her out for coffee.”
She’s probably right.
“Wait.” I grab her arm. “Before the police come, have her sign a confession.”
Maria freezes. “What?”
“If she signs a confession,” I say. “Then you use that in court.”
“She won’t sign a confession!”
“Of course she will.” I shrug. “Just tell her you won’t call the police if she signs a confession.”
“I have to call the police. It’s our policy to prosecute shoplifters.”
“Right. But you don’t tell her that.”
Maria narrows her eyes at me. “Okay… But where do I get a confession?”
“Do you have a computer? I can type one up for you. It’s not rocket science.”
I have seen enough signed confessions before, so I’m able to have one typed up in five minutes. And just as I predicted, April is only too happy to sign—Elliot will go nuts when he finds out. Any good lawyer will get it thrown out of court, but I want to stick it to April.
Maybe this will teach her a lesson.
Chapter 52
The next night, while the boys are in bed and I’m watching television on my sofa, I get the phone call.
It’s Brianna.
“Julie.” Her voice is a whisper. “April is following me.”
Last night, Brianna told Elliot everything. She told me he just seemed dazed. Tried to convince her to get rid of the baby. She told him no, and he said he had to think about it. Obviously, he told April everything. And this morning, she came to my house looking for me, and she ended up running into April and they had a huge confrontation in front of her house.
“Are you sure?” I ask.
“Yes.” I hear the screeching of wheels. “I’m driving home and her white SUV is right behind me. I tried to make a few turns down empty streets, just to make sure. She’s definitely following me.”
“Did you call the police?”
There’s a long silence on the other line. “If I call the police, Elliot is going to hate me.”
“Brianna.” I stand up from the couch and start pacing. “You have to call the police.”
“I’m almost home,” she says. “I see a parking spot. I’m going to pull in.”
“Call the police,” I repeat. My knuckles are turning white as I grip the phone. “Brianna, you have to call the police. She’s dangerous.”
“Look, we’re in the middle of the street. She’s not going to do anything to me out here. I’ll be home in a minute.”
I glance out the window. “But it’s dark.”
“I’ll call you as soon as I get inside.”