Save Me - Lisa Scottoline [121]
“Who is the baby’s father?”
“Paul Martin. Senator Martin.”
Rose felt her mouth drop open. “Are you kidding?”
“No. It’s true.”
“But he’s married, older, and a United States Senator.”
“I know. I used to think I loved him, but I must’ve been out of my mind.” Kristen shook her head, sadly. “We’ve been seeing each other on the side since early summer. I met him when I was at school picking up some papers, and he was being shown around the construction site, by people from the school district. One of them introduced us, and I invited him to talk to my class. He called me, and we started up.”
Rose remembered that Senator Martin had talked to Melly’s class, at Kristen’s behest. “Okay, so tell me what’s going on.”
“That explosion in the school, it was meant for me. I think he tried to kill me.”
“Senator Martin?” Rose couldn’t wrap her mind around it. She had thought that Kristen was involved in the explosion, but it turned out she hadn’t been a villain, but a victim. “Senator Martin tried to kill you?”
“Well, he didn’t do it himself, but I think he ordered it done. If I hadn’t been out running this afternoon, they would have killed me.”
“How do you know? What the hell’s going on?”
“Paul knows my schedule. He knows that every Friday, I eat alone and microwave a veggieburger.”
“How does he know that?”
“Because that’s when we’d talk. That’s the only time we talk during the work day. It’s our secret.” Kristen bit her lip, her eyes glistening. “You were right. Marylou Battle was where I would have been, at exactly the same time, and I think they did something to make the microwave blow up when I used it. She was killed, instead of me. And Melly could have been there, too. I’m so sorry, really sorry.”
Rose didn’t want to go there, not now. “Didn’t the senator know you’d be out of school that day, sick?”
“No. I got morning sick, that much was true, and decided not to go, at the last minute. I didn’t tell him. I figured I’d call him from home, at the same time, the way we always did.”
“So why would he kill you? Is it because he doesn’t want the baby? The scandal?”
“Of course, he doesn’t want the baby. He’s worried about the scandal and a divorce, and there’s more than that. It’s because of what I know, or what he thinks I know.” Kristen sighed. “It happened this one time, when we were supposed to meet at our country place.”
“What country place?”
“A house, about an hour from here, closer to D.C. It belongs to a friend of his, who keeps his mouth shut. We used to meet there when Paul had time. He called it our love shack.”
Adorable.
“We were supposed to meet, but Mrs. Nuru wanted to go over a lesson plan. So I called and told him, but then she canceled, and I wanted to see him. I left a message on his cell, telling him I’d meet him there. He didn’t call back, but he didn’t always, if there were people around. I went, but he wasn’t alone.”
“Another woman?”
“No. He was with a man.”
“He’s gay?”
“No, it was a man I didn’t know, and they were sitting in the living room. I had my key, so I let myself in, and when I came in, I could tell it was tense. You know how you can feel it in the air, when you come into a room after a fight?”
“Yes.”
“Paul didn’t expect me. Neither did the man.”
“Wait. Didn’t Paul, uh, the senator, get your voicemail message?”
“He must not have checked it. Or sometimes they get delayed, you know? Does that ever happen to you?”
“Yes.” Rose nodded.
“Paul got the man out in a hurry, then we had a huge fight.”
“What about?”
“Paul worried I heard what they were talking about, but I only heard one thing, and it made no sense. He was freaked that I saw him with this guy.”
“Who was the guy?”
“I didn’t know. But then, I saw his picture in the paper, at a celebrity golf tournament.”
Rose gasped. “Joe Modjeska.”
Kristen blinked. “Yes. Do you know him?”
“No. He works for Campanile, the general contractor at the school.” Rose shifted up in the driver’s seat. “When did you see them together?”
“The Wednesday before the explosion.”
“And the explosion was on Friday.” Rose put it